Trimming case necks

[hwy1strat]

What do you guys do when trimming case necks to length. For example, lets say the SAAMI spec for the overall case length is 1.920". Your brass ranges from 1.895" to 1.925". Do you trim everything down to the shortest piece? Do you trim down to a certain point like 1.91" and then throw everything that is too short away? I normally buy loaded ammo and then use the once fired brass to reload in and this situation happens every time I do this. I have not quite figured out the best way to process the brass for overall case length, so I just want to see what everyone else does.

 

[PowellSixO]

I personally trim my brass to .010" longer than minimum. I don't wait for them to grow either. I fire them, and then trim them. The brass is always the same length, and I never have to worry about brass that's too long. I've seen some over pressure situations due to long brass.

 

[tdhanses]

I trim mine below sammi spec .02. I trim each loading. I wouldn’t throw any away just cause they are a little short.

 

[Mike 338]

Recommended trim length is .010 under maximum COL so that's where I'd trim all brass to. Just shoot the shorties.

 

[cornfed]

Every rifle is different. The easiest way to measure it is the Sinclair chamber length gauge. You take an old piece of brass and chop half? the neck of with a dremel. Size the short neck brass, insert the plug , insert into your chamber and close the bolt. There's your length. trim 0.010. I do it a few times sizing every time, and use and average of three tries. You can also use just a piece of brass and a bullet. Both methods are seen here.

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...length-with-home-made-modified-case/#comments

 

[wind gypsy]

I use a giraud trimmer to touch up chamfer/debur on most firings whether I need to trim or not. That keeps them all about the same length. Short cases would need to get chamfered and deburred on the case prep center if too short and fired until the same length as the others.

I just try to avoid having any significantly shorter than others.

 

[Sodbuster]

Lyman power trimmer and Lyman case prep xpress.Makes everything easier.
I trim every time fired, even the cheap stuff.

 

[tdhanses]

Lyman power trimmer and Lyman case prep xpress.Makes everything easier.
I trim every time fired, even the cheap stuff.

I’ve been tempted to get one, case prep that is, I like the lee trimmer.

 

[Sodbuster]

I’ve been tempted to get one, case prep that is, I like the lee trimmer.

I liked the Xpress enough to have two. One stays where I shoot most of the time and one at the house.
Seems like there is always brass to work on.

The power trimmer saves a lot of time in my set up.

 

[tdhanses]

The frank ford arsenal setup with trimmer included looks interesting.

 

[Baron85]

I trim in the middle between minimum and maximum legnth. I use a giraud trimmer and so it’s easy to trim every firing. To me it’s much faster than measuring each case.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

I trim to SAAMI spec. Shorties get chamfered and deburred and loaded...

 

[25orSo]

I trim mine below sammi spec .02. I trim each loading. I wouldn’t throw any away just cause they are a little short.

Just shoot the shorties.

Shorties get chamfered and deburred and loaded...

Took a while using the search but I found my answer. (and learned some other useful stuff in the process)

Last year I bought 500 pieces of .25-06 de-milled Federal bass. I guess when a lot of ammo doesn't pass QC they pull the bullets, dump the powder and sell the brass & bullets.

The nice thing is they leave the primer in the brass.

I just finished going through the brass. Brushed the necks and ran them through the neck only die with the primer pin removed, then I ran them through my trimmer.

The trimmer is set to 2.485. Trim to length is 2.484.

A few of them were long enough that the trimmer took a little off and others were at the 2.484/2.485 length.

I have about 200 of them that were less than 2.484. Shortest is 2.480, but only a handful. Most are around 2.482 / 2.483.

My question was how short is too short? It looks like I am still good to use them. They'll make good plinking / practice rounds for the first firing.

Is it worth sorting the shorties by length as is (1) a little short 2.482/3 and (2) less than 2.482 or is my OCD just making a mountain out of a mole hill?

 

[wapitibob]

The end of the brass isn't touching anything, your chamfer is what matters and you're not holding that to .005 when doing it by hand.