coloradokevin
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,285
What if my brass just won't "grow up"? My pieces are on their third loading, and are still below the "trim to" length for this cartridge. They also aren't of consistent length. I'm trying to load match-quality ammunition, and this is a variable I'm having trouble controlling for!
I'm in the process of reloading 20 pieces of Remington brass for my .308 Win. The first firing on this brass was as factory loaded ammo (Remington Core-Lokt), shot through my Tikka rifle. The brass was then neck sized and loaded for a second time, and again fired through my Tikka.
I neck sized the brass once again, and then measured each piece with a set of calipers. The brass length currently varies between about 2.008" and 2.015", with most pieces falling around 2.009-2.011". The SAAMI trim length for this cartridge is 2.015".
So, what shall I do? None of the pieces are above the trim-to length, so trimming would seem pointless. But, the pieces are also of varying lengths, which causes me some concern as I try to load high quality ammunition for target accuracy.
Is it even safe to trim shorter than trim-to length (I know it isn't safe to go over, but I've found little written about going under)? Should I take these pieces down to a uniform length that would end up being .007" below the specified SAAMI trim length? Should I load them as-is, and not worry about the varying length of the brass?
Any other suggestions?
I'm in the process of reloading 20 pieces of Remington brass for my .308 Win. The first firing on this brass was as factory loaded ammo (Remington Core-Lokt), shot through my Tikka rifle. The brass was then neck sized and loaded for a second time, and again fired through my Tikka.
I neck sized the brass once again, and then measured each piece with a set of calipers. The brass length currently varies between about 2.008" and 2.015", with most pieces falling around 2.009-2.011". The SAAMI trim length for this cartridge is 2.015".
So, what shall I do? None of the pieces are above the trim-to length, so trimming would seem pointless. But, the pieces are also of varying lengths, which causes me some concern as I try to load high quality ammunition for target accuracy.
Is it even safe to trim shorter than trim-to length (I know it isn't safe to go over, but I've found little written about going under)? Should I take these pieces down to a uniform length that would end up being .007" below the specified SAAMI trim length? Should I load them as-is, and not worry about the varying length of the brass?
Any other suggestions?