I had to trim some revolver brass

[Tech Ninja]

As a junior reloader I have been reading the reloading forum for some time now. I have found many useful posts and have learned a great deal. When trimming is discussed there have been many suggestions to the effect that trimming pistol brass is unnecessary. But with all things I discovered what works for others may not apply to everyone.

When I tried some new brass I had these bulges appear:

This is CBC head stamped .38 Special brass. Turns out that it is .005 to .008 longer than the Winchester or Remington brass I usually use. I bought a Lee trimmer and used it on all the CBC brass and now it works fine.

I suppose I could have separated out all the CBC brass and readjusted the crimp die just for it but I would really prefer to have all my brass the same length.

So when we talk about trimming pistol brass maybe it would be more accurate to say that there is no need to trim if all the brass is the same length. You never run out of things to learn when you reload.

 

[savanahsdad]

yep... it should all be the same length, so it crimps the same , and if it's to long ,,,,, well I see you just saw what happens then , glad to see you figured it out on your own ,

 

[horsemen61]

Yeah I agree with your decision tech trimming it all was a good idea

 

[tightgroup tiger]

So when we talk about trimming pistol brass maybe it would be more accurate to say that there is no need to trim if all the brass is the same length.

The only time you need to trim pistol brass is when your going to use a roll crimp.
Taper crimping doesn't require it.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

So when we talk about trimming pistol brass maybe it would be more accurate to say that there is no need to trim if all the brass is the same length. You never run out of things to learn when you reload.

When most people say that they don't trim pistol brass, they actually mean auto-loader pistol brass. Any type of brass that should get a roll crimp, revolver brass, lever action brass, etc, should be trimmed to a uniform length. Auto-loader pistol brass normally gets a slight taper crimp, so uniform brass length isn't as critical so long as the brass will chamber.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm a little confused as to how you could buckle the brass that badly with only a difference of 5 Thousandths of an inch difference in length. Do you realize how very small that is compared to the brass buckling you are showing? I think something else might be going on there, really...

 

[gamestalker]

I'm an odd ball in this respect, cause I keep all brass trimmed to published trim to lengths, rimmed, rimless, bottle neck, and any other. Whether or not it makes any difference, I don't know, all I can say is I've never experienced a single mis-fire, a mouth get pinched in the throat, unexplained high pressure spikes, bullets jumping crimp due to varying lengths, buckling cases during seating, or a failure to go into battery. All are possible circumstances that could result from not maintaining brass to within it's published specified length.

GS

 

[45lcshooter]

bulging cases are fine in some respects, you want to expand the case a little more. Remember the case is long and narrow, and your trying to push a bullet into the case. If the bulging seems to be getting worse, then just cull it. Revolver brass as well as any other brass will grow after firings, new brass is also over the trim to length.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I'm a little confused as to how you could buckle the brass that badly with only a difference of 5 Thousandths of an inch difference in length. Do you realize how very small that is compared to the brass buckling you are showing? I think something else might be going on there, really...

I have to agree with ArchAngleCD. I thought about that picture on and off last night after seeing it and don't think I've seen a case buckle inside the sizing die like that.

Are those RCBS dies by any chance? The reason I ask is I just got a new set of RCBS dies for Christmas and I know they don't resize the case as far down as my Lee dies do but in your case it almost looks like your using a 9mm resizing die to size your .38s with. The buckle should have been lower on the case or your sizing die wasn't adjusted right to begin with.
That is really weird.

 

[Bailey Boat]

Just a quick note, make sure your shell holder is matched (same manufacturer) to the die set.

 

[41 Mag]

I'm with gamestalker to a point with my cases. All of my revolver brass gets trimmed to length or at least squared up depending on which ones they are or the loads previously fired in them. With about all of my target loads trimming to length is usually only required from the get go and a squaring job about every three or four loads there after as they don't change much at all.

With all of my magnum revolver jacketed bullet rounds I check and usually trim to some extent after every load. These however are usually pushing the upper end for performance. With the cast bullet loads I can usually get by with every two or thee loads as with the others due to them not being loaded to top end pressures.

But like you have found it only takes a little bit sometimes to squash a case up really good. Those can however be salvaged with a little time and energy and a snug fitting dowel rod or brass bolt. Or if you have a goodly quantity of them simply relegate them to the recycle bucket.

 

[Tech Ninja]

I'm a little confused as to how you could buckle the brass that badly with only a difference of 5 Thousandths of an inch difference in length. Do you realize how very small that is compared to the brass buckling you are showing? I think something else might be going on there, really..

