Re sizing pistol rounds

[380guy]

Hi guys, its been a while since Ive been in here. I am very close to getting my Dillon Squared Deal B set up and I was talking to a guy who says he re sizes every round he reloads. I thought I read in here that re sizing pistol rounds is not necessary. Any thoughts?

 

[billybob44]

Resize EVERY round..

Re-sizing should be done EVERY time a round is loaded. There are some on INGO that would argue that new brass re-size is NOT needed, but, I re-size EVERY round that I load--Been doing that way since 1970 + it still works for me...Bill.

 

[Leo]

billybob is right, the stuff needs resized.

If you don't resize your brass, the bullet will not have the friction fit needed to hold it in place. You will have to crimp it until you damage the bullet to try to get it to stay in the place. And you will still have problems. The only brass I do not fully size is in a single shot bolt action centerfire rifle where that brass is only used in that rifle. Even with that one I neck size

 

[Newhoosier]

Yup. I resize all pistol rounds. What you may have heard refers to rifle rounds. Some people only neck size rifle rounds.

 

[PGRChaplain]

+1 for all the above!

 

[Double T]

You are probably thinking about case trimming. It's not necessary for plinking rounds, but if you are going for bullseye comp's you will want every aspect of each loaded round to be identical. You DO need to full length resize though, as it will get the cartridge back into spec as far as diameter goes.

 

[XtremeVel]

Hi guys, its been a while since Ive been in here. I am very close to getting my Dillon Squared Deal B set up and I was talking to a guy who says he re sizes every round he reloads. I thought I read in here that re sizing pistol rounds is not necessary. Any thoughts?

Resize your handgun cases, including new... New cases might appear to be sized correctly, but once you give them a slight bell, the bullet often times drops right in...

What you might of read is TRIMMING pistol cases is rarely needed...

 

[longbarrel]

Resize all of them.

 

[longbarrel]

What you might of read is TRIMMING pistol cases is rarely needed...

Trim all of them. Every time. Even new brass.

 

[Pete]

Resizing brass is a good idea. I re-size all my pistol brass & have great results. No more chamber fit problems.

 

[XtremeVel]

Trim all of them. Every time. Even new brass.

I enjoy loading my own, but not enough I'm gonna throw my time away trimming handgun brass.....

Last time I trimmed was years ago when I bought some new Winchester .44 brass and the length varied .040 and since I wanted a uniform roll crimp, I did trim them. Since then, if I buy new brass, I stick with Starline and have never had the need to trim since...

I buy 9mm, .40 S&W, .357 Sig, and .45ACP once fired... Don't trim them either... If I had to, probably would give up loading....

 

[Double T]

Trimming once fired pistol brass isn't needed for the most part unless you need absolute conformity (bullseye or benchrest).

Eta: good catch vel

 

[Leo]

I do not trim semi auto brass at all. I do trim revolver brass the first time to make sure everything is the same length for a consistant crimp. It is easy to keep revolver brass in the same lot, so that will likely be the last time.

If you feel better with know your brass is within specification, you do not need to trim every piece. Open your calipers to the max brass length specification and lock down the little thumb screw. Grab your brass and make sure it goes between the jaws. Seperate any that is too long. You will generally only have a few pieces that you need to trim.

Good Luck

 

[380guy]

Thank for all the input. Ive been super busy running our landscape business and now that we're winding down my main focus is getting my garage converted into my reloading room, nothing fancy but insulation, drywall, new bench etc. and now really getting the itch to start this up. I have a mix of 1500 lead bullets and about 1000 plated 380 rounds to load and about 1000 40 s&w plated to start with. I might look into an rcbs case trimmer (just in case), found them on Midway for 100 bucks. Read good reviews on the rcbs trimmer. Thanks again!

 

[g+16]

you can do as you want, I have reloaded 45 acp for years with the dillion square deal, with once fired brass and have never resized my brass. I shoot limited 10 and limited for years and never had a problem with my reloads working properly. Of course I'm old school, maybe today everyone resizes everything, just my 2 cents

 

[g+16]

maybe they are referring to the case gauge, I do use those. Dillon for 45 acp, and 40 s&w

 

[netsecurity]

All info above is correct, but I bet your friend said you don't need to CRIMP pistol rounds, which is true only with FMJ, and if you do not flare/bell them (if you do not use a powder through expanding die). If you are using a single stage press, you will save a lot of energy and time by doing it this way, but on a progressive you do all stages regardless.

Here is an example of how I made pistol rounds using a single stage. This particular method only required two dies.
1) Resize/decap all cases [die #1]
2) Hand prime all cases
3) Charge each case using separately mounted powder measure, and
4) Seat carefully [die #2]

I think the main reason the case is expanded is to seat the bullet in a way that can be more automated, and less prone to messing up or requiring manual manipulation. So basically on a progressive it would be silly not to expand/crimp the case. In a single stage, you are paying attention to one case at a time, which is what makes it possible to manually center the bullet over the case as the ram goes all the way up.

 

[BE Mike]

When you say resize bullets, you really mean to size the brass, don't you? If that is the case, then yes, size the brass, as part of your routine loading operation (even if the brass is new). I don't know of many bullseye pistol shooters (including masters and high masters) who trim their .38 SPL or .45 ACP brass and almost all civilian bullseye pistol shooters reload. It is a waste of time, but if it make one feel good, then it will do no harm.

 

[Broom_jm]

you can do as you want, I have reloaded 45 acp for years with the dillion square deal, with once fired brass and have never resized my brass. I shoot limited 10 and limited for years and never had a problem with my reloads working properly. Of course I'm old school, maybe today everyone resizes everything, just my 2 cents

You seriously do not RESIZE your brass? I'm pretty old-school, and I definitely resize everything! Did you mistakenly type that you never resize brass, when you meant to say you never trim it? I'm having a hard time believing you've reloaded for years and skip the resizing of brass.

 

[Giddaltti]

Yeah I think were talking trim. Check it first and trim to spec.