Re: Simple OAL question
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Burkes the Nailer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Ok, can someone please explain to me the whole "trim your brass to fit a specific rifle" stuff? I'm really new to this stuff, so be gentle. I definitely need help from someone who has some experience on the subject and I'm afraid I'll blow up my bolt gun like Danny is... </div></div>
Again, from a novice reloader, but generally you only trim a case to match the SAAMI spec for the length of that case. For example, the spec for a .308 is 2.005, so if you have cases that measure longer than this AFTER they've been resized, then they need to be trimmed to this length. From my understanding of trimming and case length, this is not gun specific.
What is gun specific is how you adjust the headspace of the case, meaning the length from the head (base of the cartridge) to the mid-point of the tapered section (aka the datum). This figure is a variable depending on the gun, but needs to fall within a SAAMI spec for the cartridge. Some reloading dies (Lee) don't require you to know what the headspace is for your gun, they just have you ram the shell holder up to the base of the die during full length resizing. There's no problem with this either, but it's generally believe to not be the most accurate way to resize. The most accurate way to resize is to headspace the case -.002 from the actual headspace of the rifle, which you can determine by measureing the headspace on your once fired brass.