Case trimming question????

breakerdan

I have reloaded for revolvers a long time and have been told by many that I didnt really need to trim cases like 38s that I load in my 357. In short, I have never had a trimmer and since I dont shoot all that much, most of my brass only gets reloaded 2 or 3 times. Now I am loading 32-20 for a Marlin CL 1894. The Remington brass is much longer than W-W and eventually gets too long, so I mainly use W-W. I really dont shoot that much of this round and most of my cases are once fired, do I really need to trim them after only one firing as long as they chamber in my rifle???

Odawgp

measure them if they are over what the book says they should be you should probably trim them

you do not want to create a case pressure problem by using brass that is too long

perry shooter

Hello even thou the cases will chamber you might need to rethink using them IF as Odawgp says they are longer then reloading manuals state the maximum [:I]As tail gunner pointed out I should say over all CASE LENGTH. If the loaded round is loaded in the chamber the neck of the case MAY be so long it is forced into the lead area of the rifling then when it is fired it will cause a high pressure spike.

greystone

I shoot quite a bit and try to keep my brass in "batches". I'll run the whole batch through the trimmer when I see the are getting around max length. But for me thats part of it. Reloading for me is fun and not a chore. I just use a manual Forster trimmer. Dave

Tailgunner1954

I do believe that Perry Shooter meant Case Length, rather than OAL.
One hint/suggestion, measure the case AFTER resizing and trim as needed
Your Trim To length for the 32-20 Winchester is 1.320", with a Max CL of 1.330 and a Minimum CL of 1.305"

Mobuck

I regularly trim all rifle brass but seldom handgun brass. This is simply due to volume. I do trim 357 and 44 mag brass used for max loads to even things out and improve(???) accuracy. Some of the manuals reccomend trimming 9mm brass but,as long as they function,I just can't bring myself to start on such a project considering that a large percentage of those cases may be lost on the first use.

MEMPHISJOE

When roll crimping the case length is some what of a mute point. The posts regarding 9mm and other pistols rounds are not usually roll crimped and case length can be an issue.
Remember when you roll crimp, you are "shorting"the case by the amount of the roll.

RCrosby

Just a quick piggy back on Joe's comments re: crimp. Whether roll or taper, case length will impact strength and uniformity of the brass "purchase" on the bullet. For that reason you don't want variation in length even if the longest is still appropriately short for your chamber. That said, I rarely have to trim my .357 or .44 brass once I have confirmed uniform length for all pcs in a batch.

mrbruce

Sinclair sells a sintered lead plug that you can use to check for trim length....
99% of the time cases don't need trimmed as much as most folks think they do.
Loading manuals have no clue as to how long your particular cases need to be in your particular rifle....
Each to it's own

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lapriester

A Lee case gage and trimmer is super cheap and very effective. I use them more than my bench trimmer for all the calibers I load. Sticking it in a cordless drill and buying the cutter with the wooden ball on it and you have the best set-up going for less than $5.00 per caliber.

Larry[8D]