trimming 223 lapua. to short?

[chevytruck_83]

I just purchased some new lapua brass and would like to trim them all to the exact length and neck thickness since shelling out the money for lapua all the time isn't easy. unless I see some real results. So I'd like to give the brass every advantage. Question is. My data book says trim to 1.750. Most of the brass is between 1.750 and 1.754. Some are 1.748. Seems fussy but is.there any reason I shouldn't or can't trim them all to the lower 1.748? Also can someone recommend a good starting neck thickness or is it kinda the same scenario. Where I should measure what they are and trim them to the lowest existing so they are uniform? P.s. this is my first time neck sizing so ill be doing the neck turning on some cheaper Remington brass first. Using the Forster outside trimmer on a Lyman trimmer. Thanks. Nick.

 

[lightman]

A trim length of 1.748 will be fine.On neck turning,I would set the cutter to clean up between 50-70% of the neck.In a factory rifle,I would consider not turning them and see how they shoot. Lightman

 

[chevytruck_83]

Its a factory savage 12 bvss. So I probably wont notice much gain turning the neck on a stock rifle?

 

[artbosco]

I just purchased some new Lapua brass and would like to trim them all to the exact length and neck thickness. Nick.

Consistency is one of the fundamentals of reloading and accuracy. Trim and turn to predetermined dimensions so that each piece of brass is identical to each other. When you find length variations of more than .003" between cases trim to the lowest number. As a safety precaution, ensure a .010" [10/1000] gap between the end of the case neck and end of the neck chamber. You can turn for a factory neck, however, as you've said, you won't see much of a change, if any. If you turn, just clean up the necks.

 

[chevytruck_83]

Thanks guys.

 

[Greyfox]

1.748 will be fine on the trim, but the truth is, with a factory rifle, you probably don't need to bother with trimming them anyway. As far as neck turning, you paid a premium for Lapua brass becaus it is already uniform. If you screw around with turning the necks there is a better than even chance that you will make things worse, maybe much worse. Load 'em up and shoot 'em.

Rick

 

[fdshuster]

I agree with Rick. 223 Lapua brass ( I have never found more than .0005" of variation in case neck wall thickness, measured with a tubing mic), fired in a factory chamber? Leave 'em alone, load & fire.

For case over-all-lengths: We already have a case with one of the shortest necks available. If they are trimmed to 1.750", the neck length is only .193", less than the bullet diameter of .224". For my factory chamberings I let them stretch to 1.760" and use that as my trim length. Of course, I know the exact length of my chamber(s). Works for me, for many years now.