cartridge Case trimmer general question

p5200 said:
Is this one of the needed items and compatible with the .223 rem. casings for re-using brass?
http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=LEE90110&CFID=6747665&
Click to expand...

One of the need items? Yes, especially for Safety. Keep your brass trimmed back .010" from the end of the chamber as determined by your reamer or reamer drawing. Or, to be absolutely sure use a chamber length gauge obtainable from Sinclair International for your specific caliber. :)
 
A case trimmer is absolutely essential. I use mine every time I full length size.
I have used several and will list them with comments.

Wilson: The best I have used. It is slow because of the shellholder which you have to insert the case in to trim and then knock out.
Forster: Fast and easy to use. It is very uniform if the case heads are all the same size, the case is held by a four jaw collet and varying
diameter rims vary your length slightly, very acceptable for hunting and AR-15 use.
RCBS: Fast and easy to use. It is very uniform, the case is held by a shellholder pulling it back againt a fixed stop, very acceptable for hunting and AR-15 use.
LEE: Piece of junk. It maintains case length by bottoming the pilot on the case web at the flash hole. If you have a variety of brands of cases none will trim to
the same length except by pure luck. I am so disappointed in the one I tried that I will not sell or give it to anyone, I don't want them mad at me.
 
My go to trimmer is the Wilson. At the range I use one of these. http://www.possumhollowproducts.com/products/kwick-case-trimmer.jpg
If I were faced with trimming a large number of cases ( on my budget) I would put a Possum Hollow trimmer in one of these (It fits.) http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/sid=66387/sku/Sinclair_Case_Mouth_Deburring_Tool_Holder with a leather glove on the hand that handled the cases.

When I started reloading, it was for a .308, with a Lee Loader and one of their trimmers. I upgraded as soon as I could afford it. I used a drill motor for power and the part of the trimmer that fits through the case flash hole wore a depression in the face of the lock stud that it stops on, when in use, causing cases to be trimmed shorter. OK for a starter on a tight budget, but nothing more.
 
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p5200 said:
Is this one of the needed items and compatible with the .223 rem. casings for re-using brass? Hate to ask so many questions I should get my Lyman reloading manual next week and hopefully, it will answer most of my questions. Appreciate all the help and patience from everyone so far! :)

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=LEE90110&CFID=6747665&
Click to expand...

I started out with a Lyman fifteen years ago, and later went thru a procession of trimmers till I happened upon a Wilson. Never looked back! Now Sinclair sells a bunch of addons for them, and even a hex drive end for use with a Black & Decker electric screw driver.
gary
 
Case trimmer

kansasvet said:
A case trimmer is absolutely essential. I use mine every time I full length size.

RCBS: Fast and easy to use. It is very uniform, the case is held by a shellholder pulling it back againt a fixed stop, very acceptable for hunting and AR-15 use.
LEE: Piece of junk. It maintains case length by bottoming the pilot on the case web at the flash hole. If you have a variety of brands of cases none will trim to
the same length except by pure luck. I am so disappointed in the one I tried that I will not sell or give it to anyone, I don't want them mad at me.
Click to expand...

I trim case length at every reload to stay consistent. I started with the RCBS, but now use LEE almost exclusively with a drill. The case length is determined by the pin engaging the bottom of the lock stud through the flash hole and is very consisent and faster to use. The LEE does trim to minimum length and there are times I prefer a longer case. Just because it costs more doesn't mean you'll get better results. nhk
 
