Same here. I always trimmed my rifle cases when I resized them. But .45 ACP and .38 Super I shot thousands upon thousands in competitive shooting and never trimmed the cases.
That part about crimping .30-30 to keep the bullet seated at the correct length during recoil with spring pressure made a lot of sense to me, and is something I'd never have thought to be an issue. This is why firearms fascinate me so much, because they're like clockwork machines that control explosions. Too cool! Imagine all the trial and error cartridge developers went through to get us to where we are today. Truly fascinating!
I always find it interesting to watch shells get loaded into modern fighter jets and think back on the development of firearms and the aviation industry. Watching all kinds of chains and conveyer belts to load hundreds of rounds into this great big flying machines with huge and complex cannons running on electricity, utilizing electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere to target things miles out. A hundred years ago they were mostly wood planes with machine guns built into them using mechanical timer systems to fire at the right time. A hundred years before that rifling had only just begun to become commonplace and people could only soar using big balloons and sand bags. And nearly 1000 years before that Chinese had only just invented the fire lance, an explosion at the end of a stick with no clockwork to speak of, and would occasionally lift small balloons into the sky for fun rather than actually ride them or combine any of them. It truly is fascinating looking at human history for just these things alone, not including all other wonderous creations that we all slowly improved upon over centuries.
what calibers? make sure you get a case or cartridge gauge. check a couple casings after resizing to make sure they are getting fully resized. And check a few loaded rounds at the start and here and there. Loading can be tedious, but its fun. pulling bullets cause your casings wont fit in the gun.... not fun.
May I give an opinion when it hasn't been asked for? If there is any way you can do so, I strongly recommend you "bit-the-bullet" and spring upon an ACCURATE press. As a beginner you will likely make a few errors along the way... we all do...Lee, as a manufacturer, produces some of the most affordable gear to reloaders...yet I believe you will be better served to increase you budget to perhaps enough to get an RCBS Rock Chucker...and going above that are many other "Cadillac" choices. I own several Lee products, my favorite being their primer seating hand tool. I do not, however, think highly of their press. If you are financially unburdened, look towards Dillon equipment. Great customer service and warranty. And keep a log of your loads!! If you discovered the most accurate load but don't recall what powder/primer/bullet combo/load dimensions/etc. you used to create it, your wasting time. I can't say much about Lee dies...they're probably fine. I have liked RCBS and "REDDING". And don't forget to lube your cases when forming your brass! And... there's so much more...!
Necessary, yes. Keeping your casings within proper dimensions is important. Is is generally needed a lot more frequently with rifle casings than handgun. Never had to trim a 9mm casing, but I still gauge them to make sure they are in spec. have to trim my 223, 30-06 every other firing generally. Got some RCBS X-dies. hoping I wont have to trim anymore after the first one.
I pick a middle-of-the-road trim length and buzz every rifle case every cycle in a drill powered trimmer. Very little material is removed every cycle (except new brass) so its REAL quick. When you SS pin tumble you need to chamfer anyways. I don't turn necks so its a great way to quickly mitigate neck tension variability. Glad you mentioned it. I have 200+ LC I wanted to get this evening. To work!
Very true..i never trim my handgun rounds, but i do trim rifle rounds, and i found that 30-30 is most important to trim because i like to get a consistent crimp on them the same way every time...nice video
Also it depends on the "rifle"...being a semi auto (AR15) or bolt action and lever action. The semi needs to be full-length sized where a bolt action you can re-size the neck once or twice (also depending).
I've never trimmed pistol calibers either, but have always wondered how much does the taper crimp affect the spread in bullet velocity when the brass length is different from case to case. When the brass length is not the same, even a taper crimp will crimp on the bullet with varying force. That grip difference will make a difference in bullet velocity, but never had the patience to test it.
Thanks been trimming .380 and 9mm for a few years! Gonna try them without doing that!! Should be fine, always get my crimp block out to make sure!! Never had a problem!!
