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Posted: 6/14/2010 10:37:21 AM EDT
| Is there suck a thing as a case trimmer that mounts to a relaoding press? I swear I have seen one but my google-fu is weak today. |
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How hard is it to set up?
I am thinking about getting one for a lee progrssive I have. I am getting fricken tennis elbow from trimming cases... I think that I can run a decapping on turrent hole one and this on two. $275 with a die seems expensive but it may be worth it. Do you still need to de-burr the cases after trimming? Thanks for the help guys! |
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Quoted:
How hard is it to set up? I am thinking about getting one for a lee progrssive I have. I am getting fricken tennis elbow from trimming cases... I think that I can run a decapping on turrent hole one and this on two. $275 with a die seems expensive but it may be worth it. Do you still need to de-burr the cases after trimming? Thanks for the help guys! I run my dillion RT1200 on a Lee Loadmaster....probably the single best investment I made for loading rifle cases!! Now my brass prep takes about an hour to resize and trim 1K .223!! I can progressively prep cases, then when all done tumble and ready to load up. |
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I could never get consistent OAL when mounted on my Loadmaster. I always thought the press had too much deflection and would get inconsistent lengths. I use my single stage RCBS press for the best results. I found that sizing in stages seemed to help make things work smoother - I would size/decap in the loadmaster and then take the still lubed brass over to the trim die set up on my single stage press. Then resize/tirm/ bump the shoulder and check to make sure they gauge correctly.
Some people do not de-burr the cases, but I always do. The thing that I do not like about the dillon trimmer is that the full length sizer makes the neck to small. You have to run a neck expander to get any bullet but a boat tail started. I thought it was stupid that you had to run it through 3 different dies before it was right. (decap/resize, resize/trim, neck expander) This drove me crazy and I ended up modifying the die by increasing the size of the neck hole. Now I run it through decap/resize and then I use it as a bump/trim die. I know there are varying opinions out there but for me this is how I like it done - some people dont care and just run it though, Good Luck 
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Quoted:
I could never get consistent OAL when mounted on my Loadmaster. I always thought the press had too much deflection and would get inconsistent lengths. I use my single stage RCBS press for the best results. I found that sizing in stages seemed to help make things work smoother - I would size/decap in the loadmaster and then take the still lubed brass over to the trim die set up on my single stage press. Then resize/tirm/ bump the shoulder and check to make sure they gauge correctly. Some people do not de-burr the cases, but I always do. The thing that I do not like about the dillon trimmer is that the full length sizer makes the neck to small. You have to run a neck expander to get any bullet but a boat tail started. I thought it was stupid that you had to run it through 3 different dies before it was right. (decap/resize, resize/trim, neck expander) This drove me crazy and I ended up modifying the die by increasing the size of the neck hole. Now I run it through decap/resize and then I use it as a bump/trim die. I know there are varying opinions out there but for me this is how I like it done - some people dont care and just run it though, Good Luck Sir, FWIW I used to have a Dillon trimmer also. I too had the trim dies modified to enlarge the necks of the dies because I was concerned that the case neck tension was too great. I also use case neck expander mandrels because I want the inside diameter of the case neck to be uniform regardless slight variation of case neck thickness. I used the Dillon trimmer mounted on a single stage press for quite a few years and like you I took the trouble to deburr the case necks inside and out. When I discovered the Doug Giraud trimmer a few years ago I resisted buying one because I thought it was a lot of money and the only improvement above what I already had was the elimination of the case neck deburring steps. I visited with Mr. Giraud when he set up shop on commercial row at Camp Perry during the Nationals and after a few years of thinking about it I finally wrote the check and took one home two years ago. I sold the Dillon trimmer on the EE forum. I still do all match bottle neck rifle case prep on a single stage press and trim every case with the Giraud trimmer. There are those that might consider my process a bit anal, but that's just me. I usually do about 500 cases at a time and I couldn't imagine doing it differently. I've contemplated using some of the techniques CoSteve uses on my Dillon XL650 as he has shown in the many pics he has posted.on this forum. Presently I'm quite pleased with the performance of the finished product and while I continue to look for ways to improve my process and make it more efficient I haven't found a better way yet! JMHO, 7zero1. |
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I am still new to reloading, only been at it a couple of years but the Giraud trimmer has saved me so much time I now don't dread case prep
I had been doing mine on a Lyman rotary and it would take me hours but now it goes pretty fast, be advised that the Giraud trims off the shoulder and in doing so will open your eyes to sizing process or at least with me, it even changes with different amounts and or kinds of lube used, I have managed to get my sizing process to be very consistent, i check with a headspace gage since it sizes off the shoulder and I can keep it +/- .001 so when I run thru the trimmer I have no issues. I was very fortunate with my trimmer as I received a one on one lesson from the man behind the trimmer, he was gracious enough to spend about an hour or so going thru some tips and tricks on the trimmer and being consistent on sizing (getting the shoulder sizing right) was one thing that he said really mattered |
FWIW: I started with a Hornady hand crank trimmer and very quickly tired of that process. . Then I mounted my Hornady trimmer vertically on an angle plate and clamped it to my drill press table. After a little lining up. I am ready to go. Later, I made a micrometer adjustment unit and mounted it on the caseholder end and that took all of the guesswork out of getting the proper adjustment for case OAL. The drill press setup runs very smoothly and is more than enough power. Also, with the variable spindle speeds, I can easily get the right cutting speed for brass.
Since the depth of trim is controlled by the stops on the Hornady trimmer rather than the drill press spindel the process is very accurate and fast. It is also possible to de-bur the case mouths by using the correct deburring tool in the drill press. This has greatly speeded up the process and I don't hate to mess with it anymore. I have also used this system equally well for my .308 s, and 30 -06s. Set up and tear down is very fast and I don't have to leave it up when I am not using. it.  Problem solved for good.
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