Davecoff13 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Forgive me I am sure this has been covered many times. Just finished processing a 2000 rounds of 223/556 brass. I set calipers at 1.755 ( halfway between max case and trim to length) , about 1500 passed through that. Then reset for 1.760 ( max case length) and all but maybe 100 passed that. Question is when do you trim, obviously the long ones need to be trimmed, but do you trim the cases that are over trim to length or wait until they are over max case length? This is not precision ammo but just for general range shootings for a ar, shooting plates , paper etc. thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaded605 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 After resizing. I trim everything to 1.750. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glc Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 52 minutes ago, loaded605 said: After resizing. I trim everything to 1.750. Same here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalicat30 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 + 1 on the 1.750 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davecoff13 Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 How many times can you trim ? Before throwing the brass out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmshozer1 Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 On 10/20/2016 at 6:00 PM, loaded605 said: After resizing. I trim everything to 1.750. I don't get it, I have shot .223 range brass for 15 years or so. I have never trimmed. Ever. Once in a while when I get bored I will measure some brass and find that almost all of it measures less than 1.750. How do you trim brass to 1.750 when it is too short to do that? Curious? Just went and measured 100 cases with my calipers. Four were long enough to trim to 1.750. Much of this brass I have shot a few times. I don't get it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaded605 Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 How many times can you trim ? Before throwing the brass out.For my 3 gun fmj, I just keep shooting them until they crack a neck or there is some sort of noticeable problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaded605 Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I don't get it, I have shot .223 range brass for 15 years or so. I have never trimmed. Ever. Once in a while when I get bored I will measure some brass and find that almost all of it measures less than 1.750. How do you trim brass to 1.750 when it is too short to do that? Curious? Just went and measured 100 cases with my calipers. Four were long enough to trim to 1.750. Much of this brass I have shot a few times. I don't get it?If you measure it before resizing it will be shorter. Resizing, if done properly, case stretches it and it will be longer and would need trimming. I don't trim cases that are long enough, obviously. I don't have a progressive for .223 so I am single staging them. I have some that are short... I still use them if they are at least 1.740 but I load them separately with all the cases that are shorter so OAL stays consistent. Some guys neck size, I don't and never would for ammo going to the match chambers on my AR and M1A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmshozer1 Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 1 hour ago, loaded605 said: If you measure it before resizing it will be shorter. Resizing, if done properly, case stretches it and it will be longer and would need trimming. I don't trim cases that are long enough, obviously. I don't have a progressive for .223 so I am single staging them. I have some that are short... I still use them if they are at least 1.740 but I load them separately with all the cases that are shorter so OAL stays consistent. Some guys neck size, I don't and never would for ammo going to the match chambers on my AR and M1A. Most of the 100 cases I measured were from 1.730 to 1.745 range. They were all resized ready to reload. Brass is a mix of LC, FC, R-P and Win. Trimming the case has anything to do with OAL. OAL depends on how far you seat the bullet in the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaded605 Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Most of the 100 cases I measured were from 1.730 to 1.745 range. They were all resized ready to reload. Brass is a mix of LC, FC, R-P and Win. Trimming the case has anything to do with OAL. OAL depends on how far you seat the bullet in the case.My die sucks, need new one. If case lengths are same, they seat the same. If varied, they don't. I know it makes no sense, it is just how it works.I have no idea how in 15 years you never have resized cases that measure over 1.750. This is one of a bunch of cases I got at the range yesterday from a buddy. They were new Independence (federal) with primer sealant (which is gone after tumbling). Still can see factory crimp. This was a different new Federal case, same guy different ammo, didn't see the box. He doesn't reload but this could have been reman. Still... It is 1.747 before resizing.Most LC range brass, not all, that I have found is reman and twice fired, no annealing or crimp. Most once fired R-P is usually has factory crimp on the neck and usually measures around 1.760, at least for me. Your caliper may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmshozer1 Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 1 hour ago, loaded605 said: My die sucks, need new one. If case lengths are same, they seat the same. If varied, they don't. I know it makes no sense, it is just how it works. I have no idea how in 15 years you never have resized cases that measure over 1.750. This is one of a bunch of cases I got at the range yesterday from a buddy. They were new Independence (federal) with primer sealant (which is gone after tumbling). Still can see factory crimp. This was a different new Federal case, same guy different ammo, didn't see the box. He doesn't reload but this could have been reman. Still... It is 1.747 before resizing. Most LC range brass, not all, that I have found is reman and twice fired, no annealing or crimp. Most once fired R-P is usually has factory crimp on the neck and usually measures around 1.760, at least for me. Your caliper may vary. Like I said, I don't get it? I have a pin set. My caliper is dead on spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davecoff13 Posted October 23, 2016 Author Share Posted October 23, 2016 Dmshozer, like you all my federal or lc brass is between 1.740 and 1.750 I have a couple k worth of wolf and pmc brass from a known source and almost all of those are between 1.754 and 1.760 with a few hundred over max case length . Those all came from the same gun. All the fed and lc brass came from my gun. All brass has been resized . Thanks for the replies, still learning this reloading thing, only done about 300 .223 and 2 k of 40 s/w , still very new to me . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davecoff13 Posted October 23, 2016 Author Share Posted October 23, 2016 On another note just went and pulled two bullets from factory fed ammo. One case was 1.736and the other was 1.738 , So they are pretty short to start , interesting . Do not have any lc ammo on hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjim Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 I've yet to see any Fed case over 1.74, if that. Until fired, then they maybe 1.745ish, maybe. I process on a 1050, using the rt1200 trimmer. I set trim length to 1.745 for longer firings before needing to trim again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmshozer1 Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 7 hours ago, cjim said: I've yet to see any Fed case over 1.74, if that. Until fired, then they maybe 1.745ish, maybe. I process on a 1050, using the rt1200 trimmer. I set trim length to 1.745 for longer firings before needing to trim again. I agree, That is why I don't understand the statement by people that say they trim all their brass to 1.750 when most brass never reaches that length? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmshozer1 Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 On 10/22/2016 at 9:04 PM, dmshozer1 said: Most of the 100 cases I measured were from 1.730 to 1.745 range. They were all resized ready to reload. Brass is a mix of LC, FC, R-P and Win. Trimming the case has anything to do with OAL. OAL depends on how far you seat the bullet in the case. Correction, If you seat a bullet with a cannelure it will determine to a degree the OAL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDA Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 4 hours ago, dmshozer1 said: I agree, That is why I don't understand the statement by people that say they trim all their brass to 1.750 when most brass never reaches that length? Depends on your brass. I have my trimming operation set to 1.750" and a majority of my brass gets trimmed (most Lake City along with some Federal, PMC and GFL). The Federal is typically shorter than 1.750" IME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalicat30 Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 10 hours ago, dmshozer1 said: I agree, That is why I don't understand the statement by people that say they trim all their brass to 1.750 when most brass never reaches that length? I dont understand whats not to understand ! I run all my once or more fired brass thru the rt1500 sizing and trimming it if needed. If its shorter than 1.750 no trim occurs ...longer than it trims......seems fool proof to me ! Your Millage May Vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 On 10/22/2016 at 11:40 AM, dmshozer1 said: I don't get it, I have shot .223 range brass for 15 years or so. I have never trimmed. Ever. Once in a while when I get bored I will measure some brass and find that almost all of it measures less than 1.750. How do you trim brass to 1.750 when it is too short to do that? Curious? Just went and measured 100 cases with my calipers. Four were long enough to trim to 1.750. Much of this brass I have shot a few times. I don't get it? I used to only trim every 3rd or 4th firing then I started getting issues with long brass not chambering. I now trim after every firing. I just run everything through my dillion trimmer fast and easy and consistent. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
427Cobra Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 IMHO trimming is a safety step not an accuracy step, I set my Giraud to trim .005 from the end of the chamber(Sinclair sells a mild steel plug combined with a modified case to find the end of the chamber) of my bolt guns, the Giraud trims the case fine, if the case needs to grow some fine, I can't shoot the difference, for my AR's 1.750 and 2.005 is my trim length, consistent OAL case length is important because I slightly crimp semi auto rounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmshozer1 Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 On 10/22/2016 at 3:40 PM, dmshozer1 said: I don't get it, I have shot .223 range brass for 15 years or so. I have never trimmed. Ever. Once in a while when I get bored I will measure some brass and find that almost all of it measures less than 1.750. How do you trim brass to 1.750 when it is too short to do that? Curious? Just went and measured 100 cases with my calipers. Four were long enough to trim to 1.750. Much of this brass I have shot a few times. I don't get it? Okay, Now we are getting somewhere. Most before my post were saying they trim everything to 1.750. My question was how can that be done when most brass is to short to do that. Now most are saying they only trim cases over 1.750. That I understand. Measured 100 more mixed cases. Two were over 1.750. I guess brass up here in the N.E. doesn't grow as much as other parts of the country. Must be the weather! Thanks boys and girls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin G. Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 If you do not have a brass processing setup with a Dillon or other powered trimmer RCBS x dies are nice. They have a shelf inside the die that prevents the cases from lengthening when sized. You can trim brass to 1.75 or less once, if it is longer and not have to worry about it again. However, if you pick up range brass from other shooters you still have to check for long cases. Thought it worth mentioning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybayonet Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 On Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 8:19 PM, Davecoff13 said: How many times can you trim ? Before throwing the brass out. Don't throw it out! It still will work for .300 blackout or .380 acp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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