I don’t trim 9mm, but all my revolver rounds get trimmed for a nice uniform roll crimp. Even my .38 Spl, but this never grow after the initial trim. All my rifle rounds get trimmed. I have some Remington 7mm-08 that’s shorter than minimum trim length, so I sort it according to case length
My friend had some reloaded 7mm Mauser that had shorter case lengths than most factory ammo. I am not into reloading...never have been... so this intrigued me. The OAL was the same as the factory, so I was wondering why the case difference? Trimming? Is it safe to shoot them?
Interesting. I've not loaded 270 but tons of 308 and 30-06 which don't stretch much. The 243 Win was the Stretch King and also the Neck Cracking King in my experience which was a Ruger HB in the heyday of prairie dogging.
i trim al new cases once for pistols and revolvers to get consistency. especialy on progressive presses. because yo have a dead end for precision. and that works/depends on case lenght with seating and crimping , rifle cases trim after sizing when needed .with neck sizing or bump sizing ,(fore a rimmed /belted case the best way ) the case will not grow fast ,and is safest to use because of head seperations that will occure very soon ,if not done that way
Great advice since I've never once seen a pistol cartridge reach maximum or even cone close. Now I currently have the issue of trying to figure out everything to load up soft points for my berthier to hunt with it, nobody has any published data that's any good and none of them show a case length dimensions.
Was Unsubscribed...again by EvilTube! Is Brownells content available on Rumble and/or Odysee? Really appreciate the tutorials and educational videos. Makes all of us in the 2A community safer and better informed. Thank you
Rifle/Hunting rounds, everyone talks about trimming, sizing, even in the manuals, but the order in which it is done is not clear. Some people tumble first then size and decap, etc. If one is going to trim a case to length, I presume it should be done before resizing? Do you resize first, then trim to length? Thanks for sharing your time.
Thanks for the video. It'd be nice to see the same thought on swaging your brass (necessary for pistol and rifle?). I do my pistol although most say that's crazy (it is a pain) as it seats smoother & quicker. Rifle is a must.
Per Hornady case trim length for 9mm luger is 0.749 , my once fired rounds are shorter than that most are 0.745 or 0.746 will that hurt to reload them, the bullet I have is Hornady's 115 grain HP XTP, the C>O>L> is 1.075. If the case is shorter woul you still use the same COL ? Thank you Chuck
General rule seems to be taper crimp and don’t worry for semiauto cases that headspace on the case mouth. Anything that NEEDS a roll crimp, you should at least check case lengths. What about a high pressure semiauto cartridge like 9x23 Winchester? I know I need to check for imminent case head separation, but it never occurred to me to check case length.
Question : can I still load my 223 Remington casing too low 1.735 inch ? But the correction length is 1.750 inch. Can I load them and shoot them? Please acknowledge me. Thank you.
What do you do if cases are already under the trim length? I'm a beginner so forgive my ignorance and my .223 cases are often under 1.750 which is what the trim to length is called out as in the Hornady book.
Long story behind this but I started buying new Win 223 brass years ago. I'd trim them to minimum length and never had to trim after that. A lot of work at the time but it paid off in the long run with consistent accuracy and great case life.
I'm having an issue where my primers are not coming completely out of the pocket when decapping my 9mm brass, its only starting to happen on a few pieces of brass now after about the 3rd loading. I'm using the dillon square deal, and I'm wondering if this is due to case length on these pieces of brass being too long... In which case I'm thinking maybe trimming could solve the issue. Any thoughts on the matter ?
Every time I try to trim to length as the manual says, I seem to cut a littl like 2/1000 a little shorter. Can I stay 2/1000 above the minimum trim lenggth to be sure my case isn't short?
Okay, Steve...If you are shooting for accuracy, what is the advantage you get with weighing cases and water measuring their internal volume? I had a few "blown" primers that seemed related to brass of a different manufacturer. I know that changes in volume give corresponding changes in pressure (all else being equal). Alanna
When I first started with .223 there was notes/warnings in every reloading manual about reducing charges (10%) if using USGI cases. The GI cases were thicker so internal capacity was smaller. This was definitely shown when I got some new Winchester brass. Dropped the same max powder amount into each and even Ray Charles could see the difference. At the time Win brass was known to be the thinnest commercial brass, and in my experience the toughest brass. So those are the two extremes in my experience. In the mid 1970s the US was awash with GI surplus ammo and I still find one in my piles every so often. Currently I can't say which cases are thinner/thicker. My last batch of new Win brass had very inconsistent primer pockets, some very tight and some so loose I wondered if the primer was going to stay in. Same problems with Prvi brass in other calibers. Rumor has it that Prvi is making brass for Win, I'm starting to believe it.
