[mr.pepper]

I have some 480 brass the measures below the trim to length.
Some are once fired brass and some aren't.
Trim to length is 1.275. Some measure anywhere between .010 to .015 less than trim to length.
How far below this is still considered safe
before I end up tossing the short stuff?

 

[TMan]

Mr. Pepper, did you trim it short, or did it arrive that way.

The difference would be an issue if youi trimmed them four or five times. That case would make you wonder where all that brass went, and could be a potential problem.

If they came that way, it makes a consistant crimp a pain, but they will likely stretch in a couple cycles.

 

[Cheezywan]

Not all that much of a safety issue as long as you treat them as an individual lot of brass for reloading purposes.

I'd probably trim them all the same as whatever the shortest one is, and load them to decent (safe) speed. Consistant crimp with a revolver cartridge being a fairly critical part of a good load.

Just mark the box as 480 short.

Cheezywan

 

[mr.pepper]

I did mess up a few, I do have them sorted according to length and once I have more time I'm going to work up some loads.

 

[GMFWoodchuck]

The Lee Trimmer will prevent that. (Unless you know something I don't. ) Plus it's cheap, fast, and guaranteed to cut your brass square. The only flaw is that you can only cut it to one length.

But I would imagine that your brass is still safe. Imagine a 38 special being fired in a 357 mag. Same difference. Just watch your powder amounts. A smaller case with the same powder weight can create higher pressures than a larger one. But if you keep the overall length (including the bullet) the same (so the space behind the bullet is still the same) it shouldn't change anything at all pressure wise.

 

[hailstone]

Encounter that many times with factory loaded ammo after firing and new brass for reloading. Like pointed out after a few firings the cases lengthen where you'll need to trim. Noticed new brass for reloading has lately been all over the spectrum in length and final finishing. Many times will resize and trim before loading just too uniform that lot of brass. Suspect some is seconds from the manufacturers who didn't finish entire production cycle selling to marketer for resale. Win win for manufacturer and seller but pain in the rear for ultimate consumer.

 

[hailstone]

Lee trimmers are some of the most blantant trimmers that trim shorter than specs. I've had some that didn't trim enough which are easily modified but far more that trim too short by .010" on average.

 

[nvshooter]

I know about just one...

Lee trimmers are some of the most blatant trimmers that trim shorter than specs. I've had some that didn't trim enough and which are easily modified, but far more that trim too short by .010" on average.

I know of just this one: The retail Lee trimming mandrel trims the .30-06 case to 2.487 inches, which is .007 inches under design length.

 

[oneoldsap]

I know of just this one: The retail Lee trimming mandrel trims the .30-06 case to 2.487 inches, which is .007 inches under design length.

30-06 trim to length is 2.484 , max length is 2.494 . So that trimmer is good to go ! It's just .003 over trim length , as long as they are all the same length (for crimping purposes) they're good to go .