Is it necessary to trim rifle brass?

[wwillson]

It is necessary to trim .223 rifle brass each time it's reloaded? I've been working on trimming the 1,000 pieces of brass from PD shooting. Sure takes a long time to trim all that brass!

Wayne

[xtell]

Wayne,

The SAAMI specification for .223 brass is minimum length 1.740 to max length 1.760. The amount of trimming (between each reload) will depend on several factors that can include the peak pressure of your specific reloaded round, brass hardness, headspace and number of rounds fired per case. I have found that semi-auto's do best with full length resizing; an initial trim to get them within spec's and then the use of the RCBS-X sizing die. The X-die will keep the OAL of your brass within specification. However, it is still a good idea to pull out your calipers to double check the OAL case length after X-die sizing. As a side note for consistency, trimmed and reloaded semi-auto loads do best (case longevity) when they are always shot in the same rifle. Hope this information helps you out.

[wwillson]

Xtell,

Thanks - I didn't know about the x-die from RCBS. It sounds like it would speed up or eliminate the job of trimming a couple thousand pieces of brass/yr. I assume you still have to chamfer the case mouth after using the x-die?

Wane

[xtell]

Wayne,

You would have to do the initial trim of the case, chamfer the inside of the case mouth and also do a quick debur of the outside of the case mouth prior to using the x-die IF your cases are longer than 1.740. If they measure 1.740 or less you would not have to trim them. The x-die will maintain the brass case length, during future reloadings, without causing the neck or shoulder to thicken. Unfortunately, if your cases are longer than the SAAMI minimum of 1.740 there is no way around an initial trim no matter what Full Length sizing die you use.

Hope this helps you out.

[wwillson]

Xtell,

Great information - thanks. I'm going to place an order for the x-die in .223 Rem. I'll let you know how it goes.

Wayne

[steves]

I found that I could neck size even with an auto "223 and 30-06" I don't run max loads. That saves on trimming. I would not cut corners on self defense loads though.

[FNFAL308]

Case length affects a number of things including pressure, and crimp, as well as ammo consistency..

I always trim brass for auto loaders, and also ALWAYS Full length size. the only time I Neck Size if when loading for bolt guns. This is especially true if your loading for more then one rifle.. All my hand loaded ammo intended for the Auto's MUST function in multiple guns so Neck Sizing is not an option.

Using a quality case gauge, I run each case through the gauge after sizing.. "IF" it needs trimming it gets culled and trimmed if not it gets primed and loaded. By doing it this way I'm assured that I only trim the cases that need it.. I keep several K pcs of .223 brass RTL (Ready To Load) at all times.. This brass has all been cleaned, sized/deprimed (cleaned again), trimmed if needed, and re-primed.