Armory Sponsor
Posted: 5/9/2017 2:43:20 PM EDT
|
In the past I trimmed 1000 cases measured to 1.74 and the trimmer was able to be set(lyman basic trimmer).
Move forward 2-3 years and the trimmer isn't lockable(the set screw just turns)but I can eyeball this pretty well. Along the way I began to experience poor neck tension so I began to crimp(for a laugh check my read)then I stopped using the expander ball and no more neck issues. NOW I have issues with the collet being too tight in the case mouth and just now it looks like it's brazed(?)itself into the case mouth. Should I say fuck it and get the giraud cheapo or something else like it? I think I could split it with my shooting buddy(I pay half, keep it at his house and use it there too)if I went with the good giraud! I appreciate any thoughts. Oh, and the drill my BIL gave me as a bday gift 41 years ago lost the shaft while trying to trim the brass that still has the pilot in it. Fuck. |
|
I've got the older RCBS motorized unit that uses individual shell holders for the case.
It rocks. I can do four or five cases per minute (depending upon how much brass needs to come off) and in/out taper the mouth in the time it takes another case to trim. Setup is perhaps five minutes after you understand the machine. I had a Gracey and just din't care for it, sold it... if you don't have absolutely consistent headspace, the trim length will vary. |
|
Move forward 2-3 years and the trimmer isn't lockable(the set screw just turns)but I can eyeball this pretty well.
You broke it. Likely stripped the threads using gorilla strength when not warranted. Perhaps, re-tap threading to a larger diameter? Along the way I began to experience poor neck tension so I began to crimp(for a laugh check my read)then I stopped using the expander ball and no more neck issues. Reduce the diameter of your expander ball by polishing it. NOW I have issues with the collet being too tight in the case mouth and just now it looks like it's brazed(?)itself into the case mouth. CLEAN the collet. Use your newly polished (smaller) expander ball. Should I say fuck it and get the giraud cheapo or something else like it? I think I could split it with my shooting buddy(I pay half, keep it at his house and use it there too)if I went with the good giraud! The stand-alone Giraud unit is a beautiful tool. Get one any way you can, splitting the cost with a GOOD friend sounds okay . I appreciate any thoughts. Oh, and the drill my BIL gave me as a bday gift 41 years ago lost the shaft while trying to trim the brass that still has the pilot in it. Fuck. Bummer! Still, 41 years is a respectable tour of duty. I bet it can be repaired, if you want it for nostalgic reasons. Consider fixing it as a fun project. |
|
Thanks Trollslayer.
Yeah, the stand alone(motor powered?)Giraud is beautiful but is it $500 worth of beautiful? My Good friend is already holding almost 20 cases combined of Norinco X39 and X25 from my evac of the 5K warehouse I had for 15 years. I have all the brass I stockpiled there which is why I should get the giraud and a caliber change instead of trying to fix the lyman. |
The Giraud is a beautifully made precision trimmer. Unlike trimmers that require a noisy vacuum cleaner, you can listen to the radio when it's running. I trim with both hands and it goes very fast. Trimmer indexes off the case shoulder, so your case sizing must be uniform to get good results with OAL. So use a quality lube (I use homemade spray lube) and a full stroke when sizing. It should go without saying, but ensure to remove lube before trimming. Adjust your trim length to 1.755 for better neck tension. I would never load a 223 trimmed to 1.740. 
Don't know what the wait time is now days, I had to wait over 1 month. But worth it in the end. |
|
I have the basic Lyman trimmer which I made a shaft to convert it to drill power years before they offered this option.