You know I thought that too. But all I did to fix it was trim the brass. Maybe I had the crimp die at the limit before crushing and the CBC brass was just long enough to go over it. Maybe...

 

[hovercat]

Just a gentle correction regarding post 5. Most autoloader brass headspaces on the case mouth. So the case length is even more critical than revolver brass.

 

[Rule3]

In what die or what stage did the bulge happen.??

I probably have every head stamp brand brass in most all revolver calibers and have never trimmed one of them. Have not seen a bulge like that occur due to a difference in case length??

 

[leefan]

Have to agree with Rule3. Always check for expansion beyond the max SAAMI spec, have never found it, and never trim. Maybe I never have a problem because I use the Lee factory crimp dies.

 

[Dframe]

I dont often trim handgun brass, though uniformity of length is a good (make that great) idea. I randomly check pieces for length and trim if I find any too long. I've had some trouble with CBC brass in the past and toss mine in the recycle bin.

 

[Tech Ninja]

It happened during seating/crimping. I use a standard Lee 3 die set.

 

[Rule3]

It happened during seating/crimping. I use a standard Lee 3 die set.

So the pictures posted had bullets in them which were removed??

If using the seating die to seat AND crimp once the die is set to the correct seating depth when you turn in the WHOLE die 3/4 of a turn in to crimp, it also seats the bullet another .055" which is what can crush your case.

Regardless of the brass used, set you seating depth .055" shorter than your final desired OAL. The crimp action will then seat and crimp to the final OAL

 

[BYJO4]

I personally trim all my new brass as I have the time and I feel it helps give me a more consistent crimp. However, from the picture, I think you need to adjust your crimp/seat die as that bulge is too much from the small difference in case length that you indicated.

 

[baddad06]

If it is happening during the seating/crimp stage you may want to try reducing the crimp. The same thing happened to me loading 357 mag. I reduced the crimp and the problem was solved.

 

[Walkalong]

Turns out that it is .005 to .008 longer than the Winchester or Remington brass I usually use.

With proper adjustment, the longest cases will not buckle, have a nice full roll crimp, while the shorter ones will simply get less crimp.

Me?

I trim revolver brass unless it is a batch of all the same headstamp and consistent in length.

I have a wide mix of .38 Spl and .357 Mag brass with a variety of lengths, so I trim it all.

My .41 Mag brass is all Starline and consistent in length, so it did not get trimmed the first time around. I'll monitor it to see if it needs it in the future, or I just need to adjust the crimp.

My .32 Long brass is all Starline, very consistent, and I am shooting light target loads in it. It may never get trimmed.

My .45 Colt brass is a mix of several brands, so it got trimmed.

 

[HEAVY METAL 1]

Me thinks you didn't expand the case mouth enough and when you seated/crimped as poster above explained the bullet was snug in the brass already, but got pushed down several more thousandths and buckled the brass. I state this with a modicum of certainty because it happened to me. I have never trimmed any handgun brass and the only time I ever had a problem was when I didn't expand the case mouth enough. Would my handgun rounds be more accurate if I trimmed the brass? Possibly, but when I load I do several hundred at a time and there is no way in HE double toothpicks I am going to invest that amount of effort.

 

[AABEN]

It happened during seating/crimping. I use a standard Lee 3 die set.

you need to adj the die that you are putting the powder throw it needs to open up the mouth of the case so the bullet will not bulge your case.1 to 2 thousand is all you need them the seating die will put a crimp on it when seating the bullet.

 

[BSA1]

The only brass I occasionally have bulge like that is when I either;

a) increase my speed too fast when exchanging loaded round for empty brass and don't quite get the brass fully pressed in on the shellholder

Or

b) with off brands or tired brass. I throw my range brass in coffee cans and make no effort to keep track of the number of times they have been reloaded.

I just resize the brass again. If it bulges a second time it goes into the scrap bucket.

 

[1KPerDay]

On this subject: I am new to .45 Colt and not an expert on revolver loads in general. I don't trim my semi-auto brass and have had excellent results for many thousands of rounds. I can make plinking-accurate .38 special loads and haven't trimmed any yet, but I'm not going for the utmost accuracy... just 8-inch plates at 18 yards accurate.

I have mixed .45 Colt brass. I have 200 new starlines that I've loaded to cowboy velocities (but I actually don't have a .45 Colt revolver to run them through yet... I know... I know... ). I also have a couple hundred mixed once fired and some are 1.270" long. Is that going to be a problem? My manuals say the trim to length is 1.275". The majority is around that or a couple thousandths longer. But quite a bit is 1.270. I don't really want to trim it all to the shorter length... but do I have to?

Would a taper crimp or collet crimp die be of any use here?