Does Case Length Matter?

[easymoney]

I am reloading 308 to feed my beast.

I know that some firearms are sensitive to the case length. Does anyone have any experience with reloading for the 42 and know if it is sensitive or not. Or if it even matters.

Thanks

[JBaum]

If the cartridge case (brass shell) is too long (usually occurs in the neck area), the bolt rollers won't fully lock and the chamber won't be fully closed. If the hammer happens to manage to hit the firing pin hard enough (semi-auto) to get the primer to ignite, you'll be picking pieces of brass out of your arm or face, depending on what's nearby, and you might damage the gun bad enough to have to beat it back into shape, or worse, cut it, then beat it and reweld it. With full auto, the same thing happens: bolt rollers let the firing pin holder go just far enough forward to hit the primer.

In short, YES, it matters. If the shell is too long in a bolt gun, the bolt won't close. It's immediately noticeable and you'll know to take that shell out. With a 42, it might blow, it might not.

You get to decide if you want to take the chance. My opinion is that max overall length dimensions are not recommendations, they are fixed limits.

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

What John said. Case length matters. Reloaded cases should be checked for overall length being in tolerance and trimmed accordingly. Neck rifle cases stretch when fired, pistol cases without cases don't. If you don't check them for overall length after 2-3 reloads, you're taking a chance they will not allow for full lockup of the bolt or simple jam in tight and not be extracted.