To trim or not to trim .45 ACP

[sbwaters]

I just sized a batch of 152 Starline .45 ACP used brass. It had been previously chamfered. I typically sort the brass to a standard length so it will crimp consistently in my Hornady Taper Crimp Seating die (using the round nose seater which seems to give my Hornady HAP 200 gr (the most accurate, chronographed using a moderate TiteGroup load) and 230 RN the most consistent COL. I am target shooting and IDPA.

I have been using a Hornady Classic single stage press but just got an LNL AP press.

When I measured my wet-tumbled used brass, the lengths were:
.889 - #2
.890 - #11
.891 - #37
.892 - #56
.893 - #37
.894 - #9

My question is, with my LNL AP press, what should I do with my Trim Length for common sense accuracy? With 500 or 1000 cases overall, I could:
1) Segregate them by size and, when I got enough, load batches of 50 or 100.
2) Trim the longer ones to, say, .892 and the shorter ones to .890 to simplify the batches.
3) Just load the dumb things and not care about variations in the taper crimp since all you are trying to do is remove the bell.
4) Something else.

I am loading for a S-A 1911 and an S-A XDs 3.3".
In the future I will be loading 9MM for several different pistols.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I never trim pistol brass.

 

[Grumulkin]

Just load the dumb things and not care about variations in the taper crimp since all you are trying to do is remove the bell.

Bingo!

 

[dgod]

Me Too...

 

[drband]

#3

 

[bluetopper]

Life is too short to trim handgun caliber brass.

 

[Walkalong]

I don't know about that, but it is definitely too short to trim .45 ACP brass. That goes for 9MM & .40 as well.

 

[FROGO207]

I have shot about a metric butt load of various weight 45 ACP cartridges (realistically 70K and probably 3 kegs of 700-X) and never trimmed a single casing. Good enough accuracy for my bullseye shooting as well. If you are at all curious you might take the time to load a specific weight of brass and shoot it for accuracy and then load up a lot of the highest and lowest weight brass and shoot them together for accuracy as well. If the two groups are the same I would just load em up.YMMV

 

[ATLDave]

When I first started loading, I trimmed a little handgun brass. I gave that up many tens or hundreds of thousands of rounds ago to no discernible loss.

 

[lbs]

I too have never trimmed pistol brass. But if I was that concerned ,I would probably just buy new brass.

 

[rscalzo]

Never trimmed it in over thirty years of loading that caliber.

 

[JO JO]

I don't know about that, but it is definitely too short to trim .45 ACP brass. That goes for 9MM & .40 as well.

Exactly!!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

IMO most any trimmer you use will not deliver more uniform length than you now have. You are speaking about a few thousandths of an inch and in some cases only 1/1000".

Asking questions is a good thing and safety even better but sometimes we over think things too much. I have never trimmed a piece of brass meant for a semi-auto and probably never will. Load them up and shoot them.

 

[ReloaderFred]

In 54 years of reloading ammunition, I've trimmed exactly 5 handgun cases. Those were some Federal 357 Sig nickel plated cases that I "just wanted to make work". I don't, and won't, trim handgun cases, period.

I do trim all my rifle calibers, though.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[cfullgraf]

Any hand gun cases that get taper crimped, I do not bother trimming including 45 ACP.

Some maximum loads for ammunition such as 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum, or 460 S&W Magnum that I need a good, uniform roll crimp, I trim them.

 

[Mike Kerr]

I don't trim handgun brass that is taper crimped. I don't trim handgun brass that is roll crimped except under unusual circumstances like a member of congress will be inspecting the results.

 

[Bayou52]

I echo the chorus of guys who have never trimmed a 45 ACP...

 

[Lafitte]

A number of years ago I trimmed a few pieces of .44mag brass. I was looking for a 100 yd. load that would shoot under 4 in. in a 8 3/8 in. Smith 29. Havent trimmed any since.

Lafitte

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

44 and 41 mag are the only pistol brass I have ever trimmed.

 

[Dog Soldier]

The only time I ever trimmed handgun brass was the .44 Mags. The .44 Mags will crack in time at the roll crimp. I trim these back and make .44 Specials cases out of them.

 

[Blue68f100]

I never trim 45acp brass. If you are a serous BE shooter you may want to keep the longer ones closer to your chamber length separated out. If your gun does not have a custom gunsmith fit barrel, I would not bother. By best BE loads brass is 0.002-0.003" of my chamber length. All others go into a general just load and shoot group. The difference show up at the long range, no difference at the short.

 

[entropy]

The only pistol brass I ever trimmed was .38 Spl. I had a lot of 10,000 -GI brass; I'd set the split ones aside and when I got 100 or so, I made .38 Spl. "Shorts" out of them. I seated WC's to the same length as regular loads, 3.3 of 700-x.

 

[sbwaters]

Thank you, everyone for your input. I feel better already.

 

[340PD]

50 years of reloading 9mm,38,.357,45ACP, and 45Colt. I have never trimmed a case or reamed a primer hole. The only occasional failure has been split cases from too many reloads in the 38 and 357 cases.

 

[north east redneck]

I reload .38, .357, .45 Auto and .45 Colt, never trimmed a case. Never had an issue. When I first started I did ream out some primer pockets, that didn't last long.