More learning questions. As it pertains to the case length, I am prepping 45 Colt for my Marlin lever. In the books on case length, they say minimum case length is 1.275, max is 1.285. I realize the difference between the two is not much more than a sheet of paper thickness. That said, it brings me to these questions, I just finished prepping 200 cases of range brass, and getting ready to prep 200 more new ones. The range brass lengths varied from 1.270-1.288, the new ones are from 1.267-1.277. I figured that the new ones would be the longest ones, but since it’s actually the range brass that is longer I need to ask some questions…
1) Now I have read many times that necked brass grows with every shot, averaging around .0005 (could’ve been.005, but I’m not looking at the threads I’ve read this in), extremely small amount I know. The growth happens not only in overall case length, but also when measured to the ogive. To this, I figured the necked cases stretched because they are bottle-necked, which would cause pressure against the neck when fired, which obviously could stretch them due to the explosion. Assuming straight-walls have no bottle, and a full opening for the explosion to be relieved, does this happen with straight-walled cases as well, do they also grow with every shot?
2) With the thickness between minimum and maximum trim length being so tiny, how imperative is it that they are in that length range? Meaning are cases, let’s say 1.267 (.008 below the minimum) no good, or is it acceptable to accommodate them with the bullet seating?
3) I’ve always thought it could be corrected by the COAL, so which is more important, the case length or the COAL when loading is done?
I’m sure this info, as with many of my questions, might seem ‘nit-picky’ to some of you, but I’ve always been a perfectionist. My Dad always taught me, anything worth doing, is worth doing right. I want to know everything I possibly can about reloading, but I’m not a ‘corner-cutter’, I want to know the correct and safest ways to do each step start to finish, mainly because I’ve grown attached to my limbs, as well as my firearms.
1) Now I have read many times that necked brass grows with every shot, averaging around .0005 (could’ve been.005, but I’m not looking at the threads I’ve read this in), extremely small amount I know. The growth happens not only in overall case length, but also when measured to the ogive. To this, I figured the necked cases stretched because they are bottle-necked, which would cause pressure against the neck when fired, which obviously could stretch them due to the explosion. Assuming straight-walls have no bottle, and a full opening for the explosion to be relieved, does this happen with straight-walled cases as well, do they also grow with every shot?
2) With the thickness between minimum and maximum trim length being so tiny, how imperative is it that they are in that length range? Meaning are cases, let’s say 1.267 (.008 below the minimum) no good, or is it acceptable to accommodate them with the bullet seating?
3) I’ve always thought it could be corrected by the COAL, so which is more important, the case length or the COAL when loading is done?
I’m sure this info, as with many of my questions, might seem ‘nit-picky’ to some of you, but I’ve always been a perfectionist. My Dad always taught me, anything worth doing, is worth doing right. I want to know everything I possibly can about reloading, but I’m not a ‘corner-cutter’, I want to know the correct and safest ways to do each step start to finish, mainly because I’ve grown attached to my limbs, as well as my firearms.