Since it’s butt cold and nothing else to do, I can’t avoid it any longer.
Case trimming. Only 300 some left to go.
Anybody out there who loves case trimming, call me. Quick.
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As a future reloader, what is case trimming and what are you trying to accomplish?
DT
DT…when the charge goes off the brass expands in all directions. It’s constrained by the bolt face and the chamber; however the end of the cartridge stretches towards the muzzle. The case is longer when it comes out of the gun than it was when it went in. If you’re reloading you trim the case length back to “spec” to make sure it feeds correctly. After reloading several times the case walls get thin in the neck area and will eventually crack.
Famous grouse!!!
I love case trimming.
I bought a WFT trimmer a few years back and will never look back.
http://www.littlecrowgunworks.com/
Seriously it takes seconds and is very consistent.
Yes, I had looked at the WFT option a while back. The falldown of that trimmer in my eyes is that they are cartridge specific. So a different one needs to be purchased for each different cartridge to be trimmed. That made this a spendy option just for the 4 cartridges that I run the most of.
No doubt it’s a slick option for running high volumes of one case type though. I dont suppose you have a 223 wft available for a New year’s eve test drive?
Grouse
As a future reloader, what is case trimming and what are you trying to accomplish?
DT
Steve’s explanation is correct. Generally, you don’t have to trim brass every time. There are also ways that you can minimize how often you trim and therefore how long your cases last.
In the simplest case, with .223 brass, I can fire them 2-3 times before they need to be trimmed. Your mileage will vary depending on the rifle, chambering, the brass, and your reloading processes.
I could probably extend this to 3-4 times if I changed to other processes rather than full-length resizing every time, but given that .223 brass are cheap, I’m not inclined to go through additional steps to extend their life.
BTW, I use the Lee trimming system and a cordless drill as you can see from the picture. With this setup, I can consistently do 4 cases per minute, trimmed, deburred, and chamfered. As trimming goes, that’s the fastest cost-feasible system I could find. As John points out, the WFT system is faster and is certainly worth considering if it fits your needs. Since I trim a LOT of brass for 4 different cartridges and then I have about 5-6 more cartridges that I have to trim occasionally, the Lee system fits my needs the best because it is relatively fast and very cheap.
Grouse
That’s what I had kids for!
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