Short and long of sts hulls

[Mother ducker]

Hello all, my first post here. To start I have thank everyone here the info is invaluable.I have been roll crimping 2 9/16" 12 ga. federal papers to feed my fox sterling worth,love them! Now I dug out the 5000 once fired sts' I've saved. Never thought about shell length before so I checked some while grading and sorting. I only measured 8 hulls till problems arose. 3000 hulls later I have 3 lots marked, 2 3/4 - fox , 2 3/4 , and 2 3/4 +. Yes 2 3/4 + is about 200 hulls that measure longer than 2 3/4". As far as I can tell my gun has original 2 5/8" chambers so 2 3/4 + concerns me. The range in length of the 3000 to 4000 hulls I've measured is 2 21/32"to 2 51/64" . Shorts 1/32 over 2 5/8 and longs 3/64 over 2 3/4 and every micro measurement in between. I'm not sure if I even have 2 shells exactly the same length! This turned the light on to the randomness in my previous reloaded crimps, 5/32" in shell length variation! The punch line I guess is know what you're shooting. I'm interested to hear everyone's 2 cents on this, especially if someone has molded and measured their 2 5/8 chambers. Would a 2 51/64" long sts with a 1/64" case wall thickness constrict beyond a 12 ga. Bore in your 2 5/8" chambers? Thanks it was great talking to some of the members at the north east sxs!

[Researcher]

Way more has been made of this issue than it deserves. Kind of like worrying about "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin." As long as the pressure of the load in the shell is reasonable, the fired length of the case is of little issue.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Yup, I second what Dave said. If shells are too hot (Fiocchi Super Crusher type) then we don't want to use them in a vintage gun anyway. Most any 2 3/4 dram factory load should be OK. I use plenty of them with no issues to the Foxes. BTW, welcome to the Fox Fellow Fraternity!!

[DarylC]

Wholeheartedly agree with Dave and Mike. Keep the pressures low and shell length is of little concern. Light payloads, moderate velocities and you're good to go.

[Mother ducker]

Thanks for the input. I'm still splitting my lot for crimp quality and will run the shorts in my sterlingworth.After much research and reading Lyman's and ballistics products manuals I look for loads with hot primers ,fast burn powder,and 7 to 8000psi seems to work so far. Chose these for cold temperature ignition and they're very clean. I finished measuring my lot tonight and was just very surprised that I have close to 2 cases of hulls over 2 3/4".