45 ACP Brass

[High Plains Drifter]

I have done a lot of reading about .45 ACP headspace and case dimensions for 45 brass and I am left wondering as my brass collection which includes Winchester, which runs short (.891-2) and gets shorter quickly, to RWS, Federal, Speer, Fiocchi, and PMC (which seems to be longer on average, .894+). My Lee case lenght guage seem sto cut the cases too short and I have takien this issue up with Lee. I guess I could find a very thin washer to shim it, but so far haven't found any washers in the .003-4 range.

1- Why the brass gets shorter with use?
2- Does trimimng just enough to square the case mouth help in any way?
3- Who makes the most consistent size brass with the new bras being right at .895-.897/8 right out of the box. .898+ would be great so you could square the case mouth without losing any length.

:banghead:

Any thoughts would be appreciated, Thanks

 

[Walkalong]

I only know one person who worries about case length with .45 ACP. I shoot a horrid mix of range brass and my gun can still out shoot me. I have enough range brass that I could sort out 1 or 2K of the same head stamp, but it won't shoot any better, at least for me. YMMV of course. How good are you?

 

[moxie]

Same experience as Walkalong. Never measure or trim .45ACP brass. I have scores, probably hundreds of different headstamps. They all shoot well. (Except AMERC)

 

[[email protected]]

Most people that I know dont trim auto pistol brass. I sort mine by headstamp to help a little with getting a consistant crimp on the cases, but the main reason I sort them is because I have found that some brass works better for FMJ and some works better with cast bullets due to the case thickness.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Good luck trying to find any semi auto brass, (or any brass for that matter these days) that have a consistent case length even within .010"of each other.

I've never found any, they are almost all short in respect to SAAMi specs.

I'll sort mine between what is in Saami spec and what measures under spec but that's as far as I go with it. I usually keep a box of the short stuff loaded with lead in my range bag for the range chumps.

Semi auto brass always seems to get shorter, so there's no need to trim it.

Taper crimping is to straighten out the flare from seating the bullet, it shouldn't have much to do with holding the bullet in place after it's loaded. The neck tension of the case holds the bullet in place so the cases don't need to all be the same length like they should be for a roll crimp used in a tube magazine or for use with certain revolver powders like 2400.

As far as accuracy goes with your 45 acps, as Walkalong said, it won't make any difference.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Thanks, pretty much getting the same information from other sources, except a couple of gunsmiths who seem concerned with blown primers/cases from brass that is too short.

As far as why the cases get shorter with use instead of streching, would that be fact that the headspace is off the case mouth, and the slide going into battery slams the case mouth against the end of the chamber?

Finding the same with factory ammo and wide variance of OALs, so I will just watch for the real short cases those less than .888/9.

Thanks again.

 

[moxie]

Blown primers/cases from brass that's too short?

Those so-called gunsmiths have gotta be pulling your leg.

You need to study the mechanics, the interior ballistics, of the .45ACP and discover how ridiculous this is. For starters, OAL has nothing to do with case length.

 

[rcmodel]

except a couple of gunsmiths who seem concerned with blown primers/cases from brass that is too short.

Those 'gunsmiths' might maybe be talking about centerfire rifle calibers.
Excess headspace in a bottle-neck rifle calibers is not a good thing to have.

But it has nothing to do with anything in a straight-wall handgun caliber, be it revolver, or auto pistol.

If the case is too short?
The firing pin impact drives it forward in the chamber and the primer goes off.

And the primer will back out to take up available headspace.
In fact, it always does.

Then chamber pressure slips the case back in the chamber until the breach face stops it.
And the primer is re-seated flush with the case head again.

In short?
Fuggedabout case length in straight-wall pistol calibers.

It matters not, if you are not competing for the National Trophy in the Bullseye pistol match at camp Perry.

And in my experience, those guys don't give a hoot about .45 ACP case length either, as long as the free ammo is putting 10 sots in the same hole at 50 yards.

Worry about excess headspace or too long cases when you shoot bottle-neck rifle calibers!!
Only then is it worth worrying about.

rc

 

[guncheese]

i dont worry about case length either
and it really doesnt matter as i head space on the bullet
the shoulder sticks to the leade of the rifling
cut my groups by 30%
makes the LSWC work the best

 

[PapaG]

The only ones I measure and trim are top 357 loads and my precision rifle loads. Anything that takes a taper crimp goes "in the hopper" and gets laded as is.