45-70 case length

[FroFro1]

Just purchased and received 50 45-70 "once fired casings". Just looking at them there is to me quite a difference in case length. With just messing with random 5 I picked out,
differences are....
WW- 2.105
R-P- 2.096
Hornady-2.050
Hornady-2.044
Starline-2.108
These will be shot out of a single shot CVA rifle.
Should I be concerned or no big deal?
Just plinking loads

 

[RegionRat]

It depends on how you load and how picky you are about accuracy.

For example, do you load with a crimp, or just neck tension?

As a minimum the big effect this will have is on the crimp, but these may also have thickness and internal volume differences too.

With just 50 in the batch split among four to five kinds, it isn't like you will have very many of any one kind.
I would just trim them all to the same length, relax my standards, and go blast some plates with them.

 

[2506]

Those short Hornady cases came from the Leaverlution (SP?) ammo. To be able to use that pointy tipped bullet in a leaver action they had to shorten the case some. 2.100 is the standard trim to length for a 45-70.

Length of case is not the critical thing in your situation. Mixing different make cases will cause you more accuracy problems than one case being a little longer than the other.

As for crimping for a single shot it is not really necessary. Just turning the case mouth back against the side of the bullet so it will chamber is sufficient. This will give you a more consistent bullet pull than crimping in different places.

 

[FroFro1]

Thanks for your replies. These will be loaded with some unique and 350 grn plated bullets. It makes such a cool sound at the range and are powderpuff loads. Fun stuff.

 

[Fuj]

Flipping open one of my old Hornady bench guides.....

Factory length, 2.035"

 

[FroFro1]

I will just process each piece one by one. I'm no reloading guru. But it is a fun hobby.