lauderdale
Member
Let me ask this at what length do you stop and put your brass in the recycle bin? Loading for a 686 s&w 4 inch barrel. I know I can trim down for 38. but have plenty.
1.280 would be a bit long for the new Winchester cases I have processed. I found the cases are long enough to settle on 1.275 trim to get a consistent crimp. As far as when to scrap, perfectly good cases can be down to 1.265 but need to be segregated as 1.265 -.000+.005 for a different crimp adjustment. Case don't seem to shrink, so I check them for length before they go into the pipeline. I sort by head stamp, favoring Winchester and Starline, some PMC, so the variation within each is minimal.1.280. For light target loads you never have to trim again. For full power loads it will stretch a little.
Some people never trim revolver brass. I never clean primer pockets on handgun brass, but I do trim revolver brass. Fred cleans all primer pockets, but doesn't trim revolver brass. We all have our own little ways.
I have shot trimmed vs untrimmed .38 Spl and I cannot shoot the difference, if there is one, but I still trim it.
That said, if I shot half of what Fred shoots in .38 Spl per year, I might no trim it either, especially when it doesn't show on target.