@@LuvBorderCollies PPU brass is loaded to NATO specs. Not SAAMI. You will have thicker cases in both pistol and rifle. I usually don't even load 5.56 brass. Just .223. That way I don't have to worry about it. With 9mm the smaller capacity and charge difference does not seem to be a problem as I have loaded thick and thin at the same charges but that is pistol, not rifle. As far as primers its not always the brass type but also the primer type. Some primers can be sized a little bigger. No matter what brass is used. That has been my experience with CCI primers that are my least favorite. I prefer Remington or Winchester. Then if I have a problem I know its the brass pocket, not the primer.
@@rbm6184 I've been using the same load since 1978 with GI and US comm. The Win cases shrink the groups in half vs GI brass. That's how I got to sticking with Win for any serious accuracy work in the dog towns.
@@rbm6184 Win brass with Win primers have been rock solid consistent for decades. I couldn't tell a difference from one case to the next, just like Lapua is today (my new favorite). Kind of sad as Midway sold me thousands of new Win brass for very good prices for many years.
UA-cam doesn't care about hate speech. They only care about conservative speech. Kids being exploited in gay bars? No problem there! Mention the Election being rigged? Instant ban!
@@MAGAMAN youtube won't stop recommending me conservative ads. I've been hitting do not show this ad for months now to no effect. Quit being such a victim.
When I first get a new batch of brass I trim it all to length be it handgun of any type or rifle of any type,,,then for all handgun after that I check it for length pretty much every succesive loading just for peace of mind and make sure that something stupid hasn't happened to it (just gives me one more point of overall inspection of the cases in general), every loading of bottle neck/rifle brass it gets trimmed to exacting length,,,,I'm a bit OCD about my reloading so I have a habit of wanting every aspect exactly as it should be, so I just take my time and never get in any hurry to put out numbers but rather high quality as far as it can be taken.
Same here. I always trimmed my rifle cases when I resized them. But .45 ACP and .38 Super I shot thousands upon thousands in competitive shooting and never trimmed the cases.
Straight side cases just don't stretch like bottleneck. Which means my .38 Spec trimmer from LEE hasn't been used since new in 1975.
In some cases pistol cases will even shrink. I still haven't wrapped my head around the physics on that one.
The host is right. I never mess with my pistol calibers. Never had them reach maximum length.
Might wanna see a doctor about that 😂
That part about crimping .30-30 to keep the bullet seated at the correct length during recoil with spring pressure made a lot of sense to me, and is something I'd never have thought to be an issue. This is why firearms fascinate me so much, because they're like clockwork machines that control explosions. Too cool! Imagine all the trial and error cartridge developers went through to get us to where we are today. Truly fascinating!
I always find it interesting to watch shells get loaded into modern fighter jets and think back on the development of firearms and the aviation industry. Watching all kinds of chains and conveyer belts to load hundreds of rounds into this great big flying machines with huge and complex cannons running on electricity, utilizing electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere to target things miles out.
A hundred years ago they were mostly wood planes with machine guns built into them using mechanical timer systems to fire at the right time.
A hundred years before that rifling had only just begun to become commonplace and people could only soar using big balloons and sand bags.
And nearly 1000 years before that Chinese had only just invented the fire lance, an explosion at the end of a stick with no clockwork to speak of, and would occasionally lift small balloons into the sky for fun rather than actually ride them or combine any of them.
It truly is fascinating looking at human history for just these things alone, not including all other wonderous creations that we all slowly improved upon over centuries.
Great info as always. Thanks for the upload.
no step on snek
I don't reload but have heard about trimming the brass and now I know why it is done. Thanks
Solid Info!
