Thread: Cases shorter than max trim length (pistol cal) - Does it matter?

Hi all
Max trim length is 1.380” for 454 casull. Most of mine is around 1.375” (never trimmed, fired 3-5 times).
Does it matter or just crack on?
It goes in a Rossi 92.
Maybe you will know @grandpamac

Originally Posted by thatguy

Hi all
Max trim length is 1.380” for 454 casull. Most of mine is around 1.375” (never trimmed, fired 3-5 times).
Does it matter or just crack on?
It goes in a Rossi 92.
Maybe you will know @grandpamac

Greetings,
The Casull is a rimmed case so does not need the case mouth for headspace as many auto pistols do. It does need even case length to get a consistant crimp. The crimp serves two purposes the first is to prevent bullet displacement during recoil. With your Rossi the bullets can be driven further into the case without a stout crimp. The second is to get more uniform ignition and accuracy. This is especially important in revolvers but perhaps in your Rossi as well. The actual length is not important as long as they are all the same length. Others will have first hand practical experience. Please add your evperience.
Regards Grandpamac.

yeah nah,be all good...some folks have made bottle neck rounds with necks too short (before someone told me to use base bit of lee trimmer) did not make slight bit of difference to going bang and hitting what aimed at.

Yeah just found it strange that even unfired cases are below the max trim length. Is that normal?

@grandpamac thanks for the insight. Are you suggesting to trim all to 1.375 and anything under that to keep separate or bin?

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yeah nah,be all good... going bang and hitting what aimed at.

uncanny........what did i say @thatguy...... almost word for word

glad im not the only one that takes this approach to reloading hunting rounds

.45/70 factory....the hornady flexitip cases are close to 1/4" shorter than all other cases...... its a slightly different version of your round....I load smokeless in the shorties and smelly in the long ones.

I noted my swede does that on first firing of new brass. Gets shorter...

Originally Posted by thatguy

Yeah just found it strange that even unfired cases are below the max trim length. Is that normal?

@grandpamac thanks for the insight. Are you suggesting to trim all to 1.375 and anything under that to keep separate or bin?

Greetings,
If you are not crimping and not having any problems with the projectile being pushed back into the case then change nothing. If you are crimping and still getting good results ditto. If you are looking for more accuracy (this may not be a goal in the Rossi) then trimming all cases to the same length, even if this is a little shorter, may provide it. Batches of cases can be and often are shorter than standard and cause no problem Cases that are too long can cause high pressure and should be avoided or trimmed back to standard lengths. I freely admit that I am pretty anal about my handloading and I do some things because I like doing it like cleaning primer pockets so the choice is yours. I can't see that you will have any serious problems in ignoring case length completely, I would make sure that the loads are crimped though.
Regards Grandpamac.
P.S. I think that the Lee type crimper may be more tolerant of case length.

Thanks for that. I have not had issues, but thought I should check case length, thinking it would be over max length.
I crimp as a separate step, with the Lee crimp and bullet seating die which seems to work well.