How to take .125 off ~1,500 cases?

[woody1]

Mebe like this?

A somewhat modified RCBS trimmer. Really spins off the metal!

[lunicy]

I had the same issue (albeit for 300 not 1500 cases)
I custom made a lee trimmer stud
I held each case in the lathe
Turned it down "close" by eye with the carriage
Finished it with my lee trimmer

[kenjuudo]

Why not chuck the .38 special mandrel from a Lee trimmer up in a lathe and cut back the collar at the threaded end, that would leave about .075" about the same amount of material on their .45 cap, 9mm and .380 mandrels. Should work fine set up in a drill press or power driver setup.

jim

[KCSO]

I have a small cheap drill press with a Lyman trimmer base on it. I set the depth stop and go to town. The whole set up was bought at a second hand store for less than $50.

[KYCaster]

Imashooter, I have a couple of observations, a couple of questions and a couple of suggestions.

First the observations.......Shorter brass obviously provides a significant advantage when making reloads under stress; if for no other reason, if you THINK you have a problem, you DO have a problem.

Sometimes the CURE causes more headaches than the PROBLEM.

The questions.........Considering the time required to trim 1500 cases, is it possible that time could be better spent practicing reloads until the full length brass is no longer a problem?

Does Mr. Olhaso (I haven't met him, but I do know who he is) trim 38spl brass or does he have 38LC? Does he use boolits or bullets?

Does your brass have mixed head stamps or all the same?

Do you use boolits (my guess) or bullets?

Have you considered the internal dimensions of the cases and the effect that will have when seating the boolit .125 deeper into the case?

The suggestions.........Take a sample of each of the different brands of brass you have, seat a boolit to the OAL you intend to use with shorter brass and see if they will chamber without resistance. Do the same with jacketed bullets. I think you'll find that some of the cases will have a bulge at the base of the bullet that will prevent the round from chambering.

If I'm right about the brass, consider getting "wadcutter brass" to modify, you won't have any problems with bulged cases.

Final suggestion..........I know that sometimes we want to do what we want to do, even when it's not the best option. (Lord knows I've done plenty of that myself) BUT.....unless your revolver has a shortened ejector rod, there's no good reason you can't eject 38 spl cases, so the BEST option may be PRACTICE.

OK, I lied .....that wasn't the final suggestion.....this is.........
Check out this video. This guy is incredible. In the five or six years I've known him, he's gone from an eccentric nobody to the #2 or #3 revolver shooter in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTT8qZkuWjI

Here he is at a match.........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=tPIzZt2Hfoo


Good luck
Jerry

[Mk42gunner]

I was reading Dean Grenell's ABC's of Reloading 4th Ed. this afternoon. He used a dremel tool mounted in a stand with a cutoff wheel, (the reinfoced ones work best in my experience). He also used one of the Forester deburring bases modified to hold a case to spin it against the cutoff wheel.

You would still need to use your trimmer to square up the case mouths, whether it would save any time or not I don't know.

Now for a couple of different thoughts--

I don't see how .38 Special cases are not getting totally out of the cylinder, if you are tipping the revolver up while punching the ejector rod with your thumb. The only problem I ever had was a few loose cases could get stuck under the ejector star once in a while, but with them all tied together by the moon clip that shouldn't happen.

What about getting the Starline cases in .38 Long Colt and using a cartdge spinner and a small file to cut a groove so your moon clips will work with them? It might be easier than cutting down all those .38 Spaecil cases.

I can definitely understand not wanting to by new moon clips at $6 each.

Robert

[imashooter2]

Imashooter, I have a couple of observations, a couple of questions and a couple of suggestions.

First the observations.......Shorter brass obviously provides a significant advantage when making reloads under stress; if for no other reason, if you THINK you have a problem, you DO have a problem.

Sometimes the CURE causes more headaches than the PROBLEM.

The questions.........Considering the time required to trim 1500 cases, is it possible that time could be better spent practicing reloads until the full length brass is no longer a problem?

To be sure, practice never hurts. But if equipment didn't matter we'd all be stuffing HKS speed loaders in our waistband.

Does Mr. Olhaso (I haven't met him, but I do know who he is) trim 38spl brass or does he have 38LC? Does he use boolits or bullets?

