[BGD]

Trim to length. What is a good trim to length?

Speer #14 manual .888
Hornady 8th edition .893

Thanks,

[soloban]

People trim .45 ACP??

[cbmax]

Do you really feel it is necessary to trim pistol brass? The only pistol caliber I have ever trimmed is .50 AE.

CB

[USSR]

Don't know of anybody that trims handgun brass.

Don

[Liberty1776]

ok, you three beat me to it. soloban in particular... I never trimmed handgun brass in 40 years (so far) of reloading. It usually isn't necessary and my Lyman trimmer doesn't go that short...

[rcmodel]

I have never heard of such a thing being done to a .45 ACP case!!

But I've only been reloading them since 1962.

Revolver cases that must be roll-crimped need to be trimmed to make a consistent roll-crimp.
Straight wall pistol calibers that use a taper-crimp?

Don't waste your time!!

Choot'm Elizabeth! Choot'm!


rc

[BGD]

Thanks, that is what I was looking for, I wont wast my time with it.

Why do the books have a max length and a trim to length?

[Sidewinder72]

I think trimming pistol brass is a waste of time and effort. Clean,prime and load is all I do. Now rifle brass I am ANAL.

[Constrictor]

Why would anyone trim 45 brass?

[rikman]

Thanks, that is what I was looking for, I wont wast my time with it.

Why do the books have a max length and a trim to length?
lawyers?

Never heard of anyone trimming pistol cases......

[rcmodel]

Why would anyone trim 45 brass?
Because they saw it on the Internet.

And the Internet don't lie?



Why do the books have a max length and a trim to length?
1. Because SAAMI MAX case length IS critical in a SAAMI MIN length chamber.
(That would be manufacturing Tolerance Stacking at it's finest example in a straight-wall pistol caliber handgun.)

2. Because trimming is necessary for all bottle-neck rifle calibers, and some straight wall rifle calibers, and all straight-wall revolver calibers.

3. SO, how many phone calls a day do you think they would get from alarmed straight-wall pistol caliber reloaders if they left out auto-pistol caliber Trim Too lengths?

rc

[ArchAngelCD]

3. SO, how many phone calls a day do you think they would get from alarmed straight-wall pistol caliber reloaders if they left out auto-pistol caliber Trim Too lengths?

rc
I would guess none, at least after they were forced to turn off their phones! LOL

[BGD]

They would get a bunch of calls:). why do you think the Speer and hornady books have different trim to length? and another dumb question. why do you not need to trim 45 ACP brass? Just curious.

[jibjab]

I find all of my pistol brass is close enough, brass makers must keep the lengths of pistol brass within a tighter tolerance than revolver brass. I find that revolver brass lengths can vary as much as .012" which doesn't work for me if I need a heavy crimp on magnum loads in my revolvers.

[rcmodel]

why do you not need to trim 45 ACP brass?OAL on the Taper-Crimp, as used on straight-wall rim-less auto pistol calibers make little to no difference on how tight the crimp is.

A roll-crimp, as used on a rimmed revolver caliber makes the difference between a loose crimp and a buckled case.

why do you think the Speer and Hornady books have different trim to length?Probably for the same reason Hornady Trim too length for the .45 Auto Rim is .888", which is correct for both calibers.

The 893" Trim Too length for the .45 ACP is a typo.
It should be .888" same as the .45 AR.

rc

[icanthitabarn]

I wish mine could all be .892 ;)

[gamestalker]

I've been reloading for over 3 decades, and because my reloading books state that it is part of the proper process to keep all brass trimmed to within a particular SAAMI specified length. I do however realize that I am only one small percentage of reloaders who do so. But in my defense, I can also state with complete honesty that I have had absolutely zero mis-fires or any other failures with my reloads in all tis time. I also read numerous posts about those who are constantly encountering issues that could in fact be related to skipping such steps such as trimming. I see posts in which a reloader has apparently done everything else correctly and has issues with mis-fires or rounds not going into battery, excessive case buldge and case ruptures, maybe the brass needed to be trimmed, I don't know and they probably won't ever diagnose it either, considering they are skipping relevent steps. So as to trimming all brass, it is a necessary step in the process of reloading, in SAAMI opinion and fact, and in my opinion.

