Smith Carbine brass length

[Richard Harris (Bird)]

I purchased a quantity of Smith brass at Fall Nationals and they are too long for my gun. Do I take the excess off of the rear or the front? How do I determine how much?

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I had the same problem after I had my Smith relined. I was switching from brass to plastic at the time. I took a brass cartridge and filed off the open end until the gun closed. Then I made a jig for my drill press to size down the rest of the plastic cartridges, using a router bit to shave off the top.

Before you go through all that, you might want to have a gunsmith just make your chamber the same size as your brass.

I'm no gunsmith, and that may not be the best way to do it - it's just the way I did it.