Will 'short' 45acp brass work in 'most' semis?

[SASS#23149]

I"m loading some acp for the first time in a coons' age,and decided to size and mike 'em to see what I had.
So far almost all of 'em are .005 UNDER minimum given in 2 load books,which is .895.Max is shown as .898.My thinkging is the specs are 'tight' because of headspacing on the mouth?Most revo ammo has more than a .010 variance in case oal.
I will go ahead and load a few and try them but was wonderng if anybody has loaded brass as short as .090...or even down to .089?
They will be shot in an early Ruger of my sons'. P85 or 89?
Thanks in advance.

 

[45lowrider]

huh?

I'm not sure what measurement you're taking. Don't have my manuals here, but I believe case min. length for .45 ACP is .893 and max. is .898.

The measurements are taken after sizing. It is my experience, .45 brass rarely if ever needs to be trimmed.

Mike

 

[goon]

I think I know what you are talking about and I think I have dealt with this myself.
I have noticed that most of the 9mm brass I have, even the stuff that has been fired several times, is shorter than the minimum case length listed in any of my manuals (.754 I think but I am not looking at a manual right now). I wondered about that too because most auto rounds headspace on the case mouth.
Then I thought it through...
I have shot Speer, Remington, Winchester, Federal, and S&B. All of these have worked fine for the first firing as factory ammo. If anything it was just a hare shorter then than it is now. It all worked just fine then. Several thousand "short" rounds later, I and my SIG are still running along just fine and still shooting alot of "short" ammo.
I can't say personally what you should do, but I don't really worry about it.

 

[SASS#23149]

45Lowrider,welcome to the Board.
Ya got me .I changed the dimensions so they read correctly now.

goon,guess I'l load fifity,instead of all 300,and see how it goes.<crossing fingers>

 

[45lowrider]

thanks

SASS,

Thanks for the welcome. I don't think you will have any problems. Good luck with your loads.

Mike

 

[sundog]

Throckmorton, we just got done discussing this on another forum. The party line is headspace on the case mouth. In practice that does not happen. Case (pun more or less intended) in point is trim a 45 acp case short, short seat a bullet and it still goes bang. So where's the headspace on that? Not on the case mouth and not on the bullet. The extractor? Well, take a really close look and you'll find the claw resting in the groove not touching anything most of the time. My contention is that, in practice, the headspace is on the case taper. Remove the barrel and drop a round in. If it fits, it's headspaced. Or use a case guage. I've roll crimped 45 acp and they worked just fine -- no headspace on case mouth there either. btw, I've never encountered a 45 acp case that needed trimming. Soooo, to answer your question, yes, if a 45 acp case is properly sized, regardless of being short, it will work. Just one man's opinion. sundog

 

[SASS#23149]

sundog,sounds like you've 'been there,done that'.Thanks for the info,I'll load some up and go for the gold

 

[kimbernut]

I'm confused

I've always used a trim to length of .888 and a max length of.898 for the .45acp as per the first load manual I purchased(Speer) and have since checked several other manuals and found the same thing. I have found some cases once fired that have measured as short as .877 and have loaded a few just to see if it had any effect. I noticed no difference in firing them or in accuracy.

 

[stans]

I once trimmed 1000 pieces of 45 ACP brass, don't have a single one of them now! All lost in the weeds. For the most part, straight walled or constant tapered semi-auto pistol cases do not stretch with firing. It also rare to find one that meets, much less exceeds, SAAMI maximum length specifications. The worst thing that can happen with a case that is too short is that the taper crimp die will not remove all of the case flare. Now before anyone yells that taper crimping locks the bullet into the case and prevents setback, let me tell you that taper crimping only removes case flare. It is the tension of the brass case on the bullet that prevents set back and if you want to eliminate the setback all together then you must get a tool that allows you to roll a canellure into the case at the base of the bullet.

 

[SASS#23149]

Kimbernut,I like your manuals better than mine then.
both of mine 'agree' on .895 to .898,yet only ten pieces of my used brass measured .898 out of 200 pcs measured.
bottom line is nearly all of mine is .005 'short',but hey,somebody has shot em at least once,so they musta worked!

I tossed the ffew that were .010 short..I'm only so flexible.

 

[Randall]

I have been adjusting the bullets shoulder to headspace in the barrel. On cast lead semi wadcutters start long and try it in the barrel, keep setting the bullet back until the back of the case is flush or just below the barrel hood. on round nose bullets make sure it fits the magazine. This has worked for me for the past 20+ yrs I have loaded the .45 acp.
Randall
ps.
The case length doesnt make any difference.

 

[Smythe77]

Was reading the part on reloading in American Handgunner & chap mentioned he to had a tool for trimming his brass yet has never touched it in all the yrs he has shot 45ACP. His point was the primer box or case itself will give up before he has to even think of measuring his brass.