Finding Brass

[Lloyd Braun]

Found some 223 brass w/ FC headstamp. cleaned em up and when i measured them before trimming or sizing, they measured 1.733-1.736 on average

I know this is below the 1.750 trim to length
were these trimmed too far by someone? is this normal for this brass from the federal factory? should i reload these?
None of my once fired factory brass is anywhere near this short (example- shot some rem 55gr and they measured roughly 1.754 prior to trimming)

Thanks

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[Collateral]

Measure them after re-sizing and see what you get.

 

[Lloyd Braun]

they are all in that same general range . none measure even 1.740 after sizing

 

[Collateral]

That IS short.
RCBS wants you to trim .020" under max length (1.760" max for .223) when using an X-die but it ls a one time thing. Used properly, they claim that you will never need to trim them again.
I would take a few of the longest ones, load them and shoot them, and see check the length after resizing to see if it has grown into spec.
There is a danger with using brass that is too long because, as I understand it, the mouth will be too far into the tapered throat for it expand properly which could lead to a pressure spike similar to loading it too long and having the bullet jammed into the rifling when the bolt closes.
Short cases are too far from the throat which can lead to premature throat erosion but is not necessarily a safety issue.

 

[ron]

Federal brass is soft. You will be lucky to get one load out of it. Primers will blow out and hang up you trigger on your Rock River.

 

[Throckmorton]

there is no understanding brass lengths..I"ve bought brand new brass of various calibers hat was .010-.015 under 'trim to' length. In fact I was just looking at Starline's webpage for 45colt brass,and they allow .010 variance in their brand new brass.That to me is just wrong.
I too just started loading .223 and brand new ammo measures shorter than ''book oal',and the brass after sizing is much shorter than 'trim to' length.
1st go round,I seperated my brass into 3 batches,by length after sizing,and in my rifle the difference in accuracy was nil. You'll just have to experiment and see what they do for you.