Trim all my 44 brass?

C

Chainsaw.

New member
So Im trying to make my 44 mag ammo is best quality as I can but my crimps are inconsistent. This is due to having mixed head stamp brass. My trimmer is long enough that it won't touch some of the shorter case, obviously, so Im wondering if I should shorten my trimmer to tge shortest case and just trim all my brass to that shorter length. That way they would all be the same length and I'd get nice consistant crimps.

What would you do?
 
If that's what you want, and think that's the best way to go, then do it!. I started reloading 44 Magnums in '88 and now have 5 guns in 44 Magnum and have yet to trim a case. I don't believe there is enough variation in case length to make a difference in the crimp and resulting reloads (I have taper crimped, FCD crimped, roll crimped with standard seating/crimping dies, profile crimped and collet crimped my 44 ammo). If consistency is the goal then trimming might help (at least it'll make you feel better about your ammo).

I have reloaded my favorite cartridge with everything from 124 gr. balls to 300 gr T-Rex killers and have not experienced any problems or lack of accuracy that can be attributed to variations in case length...
 
So Im trying to make my 44 mag ammo is best quality as I can
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I learned, long ago, that mixing brass will never be consistent. If you insist on mixing, then cut them to the same length.
 
Different brands of brass the cases aren't the same thickness as far as trimming you should stick with the way your doing it , trimming your brass to the same trim length getting a good consistent roll crimp is the way To go . If the shorter ones are in the trim range I would trim them to the shorter if there is a not , if its a few I would let them catch up to what your trim length is . I set my trimmer at mid range & check an trim every firing .
 
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Trim them all to the shortest , all the crimps will be consistent. That will help your quality more than un-mixed head stamped brass
Handgun ammo , loaded for the range, targets , tin cans and plinking do not suffer from mixed head stamps. Long range shooting , hunting, shooting matches involving cash prizes you might want to go all one head stamp.
Gary
 
I have never trimmed a pistol case. However, the fact that I have never done it, doesn't mean that it isn't the best thing to do.

Consistency = accuracy. Doesn't matter if you are talking about rifles or pistols, consistency = accuracy. And the whole crimp thing makes me think it might even be more important in something like a .44 mag than it might be in something else that isn't crimped like you do a magnum handgun cartridge.

I recently started playing around with a .44 Mag rifle and being an accuracy nut, I figured that sorting the cases by headstamp and then trimming them would be a good step in attaining maximum accuracy.

However, when I went to do it, I found that my case trimmer won't trim a case that short. So, now I am faced with having to buy something else to trim them with.
 
I dont bother trimming 45acp or 9mm and I dont bother sorting either.
380 I trimmed because..... well just because.
six gun ammo all gets trimmed and sorted and yes it makes a big noticable difference for me. Trimming dont seem to help as much as sorting brands, but yes it is noticable
.
 
I don't trim handgun brass either and I don't load mixed brass.

I started hand loading 44 Mag in the early 70s.

Also, I don't set my seating die to crimp on the ram upstroke....I do all of them by feel and get very consistent crimps.
 
Went ahead and shortened my trimmer by a hair, its silly but I already feel better that Ill have nice consistant crimps. Thanks guys.


Now about that 38 brass :D
 
I have done tests with pistols and rifle ammo regarding trimming and headstamp sorting.

With respect to rifles, having the same trim length +/- 0.001 matters a little, but not as much as matching headstamp / brass lot did.

With respect to pistol ammo, at 50 yards I saw almost no difference on the target trimming. I saw a noticeable difference maintaining the same headstamp and noted a velocity difference between headstamp. But at 25 yards I saw NO difference on the target.

The bottom line for me from my test was, just like almost anything else, it depends upon the application. For my plinking/practice semi-auto hand gun ammo, I don't bother sorting or trimming. Not enough upside.
For my 44 mag I do not mix headstamps because it did make a noticeable difference at 50 yards.

If I was loading 44 mag for rifle hunting, I probably still would not trim them.

