Case Length Question

mzllodr · Post by **mzllodr** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 5:18 pm

I've reloaded a lot of cartridges, but it's been awhile and I now have a question for a fading memory. I'm going to reload 9mm, and have my bullet, powder and primer decided. I will be loading about mid-range between min and max, about 1100 fps.
My reloading books give varing "trim-to" case lengths, from .747 to .750, with the average being .747. When I set up my cartridge trimmer for .747 I quicly discovered that most of my once fired cases measured generally in the range from .743 to .747 before trimming.
I started discarding the short cases, then a reloading friend told me that even the .743 cases were alright to reload and to quit being so picky and use my discards too, they just wouldn't need trimming.
I will use a taper crimp on the 9mm, and my questions is:
How can I set my seating/taper crimp die to meet the overall length requirement and still be uniform in my taper crimp on varing length cases. ? Or is this even a concern ??? I guess the case will head space on the case mouth regardless of the case length under .750, but I am suddenly lost as to how the seater and taper crimp will come out. Please help out this old timer.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 5:41 pm

Your wasting too much time trimming straight wall pistol ammo, I never trim pistol brass (way too much). As long as the TC die is setup correctly they do not present any problems. The short length will still get a crimp when setup for the longer length. Use the longer brass for your setup. You only need about 0.002"-0.003" crimp on the bullet.

mzllodr · Post by **mzllodr** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:36 pm

Thanks David, that's what I wanted to hear !! I'll use the longest case for setting the taper crimp.