Trimmer pilots

[Brick85]

When I purchased my reloading equipment, the guy at the store convinced me to buy a Lyman case trimmer, the manual one. It came with 9 "popular" pilots, but not the one for .40 cal. And now I can't find the Lyman one anywhere, not easily. However, a local store is an RCBS dealer and can probably get the RCBS one. Looks to me like they're the same diameter and pretty much the same thing. Does anyone know for sure?

And is it even worth trimming .40 S&W brass, given that it's supposed to shrink with use, being a mouth-headspaced cartridge?

[Firebricker]

I just measured the shaft on one of my RCBS pilots .154 is what I came up with hope that helps. FB

[shotman]

I wouldnt worry about trimming as cheap as the brass is. I will lose them before they would need a trim

[NuJudge]

Maybe you'd want to trim 10mm down to .40 S&W. I cannot immagine a need to trim pistol brass other than this.

[buckbeans]

I need one to trim my 38/40.
if anyone has one let me know

[Pepe Ray]

The trimmers which have shaft sizes in common are
Forster
Redding
Hornady
Sorry you picked the wrong one.
Pepe Ray

[1Shirt]

I have gone to all lee trimmers, and have one for each ctg. I load. Find them just as fast, maybe even faster than the hand Lyman I had, which I sold on ebay.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[duckndawg]

rcbs pilots will NOT fit a lyman trimmer

[Brick85]

I just measured the shaft on one of my RCBS pilots .154 is what I came up with hope that helps. FB

Measured one of the Lymans and it's .139.


rcbs pilots will NOT fit a lyman trimmer

Confirmed by two or three witnesses. Thanks, folks--this sure beats buying and trying! Now if only I'd read about the issues with Lyman a few months earlier I might have a better color scheme on the bench and pilots for all my calibers (whether I need them or not)!

[runfiverun]

they don't fit unless you got a grinder and a good eye.
i have chucked the big part up in a drill and used crokus cloth to make them smaller i have also used a smaller pilot.
after about 500 of them i bet you buy the powered unit.

[Brick85]

they don't fit unless you got a grinder and a good eye.
i have chucked the big part up in a drill and used crokus cloth to make them smaller i have also used a smaller pilot.
after about 500 of them i bet you buy the powered unit.

Or hook up the drill to the hand unit. . .

[anachronism]

I have a Lyman power trimmer. Some time back I needed a 338 pilot. I tried an RCBS one, but it didn't fit. So instead of buying one, I took my .375 pilot & turned it down to fit. It required an electric drill & my trusty Dermel tool. I chucked the .375 pilot in my drill & put a medium sanding drum on my Dremel. Whilst spinning the pilot in one direction, I ran the Dremel on the head of the pilot. The tools were held nose to nose, with the Dremel as parallel to the pilot as possible. My idea was to have everything spinning in opposite directions, to keep the pilot round. It worked perfectly, and only took a couple of minutes. It was a trial fit operation, using a sized case as a guide.