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Old 09-12-2014, 03:29 PM
charlesasmith charlesasmith is offline
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Default Triming Brass

Not sure how often I will need to trim brass or anneal. Any suggestions for the following:

17AH -500 Win cases (unknown # of firings)-Split necks on some (will anneal).
17 MIV-1000 Rem 221 unfired formed cases - Will anneal-Will only fire 2-3 times.
20 Practical - 400 IMI cases - not yet annealed - probably 5-6 firings.
22-250AI - 250 PMC cases - around 4 firings. Never annealed.
243 Win - 200 cases - two firings. Never annealed.
243AI - 200 unfire-formed 7-08 Win cases.

I only have a reamer print for the 20 Practical as it was a recent build. All of the others are chambered with custom reamers, but only know the neck diameter. Probably all are 0 freebore.

Thanks for your estimations,

Chuck Smith
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Old 09-12-2014, 05:35 PM
ramos ramos is offline
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I am sure you will get a lot of different answers but, I like to keep it simple. I anneal everything after forming and then after every fourth firing. In regards to trimming, I just let my calipers tell me when it is time.
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Old 09-12-2014, 05:48 PM
Bill K Bill K is online now
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Default Trimming brass

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Originally Posted by ramos View Post
I am sure you will get a lot of different answers but, I like to keep it simple. I anneal everything after forming and then after every fourth firing. In regards to trimming, I just let my calipers tell me when it is time.
Same as Ramo's. k.i.s.s. less work and brass will last as long as it probably should. Bill K
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Old 09-12-2014, 06:29 PM
Nor Cal Mikie Nor Cal Mikie is offline
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Time is much better spent pulling the trigger than messing with brass.
If you're into it, anneal everything and be done with it. Can be a PITA but once you get all of them done, keep track of the firings and anneal again when you start having problems. Sounds like a good winter project.
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Old 09-12-2014, 08:04 PM
wally bennett wally bennett is offline
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I now anneal after every fireing and have a broken venier gauge that is set at 1.397" i put every case through it after every fireing as part of my case prep and trim if it wont go in the jaws of the gauge. I dont go through enough ammo now for it to be a problem.
Wally
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Old 09-12-2014, 11:08 PM
Nor Cal Mikie Nor Cal Mikie is offline
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As far as trimming? No more than you have to. Get the "actual" measurement of the chamber. That way when you measure the brass, you'll know if it's due to be trimmed or not.
I've got BR brass with 25+ firings and no trimming needed. Depends a lot on which type of reloading dies you use. Bushing shoulder bump and neck dies keep the brass from growing. On regular full length dies with the expander button, the button pulls the neck longer on each pass. The less time messing with brass, the better.
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Old 09-14-2014, 03:05 PM
charlesasmith charlesasmith is offline
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Default Triming/annealing brass

Thanks to those of you who responded with suggestions.

Chuck Smith
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  #8  
Old 09-14-2014, 03:42 PM
Dean2 Dean2 is offline
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Even after forming from other brass I don't anneal cases. I have not annealed a single case in the last 45 years. Maybe I am just lucky but I have no problems with case life in any of my guns. I have 22 Hornet brass with 20 plus firings, same is true for 17 FB etc. I have 17 HH brass, that was formed from Privi 22 HH brass that is up to 5 firings, no losses.

As to trimming, I neck size everything so rarely have to trim the brass either. In this one, keep track of the length and only trim when you have to. The one exception is brass I use a crimp on, like 45-70, 38-55 etc, I trim every second firing to keep the crimp consistent.
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Old 09-14-2014, 04:08 PM
Chickenthief Chickenthief is offline
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If you want the truth about trimming then you need to cast each and every chamber. Only that will give you the max. case length.
Exept for match reamed barrels every rifle will let you go above max. but how much is what you need to know.

Annealing, i would say 3-5 firings depending of how much your sizing dies work the brass.
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Old 09-14-2014, 04:23 PM
Ackman Ackman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charlesasmith View Post
Not sure how often I will need to trim brass or anneal. Any suggestions for the following:

17AH -500 Win cases (unknown # of firings)-Split necks on some (will anneal).
17 MIV-1000 Rem 221 unfired formed cases - Will anneal-Will only fire 2-3 times.
20 Practical - 400 IMI cases - not yet annealed - probably 5-6 firings.
22-250AI - 250 PMC cases - around 4 firings. Never annealed.
243 Win - 200 cases - two firings. Never annealed.
243AI - 200 unfire-formed 7-08 Win cases.

I only have a reamer print for the 20 Practical as it was a recent build. All of the others are chambered with custom reamers, but only know the neck diameter. Probably all are 0 freebore.

Thanks for your estimations,

Chuck Smith
Lots of people get carried away with unnecessary case trimming. First you need to know chamber length and a chamber cast won't accurately tell you this. Get a chamber length gauge for every caliber you shoot. It's just a plug and with it you can find out exactly how long your chambers are. Sinclair sells them. Since your chambers were done with custom reamers you'll especially want to know how long they are. Even so, the AI chamberings and MIV you'll probably never need to trim cases.

Last edited by Ackman; 09-14-2014 at 04:29 PM.
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