short .40 S&W brass

[gratefuldog]

Hi Folks-
I have a some .40 to reload...

According to my 49th edition Lyman manual, max case length is .850, with a trim-to length of .845. With an admonition to not trim below .845.

A sample of the brass I have ranges between .836 and .845, with most being between .840 and .844.

A search of the "reloading" forum here mostly says "I never measure or trim straight-wall pistol brass."

I'm tempted to just go for it (and load it all,) but I'd appreciate any advice y'all might offer.

Thanks.

[SandDiegoDuner]

Did you size the brass before measuring?

[gratefuldog]

Yes. Sized, not yet belled.

[NeilMo]

Spec is .850 -.010. Even shorter cases would be usable but you may want to separate and load in groups to keep the flair and crimp consistent, especially if loading lead or coated. I usually have two groups of brass in every cal, long and short. I toss the excessively short cases and trim the excessively long.

[alland]

I quit measuring semi-auto handgun brass years ago after never finding any that were too long. I don't worry about any being too long since they actually get shorter with each firing. the longer they are up to maximum length is better because they headspace on the case mouth.

[ar15barrels]

Hi Folks-
I have a some .40 to reload...

According to my 49th edition Lyman manual, max case length is .850, with a trim-to length of .845. With an admonition to not trim below .845.

A sample of the brass I have ranges between .836 and .845, with most being between .840 and .844.

A search of the "reloading" forum here mostly says "I never measure or trim straight-wall pistol brass."

I'm tempted to just go for it (and load it all,) but I'd appreciate any advice y'all might offer.

Go for it and load it all.

[sargenv]

Like Randall said.. just load it.. Though I've devised a way to lengthen some of my pistol brass.. A semi-auto pistol will shorten the brass over time, when fired in a revolver of the same caliber, your brass will lengthen over time.. I have this solution for 9mm, 38 super, and 40 S&W.

[Bumslie]

Eh. I use 40 brass and convert it to .357 sig.

Can be up to .020 shorter.

I shoot em.

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