A friend brought over his cases of 7x57mm Mauser for his Model 70 Featherweight. I put some of them through a Hornady neck sizing die and checked the lenght. The book says to trim to 2.225 inches and these things are running an average of 2.222 to 2.223 inches. Tom said he cut them to 2.220 inches. The cases are fireformed to his rifle's chamber, the only problem is, they are .003 inch too short for the book minimum. Is it safe to use these cases. They are once fired. Tom Purdom

It shouldn't be a problem - new cases are often a little short. With use they will stretch, after which you can keep them trimmed to the correct length

Thank you Rikkie. Appreciate the fast response. Hope you have a nice day there in South Africa! Tom Purdom

Thomas. No problem. For some odd reason, 7x57 brass stretches a lot on firing and even more when running through the dies. I have to trim after ever second firing when neck sizing and after ever firing when full length sizing. That slightly too short case won't hurt a thing. Probably be back to normal size after the firing anyway.
Paul B.