I've been shooting my Ruger, Dan Wesson and Thompson Contender 357 Maximums since the late '80s. My usual load is Remington brass, Lyman #358627 (215 gr, SWC with gas check), 19.2 gr W-296, SR primer and a very tight crimp. After reading in several sources that the brass had a short life and stretched so much that a lot of trimming was necessary, I got a ton of new brass. However my brass easily exceeds 20 reloadings and actually SHRINKS a tad in length with use regardless of what guns are used. I've never trimed a single case which is fine with me. Do any of you know why my Max brass shrinks rather than stretches as all the pundits claimed would happen?????
My Ever Shrinking 357 Maximum Brass?
- Thread starter Mr. Tree
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I've been shooting my Ruger, Dan Wesson and Thompson Contender 357 Maximums since the late '80s. My usual load is Remington brass, Lyman #358627 (215 gr, SWC with gas check), 19.2 gr W-296, SR primer and a very tight crimp. After reading in several sources that the brass had a short life and stretched so much that a lot of trimming was necessary, I got a ton of new brass. However my brass easily exceeds 20 reloadings and actually SHRINKS a tad in length with use regardless of what guns are used. I've never trimed a single case which is fine with me. Do any of you know why my Max brass shrinks rather than stretches as all the pundits claimed would happen?????
steveno
Member
that is true with straight walled cases. I have never trimmed 38 spec , 357 , 357 max , 41 mag , 44 mag , 45 Colt or 45 acp
JohnK
US Veteran
OK, I give up.
Why would it shrink ?
Friction from the resizing die ?
I've been hand loading for 45 years, and never heard of this. I just knew it didn't lengthen.
Why would it shrink ?
Friction from the resizing die ?
I've been hand loading for 45 years, and never heard of this. I just knew it didn't lengthen.
Paul5388
US Veteran
There is a tendency for the expanding ball on a full length resizing die to lengthen bottle necked brass as it pulls the unsupported neck toward the mouth of the case. The same situation, of lengthening, does not happen with a collet neck sizing die. So, it's a function of the expander ball, not the type of case.
jrplourde
Member
Wow, I'm confused (not unnatural) but a fired case has brass being pressured so expanding. Sizing puts pressure on the brass so it moves (flows),expanding. How in hell can it contract?
Bob
Bob
Ever take a pottery class, Bob? No? Lucky you.
Anyway, a straight case cannot be lengthened by firing because there is no shoulder to push forward.
When we size, it is like making pottery, if you move the sizer UP, it would lengthen the case, but we size the case DOWN, and it pushes brass back toward the head. As Paul pointed out, if you could just squeeze IN with a full collet it would stay pretty much the same.
At any rate, there is too little change in a straight case to worry about. Just shoot them in a supported chamber until they split the mouth or they look overworked and you can't read the headstamp.
Unsupported chambers, particularly early Glocks .40s, are more picky. Buy a case gauge and use it. Beware of thin spots and little bulges remianing near the case head that could hold the slide a tiny bit out of battery.
jrplourde
Member
Well that makes sense and might explain why all my 9mm brass is 0.045 short of the "trim to length".
Bob
Hello Mr. Tree...I have never seen any longer cases come from shooting...I hope to get 20 reloads too!!
I've not yet tried the nice gas checked bullets that happened to find their way to my bench...
I hope to be getting out to try out the Dan Wesson Ammo I got with m SuperMag...I'll post the accuracy and chrono results for all to see.
After is warms a bit!! We got a dusting of snow last night!
Bob
I've not yet tried the nice gas checked bullets that happened to find their way to my bench...
I hope to be getting out to try out the Dan Wesson Ammo I got with m SuperMag...I'll post the accuracy and chrono results for all to see.
After is warms a bit!! We got a dusting of snow last night!
Bob
Thanks all for the good info. I did not expect the brass to change because none of the other straight wall pistol brass did, but all the "experts" that wrote for the gun rags back then said it would stretch and would need to be trimmed. What's good is that this was the only thing they were ever wrong about!
VonFatman: Your boxes of Dan Wesson 357 SuperMag ammo --- what do the head stamps show, "Maximum" or "SuperMag"?
VonFatman: Your boxes of Dan Wesson 357 SuperMag ammo --- what do the head stamps show, "Maximum" or "SuperMag"?
you can't blame the sizer die for the brass being shorter. i just measured 38 special brass i fired yesterday, did not resize them yet, and all are shorter than the original trim length. it has to take place in the firing process.
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