My take on trimming auto loading pistol brass, or brass that head spaces on the mouth, known as rimless brass, is that they head space on the mouth. This means that if they exceed the SAAMI max spec., they could very well fail to go into battery. And another possible problem is that because many chambers for auto loading pistols encounter case buldging, or even case rupturing due to the increased area of unsupported case protruding from the chamber, not trimming could only increase the likely hood of such issues contributing to the problem.

Simply put, if the experts, (SAAMI) indicate that trimming is necessary for various factual reasons, you can bet I will be performing my reloading process as instructed by these experts.

As for 45 acp trim too length, I don't know off the top of my head, I don't load 45 ACP and I can't get to my books at this very momonet without waking my 5 month old Grand Daughter that Grand Ma is watching this evening. But that information can be easily found in your reloading books. Don't confuse trim too length with maximum case length though. A case that is too short can cause you problems as well.

My appology for the whole anal approach to trimming brass, but I simply wanted to inform you of it's importance according to the experts.

GS

[gamestalker]

I've been reloading for over 3 decades, and because my reloading books state that it is part of the proper process to keep all brass trimmed to within a particular SAAMI specified length. I do however realize that I am only one small percentage of reloaders who do so. But in my defense, I can also state with complete honesty that I have had absolutely zero mis-fires or any other failures with my reloads in all tis time. I also read numerous posts about those who are constantly encountering issues that could in fact be related to skipping such steps such as trimming. I see posts in which a reloader has apparently done everything else correctly and has issues with mis-fires or rounds not going into battery, excessive case buldge, case ruptures, and problems with consistent crimps to remove the belling or flar during seating. Maybe their brass needed to be trimmed, I don't know, and they probably won't ever diagnose it either, considering they are skipping relevent steps. So as to trimming all brass, it is a necessary step in the process of reloading, in SAAMI opinion and fact, and in my opinion.

My take on trimming auto loading pistol brass, or brass that head spaces on the mouth, known as rimless brass, is that they head space on the mouth. This means that if they exceed the SAAMI max spec., they could very well fail to go into battery. And another possible problem is that because many chambers for auto loading pistols encounter case buldging, or even case rupturing due to the increased area of unsupported case protruding from the chamber, not trimming could only increase the likely hood of such issues contributing to the problem.

Simply put, if the experts, (SAAMI) indicate that trimming is necessary for various factual reasons, you can bet I will be performing my reloading process as instructed by these experts.

As for 45 acp trim too length, I don't know off the top of my head, I don't load 45 ACP and I can't get to my books at this very momonet without waking my 5 month old Grand Daughter that Grand Ma is watching this evening. But that information can be easily found in your reloading books. Don't confuse trim too length with maximum case length though. A case that is too short can cause you problems as well.

My appology for the whole anal approach to trimming brass, but I simply wanted to inform you of it's importance according to the experts.

GS

[blarby]

I'm as OCD as it comes.

I've never done it.........

I check 'em all within tolerance, and anything outside that just gets pitched.

I don't even own a 45 trim guide. Huh.

[Legion489]

The reason the books have "trim to" listed is that should be the max that the case should be to work properly in all chambers. Sure some chambers will be longer (as in all, do a chamber case if you don't believe it), but that longer may vary. After all you are looking at guns made in various countries where slave/child labor is the norm and who knows what is going on.

Don't believe it? Look at 9mm bore diameters and case length, they are all over the map! I have yet to see a factory 9mm barrel (not Kart or Bar-Sto, I mean regular factory) that has a .355" barrel on it. The smallest was .356" and the largest was .361". That is for fairly current barrels too. The 9mm ammo will vary that much in length, bullet diameter, case diameter, etc. depending on where and when it was made in the last 100 years.

I have yet to see a .45 ACP case that was any where near max length or the "trim to" length. Even after firing up to 30 times the case was still much shorter.

.45 ACP cases can be made from .30-06 head sized cases (..22-250, 250-3000, 7mm Mauser, 8mm Mauser, .308, .30-06, .270 Win. .280 Rem, etc., etc., etc.) if you need to or want to. In those cases you may need to trim to final length, and possibly inside ream.

[mdi]

I don't remember anyone answering the OP's question. I would trim to the "trim to" length, .888", and put the case trimmer away...