.45 ACP case trimming

[Sharps '63]

So who trims their .45 ACP brass? And who sorts it as to brand/maker?

I just sorted through an ice cream bucket of .45 ACP brass that came my way - mostly GI, some WW. The GI has been reloaded with silver coloured primers, so I presume the primer pockets have been swadged, saving me that chore.

I've read a few articles on the topic of trimming .45 ACP brass and the conclusion after shooting comparative groups from a Ransom rest with trimmed/sorted brass against untrimmed was that it wasn't worth the effort. In fact, in one test, the mixed bag gave better overall accuracy!

 

[Ganderite]

I have only loaded 276,000 rounds so far. It might be a bit early to see if I need to trim....... have not tried sorting cases, either.

 

[Yukon1911]

I do mixed brass, except for Norc, I keep that separate. I have trimmed 45 but its not worth it, hardly any gets trimmed off.

 

[Canuck44]

.45acp brass shortens, not lengthens with usage. You will never have to trim .45acp brass....ever. I have new Winchester .45acp brass never fired that is not .898 in length and those will never need trimming. The brass should last you at least 15 reloadings and then you will likely get just the odd split case.

Take Care

Bob

 

[mmattockx]

I have only loaded 276,000 rounds so far.

The brass should last you at least 15 reloadings and then you will likely get just the odd split case.

I have some .45ACP brass that the headstamp has been peened flat from use and they are still going strong. The only way mine ever seem to die is being lost in the gravel at the range.

Oh yeah, +1 on not trimming. I have quit checking case length, it never seems to go anywhere.


Mark

 

[RUPZUK]

I sort all my 45 brass now...
Large primer gets cleaned, small get tossed in a bucket.
Ticks me off they make it both ways.

 

[Ganderite]

I sort all my 45 brass now...
Large primer gets cleaned, small get tossed in a bucket.
Ticks me off they make it both ways.

I throw the small primer ones in a bucket. When it gets full I load them up with some kind of special load that does not get shot often - like HP ammo.

 

[TIPPY91]

i sort my 45acp brass but never trimmed it.

 

[Sharps '63]

Thanks for the input!

Good to read some reasonable responses to a non-existent problem. I still feel better about sorting brass by maker, but even then you get a lot of variance.

Way back I used to roll crimp my .45 ACP rds, but conventional wisdom said that taper crimping was better, so I've been taper crimping ever since. So much for .45 ACP brass headspacing on the edge of the case mouth.
Roll crimp or taper crimp, it sure appears that it's the extractor hook that holds the round during ignition.

 

[sunray]

.45 ACP rarely needs trimming, if ever. Most pistol brass doesn't need trimming. Trimming has nothing to do with accuracy either. It's strictly about case length and in the case of the .45, heaspace.
"...presume the primer pockets have been swaged..." That only means it's reloads.
"...used to roll crimp my .45 ACP..." You know now that doing that means you have no headspace. It has nothing to do with the extractor either. You were unsafe.

 

[Chuckbuster]

What is this trimming and sorting thing of which you speak?

 

[HammerliSP20]

I sort all my 45 brass now...
Large primer gets cleaned, small get tossed in a bucket.
Ticks me off they make it both ways.

There is no difference in load performance using large or small pistol primers. Yeah you have to sort them so you're not trying to force a large primer into a small primer casing.

 

[Sharps '63]

Yes, the brass I mentioned was reloaded, hence the silver coloured spent primers.

If I was unsafe, then so were literally thousands of .45 ACP shooters who roll crimped before taper crimping became the norm. When I started reloading .45 ACP, a taper crimper was a special order die, not part of a three die set. Same for 9mm.

With the varying length of cases, it stands to reason that not all cases are headspacing on the case mouth.

It was also common to shoot .45 ACP rds in .45 ACP Colt and S&W revolvers designed to use half moon clips, necessitating the use of a dowel to eject fired cases.

"The first 50,000 Colt 1917 revolvers manufactured will not discharge unless the cartridges are on clips. Later numbers have shoulders at the front of the chambers to prevent cartridges going in too far for the firing pin to strike them when singly inserted.
When the rimless .45 ACP cartridges are inserted in the chambers of a S&W 1917 without the clips, the extractor cannot lift them out of the chambers for ejection, making it necessary to punch or pry out the empties." Book of Pistols & Revolvers by Smith

I can see how important "headspace" is.

 

[RUPZUK]

There is no difference in load performance using large or small pistol primers. Yeah you have to sort them so you're not trying to force a large primer into a small primer casing.

I was aware they reload just fine but get them mixed up and they jam up the press...

 

[667]

".45acp" and "trimming" should never appear in the same sentence...

Try dividing by zero instead.

 

[Canuck44]

NOBODY who has any knowledge of reloading roll crimps .45acp. It never was in vogue. ALWAYS taper crimp a .45acp case. All that is really necessary is to remove the belling you applied on the case mouth when you loaded the case. As I indicated before .45acp cases shrink NOT lengthen over time with reloading. Yes the cases do headspace off the case mouth. Trim a case down to .800 and see if it fires.

Take Care

Bob

 

[ren666]

bought 1000 once fired cases, separated them into federal with large primers (about 80%), the rest are stuck in a closet corner. never measured any, cartridge aol is all I care about. if you don't have a 4 die set with a separate crimper you're missing out. slick as my ...

 

[bigedp51]

I trim my .45ACP cases, I uniform the primer pockets, I sort them by internal volume of H2O and then neck turn the cases.................

I then wake up screaming and sweating and realize I was having someone else's nightmare.

Start reading what the competitive shooters do below.

http://www.brianenos.com/

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?act=idx

I do trim my new revolver cases once to make sure they are the same length for a roll crimp with heavy loads. "BUT" I taper crimp my plated bullets in my .44 magnum with light loads.

Please note a taper crimp does compress the bullet and is only used for reliable feeding and chambering on semi-autos and not get hung up on the way into the chamber.

 

[Mikeyman]

I have only loaded 276,000 rounds so far. It might be a bit early to see if I need to trim....... have not tried sorting cases, either.

I have loaded about 10% of Ganderite's total and have never trimmed or sorted.

 

[Sharps '63]

Anybody wanna 'splain the quote from Smith's "Book of Pistols & Revolvers" re: NO headspace in Colt and S&W 1917 .45 SCP revolvers when not using half moon clips?

Either it matters or it doesn't.

You would think that in the case of a revolver, it would matter more as the rounds were being driven into the chambers to where the firing pin could just strike them hard enough to detonate.
In the case of a locked breech pistol like the 1911 where at least the extractor has a grip on the rim of the case, it would seem to matter even less.

I may try some short cases just to see what happens; rmchair theories and "everyone knows" common knowledge notwithstanding.