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Case Trimming

mballai
How many times would a typical straight wall pistol case (say 38, 357 or 44 mag) be fired before it need to be trimmed? I never worried about this with auto cases as they usually flew away before they needed trimming, but I usually don't lose my wheelgun cases.

Three Precious Metals: Gold, silver and lead
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5 comments

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  • mballai
    I am wondering how you all trim your cases. I ask because currently, I use Lee stuff to trim my cases. This works fine, so long as they make a pilot in the caliber needed. However, if you have an oddball caliber, you need to custom order a pilot for $15 plus shipping, which can get quite pricey. So my question is, is there a good hand or machine turned cutter for which you do not need a pilot as long as the case? That is, I need a trimmer which has a pilot for the diameter (6.5mm, .30, 8mm, etc) but will work on any length case. For instance, I have an 8mm Mauser; fine, I just use the 8mm Mauser pilot. But suppose I want to trim some 8X56R brass? With Lee I have to special order another trim pilot. Any suggestions?
    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conference in 1899.
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  • Throckmorton
    Most folks don't bother trimming straight wall pistol cases.It doesn't hurt to "mike" em once in a while to see where they're at,but they don't 'grow'like bottle neck rifle cases do.I think it's because there's no expander ball to yank the case neck out if it fits too tight.

    Throckmortons' the alias,cas is the game.
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  • mballai
    I figured I would ditch my cases if they got long given the higher pressures of magnum loads and the fact that I usually see 357 cases start to split after a few reloads. I'm just trying to gauge when to yank them from service.

    Three Precious Metals: Gold, silver and lead
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  • cletus85
    I've loaded 44 and 357 mags up to ten times without trimming, the key is keeping the cases together so there won't be a length disparity resulting in a non-uniform crimp.
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  • Laredo Lefty
    Since the revolver cases you mentioned headspace on the rim, trimming is seldom if ever required. I have reloaded thousands of .38 spl, .357mag, .44spl & mag, many of the cases over and over again, and as mentioned above they will always crack before trimming is needed.

    Rifle cases and auto pistol cases are different. They headspace on the front of the case. Rifle cases are so long they tend to stretch during the resizing process.

    I have measured .30 carbine brass before and after resizing, and found that it stretches a couple thousands during the process.

    When reloading 5.56 and 7.62 ammo I resize it and trim it at the same time in my Dillon electric trim die so I dont know how much it stretches, but some brass is cut off each time it is reloaded.
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