Trimmed 500 casings of 9mm today.

[tony357 386]

you can hear some trim and some that do not, all once fired brass.

 

I trim all my 9mm brass to .740 i find it usually falls beetween .738 and .748 before trimming. oddly it is suppose to be .752 new but i have never had one that length..

 

 

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Did you size them first? thats why your lengths appear whacky. (if you didnt)

[lunker 274]

I have never trimmed my pistol brass. I hope never to be given a good enough reason to want to. I am not a bullseye shooter, and most of my brass only sees a few loadings since I pick up off the range floor. I don't think most Shore Shot patrons reload, so I get fresh brass.

[tony357 386]

I have played with this for a while, when you resize you will add about .008 to the length at least my die set does.

 

once you trim them for your crimp hieght you will not have to trim them again. if i trim them too .740 i end up with .750 case length some fall short cause they do not trim but very rarely under .738 anything shorter i toss.. this gives me a good crimp range..

[tony357 386]

here is a quick refrence to the amount of case stretch from my reloading die..I use this to get a consistant crimp.

 

[Babaganoosh 192]

I don't trim my pistol brass either. It's a good thing I don't because I am anal about stuff and I would be there for 10 years. I wonder how much difference it makes. I am sure they are a little more consistent when it comes to crimp.

 

I already deprime my pistol brass before I throw it in the SS tumbler. That's already too much extra work for me! I might start not even doing that anymore and just let them dry for an extra day.

 

Make sure you mark your brass so I can steal it at USPSA matches!

[Old School 611]

I have never sized my pistol brass. I hope never to be given a good enough reason to want to. I am not a bullseye shooter, and most of my brass only sees a few loadings since I pick up off the range floor. I don't think most Shore Shot patrons reload, so I get fresh brass.

How can you not size it? Ya gotta size it. Do you mean don't trim it?

 

Chris the sun and sand are getting to you....

[lunker 274]

That is for sure. Unfortunately I return on Thursday. Sunny and 80 degrees can get to you after a while.

[zoid 24]

Do you notice a difference in performance at the range with trimmed casings?

[tony357 386]

Do you notice a difference in performance at the range with trimmed casings?

 

My reloads seem to be consistant, early on in my reloading career i had a problem with bullets seating in the mag while firing.

some were crimped and others were not problem was i used a case that was longer than the rest to set my crimp, new to reloading i did not check case length.

I think by doing this i have avoided some issues over the years.

[Socom 19]

lol you act like pistol brass is like rifle brass; pistol brass is way more forgiving your wasting your time unless you like to sit there and look at your equipment

[Old School 611]

Tony - Just share with us what kind of groups you get with 9mm trimmed brass. I would espect it would be pretty good.

Most folks don't expect tight groups at 25 yds with a 9mm. Best I've got is about 3" with a KKM barrel out of a G34, maybe the majority

in 2" with about 4 fliers out of 10 rounds. Of course off of sand bags.

 

I could see trimming for special events.

[tony357 386]

Ok, i will put that on my list, i will shoot off sand bags at 25 yds with the kimber and report back after i do it..

I will also chrono the ammo..

I will see if i can do it this week..

[Vlad G 345]

I have never trimmed pistol brass, and I own .45 brass that has been reloaded so many times the headstamp has worn off. If it makes you happy go right ahead and do it, but you are the first person I ever heard of to do it

[tony357 386]

Did some brush up reading tonight on trimming handgun brass.

 

 

[raz-0 1,259]

Hmm, I'm closing in on 70,000 pistol cartridges reloaded. Many to the point the head stamp is no longer distinct. I've had problems due to flipped primers, and letting the powder run dry while getting a bit distracted. I have one gun that is real picky about how I size my .40 brass. Can't say I've ever trimmed pistol brass or had issues due to that.

 

Clearly it is a critical step that shouldn't be skipped.

[Vlad G 345]

Take a trip to brianenos.com, and in the reloading forum ask how many trim their pistol brass. Keep in mind these are the people that shoot more reloaded pistol ammo then any other group on earth. Or keep trimming it, your time is your own really.

[lunker 274]

Perhaps it is of use to the Bullseye shooter.

[raz-0 1,259]

Perhaps it is of use to the Bullseye shooter.

 

From a bullseye FAQ at http://www.doppke.com/~jls/bullfaq/sec3.html

 

 

"In general, brass preparation is not as important for pistol competition as it is for rifle competition. Bullseye gunsmith and master class shooter Ed Masaki put it this way:

 

I have been building 45 pistols for a long time for many shooters up to HI MASTERS. I always test the guns on a Ransom Rest out to 50 yards. With groups 1 1/2" to 3/4" center to center. I found out that brass does not make a difference in accuracy. I have used mixed and old brasses and they all shot the same groups. What makes the difference in accuracy is how well the pistol is put together, what barrels are used, what bullet and what type of powder is used.

 

Opinions vary a bit, but you don't need to spend time trimming brass, cleaning primer pockets, or any of that other stuff that rifle shooters do. Your brass should be clean and in good condition - always inspect for split necks, big dings in the wall or crushed rims, lest you blow yourself up. That's it. You don't even really need to sort by headstamp, if you don't want to. Most of us do, though."

 

 

I've seen a number of threads on the subject of trimming pistol brass form newbies on several forums, and not one single post by someone who claims it improves accuracy. LOTS of people who don't do it, and have had no safety or reliability issues (some who have been doing without it for over half a century).

 

Did I mention of those nearly 70k rounds, most have been .40, and the majority of those have been run through a case gauge after loading? Over 30k of range pick up.

 

I even asked around a bit as well as hit up google for more info TRYING to see if I cna come up with a reason to trim pistol brass. The only remotely legit answer I got was that if you are shooting magnum revolver cartridges loaded real hot, and use a roll crimp, you might need to. Also jsut a real heavy roll crimp might cause you to need to.

 

I have also found one instance of someone making 5000 pieces of brass unusable with his 20k plated bullets because the sharp edge would now shave the plating (I guess he chamfered too, which I'm assuming was the really bad idea).

 

It's your life, spend it doing what you want, I wouldn't recommend wasting it trimming straight wall pistol brass for a semi-auto.

[Ryan626 5]

Wouldn't an EGW undersize die take care of this if it really bothers some reloaders?

 

http://www.egwguns.com/undersized-reloading-dies/undersize-reloading-dies/