Case trimming

[BajaJames83]

so are the ones i trimmer to 1.965 are no good??

[FLIGHT762]

Your cases are about .035" too short. Many years ago in the Speer reloading manuals in the .270 Winchester section (Speer #8 1970 edition) they recommended not to use reformed 30/06 cases for the .270 since the .270 case is about .040" longer than the 30/06 case. They said "Using 30/06 cases full length sized to .270 tends to increase the rate of throat erosion"

In the Speer #9, 1974 edition, they changed their opinion to:"The slight difference in length of reformed cases doesn't make any practical difference".

They haven't changed the #9 manual opinion since.

The .308 Winchester is not a high intensity, barrel burning cartridge.
I would say you are okay to use the cases. Just be aware, if you try to crimp to a cannelure, it won't work with those shorter cases. I'd say use them for practice rounds and use them till you wear them out. Lesson learned.

Just how many cases did you shorten too much?

[BajaJames83]

great thanks, illl be using them for my fal just for plinking, ill probably just use the factory crimp on them..

[grant22]

For trimming about 200-300 at a sitting, how are the little $70-$90 hand lathe style trimmers (where you turn it on an axis)?

For 200-300, should I be thinking more of a power one like the Dillon (power head goes onto your reloader tool head and you use the press to push the case up into the cutter.)

THX

[grant22]

^^^^^

BTT, need to know please. I'm trying to refrain from creating a superfluous post. Thx men.

[joelogic]

You probably dont even need to trim. Hand trimmers work just fine. But its more about time than cost.

[repomanNWP]

possum hollow > lee trimmer, i have both. Only problem with Possum hollow is they are out of stock everywhere most of the time and you have to do the extra step of deburring but I can go through 1000 .223 pieces in a night with the possum chucked up in my drill press - as others have said, its my least favorite part of the entire reloading process.

[FLIGHT762]

For trimming about 200-300 at a sitting, how are the little $70-$90 hand lathe style trimmers (where you turn it on an axis)?

For 200-300, should I be thinking more of a power one like the Dillon (power head goes onto your reloader tool head and you use the press to push the case up into the cutter.)

THX

Take a look at this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWyWz-tzJ10

The WFT looks like a pretty good investment. You do have to buy it for each caliber, but I loathe manual trimming with a lathe type trimmer. People do like the Possum Hollow trimmer too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4_QaEusPFg

Since I trim higher volume for a number of calibers, I bought the Gracey and I also have the Dillon trimmer. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go with the Giraud.

[Lead Waster]

Everytime you reload a bunch of cases and they are nicely lined up in their box, swipe a coloured sharpie marker along the heads. This way you can tell how many times a particular case has been reloaded (by you).

[Lead Waster]

ordered lee case gauge and trimmer. couldnt find the possum ones any where...

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=127743

MidwayUSA, don't forget the power adapter, which you can also shove a chamfer/deburr tool into!

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=295771

[ar15robert]

I trim all my rifle brass for each reload.I still reload on a single stage which is fine by me cause i want to trim each piece of brass anyways.

I have my trimmier set up for .223 mostly i will usually work on setting it up measure the case trim another to double check the trimmed length and go from there.I also use one of them trimmer ends that trims,deburs and chamfers all in one

[freonr22]

Hey repoman, what speed do you run your possum hollow at? I found a huge difference for the better @ 3000 rpm vs 600

[grant22]

All good info, but I'm just not sure which one is 'THE ONE.' I don't mind spending the dough, but it needs to meet my requirement of 200-300 rounds at a sitting, not overkill (like a giraud is overkill for me), and preferably does it all in one step (trims, deburs, and chamfers).

If any of you can tell me which one is THE ONE, I'd appreciate it.

[joelogic]

The giraud is not overkill for anyone. The volume does not matter. What matters is how long your "sitting" is. With the possum hollow your "sitting" may take more than an hour but the same sitting with a giruad or the dillon will be 15 minutes. With my dillon I easily process 800 cases an hour, so I block out 4 hours and process several months worth at a time. I dont want to spend my life trimming 200 cases/hour at a time.

For that matter, buy processed brass like a lot of people.

[repomanNWP]

Hey repoman, what speed do you run your possum hollow at? I found a huge difference for the better @ 3000 rpm vs 600

Interesting... I have mine at my lowest setting, 280rpm just because it seemed intuitive to me to run it slow. I'll try a faster rpm and see if I have similar results to you. thanks.