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View Full Version : Redding 32-20 File Trim Die



DOUBLEJK
10-23-2005, 09:17 AM
Picked one a these up along with the extended shell holder figuring it would be easier to trim these very thin cases...
my brass varies from a few at 1.276" to a few at 1.294" most er in the 1.28? range...
Needless to say my crimps er eratic at best...
The trim die is set for 1.305"
Anybody ever adjust one a these setups?
Wonderin' wether to take some off the bottom of the trim die...don't belive it is harder like the top portion...or take a bit off the top of the shell holder?
My Lyman manual say's trim too length is 1.275" Max is 1.315" a difference of .040" quite a difference from the normal .010"

omgb
11-04-2005, 02:17 AM
I have the same problem. I actually don't use the die for that very reason and end up using my RCBS trimmer instead. $15.00 wasted. :(

Bent Ramrod
11-04-2005, 11:25 PM
DoubleJK,

Some batches of .32-20 brass have come out, as you noticed, all different lengths, and all less than the standard trim-to-length size. This seems to be a frequent problem with shells that the ammo companies aren't really all that interested in producing any more. (Some .32 Long Colt I found once was about intermediate between real .32 Long Colt and .32 Short Colt in length.) I went through a few bad batches of .32-20 like that twenty or so years ago, and, as OMGB says, the only real solution it to get an adjustable case trimmer and trim everything to the length of the shortest one. (And hope you have enough length left to crimp with.)

Newer production Remington brass seems to be OK for length, at least in my experience. Maybe the SASS people are driving the manufacturers to attend to their quality again.

DOUBLEJK
11-05-2005, 12:08 AM
Thanks guys

Was wonderin' ifin' my brass was odd...guess not....chucked that die in the lathe n got er set ta trim em to 1.285" what the mean of my brass is.....got some as short as 1.272" tho....will relegate em ta plinker loads till they grow up...:groner:

Four Fingers of Death
11-06-2005, 08:29 AM
I pull my RCBS trimmer out an fiddle with every few years and put it away in disgust, just doesn't seem to work for me. I have tried the Redding file trim dies in 223 and 308 without problem. Now mostly use Lee trimmers, mounted in my drill press.

versifier
11-06-2005, 03:21 PM
I'm not the biggest fan of trim dies, but I never process more than 50 cases at a shot. I cut them close with a dremel tool & ablative wheel, then use a rotary trimmer. There's about an inch of dust on the box of my old RCBS trimmer. The screws that hold the parts onto the cast base kept coming loose despite lock washers, locktite, superglue, etc. I bought a Lyman - no more collets or hassles, though it does take some patience to do the little 30 carb cases and I have padded the crank handle so it doesn't chew holes in my thumb during extended use. I may break down and buy the piece to use the electric drill to power it.

Char-Gar
11-06-2005, 10:24 PM
I will confess to be a fan of file trim dies. If you have a batch of short cases the fix is to buy new cases or trim a little off the bottom of the die like you did.

9.3X62AL
11-07-2005, 06:01 PM
The 32-20 and 25-20 both have a "range" of lengths in a given lot of brass, both R-P and W-W. The Starline 32-20 brass I bought for use in the Marlin 94CCL was a little short at 1.295", but EVERY case was within .001" of that length. Pretty close tolerances, in my opinion.

Like Mick stated, I got tired of the frustrations posed by the RCBS draw collet system that used the case head diameter as the proxy stop point, and bought a Forster hand trimmer whose collet meets a positive stop against a toolhead shoulder, THEN constricts to hold the case in place. Variance in trimmed cases is less than .0005", which is much better than it needs to be. 20 years and 3 cutter shafts later, I'm very happy with this tool. It almost makes me enjoy case trimming--not quite, but close.

File trim dies are few and far between in my tool set. I used one many years back to trim down some 9mm Win Mag cases that I reformed into 30 Mauser--500 of them. To call the process laborious is a very conservative estimate. I do believe the file trim die was faster than chucking the cases into the Forster, though. A drill press would have been the real solution, but at the time I didn't have the need for such things.

GregP42
11-10-2005, 04:55 AM
I will agree with Deputy Al on this, Starline brass is the way to go, the last batch I got from them was 1.300 +/- .002, and that was for a lot of 500 pieces of brass. I am sure if it was only 100 pieces the difference would have been smaller, but if you want Good brass, get Starline. And no, I don't work for them, or get anything for telling others about them, wish I did, they got a lot of my money this year!

Greg

9.3X62AL
11-10-2005, 11:05 AM
One other note on the 32-20 in revolvers......close and even case lengths have been a real key to accuracy for me in this caliber. Taking heed of Ken Waters' information from about 25 years ago, he expressed that adherence to this regimen was critical to accuracy in this application. This was before the advent of Lee Factory Crimp Dies, so I don't know whether such tools help with this problem or not--I stay on top of case length issues in the R-P and W-W brass, which lengthen unevenly in revolver-level loads--so much so, that a trim every second firing is needed to "even up" the case mouths squarely. I have yet to try the Starline brass in the wheelers, but I suspect from its relative strength that such problems won't be so egregious.

Bent Ramrod
11-11-2005, 10:20 PM
I find the file trim dies come into their own when I'm forming cases from other cases. The die is the perfect fixture to hacksaw a quarter-inch or more of brass off the top of the cases. Then the file work finishes things. Using it to even up brass that's only a little too long or uneven around the mouth is pretty tedious, but at least the arrangement can't slip and trim too short.

The little Lee hand trim sets are pretty nice, now that I have a drill press. It would be better if the screw-down shell holder was a little larger and more hand-filling and gripped the rim a little more definitively; the setup tends to loosen unless I really screw the holder down tight on the rims. Then they're hard to unscrew. But with the cutter/pilot in the drill chuck, the trimming part goes quickly, and, again, there's no way the arrangement can slip and trim too short.

When I don't have either of the above apparatus available, I haul out and set up the Forster or Lyman trimmers, with all the eager enthusiasm I show when it's time to weed the flower beds or rake the leaves. The Forster does hold the case straighter, and is less dependent on unworn bearing surfaces, but the Lyman has the power drill attachment and gets the tedium over sooner. With either, I have to set a caliper and gauge each case to make sure the settings don't slip and start ruining cases; also that I don't stop too soon in the interests of not forcing something to slip and leave the cases too long. But at least they can handle any caliber or shell, within reason.

Maybe the ideal case trimmer would have the Forster collet grip for the rim, a Lee-type pilot arrangement that goes all the way to the bottom of the shell and provides an automatic limit for the trimming, and the power arrangement of the Lyman on the cutter ram. Also a big hopper for shells and an auto-feed and extraction setup so I could just turn it on, dump the shells into the hopper and go do something interesting while the shells are trimmed and chamfered.

Four Fingers of Death
11-12-2005, 09:30 AM
I'm curious how they would go.

I never found the file trim dies tedious. But then I always used a biiiig file, usually one good swipe and a twirl of the chamfer tool and it was done.

9.3X62AL
11-12-2005, 11:49 AM
Agreement here with Bent Ramrod--the file trim die worked very well with the 9mm Magnum/30 Mauser conversion. The protrusion wasn't long enough to hacksaw, it was file file file to reduce the neck's length. I still think it was less labor and less time than the Forster would have been.

Face it--case trimming is a PITA, no matter how its done.