I am preping my first loads, i picked out 16 piece's of brass. out of the 16 piece's only 4 were not under the length of 2.045 (.243) most were around 2.036. is this normal? and what should i do?
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case length
- Thread starter MYCAR47562
- Start date
I'm listening in on this post as well. I just got started reloading myself.
trim the cases with a trimmer, they are not much money if you buy a single trimmer , but if you are going to reload , buy a trimmer with a turret handle, not much work but it is necessary. If the cases get too long you can get in trouble as they will not chamber, do not force them in the chamber. If they get stuck take a dowl and knock them back out. USE A TRIMMER AND CALIPER
They are measuring to short, i was setup to trim but quickly figured out i had other problems.
i fixed the first post, didn't realize how many double negative's i had used.
from chuckdog:
2.045 is the maximum length. You never ever want to exceed the maximum length. After full length resizing, I recommend trimming them @ 2.035. I usually trim all my stuff .010 below max.
2.045 is the maximum length. You never ever want to exceed the maximum length. After full length resizing, I recommend trimming them @ 2.035. I usually trim all my stuff .010 below max.
First, you want to lube and full length size the cases. The case grows in length when resized (the brass has nowhere else to go). THEN measure and trim if necessary. After trimming, be sure to debur the case neck with a chamfer/deburring tool.
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Not trying to hi-jack but I have a question that might be relevant here.
I plan to start reloading soon for my sons .243 and was looking at a die set with a crimp die in it. Also looked at a crimp die for my .270. I have no experience with one, I necked down 30-06 brass for my .270 so I never had to worryabout trimming. Do the cases have to be the same OAL? I mean do you set the die to a prescribed depth like the seating die or is it set in the general location and crimp whenever the case mouth hits it?
I plan to start reloading soon for my sons .243 and was looking at a die set with a crimp die in it. Also looked at a crimp die for my .270. I have no experience with one, I necked down 30-06 brass for my .270 so I never had to worryabout trimming. Do the cases have to be the same OAL? I mean do you set the die to a prescribed depth like the seating die or is it set in the general location and crimp whenever the case mouth hits it?
You'll get better groups if everything is uniform (all the same OAL). I trim all my brass per caliber to the same case Length. It also helps to have all your brass the same length when seating the Bullets, not as much adjusting for Total OAL. Unless your have an unusually short case length you'll have no problems.
2.036" isn't too short, it's about perfect if they've already been sized. As stated, 2.045" is the absolute max that is acceptable, not where you wan't them to be. I've used cases many times that were trimmed .020 under max without any issue. Some load manuals suggest .015" to .020" under as trim to length. I settled on .010" under several years ago, and that's what I use. A case that's any longer than published max can and will cause the bullet to be squeezed too tightly when you force it into a properly sized chamber. That will most assuredly raise the pressure. I would much rather have my cases all .020" under max than any of them .001" over max. I would trim them when I see that they're approaching the 2.045" length. I'm glad to see that you're checking these things before loading them. Always error on the side of safety. Feel free to holler anytime, as I'm in Buchanan, and I come through D'ville quite often.