He uses Starline .38 LC brass and Hearthco Match moons. He tops the brass with Billy Bullets brand moly coated cast. (Of course, he gets paid to shoot too.)

Does your brass have mixed head stamps or all the same?

All Winchester. I use Winchester because it fits my 100+ Ranch moons well. If buying 50 Hearthco Match moons and 1,000 Starline .38 LC brass wouldn't ding me $455 plus shipping, it would be a much more attractive option. Unfortunately, my match budget for the year isn't a whole lot more than $455 and the sponsors aren't lining up for me just yet.

Do you use boolits (my guess) or bullets?

I cast my own Lee 358-150-1R.

Have you considered the internal dimensions of the cases and the effect that will have when seating the boolit .125 deeper into the case?

I have. At 1.028, I'm not into the thickening of the walls yet using the 358-150-1R. The guys over on Brian Enos forum report that you can't cut Specials down to Short Colt though or bullet bases will be in the web.

The suggestions.........Take a sample of each of the different brands of brass you have, seat a boolit to the OAL you intend to use with shorter brass and see if they will chamber without resistance. Do the same with jacketed bullets. I think you'll find that some of the cases will have a bulge at the base of the bullet that will prevent the round from chambering.

I've loaded a few dummies, chamber checked, and pulled boolits to make sure they weren't deformed on the base. No bulges, no deformation.

If I'm right about the brass, consider getting "wadcutter brass" to modify, you won't have any problems with bulged cases.

Certainly something worth checking, and I have. I'm confident the trimmed Special cases are viable.

Final suggestion..........I know that sometimes we want to do what we want to do, even when it's not the best option. (Lord knows I've done plenty of that myself) BUT.....unless your revolver has a shortened ejector rod, there's no good reason you can't eject 38 spl cases, so the BEST option may be PRACTICE.

Practicing is always solid advice and I can't put up any valid argument against it. But if equipment can eliminate a flub or two caused by spotty technique every match I can't see why it isn't worth doing. You can't buy skill, but you can't argue that equipment doesn't matter either.

OK, I lied .....that wasn't the final suggestion.....this is.........
Check out this video. This guy is incredible. In the five or six years I've known him, he's gone from an eccentric nobody to the #2 or #3 revolver shooter in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTT8qZkuWjI

Here he is at a match.........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=tPIzZt2Hfoo

I'm a USPSA and ICORE "C" shooter. As such, I'm not worthy to carry his lunch. That said, I load a 625 much faster and more reliably than a 627. Those big holes are pretty easy to find and that stubby .898 inch case never gets hung up on the way out either.

Good luck
Jerry

Thanks! I really appreciate all the time you spent on this thoughtful post. Really, the advice to practice is spot on. But if I can stack the deck a little, I'm gonna do that too.

[daschnoz]

Use the cases you are looking to trim and simply seat the boolit into the 38SP case so that the OAL (from the case head to the boolit tip) is that of a 38LC? Use load data for the 38LC. (that is if the wheel is long enough to handle the length of the cartridge as loaded) Don't trim a thing.

Would it be legal? Some competitions have very specific (and sometimes strange) rules.

[imashooter2]

I was reading Dean Grenell's ABC's of Reloading 4th Ed. this afternoon. He used a dremel tool mounted in a stand with a cutoff wheel, (the reinfoced ones work best in my experience). He also used one of the Forester deburring bases modified to hold a case to spin it against the cutoff wheel.

You would still need to use your trimmer to square up the case mouths, whether it would save any time or not I don't know.

Now for a couple of different thoughts--

I don't see how .38 Special cases are not getting totally out of the cylinder, if you are tipping the revolver up while punching the ejector rod with your thumb. The only problem I ever had was a few loose cases could get stuck under the ejector star once in a while, but with them all tied together by the moon clip that shouldn't happen.

What about getting the Starline cases in .38 Long Colt and using a cartdge spinner and a small file to cut a groove so your moon clips will work with them? It might be easier than cutting down all those .38 Spaecil cases.

I can definitely understand not wanting to by new moon clips at $6 each.

Robert

It's amazing how my rock solid technique disintegrates under the stress of a timer. Shorter cases will give me more margin for error.

The Starline extractor grooves would have to get smaller, not larger, to work with my existing moon clips.

