[MrYuk]

Ok, to be honest, I've shot some cases 20 or 30 times or more. I don't load hot or +P loads. I usually load at or below the starting point in most load tables. Now that I have a chrony (a must have for a reloader, not sure how I reloaded prior to this but that's a different thread) I am tuning my loads to the minimum I need for major.

In all this loading I almost never check the case dimensions. My thoughts and advice given to me was that shooting .45 at low pressures doesn't deform the cases enough to require trimming. I don't even own a trimmer. But, for some reason, the other day I mic'd some of my older cases and they are short. Some, very short. Here is some data:

My books show the maximum case length of .898. Seems pretty standard.
The trim to length shows .893 to .895. I have one that shows .888.

Now, I had bought some WW stamped Winchester brass. They all measure out at .892 to .895, in that range.

If I take a once fired case, prior to depriming and forming, they are .888 to .890.

After deprime/form, the once fired WW brass grows by a couple .000's to .890 to .892.

I have some of this old brass that measures in at .885 to .888.

So, depending upon which book I use, some of my WW stamped brass is too short right out of the box at .892. Am I reading that right?

And, how short is too short? I mean, when is the case too short? And is it just from the length to tell this or is there things in the way the gun feeds or shoots in order to say "hey, that was a short case"? What problems can occur from shooting a case that is .005 or .010 "too" short?

Thanks and great forums!

 

[robertbank]

5/1000th of an inch is not very much. It won't matter. As an aside, unlike bottle neckl cases straight walled cases like the .45acp will shorten, not lengthen overtime. I, like you, have cases that you can hardly read the headstamp on any more and have yet to check any of them for length. Guess when I have a problem I will worry about it but hasn't been the case for the time I have been reloading.

Stay Safe

 

[Canuck-IL]

As I learned from one of the masters on this forum, if they get short enough they'll affect your crimp; possibly also the powder drop if it's a case actuated type. .885 or less after sizing should be discarded.
/B

 

[WESHOOT2]

short?

45 Gap?

 

[Maj Tom]

As I learned from one of the masters on this forum, if they get short enough they'll affect your crimp; possibly also the powder drop if it's a case actuated type. .885 or less after sizing should be discarded.
/B

+1 on that! I check mine from time to time after sizing and if they are less than the SAMI minimum (.888) I toss them. Most split long before they shrink that much. My indicator is a noticeable difference in how well the case seals (blowback). I have yet to find cases at .898. I trim my new cases as long as possible to preclude excluding any as too short. Currently that is at .892. As they shrink, I do notice a change in accuracy for certain heads/powder combinations. Just my penny and a half…..

P.S. I recently stopped using my range brass as they got contaminated with brass that I hadn’t screened and I found some very short ones. I also have concerns about brass fired in some pistols currently on the market with unsupported chambers.

 

[WESHOOT2]

case by case

Provided some 45 ACP range-brass reloads to friend; one squib.

Case WALL split :grumble:

Passed all inspection stages.

Length, pocket, mouth, oh my!

 

[JohnC]

I have about 1000 Starline cases that I've loaded 20 times that are now .885 after resizing. Only about 10 have split so far and that was at loading number 16 and none have split since. I have not noticed any problems with the powder feed on my 550B and I check and adjust crimp as needed. Guess I'm just cheap but I have no intention of throwing them away until they split. They conduct CCW training on the range I use so I have been given 3 or 4000 once fired Winchester cases so no shortage of brass. I'm always willing to learn so I'm interested to hear what others are doing about "short brass".

 

[WESHOOT2]

just like you

I adjust as required.

 

[robertbank]

Case length

Certainly we all know the .45acp headspaces off the mouth. I am certain that if any of my cases were rediculously short I would run into a problem BUT I just have not found or experienced a problem yet.

I just keep reloading the brass until the I witness case splits at the mouth (from repeated belling), or case splits (from repeated re-sizing), at which time they go into the recycle box. I am sure I have cases that have been reloaded over 20 times and are still hanging in there.

Over the past three years I have discarded about 100 cases due to the above to causes and I must say most are from case mouth cracks or chips. I can remember only three or four cases splits all of which presented no problems when discharged but were discovered after cleaning when I inspect my brass before reloading.

.45acp is not a popular cartridge up here, though there are a few guys shooting it since I pick up the odd case at our range. I bought 2,000 cases off of ebay two years ago and have dipped into my stash once for a hundred cases. I suspect at some point I will run into a rash of discards hence the stash but until then like the rabbit the cases just keep on ticking.

None of this is to denegrate concerns relative to case length and certainly I think one should be aware of the potential problem but frankly from a practical view one could spend a lot of time worrying about a problem that just does have a practical concern.

As far as accuracy is concerned I have not noticed any effect for the shooting I do. I shoot IPSC occasionaly, Defensive Pistol a lot and at the ranges we shoot at there is no practical concern. I am not into bullseye shooting where accuracy would be more of a concern.

Stay Safe

 

[CitizenT]

I got to go further back in time on this site and find more of these great reloading details for the 45acp.

 

[RetiredRod]

I got to go further back in time on this site and find more of these great reloading details for the 45acp.

CitizenT, it's great for you to go back in time and find these threads that may be of interest to you. But, it's against the Forum rules to revive a thread that has been "dead" for more than about 3-4 months. This one has been dead about 8 years. A few minutes ago I had to lock another thread that you had revived from the dead.

And, in both cases, your post did not add any new information, it merely said basically "great thread". Certainly not worth reviving.

Thread closed.