.40 S&W Case Length

[Kahyne]

Hey fellow Calgunners...question about .40 cal case length.

What do you guys do with cases that are lower than the min. case length? Could they still be reloaded?

I know the max is .850 per Lyman's Reloading Manual and Lee Reloading manual, and trim to .845. Even running through it through the decapper and sizing dies, the case still comes out lower than .845.

Thanks in advance everyone for your help.

[XDRoX]

You don't have to worry about case length in 40. Just pick it up, tumble it, and then load it.
Have fun.

[Solus]

Ive never checked the case length in my 40 I just decap clean and run it through my press. Ive shot thousands of rounds this way

[noylj]

All cases for straight-wall cartridges are too short--and they tend to shrink with additional shooting.
For best accuracy, you need cases within 0.005" of max case length. All other cases are for plinking and action pistol sports where accuracy is tertiary.
With lead bullets, you can control head space with the bullet touching the lede/rifling.
With jacketed bullets, load long so bullet is close to, but not touching, the rifling. This will improve accuracy to be close to that using longer cases.

[CAL.BAR]

My Lyman 49th put it at 1.120 and I have had no problems at that length.