Thread: .45 ACP Cartridge "Trim-To" Length

The following is the confirmation response from Speer. Both Speer and Lyman returned my email in a timely manner. Good customer service is alive and well! ".888 is the minimum case length spec for 45 Auto. Max is .898. If you keep the case length between these two dimensions you will have no problems. Maintaining a consistent length will be make for more uniform performance, particularly if you are using a taper crimp die in your loading...

Thanks for posting that info - I will now put on my big girl panties and worry less about trim legnth to the extent I find them changing.

Having a case trimmer is a good thing. Case trimmers come in real handy with necked down rounds (.357 SIG or most rifles rounds). Consider your purchase an investment in your future rifle round reloading hobby! I think I would e-mail Lyman and Barnes (since they both publish .888 length) and verify that this is correct. Let them know that everyone else publishes lengths at .893+ and see what they say.

quote: Originally posted by ScottG: I've never trimmed a 45 case....never. And I've shot them till they split (not on purpose) with no problems. BIG +1!

I have never had to trim a 45 auto case. Ever. Load one and try it. *shrug* The case flips up into the extractor which holds it against the breech face anyway. It should work.

An easy solution is to buy a 45 revolver...

quote: Originally posted by wheelgunn: After breaking-in my .45 ACP Kimber with factory ball ammo, I tried some 185gr Nosler JHP handloads and had several FTFeeds in the 1st 100 rounds. as the standard and .895" as the "trim-to". The failure to feed may be more related to your crimp. Check yours as 0.468 should work OK.

I trim mine between .887 and .890 and they work just fine. The most important thing is to have them as close as possible to all being the same length. That way you get an standard crimping on all rounds.

If you must trim 45 acp brass, then trim to the max. Unlike rifle or bottle neck cartridges, 45 acp will actually shrink rather than stretch with repeated firing and reloading.

I have reloaded many,many, many thousands of 45 acp and never trimmed a case and probably have a mix of 8-10 different case brands.