Hello to all. First time poster from Denver. I just started reloading last month. I started big game hunting with a bow a few years ago, but am looking forward to taking my first mulie with a rifle this fall. I am currently loading .223 and .357. I have not decided on a big game caliber for the encore, but I'm leaning towards .270, .280 or .308. Something for Antelope through Elk.

Ok. First question. I trim my .357 brass to correct length and seat a Hornady xtp 125gr but the case will not reach the cannelure unless I seat lower than correct COL for that load. Does .01 inches make any difference? I am going to assume that seating the bullet deeper will increase pressure, but will such a small amount matter?

Welcome D. The COL is a suggestion & often a max. Seat the bullet to the cannelure if you are crimping & don't worry about. Choice for a deer/antelope maybe elk cartridge, go w/ the .280 since you are handloading. It's a wonderful round, 140gr bullets for the little guys & 160-175gr bullets for the bigger beasts. If you were buying factory I would say .270 (I hate saying it but it's true), there are just so many good factory loads for it, but it's not a .280.

You would make a total of ummm, ONE person, that trims handgun brass. IOW with revolvers, seat to the crimping groove, roll crimp and go. With auto loading pistols, load to a OAL that functions through your weapon, taper crimp and go.

Bottleneck RIFLE brass does require checking for length (and trimming as required), to avoid having the chamber pinch the neck into the bullet.

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You would make a total of ummm, ONE person, that trims handgun brass

If this is the case then Dman should be honered that Lee has a full line of case length gauges for handgun cartridges just for his needs!

Hey Dman, Welcome Aboard!

Ah-oh, I trim revolver and pistol cases too!!!
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Hey Tailgunner, Don't you see any variation in the Case Length on your handgun cases, or just not enough to create a problem for you?

Come to think about it, only a very small amount gets Trimmed off my handgun cases, but I trim them after every firing. Huuummm, maybe I need to change that to every 4th or 5th firing. Old habits are hard to die.

Tailgunner;

I say pistol and revolver brass needs to be trimmed just like rifle brass does!

My reasoning is: If you take a batch of 357 brass that is 1.280 in. long and another batch that is (for example) 1.300 in. long and you want to load a jacketed bullet!
You set up your die to seat and crimp the ones that are 1.280 and load all of that length cartridges.
Now you get to the ones that are 1.300 in.!
When these are loaded, (without changing your die setting) the bullet will be seated deeper than the canelure and you will be crimping on the straight wall of the bullet instead of in the groove! Doing this can buckle the case!

The crimping groove (canelure) on some bullets is a very thin line, but when your brass varies by as much as 20/1000, it can make a big difference where the lip of the case goes when you crimp it!

I'm with Dman on this one, so I guess that makes ummm 2 of us that trim our pistol brass!

I too don`t trim most handgun brass, never have trimmed a 45 acp case. I haven`t found 45 acp to grow to max lenght with 15-20 fireings, and usually lose them before this in the grass anyway. The taper crimp I put on them is just enought though to remove the bell and I don`t rely on a heavy crimp to hold the bullet, I let case tension do that. Matter of fact if you take a new acp case, measure it load and fire it then remeasure it, I`ll bet you see 0.010" or so "shortening" of the case. Resizeing never seems to bring the lenght back to its original size.
I do check 44 and 357 mag brass on occasion and just trim to an even lenght if they seem to be varying to much for a uniform crimp. ( maybe 0.005"-0.008" differance) This isn`t very often, again maybe every 10-12 loadings. The brass will in some cases develope splits/cracks at the mouth of heavily crimped rounds before they need to be evened up, and if small I`ll trim them to min lenght if that will remove the split.
Bottle neck rifle cases do need checking and will need to be trimmed regularly in my experiance. I think the expander ball is responsible for most of the growth in them though, not fireing, especially if neck sized.
I`m sure chamber/die relation and pressure of the load has some to do with my findings but I`ve talked to alot of shooters that seem to find the same with theirs.

Thanks for the info. I loaded another batch and it went well. I just need to make sure and seat the bullet at a depth that will produce a good crimp for both the longer and shorter cases.

From now on I will not be overly concerned about exact trim length.

Hummm...I haven't trimmed a straight-walled handgun case since 1962...

And ya know sumptin'? I'm still shooting some of the same brass...without any problems.

As for what "big game" caliber rifle to get...that is a totally personal question. Tell ya what ya do...

Go to your favorite gunshop, and have the owner lay out a couple of different cartridges between 6mm and .30 caliber. Then pick the one that makes your heart go pitter-patter...

That's just as good a method as any.

I have taken elk with a 6mm Remington, and
I have taken antelope to large mule deer with a .22-250 Remington.

However, for nearly 30 years the 6mm Remington was my cartridge of choice. Then after I finally found a load for the .25-06, that became my cartridge of choice, then I started finding antelope more spooky every year and now I use a 7mm Remington Magnum as my gun of choice.

However...I have a buddy in Texas who thinks the .223 Remington is the best damn cartridge in the world. Last year I took him out and he got his first antelope, with a .270 WSM (what a dinky little cartridge). But this year we are going to do a .22 caliber hunt!

He is gonna use his .223 and I am working on a sporter-weight .220 Swift. I have to see if that 1:14 twist will stabilize the Sierra 55 SBT bullet...

If it doesn't, I have a .22-250 in sporter-weight and I know it shoots the Sierra 52 HPBT...

So like I said, the selection of caliber is personal...

When I used to suggest a caliber to a new shooter it was the good old .30-06. It will take down anything on the North American continent, ammunition is avaliable all over and there is just something about a cartridge that won two World Wars...

Dman---For an all around the 30-06 is hard to beat. The .308 aint that far behind it. The beauty of the .308 is the short cartridge works better in actions other than bolt. If getting bolt,dont see getting .308. .270 is also a good one.

I'm another that trims my handgun brass. I don't see how you can get a consistant roll crimp if your brass length varies from case to case. And since my 45 ACP (my only taper crimp cartridge) loading is for Bullseye shooting, it gets trimmed too; just for best consistancy.

I started loading handgun ammo around 25 years ago. Have yet to trim a handgun case. I just taper crimp and go.