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Case trimming question

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Honkytonk View Drop Down
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    Posted: September 13 2018 at 11:40am
I ordered and received 200 PPU brass some time ago. I measured the case length pre/post full length sizing. All were 2.21". All have been reloaded, half have been once fired. I measured the shot brass. 75% are 2.22" 25% 2.23". My Hodgson reloading manual says min/max case length for the .303B is 2.21/2.22 respectively. My question to the forum is at what length of the brass do you members trim? Thanks!
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Stanforth View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stanforth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 13 2018 at 12:44pm
I use a lee case trimmer. It sorts the length out without me bothering to measure and it costs pennies.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 13 2018 at 1:12pm
I usually trim to 2.212" especially if you're right on the 2.222/2.223 hairy edge.
I'm actually surprised yours are so long, most of the PPU I fire actually shortens a tad as the side walls blow out to fit the chamber on that first firing!
Are you sure you didn't mean "2.212"?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 13 2018 at 7:14pm
I did full case resize all the new brass prior to reloading the first time. I rechecked the length. I would say out of 75 fired brass, 70 are 2.22", 5 are 2.23". I will trim the lot. Winter project as I still have plenty of loaded ones. Thanks, Shamu!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stanforth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2018 at 3:03am
Originally posted by Honkytonk Honkytonk wrote:

I did full case resize all the new brass prior to reloading the first time. I rechecked the length.!
 
Why full length size new brass? The factory did that when they made the stuff.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2018 at 5:26am
Good question. I guess I was so used to using poor quality new brass with dinged up necks, splits, etc it became habit.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2018 at 9:24am
Due to my rifle having a fairly generous chamber, and the SMK ogives not ideal to reduce the jump; I tend to keep the cases at maximum length. So I trim to 2,22".
That may not suite everyone of course; but I tend to measure all my brass everytime I reload.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2018 at 11:22am
I have the opposite problem, a progressive press so I have to "pre-allow" for the case stretch!

Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote A square 10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2018 at 7:49pm
sometimes i wonder why we reload - then i remember that we all enjoy messing with our guns and ammo , it gives us purpose in this uncertain time [so have we always been in uncertain times ? i have heard that associated with certain eras and have always wondered of the phrase]
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ranch Dog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 14 2018 at 9:10pm
Nice setup Shamu! Once I get a load settled, I plan on moving my 303 to my progressive bench.


Oh, I use the Lee trimmers on a Lyman Prep Center. I trim my PPU brass to 2.222".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ranch Dog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2018 at 6:08am
Originally posted by Stanforth Stanforth wrote:

I use a lee case trimmer. It sorts the length out without me bothering to measure and it costs pennies.
Same here. The Lee trimmers are usually near the Min length of SAAMI or CIP Min/Max, but a lot of reloaders don't know that they can be adjusted out to the Max.

You start by slightly spreading the threaded tongue of the trimmer with a screw driver blade.


Next, set up your caliper with your desired case length. This is one of the few times you get to use the tail end of your caliper! The cutting length is measured from the blade of the cutter to the top of the pin.


It will thread tightly into the cutter, I have an old archery string nock pliers that seems made for the task. The round cutout does not scratch the surface of the cutter. When using a tool to adjust the length, use it against the reduced diameter portion of the gauge.

As I mentioned in one of my posts above, I use the trimmers on the Lyman Prep Center. Lee sells PN 90468 which contains the necessary cutter base and a threaded adaptor for the she!! holds that fits a stud driver handle.


I run all my brass across the gauges, it is quicker than measuring it. In that, I feed four progressives and a turret press across a wide range of cartridges, daddy gots to moves a lot of brass. I found an eBay user, azjason480, that 3D's a neat product for the Lee Case Trimmers. He has a Finger Saver and it does exactly what it claims. It also makes a case change extremely quick using a thumb and forefinger on one hand. There are two sizes of trimmer she!! holders, the smaller old and the larger new. He prints the savers in both sizes. After trying one with a 9mm Luger case, I'm loading 2,500 rounds of that a year, I bought a bunch of them and leave them on the high volume she!! holders. I'm not associated with the fellow in any way, shape, or form, other than that of a customer that enjoys a useful product.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2018 at 8:40am
Wow. Those pictures look like a proper laboratory. Very impressive. I have an old Case single stage press, and old RCBS scale and powder measurer. My trimmer uses a hand drill and an arbour with a cutter machined to 2.12". I stole my kids Rock polisher once she grew out of it to polish my brass. But I'm not a red neck!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ranch Dog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2018 at 10:05am
Originally posted by Honkytonk Honkytonk wrote:

Wow. Those pictures look like a proper laboratory. Very impressive. I have an old Case single stage press, and old RCBS scale and powder measurer. My trimmer uses a hand drill and an arbour with a cutter machined to 2.12". I stole my kids Rock polisher once she grew out of it to polish my brass. But I'm not a red neck!
Thanks, it all started with a single Lee Loader, back when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Ordered it out of the back of an Outdoor Life that I had subscribed to. We lived outside of town and the local corner store sold components. Parents didn't know want I was up to for at least 6 months and when they found out they figured it had kept me out of trouble so it couldn't be bad. I had been mowing yards for several years and paid for it without them knowing. Everything went crazy from there. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2018 at 7:06pm
I’ve learned not to over complicate brass prep. I shoot 150 to 200 rounds a week between my No. 4 and M1 rifles and I look for the simplest least time consuming process to reload that maintains good accuracy. Here’s what I do:

1. Tumble to clean.
2. Resize (F/L for auto-loader and Neck Size for bolt rifle).
3. Set caliper to max case length, 2.222 for .303, cases that pass thru calipers go into one bucket and don’t get trimmed, those that don’t pass thru get trimmed.
4. Set trimmer to desired length, I trim to 2.212 - 2.215.

If you think that not having the exact same case length on every round will affect accuracy in a LE, you can easily prove yourself wrong by accuracy testing.

Not having the exact same case length will affect the degree of bullet crimp, so I don’t crimp bullets.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote White Rhino Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2018 at 7:19pm
britrifles,
I do the same thing ... started doing that a few years ago , got tired of chucking every case and then finding nothing was getting trimmed off of some !!!!
"White Rhino"

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 42rocker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 05 2018 at 4:10pm
Some very nice reloading setups there. Way to go. Also some nice info sharing. Thanks.
 
Later 42rocker
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