Great information! I am about to get into reloading (waiting on most of my Lee die sets - backordered for months now) and wondered about this step.
what calibers? make sure you get a case or cartridge gauge. check a couple casings after resizing to make sure they are getting fully resized. And check a few loaded rounds at the start and here and there. Loading can be tedious, but its fun. pulling bullets cause your casings wont fit in the gun.... not fun.
May I give an opinion when it hasn't been asked for? If there is any way you can do so, I strongly recommend you "bit-the-bullet" and spring upon an ACCURATE press. As a beginner you will likely make a few errors along the way...
we all do...Lee, as a manufacturer, produces some of the most affordable gear to reloaders...yet I believe you will be better served to increase you budget to perhaps enough to get an RCBS Rock Chucker...and going above that are many other "Cadillac" choices. I own several Lee products, my favorite being their primer seating hand tool. I do not, however, think highly of their press. If you are financially unburdened, look towards Dillon equipment. Great customer service and warranty. And keep a log of your loads!! If you discovered the most accurate load but don't recall what powder/primer/bullet
combo/load dimensions/etc. you used to create it, your wasting time. I can't say much about Lee dies...they're probably fine. I have liked RCBS and "REDDING". And don't forget to lube your cases when forming your brass!
And... there's so much more...!
Necessary, yes. Keeping your casings within proper dimensions is important. Is is generally needed a lot more frequently with rifle casings than handgun. Never had to trim a 9mm casing, but I still gauge them to make sure they are in spec. have to trim my 223, 30-06 every other firing generally. Got some RCBS X-dies. hoping I wont have to trim anymore after the first one.
I pick a middle-of-the-road trim length and buzz every rifle case every cycle in a drill powered trimmer. Very little material is removed every cycle (except new brass) so its REAL quick. When you SS pin tumble you need to chamfer anyways. I don't turn necks so its a great way to quickly mitigate neck tension variability.
Glad you mentioned it. I have 200+ LC I wanted to get this evening. To work!
Always classy and professional. Thanks
Thank you!
Great advise as always!
Very good and informative. I have reloaded for a few years now and have been on the fence about getting a case trimmer. Thanks for the insight.
*Works great, comfortable too*
Very true..i never trim my handgun rounds, but i do trim rifle rounds, and i found that 30-30 is most important to trim because i like to get a consistent crimp on them the same way every time...nice video
Steve, I totally agree with you. thanks for the vid.
great info as always!
Thank you Sir for clearing that up so simply!
Excellent video on a very important subject. Five Stars!
Also it depends on the "rifle"...being a semi auto (AR15) or bolt action and lever action. The semi needs to be full-length sized where a bolt action you can re-size the neck once or twice (also depending).
I've never trimmed pistol calibers either, but have always wondered how much does the taper crimp affect the spread in bullet velocity when the brass length is different from case to case. When the brass length is not the same, even a taper crimp will crimp on the bullet with varying force. That grip difference will make a difference in bullet velocity, but never had the patience to test it.
Thanks been trimming .380 and 9mm for a few years! Gonna try them without doing that!! Should be fine, always get my crimp block out to make sure!! Never had a problem!!
Words to live by, thank you.
As far as trimming rifle cases go, measure before you trim and have 2 coffee cans one for those that need it and one for those that don't.
Have reloaded over 80,000 9mm range brass never trimmed and zero issues
Thanks Steve!!!
I don’t trim 9mm, but all my revolver rounds get trimmed for a nice uniform roll crimp. Even my .38 Spl, but this never grow after the initial trim.
All my rifle rounds get trimmed. I have some Remington 7mm-08 that’s shorter than minimum trim length, so I sort it according to case length
My friend had some reloaded 7mm Mauser that had shorter case lengths than most factory ammo. I am not into reloading...never have been... so this intrigued me. The OAL was the same as the factory, so I was wondering why the case difference? Trimming? Is it safe to shoot them?
Sums it up nicely. I don't even measure every 9mm or 45acp case, just spot check. Strangely enough, my 270 cases stretch more than the 243 cases.
Interesting. I've not loaded 270 but tons of 308 and 30-06 which don't stretch much. The 243 Win was the Stretch King and also the Neck Cracking King in my experience which was a Ruger HB in the heyday of prairie dogging.
