Michael Early
Member
I am just starting to working with reloading 38 special for revolver. I decided to go thru each piece of brass and measure it to see how it lined up to spec (1.145 - 1.155). I had a couple of dozen pieces that are below minimum after sizing -- like around 1.138 to 1.142 and was wondering what to do with them. Since I am using a revolver I know I don't need to worry about feeding problems but if I load these along with the other "normal ones" then the seating depth is going to be about ~.005 less - am using a Dillon 550B to load - unless I hold these out and seat these separately. It seems to me that the same OAL with different length brass implies different seating depths.
If I were loading my benchrest rifle this would not be good
However, since I am loading a handgun I'm not really sure it matters - although I do worry about not enough tension and having a bullet work loose from the brass as I am firing the gun and that would be a problem. To me the range is there to make sure there is enough neck tension to hold the bullet and not so much neck tension that it creates a pressure problem - so it seems like it would be in my best interest to stay in that range.
Are my concerns reasonable? Is there a "safe" minimum length or is the 1.145 pretty much it? And yes I do realize that I could make the necessary seating adjustment based on brass length but that seems to defeat the purpose of having a 550B to quickly load lots of ammo
So I guess what I am asking is 1) throw these away? 2) load in batches based on brass length? or 3) just load them, don't worry about the seating depth variation, and go shoot? Thanks,
If I were loading my benchrest rifle this would not be good

Are my concerns reasonable? Is there a "safe" minimum length or is the 1.145 pretty much it? And yes I do realize that I could make the necessary seating adjustment based on brass length but that seems to defeat the purpose of having a 550B to quickly load lots of ammo

So I guess what I am asking is 1) throw these away? 2) load in batches based on brass length? or 3) just load them, don't worry about the seating depth variation, and go shoot? Thanks,