Trimming nightmares

[mikeinct]

Every batch of 22 250 & 243 winchester I went near yesterday had to be trimmed to length ..then champher, then de-burr then clean the primer pockets..I felt like a factory worker...I swear some of those cases were only fired once..It was unreal..I don't mind trimming with my little lyman neck trimming tool..BUT .The 243 pilot always hangs up on the case mouth..I mean everytime..The cutter seems to raise up a burr on the brass that locks the case to itself [the mandrel]& a great deal of force is required to get it out of there...Any sugggestions??..I polished the little mandrel..but I'm thinking something else is needed...This happen to anyone else ?? mike in ct

 

[jb1000br]

I HATE TRIMMING...good thing is my 6BR brass IS NOT GROWING AT ALL after 3 firings

I had the same prob you are...comes from taking too much length off at once

take one spin of the cutter, back out, go in again, finish the cut...basically take smaller bites...worked for me.

JB

 

[Cheechako]

Mike

Trimming ain't fun, even if it's only a few thou. Here's what I do.

Get yourself one of the little hand held trimmers that index off the shoulder. Homer Strickland up in Anchorage will make them for you. Get one for each cartridge, set it once and forget it. Now, with a couple of empty cigar boxes on your lap, you can sit on the couch with your favorite beverage, turn on Oprah, and trim away. A quick twist with a Wilson chamfer,sp?) tool and you're done.

Ray

 

[chino1969]

mikeinct,
That is one of the reasons I go with the Ackleys. I have a .243 A.I. & a .22-250 A.I. that have had stiff loads through them. I can't remember the last time the cases were trimmed.
Chino69

 

[Caduceus]

When I started to shoot higher volume stuff,NRA Hi-power with a 223), I decided to buy one of the RCBS power trimmers. I use it with a 3-way cutter that trims, chamfers and deburrs all in the one operation. The cutter was a pain to get set up exactly right but once done, it's a set and forget operation. When you get on a roll with that thing, you can trim/chamfer/deburr about 8 cases per minute. Best of all, no manual turning of the handle required.

I plan on selling it in a few months because I'm moving back to a 240V country. I already bought a 240V replacement when Midway decided to get rid of their last "foreign" model at a large discount. I'll advertise the 110V one on here before I'm ready to go.

 

[Clarence]

Take the mandrel off and gring a bevel at the rear portion where it meets the driver, prob solved.

Clarence

 

[JER]

Every batch of 22 250 & 243 winchester I went near yesterday had to be trimmed to length ..then champher, then de-burr ...Any sugggestions??..

RCBS X-Die Full Length Sizer 243 Winchester
RCBD X-Die Full Length Sizer 22-250

I use them in 223 and 260 Rem and love them. Not benchrest quality, but good enough to shoot cleans with high X counts in Highpower.

Trim cases .01" under min length, set mandrel on die to touch case mouth, and reload without ever trimming again. I do re-chamfer every once in a few loadings, just to make sure bullets go in very easy.

 

[Hipshot]

I, too, use RCBS X-die but in .223 and have many rounds through my AR-15 and have never had to trim the cases; they just don't grow. I've been very pleased.

 

[steveyrock]

I like the Wilson case trimmer,NO MANDREL, they use case holders which work very nice. http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=RECTACWI&item=WTR&type=store

 

[Clarence]

Ah the "X" die:
I have a question as to the ability to not grow the case length, if the die pushes on the front of the neck then what happens to the shoulder angle???? or how does it work as the Tech does not explain.

Clarence

 

[JER]

Clarence, I coan't tell you exactly how it works, but I can tell you that exterior dimensions are not altered in any way.

I have cases with four loadings through them and they still mic .002" neck tension.

There are a lot of skeptics out there that think these dies could not possibly do what RCBS says they will do without ill effects. So far, from my experience in two calibers, the skeptics are wrong. While they wring their hands about "possible" changes to the brass, I enjoy volume reloading without trimming.

 

[halfmile]

Having just gone through 2,000 .223 cases with a power trimmer, I observe the following:

The hangup on the mandrel is inevitable unless you do as previously stated. The burr has a habit of forming on the inside of the case mouth. turning the cuter while you extract the case or smaller cuts is the only answer. I thought about relieving the back side of the mandrel but couldn't figure how without getting primitive.

If I had to do it over I would get the Gracy power trimmer which spaces off the shoulder rather than the base. I don't think a pilot is necessary.,my trimmer is a Lyman, same as manual but a motor)

The power option does not negate the necessity of putting the case in, taking it out, pushing the cutter into the work, etc.
Still a hassle.

It's enough to make me buy an X-die.

HM

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

www.giraudtool.com

This is hands down the best power trimmer made. It trims, chamfers, and deburs in in step. Works just like a pencil sharpener.

Changing calibers is about a two minute job, as well.

It also has a Meplat trimming option - works wonderfully!!

Mark