@@LuvBorderCollies Oh 243 is the king of neck cracking without a doubt!
i trim al new cases once for pistols and revolvers to get consistency. especialy on progressive presses. because yo have a dead end for precision. and that works/depends on case lenght with seating and crimping , rifle cases trim after sizing when needed .with neck sizing or bump sizing ,(fore a rimmed /belted case the best way ) the case will not grow fast ,and is safest to use because of head seperations that will occure very soon ,if not done that way
Good info. Concur.
Always good information
Good advice thank you
Great advice since I've never once seen a pistol cartridge reach maximum or even cone close. Now I currently have the issue of trying to figure out everything to load up soft points for my berthier to hunt with it, nobody has any published data that's any good and none of them show a case length dimensions.
Yeah ive heard all different opinions on this, especially the handgun that headspace off the case mouth.
Was Unsubscribed...again by EvilTube! Is Brownells content available on Rumble and/or Odysee? Really appreciate the tutorials and educational videos. Makes all of us in the 2A community safer and better informed. Thank you
I have massive quantities of 44 Mag.
I trim those to make my Specials. Haven't figured a way change the head stamp yet.
Rifle/Hunting rounds, everyone talks about trimming, sizing, even in the manuals, but the order in which it is done is not clear. Some people tumble first then size and decap, etc. If one is going to trim a case to length, I presume it should be done before resizing? Do you resize first, then trim to length? Thanks for sharing your time.
Trim to length after resizing
I load 44 mag and 45 Colt to cooler specs, to save my hands from a pounding, never had to trim cases.
My M1 Carbine fired rounds measure and chamber just fine without trimming. I hope they never need trimming as I reload them.
Same SOP here.
Trimming to same length helps speed things up for trimming
Ditto!
Good Info!!!!!
I never trimmed my 38 special casings lmao. I always measure them though. OAL is consistent. I trim the piss out of rifle though like he says.
Thanks for the video. It'd be nice to see the same thought on swaging your brass (necessary for pistol and rifle?). I do my pistol although most say that's crazy (it is a pain) as it seats smoother & quicker. Rifle is a must.
Per Hornady case trim length for 9mm luger is 0.749 , my once fired rounds are shorter than that most are 0.745 or 0.746 will that hurt to reload them, the bullet I have is Hornady's 115 grain HP XTP, the C>O>L> is 1.075. If the case is shorter woul you still use the same COL ? Thank you
Chuck
Ya load em up. How would u plan to make em longer!!???? U just don’t wanna jam one in the chamber too long
Cool!!
Never thought about trimming 44. Hmm.
Trimming my 6.5x55 S to 2.155 I ended up with 2.148 ? on 8 so far . Using Lyman trimmer .
Is there even a piece of equipment or mechanism that trims semi auto pistol cases? That's not even a thing, am I wrong?
Every set of LEE reloading dies gets the related case length trimmer!
headspace
General rule seems to be taper crimp and don’t worry for semiauto cases that headspace on the case mouth. Anything that NEEDS a roll crimp, you should at least check case lengths.
What about a high pressure semiauto cartridge like 9x23 Winchester? I know I need to check for imminent case head separation, but it never occurred to me to check case length.
Question : can I still load my 223 Remington casing too low 1.735 inch ? But the correction length is 1.750 inch. Can I load them and shoot them? Please acknowledge me. Thank you.
What do you do if cases are already under the trim length? I'm a beginner so forgive my ignorance and my .223 cases are often under 1.750 which is what the trim to length is called out as in the Hornady book.
Long story behind this but I started buying new Win 223 brass years ago. I'd trim them to minimum length and never had to trim after that. A lot of work at the time but it paid off in the long run with consistent accuracy and great case life.
If their under leave em alone
LARGEST EARS EVER
You shouldn't have to trim hornady .45 colt or .45-70 because it begins life 1/8th inch too short! Hornady brass is out of spec junk.
