trimming rimfire jackets, anyone doing this?

[Dave18]

in the quest for consistency, have been sorting out my jackets after drawing and heat treat out in lengths,

been getting 2 consistant lengths of 720 and 705, , with 25percent inbetween, and have made up a lee trimmer set up (while Im saving for one of those trim dies with the cone set up) to cut those offsize jackets to one or the other length,

whats everyone else doing, am I being too particular or not:|,

[Bills Shed]

We all seem to experiment to see how much it really matters in reality. What are you using your pills for? I gather that you are talking .22LR cases

How I trim:
I use a harbour freight mini cut off saw. I have built a small strong jig that is held in the existing vice. The jig is hard against a mounted stop screw. As the stop screw has a known pitch it is easy to set lengths to trim off, ie 1 revolution = .8mm. The cases are inserted and are indexed off the rim. On the other side of the jig is an ejection pin mounted on another fixed mount. The saw comes down betweent the holding jig and the ejection pin. The saw does the rest. Once the saw is raised it is a simple matter of pushing the ejection pin into the case which pushes the case out of the jig. Takes about 5 seconds to trim a case. There is no burr.
I then derim and anneal. I do not measure length of case after derimming.
I only build 33gn and 40 gn for my khornet. I use the same case length for both weights. Hope that helps.

[onomrbil]

Consistency in all things makes for better bullets. Sorting by length is always good, even with commercially available jackets. Those of you who are REAL sticklers for consistency will buy a jacket trimmer at great expense and get jackets that are really the same length. If you are trying to wring that last bit of accuracy out of 22 hulls, uniform jacket length is an important part of the process that can only be achieved with a real jacket trimmer. I tried all sorts of gizmos involving my case trimmer and cutoff saws but none were satisfactory, and I ended up with an RCE trimmer. Before you order one however, hold onto your wallet and try not die of old age before it arrives . . . .

[Lizard333]

I'm using RCE's pinch trim die. I can go down to .600 for some lighter bullets.

[DukeInFlorida]

I use them as-is... not cutting works for what I do.

I am spraying bullets at 720 rounds per minute, and not shooting in any competitions.....

Me, in white hat, at the beginning of the video, shooting swaged bullets:


http://youtu.be/LLSjDHuZz68

[Nickle]

Duke, I take it you may have traveled to Eden (over my way) and shot at an Emma Gees function?

[303british.com]

I use a Corbin trim die that I use for my Hornet bullets. I trim them to approx. 0.600 and make 43 grainers. My bullet is on the left. Win on right.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/S_Redgwell/Tactical%20Hornet/43grhornet4_zpse6a8e610.jpg

[Nickle]

Yours looks better, you know.

[303british.com]

Thanks. I'd like to say that they shoot better, but they shoot the same as the bullets from the big guys.

[supe47]

A little something I tried today. I used some derimmed CCI mag cases, annealed 'em and seated what I figured would be about a finished 60 gr bullet. I was a bit off but, no matter. Anyway, I was left with a seated core in a really long jacket (about .883" ). I took a 22 cal pilot for a Bonaza case trimmer and with a Dremel tool, turned the pilot down to fit in the jacket of the seated core. I made a hand held clamp tool out of plastic to hold the slippery little cores while trimming. I mounted a 45 ACP (deprimed) backwords to use the hole as a guide for the rounded jacket/core base. While playing around with my point forming die I noticed I get some pretty looking points when the seated lead to jacket rim is about .250". Lo and behold, the pilot is a smidge shorter, end to cutting edge, than .250". Using the pilot to bottom out on the seated lead I just trimmed the cases down till the pilot bottomed out and proceeded to point form. Using the .250" (lead to rim) I can make most any weight I want. The points don't change, just the lead/jacket combination. This has worked with some 61.5 gr and some 50 gr bullets I've made. Also, been keeping notes on die base to bottom of the lock ring on all 3 forming dies. Makes setting up my dies for different weights repeatable and faster. After measuring the finished bullet I now will pretrim the jackets before derimming ( chop saw ) to reduce the amount of final trimming. My Mickey Mouse set-up.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76835&d=1374536371
This was just an experiment to see if it would work. It works for me. Learning everyday.
Supe

[supe47]

Thanks. I'd like to say that they shoot better, but they shoot the same as the bullets from the big guys.

And this is a bad thing? What was the difference in cost?

