Pistol cases...to trim or not to trim?

[4barrel]

I have 3 38 autos. I check the length for them only but do not trim. The autos get taper crimped. If a little long they go in the revolver pile. Some people with 52s trim the brass for better feeding. If you trim brass it needs to be trimmed AFTER it is resized for best results. The case mouth cracks are easier to detect. There are lots of answers at the bottom of this page.

 

[elpac3]

Ditto to all the above - never have trimed straight walled pistol cases.

Routinely trim rifle and will even neck turn a rifle case. You may find you will wear out a pistol case before you need to trim for length.

 

[NevadaDan]

Never have trimmed a 9mm or 38 case's but I always trim for .223's if needed.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I've reloaded pistols since about 1975, never trimmed a pistol hull. Of course you have to trimmed bottle neck rifle hulls.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[olskool]

In 49 years of handloading I don't ever remember trimming any pistol brass.

 

[chief38]

Been reloading Pistol & Revolver cartridges for 35 years and have never ever trimmed a case! Heck, I do not even own a trimmer! I will state though that for the most part, I do not load my cartridges hot - as I use them only for making holes in paper. I usually load to the minimum of what they specify in the reloading manuals and so the Brass never seems to stretch. In reality it probably does just slight amount but it has NEVER been an issue and the vast majority of my cases have been reloaded at least 5 - 7 times.

I also reload .357 Magnum cartridges but only shoot them on occasion so they are not reloaded very many times, therefore I have never had any problems.

Higher pressure rifle cartridges (such as 5.56 / .223) are where cases stretch to the point of where they must be trimmed.

 

[TANKLEGACY]

I would comment...but the ol' timers that were loading before I was born already answered the question...lol

 

[leadhead2]

If you shoot handgun silhouette, you damn well better trim.
.357 and .44 mag brass must be trimmed to get equal crimp
on the bullet or they won't be very accurate at 200 meters.
Shot silhouette for 22 years and had much fun.
Denny

 

[H Richard]

If you are shooting precision matches, the "consistent" crimp will result in better scores over the long run. If you are shooting action, IPSC or IDPA, don't bother. Some years ago, I did some testing. Selecting matched head-stamp/lot brass, and trimmed to exactly the same length, I prepared a box each of exactly the same load, OAL, primer, powder, etc, all loaded at the same time. Several groups of each were shot "From a Ransom Rest". The random brass, not trimmed, at 50 ft. shot a little less than a 1 inch group. The trimmed loads shot a 3/8" group. So "if" you feel the need for much tighter groups trim. If you are satisfied just under an inch at 50 ft. (probably around1 1/2" to 2" at 25 yards). Don't worry about it. If you desire to have the best possible accuracy, Trim.

 

[Boudiepitbull]

Interestingly enough, while most here said they almost never need to trim straight wall brass, on another thread about someone having a problem with .44 Mag crushed cases the response seemed to be overwhelmingly to trim, trim, and then to trim. So...there you have it! There's what you're supposed to do, what you might have to do, and what everyone usually goes ahead and does anyway.

I went ahead and bought a Lee trimmer and trimming dies for the case sizes I intend to load. Maybe I'll need them, maybe I won't, but if I do need them I will have them on hand. I bought press mounted accessories so I'm not giving up any bench space to another tool that I have to mount or clamp down. I also outfitted with a bullet puller and collets so I wouldn't be hammering on the floor. I guess I just want my press to be my basic tool platform and swap out accessories for different operations...except for priming...I ordered myself a RCBS bench primer on sale because I thought it was a really cool tool

 

[hdwhit]

Like most others who have posted, I don't trim my pistol brass.

When I get new-to-me brass (new brass or once-fired), I set my calipers to the SAAMI maximum length and make sure none of the cases are too long. Any that are get tossed because I figure something isn't right since straight-wall pistol brass doesn't lengthen near as fast as bottleneck brass. Except for .38 Special, most of my brass gets lost in the weeds before I would need to worry about it getting too long or becoming overworked.

 

[Confederate Tyrant]

For the .357 & .44 Magnum, I have some mixed headstamps for light to moderate plinking loads, which I do not trim. The difference in crimps isn't noticeable. However, brand new Starline brass is kept separate and gets trimmed for full power magnum loads.

Recently started loading for the S&W .500 Magnum and all I have is brand new Starline brass, which I trimmed before use.

 

[Skeet 028]

I found that I had to trim 5S&W cases about every 4th loading. Not much BUT the 500 is a very high intensity round and I didn't want any problems. All loads for it were top end loadings. It was a good shooter though much too heavy to carry around..so I sold it and carried a Mossy shotgun instead..much easier to shoot also. I also have around 250 Fed slugs for b'ar country too. As stated though..I really only trim top end mag loads for uniformity.