👍👍
I'm having an issue where my primers are not coming completely out of the pocket when decapping my 9mm brass, its only starting to happen on a few pieces of brass now after about the 3rd loading. I'm using the dillon square deal, and I'm wondering if this is due to case length on these pieces of brass being too long... In which case I'm thinking maybe trimming could solve the issue. Any thoughts on the matter ?
Just lower your decapping pin it’s adjustable. Don’t over think it
@@jefferyboring4410 tried that, didn't work
Every time I try to trim to length as the manual says, I seem to cut a littl like 2/1000 a little shorter. Can I stay 2/1000 above the minimum trim lenggth to be sure my case isn't short?
I do it’s not extremely critical
I am trying to find 7.62x45 Czech ammo
👍👍ty
How about m1 carbine
Okay, Steve...If you are shooting for accuracy, what is the advantage you get with weighing cases and water measuring their internal volume? I had a few "blown" primers that seemed related to brass of a different manufacturer. I know that changes in volume give corresponding changes in pressure (all else being equal).
Alanna
When I first started with .223 there was notes/warnings in every reloading manual about reducing charges (10%) if using USGI cases. The GI cases were thicker so internal capacity was smaller. This was definitely shown when I got some new Winchester brass. Dropped the same max powder amount into each and even Ray Charles could see the difference. At the time Win brass was known to be the thinnest commercial brass, and in my experience the toughest brass.
So those are the two extremes in my experience. In the mid 1970s the US was awash with GI surplus ammo and I still find one in my piles every so often.
Currently I can't say which cases are thinner/thicker. My last batch of new Win brass had very inconsistent primer pockets, some very tight and some so loose I wondered if the primer was going to stay in. Same problems with Prvi brass in other calibers.
Rumor has it that Prvi is making brass for Win, I'm starting to believe it.
@@LuvBorderCollies PPU brass is loaded to NATO specs. Not SAAMI. You will have thicker cases in both pistol and rifle. I usually don't even load 5.56 brass. Just .223. That way I don't have to worry about it. With 9mm the smaller capacity and charge difference does not seem to be a problem as I have loaded thick and thin at the same charges but that is pistol, not rifle. As far as primers its not always the brass type but also the primer type. Some primers can be sized a little bigger. No matter what brass is used. That has been my experience with CCI primers that are my least favorite. I prefer Remington or Winchester. Then if I have a problem I know its the brass pocket, not the primer.
@@rbm6184 I've been using the same load since 1978 with GI and US comm. The Win cases shrink the groups in half vs GI brass. That's how I got to sticking with Win for any serious accuracy work in the dog towns.
@@rbm6184 Win brass with Win primers have been rock solid consistent for decades. I couldn't tell a difference from one case to the next, just like Lapua is today (my new favorite). Kind of sad as Midway sold me thousands of new Win brass for very good prices for many years.
🇺🇸
👍🏻🇨🇦
Good video , but none of it matters unless you have primer and powder.
Thank you for your insight
I use a case gauge tool. If the case is out of spec, I just throw it away.
🙂☕👍
I report all bots for hate speech since I know UA-cam will take that seriously
I reported ever Steven Colbert video i have ever seen on youtube, instantly. Does'nt stop them suggesting it, but makes me feel better.
@@Iceaxehikes I report every benjamin shapiro and matt walsh advertisement I get. Doesn't stop em coming. It's been months now.
UA-cam doesn't care about hate speech. They only care about conservative speech.
Kids being exploited in gay bars? No problem there!
Mention the Election being rigged? Instant ban!
@@MAGAMAN youtube won't stop recommending me conservative ads. I've been hitting do not show this ad for months now to no effect. Quit being such a victim.
@@theangrycheeto Don't like shapiro and walsh?
When I first get a new batch of brass I trim it all to length be it handgun of any type or rifle of any type,,,then for all handgun after that I check it for length pretty much every succesive loading just for peace of mind and make sure that something stupid hasn't happened to it (just gives me one more point of overall inspection of the cases in general), every loading of bottle neck/rifle brass it gets trimmed to exacting length,,,,I'm a bit OCD about my reloading so I have a habit of wanting every aspect exactly as it should be, so I just take my time and never get in any hurry to put out numbers but rather high quality as far as it can be taken.