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case trimmer
- Thread starter rennie
- Start date
I personally prefer the Wilson trimmer to the other trimmers that use pilots. I have a Lyman trimmer, had it for a long time. I found that when there was a lot brass to trim off, I could see where the pilot would scar the case mouth inside.
The Wilson uses case holders that hold the case on the body, no pilots. Yes you need to buy a holder, but they are not hard to make. I have bought a couple, then the rest I made using the chamber reamer. That makes it quite easy.
The Wilson uses case holders that hold the case on the body, no pilots. Yes you need to buy a holder, but they are not hard to make. I have bought a couple, then the rest I made using the chamber reamer. That makes it quite easy.
If you shoot one or two cartridges all the time, like benchrest guys do, you can make a simple trimmer using an end mill. A piece of round stock (people that do their own barrels have plenty of barrel ends laying around that already has a hole in it) run the reamer in one end up to the shoulder. From the other end, bore a hole for an end ill, I used a 5/16" to the end on the case/reamed false chamber. Set screw in the side to hole the adjustment moving the endmill to the right place. You have a case trimmer that uses the case shoulder as the stop, and the endmill cuts the end of the neck with a few twists. works great for the BR guys, who keep their brass in top condition.
Sounds neat, got a picture ??
Has anyone out there built a case trimmer from scratch. I am retired and have time on my hands. I know I can buy one at cabala's or some place else. I would just like to build one. Drawings would help.
Rennie I made these a few months back for my nephew. We/he didn't have a plan so we just kinda made it up as we went along. He's very happy now with the accuracy & the consistency that he has when trimming his spent casings.
Phil
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I use a Possum Hollow trimmer for the brass I trim in high volume. These trimmers use a short end mill in a holder with a hardened insert that indexes on the shoulder of the case. The World's Finest Trimmer and the Giraud trimmer work in the same manner.
I use this trimmer in a rechargeable drill, and it works great, with a catch; the small diameter of .223 Rem cases cause my fingers to go numb after a few hundred cases, and the last time I did a large batch, the index finger of my left hand was numb for over 6 months after. .308 Win cases don't cause nearly as much damage.
The "problem" with lathe type trimmers is speed, and trimmers with collet holders aren't much quicker.
The point of my post is this; there's money to be made from a trimmer that does the job quickly, and with enough precision. Hornady's new combination unit looks pretty good, but one I tried to use had poor alignment and could not trim the case mouth square, the other one I tried belongs to a machinist/gunsmith friend that works okay, and he claims he didn't work on it to fix the ways.
I use this trimmer in a rechargeable drill, and it works great, with a catch; the small diameter of .223 Rem cases cause my fingers to go numb after a few hundred cases, and the last time I did a large batch, the index finger of my left hand was numb for over 6 months after. .308 Win cases don't cause nearly as much damage.
The "problem" with lathe type trimmers is speed, and trimmers with collet holders aren't much quicker.
The point of my post is this; there's money to be made from a trimmer that does the job quickly, and with enough precision. Hornady's new combination unit looks pretty good, but one I tried to use had poor alignment and could not trim the case mouth square, the other one I tried belongs to a machinist/gunsmith friend that works okay, and he claims he didn't work on it to fix the ways.