[303british.com]

No, it's not a bad thing. I have no idea, but I can tell you that I'm not ahead. I've got four bullet presses, multiple dies and associated equipment. If I was doing this to save money, then I failed miserably. :lol:

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/S_Redgwell/Tactical%20Hornet/43grhornet5_zps2da2ba6c.jpg...http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/S_Redgwell/Tactical%20Hornet/43grhornet3_zps72fa7d75.jpg

This is what my Hornet bullets look like before I clean them up.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/S_Redgwell/Tactical%20Hornet/43grhornet1_zpsfbc934f1.jpg

This last pic is a steel shelf that I keep my 22 cases, finished jackets and cores on. I get my cases from an indoor range.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/S_Redgwell/Basement/basement22_zps5d4df961.jpg

I haven't managed to save a dime. I think it costs about $10 a bullet to shoot most of my 224 CFs. :veryconfu It keeps me out the bars though.

[Prospector Howard]

Dave 18, If you're ending up with jackets at .720", you are as you say; drawing them (stretching them). The main reason you are ending up with different lengths is the different brands are different thicknesses. Federal and CCI are thicker and about the same thickness; and Remington and Winchester are thinner and about the same thickness. If you use the same derim punch on all the brands the thicker ones will draw more and lengthen more. Try using a smaller diameter derim punch and you'll see what I mean. I'm using a derim punch that is. .003" smaller for the Federal and CCI.
in the quest for consistency, have been sorting out my jackets after drawing and heat treat out in lengths,

been getting 2 consistant lengths of 720 and 705, , with 25percent inbetween, and have made up a lee trimmer set up (while Im saving for one of those trim dies with the cone set up) to cut those offsize jackets to one or the other length,

whats everyone else doing, am I being too particular or not:|,

[303british.com]

That's so true.

The other thing that can happen with Federal cases (and some others, like PMC) is they can hang up on the punch and you'll have to remove them (gently) with a pair of pliers. Sometimes you can push them back into the die, and they'll come loose, but that isn't always the case. (No pun intended. :) )

[supe47]

303brit-
I'm in the same boat as far as cost per bullet. My Walnut Hill spent 10 months under my bed waiting for my dies. I keep telling myself....you can't put a price on your hobby. Or should I say...HOBBUY.

[Bills Shed]

Nice bullets! How do you form the round nose? Are you using another die after the point forming die?

[303british.com]

303brit-
I'm in the same boat as far as cost per bullet. My Walnut Hill spent 10 months under my bed waiting for my dies. I keep telling myself....you can't put a price on your hobby. Or should I say...HOBBUY.

I've got my grandkids helping me with stuff, so I think of it as an investment in our time together. :)



Nice bullets! How do you form the round nose? Are you using another die after the point forming die?

Thanks. Yes, I use a tip forming die to clean up the lead and smooth things over. It's an extra step, but worth the time, in my opinion.

[Theditchman]

What should the length of a 22lr case be for 55 gr bullet???

[Lizard333]

About .700 inches. Give or take😎

[sprinkintime]

About .700 inches. Give or take😎

when I need a special 22lr, such as a hornet or something I just want to try out I put them in a 5C emergency collet using a very fine cut off blade of .015, with a collet closure and they will repeat to about .002 with hardly no burr. I then put them in a vibratory tumbler w/ceramic balls for about 1/2hr. and they are ready for the cores.

[midnight]

I don't trim 22lr jackets yet but I do trim jackets for the 270 Win. 270 jackets are nearly impossible to find so I take 30 cal jackets and draw them first to 0.2825 and then again to 0.2756. As a result they get pretty long. Untrimmed they make a 170gr bullet, .277 dia. I trim using the HF chop saw. Machine Shop Discount Supply sells jewellers slitting saw blades 2in dia with a 3/8 arbor. I use one 0.012 thick with 190 teeth. I can't even feel when the blade is cutting, it is that smooth. The cut is so clean, they are ready for core swaging. I made a jacket holder from a 2x2x3/4 Aluminum block. I drilled a hole all the way through about 1/4 in from the top of the block with a #7 bit and tapped it 1/4x20 for about an inch. I then drilled and reamed the other end of the hole 0.277 for about 1 1/4 in. I milled away part of the top of the block to expose about 1/2 in of the 0.277 hole. When the long jacket is in the 0.277 hole, a portion of it is exposed. I press on this exposed portion with an eraser to keep the jacket from trying to spin during the cut. It also enables me to push out the trimmed jacket. Length is adjusted with a 1/4x20 socket head cap screw & a lock nut. I wish I would have had this jewellers blade when I chopped about a 1000 pieces of copper tubing. This method will work for trimming any kind of jacket. I just have to make an Aluminum block for each diameter.

Bob