If your original question was "Do I need one of these for the .223" - "YES" - is the answer - and for all the calibers you shoot !! I have been shooting for 45+ years - and never had much trouble with brass until I started shooting the .223 - was just lucky I guess !! I had several pieces of brass blow up on me with one "Winchester" and found that the brass was growing on me and was spiking the pressures and blowing the cases . . . Now - no piece of brass goes into a chamber without being trimmed - no matter what !! There are several references above on how to determine the "Exact Case Length" one is a small pin that will get put down into a shortened case and the bolt shut on it and then measured . . well worth the few dollars to have one for each caliber you are shooting, Sinclair Sells that pin . . I personally have and like the RCBS trimmer that is pictured above, but to each his own, Willison is most likely the best - but pricey. My suggestion is to buy what you can afford that will do the job the best for you, mind you - you will be doing alot of this so make your choice - "a good one" ! One that doesn't require too much motion to get the job done the quickest ! I trim mine on the RCBS trimmer, and then have a RCBS trim station that I do the rest on, keep it simple and quick . . . :) Another suggestion is "If you are shooting an AR Platform", get a set of "Small Base Dies for the .223", I had a lot of trouble with the brass seating well till I did that. . . JMHO ;)

Good luck - - - -
 
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I will be re-loading for my Savage 10fp to start with but would like to reload some 25-06 for my Tikka T3 Lite later on. Sure do appreciate all the great help here. Thanks!
 
I started with the hand cranked version of the attached item below and then upgraded to the powered version by adding the power assembly. It does an excellent job and all backed by a great, customer service oriented company.

I'll let you in on a real secret. Ask if they have any items that they brought back from the shot show. They usually sell them for HALF PRICE! That's what I got my power assembly for. ;)
 

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kansasvet said:
Forster: Fast and easy to use. It is very uniform if the case heads are all the same size, the case is held by a four jaw collet and varying
diameter rims vary your length slightly...
Click to expand...

I don't believe this to be true... the rim diameter has no bearing on the case length... if the case is seated in the collet against the 'step' the collet is always pushed towards the holder and case length is not affected by small variations in rim diameter...
 
Dennis,
This is one of those things that are like arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It really doesn't matter...but the collet will be drawn back till stopped by the OD of the case rim. If the rim is smaller, it will be drawn back farther, as will the case. I have no idea how great the variation is within a given lot of cases of the same brand, but I am pretty sure that it is small enough to be insignificant, and if we are not talking about cases of the same make and lot, then any difference will surely be lost in the noise.
Boyd
 
The Forester collet closes on the case head by pushing the collet into a cone shaped receiver. At one time, 35 years ago. in my vast ignorance I would mix cases not knowing how detrimental it was to accuracy. The length did not vary over .001 but some people are super particular about things like that. I should have been more clear in my statement, sorry about that.
 
kansasvet said:
The Forester collet closes on the case head by pushing the collet into a cone shaped receiver. At one time, 35 years ago. in my vast ignorance I would mix cases not knowing how detrimental it was to accuracy. The length did not vary over .001 but some people are super particular about things like that. I should have been more clear in my statement, sorry about that.
Click to expand...

My Forester does not operate that way...

The collet has a tapered back so the flat of the collet is always pushed against the collet holder in the exact same "length" every time it is tightened. The "steps" in the collet remain in the exact same "length" every time the end screw is tightened and pushes the collet against the 'stop'. Length remains the same regardless of slight variations in rim diameter. One just needs to make sure the case is pushed all the way into the collet when it is tightened. I do that by pushing and rotating the case with the cutter as I tighten the collet.

collet-0.jpg
 
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Case head diameter & collet draw up

I've found up to 0.003" difference in case length in a batch (same lot) done on my RCBS rotary case trimmer because of the reasons that were mentioned. If you don't seat the case firmly in the collet or use different torque on the screw you'll affect the length.

I don't think it matters as much which tool you use, but the way you use them. I've seen brass that was trimmed carefully only to be 'ruined' by over zealous case mouth chamfering.

Trimming is certainly required for the safety aspect. I'm not sure 0.001" +/- difference on neck length is as critical as neck tension or seating depth if the cut is clean and perpendicular to the neck. nhk
 
Dennis:
You are absolutely right. I wasn't thinking "again". I have the old style RCBS and it does work that way but I didn't look at my Forster before posting and gave some incorrect information.
Thank you for correcting my mistake, I am usually more careful before I post but definitely blew it this time.
I also want to thank you for doing it in a nice way, that isn't always done on these forums.
 
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