Do you trim after each firing?

If you perform any method of crimping then trimming is essential for consistent pressures that can have a adverse affect on accuracy and safety.
 
I think that trimming according to SAAMI standards leads to a lot of needless trimming. I measure my chambers and trim when needed based on actual dimensions.
 
For hunting rounds...........always.
And I make sure they chamber too.
A hard lesson well lernt one day.

And if you crimp, best to have them all standing at the same height.
 
Dmay said:
I think that trimming according to SAAMI standards leads to a lot of needless trimming. I measure my chambers and trim when needed based on actual dimensions.
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This is a potentially dangerous practice.......all factory and most custom chambers are cut about .010-.015" over SAAMI max length in the neck to allow for tolerances in loaded ammo case length, but assume that few will exceed SAAMI spec max length. This is not a dimension one should use to determine case length when loading. What difference does it make if you trim to max chamber dimensions or SAAMI max dimensions, it involves the same amount of trimming at the same frequency to maintain either dimension?

Personally I run in batches of several hundred, I fire all brass new and then trim, chamfer and prep all cases. All twice fired go into a bucket until full or nearly or I get the urge to load, then I do a quick measure to confirm that they have been done and carry on, no trimming required. I no longer track number of firings, just measure 1/2 doz in a bucket of fired, sized and cleaned and if they are good I carry on, if any are at or over SAAMI max I run them all through the trimmer.
Different cartridges and different makes of brass have different trim frequencies and I quit worrying about it years ago.......
One point no one has made yet is to make sure you measure case length AFTER sizing and before priming. I size and clean my lots of fired brass, but do not necessarily load it at this time, so when I get the urge to load I then check length and load or trim accordingly.
 
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Once-fired brass gets trimmed and cases are trimmed thereafter when they exceed SAAMI maximum. If I have only a few cases, I measure them all; if I have a larger quantity, I measure a handful and trim the lot if any are over length. I For the most part, case length within SAAMI specs is fine; that would be between 1.995" and 2.015" for .308. I typically set up my trimmer for about .010" under maximum, but don't get too concerned about chasing that last thousandth.
 
So if I've been trimming after every firing if the cases are above 2.005 it's not like I'm reducing the number of firings the brass is capable of ,,,,all I'm doing is wasting my time by not waiting until it really needs to be done (when it hit 2.015) Correct? Or will I get more firings out of my brass by trimming less?
 
9.3mauser said:
I hate trimming and do it as seldom as possible. I set my calipers to the max case o.a.l. listed in the manual and use it as a snap gauge. If the case fits in without force, even if it brushes it, I don't trim. If I'm getting many that don't fit then I trim the lot of them.
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This is the way I do it too.
 
kamlooky said:
For hunting rounds...........always.
And I make sure they chamber too.
A hard lesson well lernt one day.

And if you crimp, best to have them all standing at the same height.
Click to expand...

Thats a piece of advice !!! ... I can picture it now. The rack of s lifetime just loping away as i wrap my gun around a tree. All beacuse ofvthe smallest thing ��
 
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