Do you trim pistol cases?

leeblackman

I've been handloading .45acp for about 2 years now, and numerous others since. I have case trimming stuff but I only use it on rifle cases that I don't load on my progressive press for match loading. I do use case check guages though, and if something doesn't fit I then pull it, deprime it and keep a bucket full of brass that probably needs to be trimmed.Do any of you regular handloader trim every case or just problem cases?

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badboybob

I've been reloading for more than 40 years and have never trimmed a pistol case.

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Tailgunner1954

I have heard that some of the hardcore pistol target shooters will match there brass by length for more consistant grouping, somthing like OD turning necks on rifle brass, most weapons / shooters will never see the difference downrange

Iconoclast

Only time I've ever trimmed handgun brass was some proof brass that was given me; the OAL varied quite a bit. Other than that, my experience is that generally the brass will fail in some manner before trimming is needed. The very few that went long before that happened, I segregated and discarded. Unless you are talking cases that cost a significant amount, it sure isn't worth the time; 1xF in the common calibers are readily available for peanuts and the time spent saving a few cents on them could be spent more productively doing virtually anything else.

oneshy

As far as case check gauges go, I used to think that if they didn't go all the way passed the web, they would not work. I have found out differently, as they always seemed to work anyway if only a few thousandths off. I very seldom bother any more unless I have changed position on my dies. I have a progressive and don't have to do this. If the only reason you have dicarded these cases is because of minor discrepancies in your gauge check, they will probably work as is. JMO

v35

32-20, 38-40 and 44-40 become uneven at the case mouth after a few firings and you get a lousy crimp if they're not trimmed. A way around it is with the Lee Collet crimping die.

aby80

I have been reloading for over 40 years and have never trimmed a straight wall pistol case. Any necked down pistol case will probably need trimming but I don't have any of them.

Coyote_Hunter_

I load 9mm Luger, .45ACP, .357 Mag and .44 Mag. And I trim them all.OK, it may not be really necessary, but I do it anyway. Here's why:9mm Luger - Most of the brass I reload is from factory ammo but from several manufacturers. I reload it for defensive purposes and wanted all reloaded rounds to be as consistent as possible. I also have 1,000 empties I bought as commercial reloads, brass from all over, but haven't reloaded any of them. May just pitch them and buy another 1,000 rounds of plinking ammo. Should note that I don't load that many rounds for this caliber, just enough to practice some with my reloads..45ACP - All my brass is from factory loads, but different manufacturers. Again I load for defensive purposes and wanted all the brass to start out at the same length. Like the 9mm I don't load that many rounds for the .45..357 Mag - I use a heavy roll crimp and want all loaded rounds to crimp in the same spot. Have found that after several trips through the press the mouth edge gets a little thin where it crimps. Mostly I trim to remove the thin edge, and check (not necessarily trim) them every time I reload them. Brass is from several manufacturers and I found significant differences in length..44 Mag - same as .357 except I use an even heavier crimp as I load for both a revolver and a Browning carbine (tube mag). Brass from different manufacturers, lots of different lengths originally.

v35

Saxon, I believe it has a lot to do with loose black powder chambering and that includes the 45LC.In about '62 I went round and round with Colt and Remington regarding over 60% split cases in an early, 2nd gen. SAA. The chambers were big and tapered while the ammo had untapered, undersized cases. This was to facilitate extraction. A few years later I got a memo from Wagner of Colts that chamber dimensions were reduced. I have seen 44-40 chambers where the fired cases had a continuous taper. The shoulder and straight sided neck disappeared.In my 38-40 Colt New Service revolver, the shoulder blows forward on firing reducing the neck length of about 1/4" to a neck 1/8" long. These features reduce drag on extraction but result in a lot of brass reshaping that I believe results in wavy case mouths and short case life.The Colt SAA was criticized from day one for its' slow loading and unloading. The tapered44-40 and even more so 38-40 are a real improvement over straight sided cartridges and Colt production records bear this out.

leeblackman

Onshy- you commented about the drop check cases. Yea, I learned the same thing. If I'm just reloading for one particular gun, say the night before a match, then I don't use a drop check guage. I do something called "Chamber Checking." You remove the barrel from the gun and drop each case into the chamber to see if they fit. I used to also do this when I first started handloading before I new what a check guage was. Its not as good as a chamber guage because usually your chamber is a little more tolerant of bigger cases for reliability reasons, and it doesn't support the case all the way around in the back like a drop check guage will so unless you turn the case completely around in the chamber your not checking it completely.Also when I handload for a specific handgun and chamber check rather than full on drop check guage the cartridges I ALWAYS mark the container they are stored in.

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