Trim pistol brass or not?

[TargetRick]

I'm new to reloading and have a question about needing to trim pistol brass or not. This refers to straight-wall brass such as .38 Special and .357 Magnum, which is all I reload. For now. It's for my Pietta Peaemaker-type SAA pistol and Rossi M92 lever rifle.

So... trim or not? From what I've read, there is no need. But to be sure, I'd like your input and experience. Trim or not, and why?

Rick

[hunter64]

I bought the pilot for my Lyman trimmer in the early 80's and after the first firing I set up the trimmer and tried to trim the brass to spec. Well after the 20th one and no trimming was evident I just put the rest in the reloading bin to be reloaded. I have never had to trim .38 spl or .357 mag or that matter even .44 mag.

Auto pistol or rifle is a different matter but straight wall pistol rounds I have never had to.

[repsol1k]

I have never once trimmed pistol brass, various sizes

[260 Rem]

I have no idea about how pistol reamers cut chambers so can’t answer the OP. But, I do have experience with my straight walled 30 Carbine which can require trimming. In the M1 30 Carbine, the chamber wall is cut longer than the case (obviously that would also apply to straight walled pistols). With the Carbine, when the brass grows to the point that it engages with the “end” of the chamber, it can hold the bolt back just far enough that the bolt will not fully lock ... but just enough that it will fire out of battery. Bad things can the happen!!!

[wolf308]

Been wondering this myself ...... done it briefly but basically nope

[Phil]

My wife and I both shot competitively with .38 Specials for many years with everything from the lightest loads to heavier loads, depending on the discipline. We also shot a lot of IPSC with the .45 ACP. I estimate I conservatively handloaded in excess of 250,000 rounds of .38 and .45 over the years and never trimmed brass and never had an issue.

I have only loaded a few hundred .357 Magnum but when I checked cases I never found any of those that needed trimming either but I never loaded any cases more than 3 or 4 times.

One less step and when you add in the Dillon progressive loaders you can crank out the loads quickly and shoot that much more.

Enjoy.
Phil

[wolf308]

What about the weird bottle neck sig style cartridges ? Would those lengthen/need trimming ?

[The Flint&Fly Guy]

I trim to spec before first loading to get a consistent crimp. But have not needed to retrim ever. This is out of Marlin 44mags

[Vovchyk]

I trimmed mine once, no change in consistency a couple of reloading cycles since then. I guess no need to.

[adriel]

I never trim pistol brass. Maybe I would if I reloaded a bottleneck case.

[kayaker]

I have trimmed once fired .44 mag and .480 Ruger brass so that the case length is consistent and the resulting roll crimp is uniform on all cases. I have never had to trim after that.

Straight walled auto pistol cases - never.