You lost me with this "collet in the neck" thing. The Lyman has no collets. It does has pilots that go into the case neck which are caliber specific. You say you lost neck tension and now this thing you call a collet is stuck in the case neck. It would seem to me that you have allowed the pilot to become gulled which has increased its diameter which in turn destroyed your neck tension and now it has finally stuck itself into your case mouth. As the cutter gets dull it pushes a larger burr into the case neck when you withdraw the pilot it rubs this burr. If you don't have some lubrication in the case neck brass will get transferred onto the pilot. This is gulling. One easy way to avoid all of this is 1) Replace your dull cutter. 2) Use the next smaller pilot when trimming. So if you are trimming 30 caliber use the .280 pilot. In your case you can polish your .22 caliber pilot down a little. Or get a .17 caliber pilot. I gaurenrltee that if buy a new cutter head and a either fix your pilot or replace it and keep it lubed and free from gulling all your problems will go away. I still use the old Lyman once in a while but was given a RCBS power trimmer. The RCBS unit is very good. It still uses the little set screws that we all hate but you learn to be gentle. Oh. One more thing. I also converted my Lyman into a "shim adjust" unit. I permanently locked the adjuster far enough back to trim the longest casings and use a series of spacers and shims to adjust it. Talk about solid reliable accuracy !!!!!! Motor |
|
Quoted:
Yeah, the stand alone(motor powered?)Giraud is beautiful but is it $500 worth of beautiful? Especially in semi-auto guns since they require more sizing for reliable operation than bolt guns. You can get away with a lot in a bolt gun since the available caming force is very large. Though even here for fast operation a little more sizing does wonders. Semi-auto requires a little more shoulder clearance for reliable operation. |
|
Giraud makes a tri-way trimmer that chucks in your power drill. It's only $100 with one caliber conversion. This is both economical and light years ahead of the competition.
The WTF (World's Finest Trimmer) is another option, buy I don't think it will debur or chamfer when trimming. Knocking out all three chores in one pass is the only way to go IMO. |
|
I couldn't find anything on it.
My split with a buddy has now gone to a three way(can you say clusterfuck). So, I think I'll just do the drill attachment, assuming it's less than a month or two wait. In a month I will have my brass done since I got no job. From the beginning of the thread, I was able to pull the pilot out last night and I'll be finding the expander ball for my decapping die and just start again. |
|
That's one of the draw backs of the lathe type trimmer that holds the casing tight like the Lyman universal chuck.
If the case can't easily move around with the pilot during trimming and out of concentric movement causes the pilot to push on the wall of the case neck often times making it larger. A dull cutter can increase this wallowing. Make sure your cutter is good and reduce the size of the pilot so it's not a close fit in the sized case neck and your problems will go away. Motor |
|
Just throwing this out there as a possible, and maybe even cheaper solution
Use a universal decapping die to just knock the primer out. Then use your full length resizing die with its decapping rod/expander ball removed to resize just the body of the case. Measure those cases to see if they come to 1.76 or less. On those cases that are 1.76 or shorter, run 'em through a Lyman M die to get the case mouth/case neck sized just right. For the brass that you have trimmed to 1.74 already, buy and use that RCBS X sizer die. That die has a mandrel inside of instead of an expander ball so your brass doesn't grow (as much?) (When I first got my X die, I mis-read the directions, and thought RCBS meant for the brass to be trimmed to 20 thou under the trim to length. So I had a bunch of brass that was 1.73 . What I should have done was trim to 20 thou under the MAX length. My 1.73 brass still shot fine.) For your brass that is over 1.76"long, you could buy a Possum Hollow Cutter, and chuck that in a drill. What I did when I was using the PHC was I clamped the corded drill in a vise, with the trigger lock on. Yes it left a burr on the case mouths, but they still had lube on them. So I tumbled them in crushed walnut shells to take care of the burrs and remove the lube. The bullets seated just fine without an inside the neck chamfer. If you do buy the Possum Hollow Cutter, you can also buy the hex shanked tool holder for it that chucks into your drill (I always make it a point to have a corded drill around which has a trigger lock). The tool holder has an inside diameter just right to fit your regular hand held deburring tools. So if you really, really wanted to deburr and handle cases two more times, you could do that. BUUUuuuttt, in theory if you use the RCBS X die and have it set up correctly, you won't have to trim after every firing/resizing. So that kinda negates the need for a $500 Giraud trimmer. |
|
Part of my frustration is due to the fact I bought a brand new carbide trimmer.
Today I took a look at what I have based on dryflash3's comment that I should be using the expander ball so I dug it out. It is split in five places at the top where it threads onto the stem. I discovered this when I tried to insert it into a case. I called RCBS and five minutes later was told they be sending me a new stem complete with expander ball and a pack of pins. That's CS! And thanks dryflash3 for watching over me again. |
|
Quoted:
Part of my frustration is due to the fact I bought a brand new carbide trimmer. Today I took a look at what I have based on dryflash3's comment that I should be using the expander ball so I dug it out. It is split in five places at the top where it threads onto the stem. I discovered this when I tried to insert it into a case. I called RCBS and five minutes later was told they be sending me a new stem complete with expander ball and a pack of pins. That's CS! And thanks dryflash3 for watching over me again. |
Armory Sponsor