Wow, that is a short 45 ACP case

Sorting through some of my recently tumbled Starline 45 brass due to being new at reloading and trying to quantify everything, I measured one case at 0.881". Whoa, that is short. Most of my used brass falls in the 0.885 - 0.890" range.

So then the question comes up, when is a case too short?

Are you sure it's a Starline?

(One trip to the workshop later)

Yep, still Starline 45. .8800 -.8805 -.8810" case length on the Mitutoyo calipers as the case is rotated around. You had me wondering if I picked up one of those gawd awful .40 cases the kids leave behind when they're practicing suppressive fire.

I was wondering if someone had dropped a federal or rp. Let me go to the bench and measure 5 random new Starline cases.

A friend gave me a new Starline case for reference, and it is 0.894". I have a handful of >0.891" that I have set aside for 50 yards when I can keep my 45 shots on the repair center.

Random new cases from a box of 500: .894, .893, .894, .891, .893

Once fired from same box, selecting from 50 fired cases: .888, .889, .891, .889, .891

Is it a 45GAP?

45 GAP looks like a different animal.

"Another erratum is that the .45 G.A.P. is not .100-inch shorter than the .45 ACP, but .138-inch shorter, has thicker brass (see cross-section), a small primer pocket and a .308 style extractor cut."

http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/gap-v-auto.html
http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/45gap.html

Even from the photo the case on the left is visibly shorter.  Generally, and this comes from the field of Quality Control, a person with normal vision can discriminate 1/32" and I believe this is the standard for Visual Inspections.  That said, it is always best to check with an accurate and zeroed instrument.

Could it be a case from Mr. Good? he trims 45 brass when he is building test rounds for ransom testing. Maybe one of his got in your stuff

David, I think you called it. I'm using a thousand pieces of used brass I bought from him along with the once fired brass I made before reloading. There are a lot of small dings on the rim and extractor cut, so I thought it was just very used.

What is too short a case length to use for 45 ACP?

Thanks,
Stephen

No.  But I'd user for short line only.

Ok, why would one want short cases for testing on the ransom rest?

jmdavis wrote:Ok, why would one want short cases for testing on the ransom rest?

Didn't have anything to do with short, that one might have been a cull that just made it in his bunch, My friend Jim, makes test rounds to test guns the build, he uses once fired starline brass, cleans case, primer pocket, and puts them in a case turner that sizes all to exact same length, then trickle charges to exact charge seats and crimps. Ive seen test targets done with his loads well under a inch at 50 yards from the Accu-Lock 1911s

Under  .888"  is to short.  (SAAMI).Short is not good for accuracy. Used brass would seem to be the problem. Measured after sizing? I hope.

Err... measured before sizing. I noticed cases are about 0.002" longer after sizing. While I save my longer cases for 50 yard loads, it's kind of academic at this point as my good Slow Fire targets still need a paster or two. Or three.

I have to say, I'm having a lot of fun reloading. A lot of material to study, learn and master.