FIFW I do not trim my 45-70 either
 
The reason we roll crimp is to hold the bullet in place, over and above case neck tension.

The reasons we want to do this are 3.
#1 to resist the bullet pull effect of revolver recoil
#2 to resist the bullet being pushed back into the case in tube magazine rifles
#3 to increase the force needed to push the bullet out of the case, in aid to better combustion of certain slow burning powders.

the minimum amount of crimp needed for each of these tasks can vary.

Uniformity of case length means uniformity of crimp.

Different cases will stretch ..differently. The case itself, and the loads it is subject to can vary, and that can make a difference. Some handgun brass doesn't seem to stretch at all. I've been loading since the early 70s and have yet to see a .45acp case that reached book max length. If anything, they seem to get shorter.

here's the thing to consider, your fired brass is going to vary slightly in length. Probably not much, but you will find some cases shorter than the rest. Now, which one is the one you use to adjust your die for crimp??

If you adjust your die to get the "perfect" crimp on one of the short cases, you could be overcrimping a longer case, and if the opposite happens then the short case may not get enough crimp to do the job you need it to do.

That's the primary advantage to uniform case length. It matters more in some calibers and applications than others.
 
Many moons ago I got a Colt SAA in 44 Spl. I reloaded many rounds for this gun and never trimmed cases. Recently I got a Ruger in 44 Mag. Don't have any 44 mag brass. Hate to buy factory ammo. Might have to go to a range and see if I can pick up some mag brass?
 
Max case length for .44 Mag is 1.285". Minimum is 1.265". Trim-to is 1.280". Measure the short cases, pitch any that are under the Minimum or over the Max(highly unlikely to be any) and trim 'em all to the 1.280". Or the same length that is between the Minimum and the Maximum case length.
And after all that you'll probably not see any difference in accuracy.
The mixed head stamp brass has nothing to do with it though. Moreso if it's "range brass". You have no idea what has been do to range brass or how many times.
 
44 amp you are echoing my thoughts. And being I *tried* to sight two of my revolvers today at 50 yards, the need for consistent, accurate ammo becomes apparent.


And the need for S&W to stake their rear sight nut. :(
 
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Many moons ago I got a Colt SAA in 44 Spl. I reloaded many rounds for this gun and never trimmed cases. Recently I got a Ruger in 44 Mag. Don't have any 44 mag brass. Hate to buy factory ammo. Might have to go to a range and see if I can pick up some mag brass?
Click to expand...

If you are not aware you can shoot 44spl in that Ruger.
 
The die's crimp setting is a variable too. Don't work around resetting it. I mean, how hard is that? You should be sorting your brass in trim length increments of .005 +-.002, for example, 1.273-1.277, with 1.275 being nominal. Then group by 1.270 and 1.265, discarding anything shorter. Any 1.280, Starline's max, really anything longer than 1.277, should be trimmed to 1.275. I also sort head stamps first, but that's just me.

In this way, the entire batch of brass will crimp the same. You adjust the die for the length of the batch. If seating separately, you will need to change that die too.

If all that sounds crazy, understand that I too have good reason to stay with a single head stamp and cases either sorted or trimmed to the same range. I have a box with a pretty big collection of miscellaneous head stamps that never gets used.
 
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Loaded up 80 mags tonight with my newly trimmed brass. 180 grain xtps over a charge of H110, bright shiney brass, those purdy XTPs and nice uniform crimps. Made for a nice batch of ammo. :cool:
 
Chainsaw, Do you mind if I ask what you are shooting it out of? I didn’t read all the posts but didn’t see it in the initial post. I have a 629 classic 8 3/8” and I want to try a lighter load but it seems to like the 240 Gr.

Thanks
 
"#1 to resist the bullet pull effect of revolver recoil"

Yes, this is very important. With a revolver I have seen a bullet come out.

"If you are not aware you can shoot 44spl in that Ruger."

Yes, I know that. I also know you don't put magnum loads in Spl brass. ;)
 
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