Hey folks,
When I first started reloading back in the 1950s, like most other younger folks, I did not have an excess of money to buy everything at once. The first caliber I loaded was for a 30-40 Krag. I had only about one and a half boxes of Rem-Peters brass to get started, so I was very happy when a friend who was teaching me to load gave me about 50 .303 British cases to fireform and use in my Krag.
He showed me how to fireform the cases, and soon I had about 75 cases to use in my Krag. The .303 British cases were 1/8 inch or so shorter than the regular R-P cases, but it really did not matter since I did not need to crimp any of my bullits whether they were jacketed or cast. The important thing to me at that time was simply that they worked, and did not have to buy them. They just looked a little funny if you happened to line them up and see some bullets seemed to be longer and others seemed to be shorter. If there was any difference in accuracy between the two cartridge lengths, I wasn't good enough to tell. To me, they both seemed to shoot the same.
As a few years went by, I got a few more guns and dies to load each of them. With the new guns, all my brass was the correct brass for each gun, but I was still using the same old mix of .303 Brit and regular 30-40 Krag brass in that gun. I finally got to the point where I went out and bought 100 R-P cases for the 30-40 Krag, and as I used the fireformed .303 cases, I took them home and smashed them with a hammer so they could not be used again.
I had come to the point where I simply did not like the idea of using fireformed cases in a gun that was a different caliber than the caliber stamped on the head of the case. I am not suggesting that no cases should ever be fireformed for use when cases are not easily available. I just got the point where it seemed foolish to fireform other cases when the correct cases are readily available.
The last cases I fireformed were 45-70 cases which I made into 40-60 Winchester cases, and that was nearly 20 years ago. At that time, there were no new 40-60 cases to be bought, so I made them from 45-70 cases. I was bothered by the idea of a 40-60 case with "45-70" on the case head, so I used a pointed punch to obliterate the "5" and the "7" one each case head. I know the 40-60 and the 45-70 are obviously different in their sizes and appearance, but I just felt more comfortable with the two numbers marred so that no one would look at the case head and mistake the case for a 45-70.
Of course this thread is about 45-70 cases in standard length and Hornady's short version. Coming back to that particular point, the whole idea of 45-70 "long and short" versions made me think of my "long and short" cases I used in my 30-40 Krag so long ago. They worked in my 30-40 Krag rifle OK, but I just did not like the look and idea of the short ones.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile