Trimming New Brass

[Doggorloader]

A friends dad passed away and he offered me all of the new Winchester brass he had in 45 ACP, .357 Mag, 44 Mag and 30-06. It's all 3-4 years old and new in the bags.

I'm going to trim the brass to start it out at all the same but working with the 30-06 first the case varies from exactly at the (manual) trim to length to .004 shorter.

I'm thinking at setting the trimmer for the .004 short and bringing them all to that length. Does that work? What about when I get to the handgun brass? I normally trim it new for the obvious crimp consistantcy.

How far under the TTL would you go before tossing any of the shorter new brass to keep them all the same?

Dog

[tightloop]

All my manuals tell me to trim it back to ten thousands less than max length shown in the manual. If if shows 2.50, I trim it to 2.40.

Only do the rifle brass, don't worry about the pistol straightwall cases.

[Doggorloader]

Appreciate the comeback but here is where I am at:

30-06 Max is 2.494

30-06 TTL is 2.484

probably 30 % of my new cases are 2.480.

Dog

[George]

If the 30.06 brass is new it will stretch enough to bring you back over minimum after the first firing. With the "trim to" length of 30.06 being 2.484", trimming to 2.480" is just fine.

I never trim pistol brass, big waste of time. Just check to make sure it's within spec and then load it.

Regards,

[TBF]

Doggorloader,

Unless you have alot of spare time on your hands, just trim the ones that are OVER the max to start.

.004 is not a big deal unless you plan to crimp, even then a small deal at most. Unless you are a benchrest competitor.

I would be surprised if after firing and sizing, any are still below trim length.

I have also not trimmed pistol brass for a very long time.

Travis F.

[uscbigdawg]

Doggorloader,

Forget trimming the pistol brass. Not a problem that's really worth dealing with.

As for the rifle brass, my father made a cool little doo-hicky (technical term) for trimming his brass. Basically it was a stop that went into the case mouth and stablized through the flash hole. The trimming cutters were a distance away from the stop that he trimmed them at and this assembly mounted into a Dremel tool.

So, we just have the Dremel in a bench vise (or other stabilizing tool) and knock out trimming the cases. He uses it mostly in .22-250 for trimming varmint loads and my .223 brass. I think the last run he did at work and knocked out like 1000 pieces in a couple of hours (his job has a lot of down time).

Trim it if you feel you need too. It sounds like the brass is close enough for the first couple of firings. This is of course moot (spelling) if you're shooting benchrest or something similar.

Just a thought.

Rich

[Doggorloader]

I'm seating the bullets .010 off the lands and it leaves the case mouth way short of the cannelure so when I (crimp) the die just kisses the case to make sure it isn't belled at all. Bottom line it seems like the .004 difference means sqanto and trimming isn't required until down the road when I've fired them x times.

The only reason I've trimmed my pistol (revolver) brass is I bought two lots of 500 new and there was .020 difference. It was tough keeping the taper crimp from going overboard if it was set on the shorter lot. And I had some time on my hands.

Thanks for the advice,

Dog

[Action Pistolero]

Dog,

I'm assuming that you are sizing the cases first. After sizing they normally get around .005 longer. Measure 10 cases and the trim to the shortest case minus 1 or 2 thou. You only want to square up the case mouth anyway.

I trim pistol brass too. Don't let them beat you up about it. I mentioned it on here and I got the third degree. They really let me have it when I told them about the kind of accuracy I get because of my routine. My routine is size, trim, debur, chamfer and sort by weight. I don't really have time for it but it has paid off to get me 4 regionals and 3 state championships. It's amazing what confidence in your loads can do for your performance.

Kevin Angstadt