Do you trim 223 every time

[Walkalong]

Or a guy that buys already prepped brass.

True, but if one is reusing the brass over and over it will need to be trimmed sooner or later. The actual chamber will determine just how soon, but sooner or later a piece of brass will get too long and cause a pinched neck and over pressure problems.

I don't want a newbie reading "I never trim .223", think they don't need to trim, and get into trouble.

 

[FROGO207]

I have the Lee trimmer stud/cutter set up in a drill press. It is easier to trim it all each time than to measure and sort. I do not crimp the bullet in either as mine are more accurate for me this way.

 

[Hondo 60]

No I don't trim every time.

I keep my brass sorted by headstamp AND number of times it's been reloaded.
This way they stretch uniformly.

I measure 5 or 6 (out of 50) if they're long (1.760), I trim.
But I've found that I can reload 'em quite a few times, 5-6-7 times, without having to trim.

 

[FOGeologist]

No I don't trim every time.

I keep my brass sorted by headstamp AND number of times it's been reloaded.
This way they stretch uniformly.

I measure 5 or 6 (out of 50) if they're long (1.760), I trim.
But I've found that I can reload 'em quite a few times, 5-6-7 times, without having to trim.

Would any of you folks actually shoot brass that's been reloaded more than 3 x? It just seems like a false economy to me.

 

[Blue68f100]

Yes do it all the time but my prep is a little more involved. I anneal every time too. I have some Lapua 223R Brass that has 8-10 cycles on it now. It at it's latter stages due to the primer pockets are getting loose. I only have 1 primer now that fits snugly enough to use. This all depends on your chamber and how your gas system works. Then go to one of the FL Neck bushing Sizing die. If your not pulling the expander through an overly under size neck your stretch is minimal.

 

[Walkalong]

Would any of you folks actually shoot brass that's been reloaded more than 3 x?

Using a case gauge to set up the sizer, with no annealing etc, just trimming, and with slightly less than max loads, I can get 8 to 12+ firings from cases before the primer pocket loosens up or a neck cracks, with no internal signs of separation.

I have plenty of .223 range brass, am not shooting competition with it, so I take no heroic measures to extend case life.

 

[FROGO207]

I am not sure of the exact number of reloads each lot of my 223 brass has and need to check for case head separation each time as I inspect it. I shoot it until it fails. Most often it is loose primer pockets with an occasional neck split. I did keep track of how many times the Savage bolt rifle brass could be fired when I first got it. Setting the die for it I averaged 14 before the primer pockets were worn out. I do keep this brass in a different bucket than what I have for the semiautos as they seem to have more neck splits. I do have a lot of spare brass so I do not anneal. With my 308 I shoot it in lots and anneal every 3 times to stop the neck splits

 

[tcoz]

I have a set of calipers set to .002 under max length and every case is quickly run through them every time. If it doesn't slide through, it gets trimmed, otherwise not. It probably takes half a second to check each one.

 

[FiveInADime]

Would any of you folks actually shoot brass that's been reloaded more than 3 x? It just seems like a false economy to me.

Huh? You're tossing brass after reloading 3x?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[hdwhit]

I don't want a newbie reading "I never trim .223", think they don't need to trim, and get into trouble.

Amen.

Trimming is necessary when bottleneck cases are shot repeatedly.

If someone is buying once-fired military brass with swaged or staked-in primers, they can be reasonably sure it is truly once-fired and so would be under maximum length when they reload it. If, like me, they only recover a small fraction (under 50%) of the brass from each shooting, by the time the brass can stretch enough to be a problem, they have probably already lost it in the weeds. They should be measuring the brass and trimming it because the rate to stretch is not uniform, but if they don't, the odds of not having a catastrophe are in their favor.

For everyone else, not trimming is, as you say, a recipe for trouble. The time it takes is insignificant (versus precision measurement) and the face you save may be your own.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have a set of calipers set to .002 under max length and every case is quickly run through them every time. If it doesn't slide through, it gets trimmed, otherwise not. It probably takes half a second to check each one.

I make "go-no go" gauges for checking case length that are kind of like locking a caliper at a fixed measurement. Like tcoz, if the case goes through, no trim. If the case does not fit, it gets trimmed.

I find that I generally only have to trim about 25% of the cases.

Passing all the cases through the gauge, then trimming only what is required is quicker for me than running all the cases through the trimmer.

I'll agree if I were to actually measure each case, it would be faster to just trim them all.

Also, I just cannot justify the cost of a Dillon press mounted trimmer--yet.

Here is a link to a picture of my gauge.

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=176745&d=1356698727

 

[JamieC]

I trim mine in a drill press set up using the Lee stuff. The cutter and depth gauge are chucked in the drill, a piece of conveyor belt rubber on the table. I set the depth hard stop for where I need it, 1.750", run 'em all through. I started measuring to see which ones needed it and which ones didn't. Takes the same time to run 'em through the press. If one doesn't need it, I know real quick, toss it into the 'done' box.

 

[jmorris]

Would any of you folks actually shoot brass that's been reloaded more than 3 x? It just seems like a false economy to me.

Heck yes I will. I have 45 ACP that has been fired and reloaded so many times you can't make out what the head stamp read any longer.

No telling how many times some of my .223 brass has been reloaded too and most of my .223 comes from matches so I have no way to keep all the pickups separated. Why all of my brass gets processed the same.

Throwing away a case because it has been fired 3 times seems like throwing away money to me.

I also have some cases that have so much prep/form time I to them I would quit shooting the gun if I had to repeat the work that often.

 

[cfullgraf]

Would any of you folks actually shoot brass that's been reloaded more than 3 x? It just seems like a false economy to me.

The only cases that I don't shoot after more than three reloads are the ones that get lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

Some cases are rare, hard to find, expensive, or have lots of time invested in them. No sense tossing them prematurely.

 

[straightShot]

I just run them through my Giraud power trimmer instead of checking the length after resizing. I can trim and chamfer quite a few cases and be done with it.

 

[Laphroaig]

Not many X-die users, huh?

I don't think that it totally eliminates ever having to trim, it just seems that way.

I just checked a batch of R-P brass that I have loaded umpteen (12+?) times, and they have stabilized around 1.770. I know that is over book max, but it hasn't caused me any problems to date. I suppose I'll either have to trim them or put them in the scrap bucket. Probably the latter considering their age.

Laphroaig

 

[Walkalong]

I worry about the necks thickening with the X-Die. Might be unfounded, but the brass has to go somewhere.

Anyway, trimming is easy enough.