Minimum case length?

[Russell0331]

I have over trimmed a few .308 and .223 cases. My .308's are at 1.975 and my .223's are at 1.715. If I load to the correct overall length will I be alright? I intend to run these rounds through bolt actions, should I just blast them through some semi-autos and stretch them?

 

[Chuckdog]

If you trim them too short, you may experience an eyeful of powder and very poor consistency due to the case not sealing in the chamber when you fire it. You'll notice that your cases will be very dirty caused by the poor chamber seal and burning powder escaping around the case.

I usually don't go below 2.00" on the .308. I don't have any real world experience shooting really short cases.

 

[Clarke123]

The .223 could be converted to 300 ACC ...

 

[Russell0331]

I don't have a 300 AAC. I was using a caliper that I bought from Home Depot to index my lee case length gauge. I purchased a more accurate caliper today and noticed that it reads differently. Should I just go buy new case length gauges and fire the brass I've already trimmed?

 

[Clarke123]

R U talking about the self-gauging Lee Case Trimmer for .223 or what?I use a Wilson Case Gauge (Lyman's is not manufactured properly),
while the .223 / 5.56 headspaces on the case shoulder, there are problems with
trimming too short (Chuck Dog listed some of them) ... just how many cases are involved?
You may want to trade the off to 300 ACC loaders or toss them if there aren't too many.

Otherwise, you need to get their specific length (accurately). Perhaps there is another answer, but
that's above my pay grade ...

More here

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/rifle-reloading-forum/50887-223-case-lenght.html


Good Luck!