Lee Case Length Gauges and Shell Holders

[joeatact]

Anyone else notice that with the case installed in the holder and when you insert the gauge and cutter that the gauge bottoms out before the actual length is reached leaving the case a little longer or not trimming it at all?

[opos]

Much of the time. I shoot mostly straight sided handgun cartridges and seldom find a piece of brass that is "as long" as the gauge says it should be...I don't trim brass for that reason. I might spend some time sorting brass by length to get more uniform crimping but to try and chase a trim length has never proven to be productive for me at all. I do trim the 30 m1 carbine brass I shoot in a Ruger Blackhawk as it can tend to "grow" a little and it is suggested that it be checked for length. I don't load bottle neck handgun cartridges so have no experience in that arena.

[mdi]

Yep, just means the case is shorter than "trim to" length of the trimmer...

[joeatact]

Except if you measure it it is longer then the trim length but the gauge is already bottomed out!

[km101]

Then your gage is out-of-spec. and you need to send it back to Lee. Or you can just polish a little off the end of the pin to bring it to the correct length. But if you do this and go too far, Lee wont fix it later.

[WILCO]

Anyone else notice that with the case installed in the holder and when you insert the gauge and cutter that the gauge bottoms out before the actual length is reached leaving the case a little longer or not trimming it at all?

Is the case length gauge fully screwed into the cutter? What are you using to measure your case length? New to reloading or Lee products?

[turmech]

The cases have to be de-primed before using the Lee system. You of course may be already aware and this may not be the problem.

[mdi]

Is the case length gauge fully screwed into the cutter? What are you using to measure your case length? New to reloading or Lee products?
Gage pin needs to be fully screwed in the cutter. If careful you can get real close measuring from the cutter blade to the tip of the length pin with the depth measuring slide of dial calipers. If you are using digital calipers, make sure the caliper is zeroed each time you use it...

[exdxgxe4life]

If I understand your problem, I filed down my .270 gauge and it's spot on now. Just a tip, file A LITTLE at a time. You can't add the metal once it's gone.