Should I trim .223 brass?

[mugsie]

I shoot 223 in a couple of guns, one a Savage bolt action where I neck size and trim all my brass. The other an AR. Need I trim the AR brass? I's only used for target shooting. I thought I read somwhere that for general plinking etc it's not necessary to trim. Whatta you people think? If I am shooting the AR for competition, then I would trim etc all my cases, but what about just plinking and target shooting? Thanks for the advice.

 

[cdrt]

Any rifle brass will stretch...Yes, it needs to be trimmed even if you're just plinking.

 

[ftierson]

Rifle brass is trimmed mostly to guarantee that the case hasn't become so long that the end of the neck part of the chamber isn't jamming the end of the overlong cartridge case neck into the bullet, thereby dramatically increasing the resistance to bullet movement when the round is fired and increasing pressure...

This situation can lead to blown primers and erosion of the bolt face, and, potentionally, even a blown up rifle...

The rifle doesn't care whether you're just 'general plinking' or not...

So, yes, trim the brass...

Forrest

 

[trickyasafox]

i trim every 3-4 loadings in 223.

if you hate trimming as much as I do, over on AR15.com a gentleman named Ozzy with some numbers after his tag will cut you a deal on trimming by the 1000s that is very reasonable.

i sent mine to him and his turn around was fast, and his consistency good.

 

[45ACPUSER]

You need to monitor the brass, each time you reload the brass. No short cuts there, a chamber gauge works well....

 

[threefeathers]

Yes, I trim then use the RCBS X Die and it works as it should. I still measure each case with the quick Lyman gauge.

 

[rdaines]

I swore that I would not handload for my AR, it just goes through too many rounds. I do handload for my bolt .223 and for accuracy, I do trim and measure each case and sort them too. After hitting the deflector, the bench and the cement floor I generally do not reuse my AR cases. Extravagent I know but my AR (though very accurate) is for defense and not for bragging out how 5 round cut one ragged hole at 200 yards.

 

[def4pos8]

ANY fired case should be checked for in-tolerance length. You might not have to trim but you can't bet your life on it. Self-loading rifles like the AR-15 make this a critical dimension.

If a too-long case jams in the throat, an unsupported ignition can occur if the firing pin's inertia provides a sufficient primer strike and the bolt is not completely locked. This is bad.

If you shoot more than 100 rounds between cleaning, I'd suggest using a small base sizing die. This will reduce "force-fit" friction during chambering, and further reduce the probability of unsupported ignition.

The CCI No.41 is the mil-spec primer for .223 Remington. They are tough to find now, but their cups are slightly thicker/tougher than commercial standard primers, further reducing the risk of inertial firing pin ignition.

Bolt guns are FAR more tolerant of dimensional variation in cases and typically have firing pins restrained by springs so less dilligence is required but good production habits are never wasted.

 

[ocabj]

Most of the rounds I put down range is .223 through the AR since I shoot High Power service rifle. I figure on average I put down 400 rounds of .223 a month, all reloads.

I ended up buying a Giraud trimmer recently because of the high volume of reloading. I realized that a lot of time was spent trimming, chamfering, and deburring. The Giraud trimmer cuts the time in brass prep significantly.

I wrote a review of the Giraud:

http://www.inlandshooters.net/index.php?contentid=42

Since you stated that you shoot the AR in competition. In that case, you definitely should get the Giraud.