Possible to stretch revolver brass?

[Humbo]

Hi,
I have some FA headstamped .454 Casull brass, and some of the cases are a little short. I don't want to trim all of my cases to match the short cases, so I was wondering if there is a way to make them a little longer, around .015" should be sufficient. I know there are some case stretching jigs etc., but it seems a bit excessive for just a handful of cases. So any good ideas would be appreciated.

[Sasquatch-1]

Be careful. Some of these guys may send you out for the elusive brass stretcher.[smilie=1:

[Humbo]

Be careful. Some of these guys may send you out for the elusive brass stretcher.[smilie=1:

Sounds intriguing, what is the brass stretcher?

[M-Tecs]

Possible yes. Worth the effort and cost for your application only you can answer that. Commonly done for BPCR cases.

some methods here:

http://texas-mac.com/Stretching_Short_Brass_To_Fit_Your_BPCR_Chamber.ht ml

https://shilohrifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16724

[WRideout]

Not too sure about straight wall cases, but bottleneck brass will stretch with use. Maybe just segregate the short ones and shoot them a few times to see if they get longer.

Wayne

PS: I suppose you could try inserting a close-fitting wooden dowel, and peening the brass lightly with a hammer, but I'm not sure what that would do to the strength of the brass in a high-pressure cartridge.

[Sasquatch-1]

Sounds intriguing, what is the brass stretcher?

It's kind of like when the guys send you to get some post holes.

[challenger_i]

Or 100yds of Flight Line...


It's kind of like when the guys send you to get some post holes.

[Humbo]

I have spent too much money on blinker oil at my local mechanic to be fooled.

[Humbo]

Possible yes. Worth the effort and cost for your application only you can answer that. Commonly done for BPCR cases.

some methods here:

http://texas-mac.com/Stretching_Short_Brass_To_Fit_Your_BPCR_Chamber.ht ml

https://shilohrifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16724

I was actually looking into the Tim Smith-Lyon’s Case Stretcher, but it seems to be made for 45-caliber rifle only. But making something similar for the slightly smaller diameter of .454 Casull might work.

[Humbo]

Not too sure about straight wall cases, but bottleneck brass will stretch with use. Maybe just segregate the short ones and shoot them a few times to see if they get longer.

Wayne

PS: I suppose you could try inserting a close-fitting wooden dowel, and peening the brass lightly with a hammer, but I'm not sure what that would do to the strength of the brass in a high-pressure cartridge.

They are fired in Freedom Arms guns, and they have pretty tight chambers. I have not seen that the cases stretch much, but I could try to fire the same cases a dozen times to see of there is any change in length. If I size with the Dillon sizing die it should work the brass more.

[Bazoo]

I've experienced case stretching when firing full house loads in 357 magnum and 44 magnum. Clean chambers and clean brass will cause the brass to grab the chamber walls and stretch. Annealing the mouths will help, so will firing it in a lever gun that has a bit looser chamber.

I've grown the occasional starline case a few thousands merely by sizing them, belling, and sizing them again. I put them in the batch and didn't keep track of them upon subsequent loadings.

[Humbo]

I have actually tried that, excessive belling and then sizing the brass. Unfortunately I have not seen any change in length. I could try to anneal them and give them a few firings to see if that will lengthen them some.

[NSB]

After you shoot pistol brass (straight wall cases) they get shorter. When you size them they get longer. Are your “short brass” sized or not?

[country gent]

Remember there is only a set amount of brass in a case, Stretching it will have to make it thinner some where in the body / head area
If your cases have a chanulere in them a snug fitting stem in the sizing die might get you what you need by ironing it out.

[Humbo]

All cases are fully resized before measuring them. Dillon dies seem to work the brass the most, so I tried to size the short cases with that die. I usually use Redding dual ring dies.

[hoodat]

If you seat and crimp in separate steps, I'd just take the short ones and adjust the die body for more crimp. Just keep track of your seater setting and original die body setting. jd

[Humbo]

That could be a solution as well.

[wilecoyote]

size them first, seat and crimp in separate steps, following the resulting height,
load full .454 charges, shoot _ the next time you'll have quite grown cases to resize with Redding_ my Redding sizers are quite tight, indeed_ next you should be able to trim them all at the same desired length_

[Humbo]

I'll try to shoot them e few times more to see if they stretch. The Redding dual ring sizer almost doesn't work the brass at all, I really like them for case longevity. The regular sizer might be a different story.
I had another thought, what if I partially size the cases with a .44-40 sizer, which has a bottle neck? With a relatively high pressure reload, it should make the brass flow forward a little. Is there any risk by doing this?

[jetinteriorguy]

IF YOUR CONCERN is inconsistent crimp due to case length variance you might contact Lee and inquire about getting a custom made collet crimp die. I use these on my .357 mag and .41 mag and you can get a good solid crimp even with minor variances in case length. Plus the case mouth is less prone to cracking, at least in my experience. I’d set the seating depth so that both the longest and shortest piece of brass both seat in the cannelure if possible and then set the collet crimper as tight as needed to prevent bullet movement during recoil.

[wilecoyote]

I apologize: I was referring to my experiences with standard .357 and .44 magnum Redding die sets only, and my problem, if any, it was exactly the opposite, with brass used in S&W cylinder chambers_

[Eddie Southgate]

V iagra might work. :kidding:

[Bazoo]

I'll try to shoot them e few times more to see if they stretch. The Redding dual ring sizer almost doesn't work the brass at all, I really like them for case longevity. The regular sizer might be a different story.
I had another thought, what if I partially size the cases with a .44-40 sizer, which has a bottle neck? With a relatively high pressure reload, it should make the brass flow forward a little. Is there any risk by doing this?

It should be perfectly safe, as the brass will expand to the size of the chamber walls at the beginning of the pressure curve. No different than ironing out a dent. It may cause the brass to flow more, but I don't think it will. I expect annealing the brass will yield the best results.

[Sasquatch-1]

I will say that the brass should have a considerable ability to stretch. I have seen 9mm that was shot in a .40 S&W pistol where the brass has stretched out to fill the chamber without splitting.

[nicholst55]

There are BPCR shooters that routinely stretch some rifle cases before loading them. I believe that this is done with some .45-110 chamberings.
I'm not certain of the details, so I would recommend asking those folks about this. The best solution for you, as I see it, is to trim all of your brass to a uniform length.