[cliffspot]

Measured some 44 mag brass I was reloading today:
Remington brass; 1.280"-1.285"
Hornady; 1.260"
Same in 45 Colt brass. What is going on here? Be careful guys.

[cpttango30]

I would call hornady first. The 45 cold doesn't headspace off the case mouth so it really shouldn't be that much of a problem.

[cliffspot]

The problem is that after loading 1500 rounds you have to go back and readjust the dies to fix maybe 10% or more of the short cases! Plus the case isn't belling on the short ones AND not crimping! So you get a shaved bullet with no crimp! And DUHHH no revolver rounds headspace on the case mouth!

[robocop10mm]

#1 - Responding with "DUHH" to a long term respected member pointing out what may seem obvious to you about revolver headspacing is no way to endear yourself around here. I doubt Tango meant to insult your intelligence with his comment.

Of course revolver rounds heaspace on the rim.

1.285" is "Max" length for the .44 Mag. Finding cases shorter than max length is just as common as finding cases that are longer than max length. Yes it can cause problems with belling, lead shaving and crimp consitency, that is why I segregate my cases to assure the consistency we handloaders desire.

I load mostly cast bullets so sufficient belling is very important to me. I probably "over bell" my cases to insure smooth seating of cast bullets. The net result of this practice is probably a reduced case life from over working the brass, but I rarely have a case crack in the larger calibers. Perhaps I don't shoot them as much as I do, say .38 Spl. My .38 cases do develop mouth cracks after a few loadings, but mostly in the nickel plated ones.

[anm2_man]

Maybe the OP should measure his cases B4 he reloads. I do. Not that I catch them all, but If I see a pattern (ie: All hornady's are under lenght), I just may put them in a different bucket. I would then decide later what to do with them.

[jpattersonnh]

I chamfor the case mouth, no shaving. I have Hornady bottle neck brass that I have had no issues with at all. It could be a strait wall issue.

[robocop10mm]

I think this is directly related to the Leverrevolution ammo. With the spitzer style bullet rather than a "traditional" handgun bullet there is a problem with crimping unless they shorten the case slightly.