Henderson Trimmer

[454bore]

Was about to pull the trigger on a Henderson Powered Trimmer Gen 3 when I started noticing a few posts regarding additional steps in the case prep process. Specifically that you may need to run the brass through a mandrel die after resizing it in order to have it fit the pilot properly. An then go back and resize again in order to get proper neck tension for the bullet. Concerns of course that you are overworking the brass.

Anyone have first hand experience with the Henderson and your case prep process that you could share?

Thanks

454bore

 

[stavey]

I used some sandpaper on the mandrel until it fit my brass . Works perfect

 

[RegionRat]

With any 3-way trimmer, you can adjust the pilot to the diameter you want rather than size again later. The requirement for the proper fit to the pilot is so that the adjustments of the chamfers are correct.

If the case mouth is loose, there will be too much OD chamfer and no ID chamfer for example.
If you try and go too tight, the pilot won't be happy.

That said, if you don't like the diameter of the pilot because it doesn't match your goal for later on, then change it. This isn't too hard to arrange.

I wasn't happy with my first Forester pilot diameter cause it was too small for my taste, so I got an over-sized one and trimmed the pilot to match my final neck size and adjusted the cuts to match my final diameter.

I hate trimming, so any automation was worth the trouble to me, and it really wasn't too much trouble at all.

The pilots for these neck turning machines don't have to be high performance hardened materials, so it is easy to turn or adjust one.

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

the henderson is amazing, i personally run 1 thou under bullet diameter mandrels and the pilots the cutters came with work perfectly, very little contact, none on most cartridges i do

 

[michaeljp65]

great trimmer, dont over think thing, is my moto.

 

[OmegaRed]

I haven't had issues on any of the 6 calibers I've done so far.

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

great trimmer, dont over think thing, is my moto.

depending on desired neck tension you could run into issues

 

[RustyInBend]

My steps are to FL Size, Mandrel, and then use my Henderson Case Trimmer. I've never had a problem ... absolutely LOVE the case trimmer. Bottom line ... if your pre-trim case mouth is too small to fit on the pilots, you're probably using too much neck tension.

 

[Hoser]

For sure an improvement over my Giraud which is/was an awesome machine.

Most of my pilots are about .002 under bullet diameter and trim resized brass just fine.

 

[stavey]

A few months back I sold my giraud and bought a Henderson. I polished my mandrel , tried using a brush as f class John had done etc… In the end I couldn’t get over the mandrel marring the inside of the necks. Nor could I get even results using a brush. I sold the Henderson and ordered another Giraud. Giraud lead time for trimmers is currently the same day if anyone is wondering.