[imashooter2]

Use the cases you are looking to trim and simply seat the boolit into the 38SP case so that the OAL (from the case head to the boolit tip) is that of a 38LC? Use load data for the 38LC. (that is if the wheel is long enough to handle the length of the cartridge as loaded) Don't trim a thing.

Would it be legal? Some competitions have very specific (and sometimes strange) rules.

I load the Lee 358-150-1R, so there isn't enough boolit outside the case to make that viable. Good thought though!

Ammo loaded that way would be perfectly legal for ICORE. All they demand is that it be safe and make power factor.

[Mk42gunner]

It's amazing how my rock solid technique disintegrates under the stress of a timer. Shorter cases will give me more margin for error.

The Starline extractor grooves would have to get smaller, not larger, to work with my existing moon clips.

At least you are man enough to admit that you have a problem, and are trying to work around it. I have known many people that try to deny the obvious.

I don't think I have ever seen any Starline .38 Long colt brass, I just assumed (there's thta word that the Chief always warned me about) the groove was too shallow. I have never had any luck trying to grow brass.

Good luck

Robert

[Recluse]

Drill press, Lee 3-jaw chuck, Lee stud adapter.





I like to chamfer and polish the brass while it's spinning, so I use the drill press to hold the Lee 3-jaw chuck (which in turn holds the shell casing).

However, when I have had or needed to trim a larger number of cases, I'll chuck the trimmer with the Lee gauge on it, and then simply hold the brass up to the rotating trimmer.

Goes quick. Real quick that way.

[DukeInFlorida]

For the purposes of swaging 9mm brass into .40 S&W J words, I trim them to .380 auto length, about 1/8". I do thousands of them.

I have an RCBS Pro Trim trimmer.

I removed the crank handle from the rotating end, threaded in a hex socket screw, and use a hex driver in my power drill to spin the cutter at high speed.

If I don't press very hard, the brass shaves very fast, and leaves very little burr. I can do hundreds of them in an hour.

I would think that this process would work wonderfully for any need.

Adding the RCBS special cutter head that trims and deburrs at the same time would really speed up the operation.

[DLCTEX]

I think nothing is simpler or faster than the Lee case trimmer in a cordless drill. Trim, chamfer, done. I don't see one on Lee's site for 38 long, but turn down a 38 spc. or get Buckshot to make one for you. Check out Geargnasher's setup for using the Lee trimmer. I don't think any method will beat it for speed and ease.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...g+cases&page=2

[GRUMPA]

I use this to trim off .135 for making j-words.


It takes me longer to load them than it does to trim them. By the way it's a 3-way cutter that de-burrs inside and outside at the same time. Total cost was $65 and the guy that made it for me had it done in a week. I just use my drill and away I go.

[KTN]

Just one of my ideas, but how about modified pinch trim die.
I'll try to explain without pictures. Case is set to shellholder, slightly longer than needed bushing goes over the case and surplus case lenght sticks out of bushing. On top of press goes die with cone shaped bottom end. Bushing is heat treated and top edge is sharp. Die is also heat treated and polished. Adjust die so that cone just touches the bushing on top of shellholder, on top of stroke. Put case to shellholder, slip on bushing over case, raise the ram to pinch trim, lower ram and remove trimmed case and bushing from shellholder. It would still need trimming to final lenght, but it would get close.
Little problem with this idea is, that nobody makes trim dies like this, but I never said it was good idea .
But with a lathe and some heat treating, it can be done .


Kaj

[imashooter2]

Great idea, but buying a lathe might just set me back a bit more than the Starline brass and solid gold moonclips...

[Ugluk]

How about a cutter in a progressive press? If there's alignment issues, then how about a pilot of some sort on the cutter?
You could add a debburing station as well.
Just brainstorming here, never trimmed a case in my life..

[Safeshot]

You could use a "Drill Press". Please refer to the "Drill Press" thread on this Sub Forum.

[KTN]

Just for fun I made pinch trimmer for .38 spl brass.



From back left, ejector ring, trimming bushing and cone die, on front left trimmed cases with trimmed off rings and untrimmed cases.



Here case is going up to be trimmed.



And here ram is coming down and about to separate ring from case mouth.



Kaj