Reloading Question: Manual Case Trimmers?

[fullautovalmet76]

I have been reloading for a few months now and am enjoying. But there is one part I don't like and that's trimming my pistol cases. I'm thinking of getting this case trimmer made by Hornady: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=315831

Based on the reviews it seems like it might be a good thing but I want to check with more experienced reloaders here. If you have an alternative to the Hornady, tell me why you like that one.

Thanks!
-FullAuto

[Bidah]

First off, which pistol cases are you reloading for?

The Hornady is good.  I have an RCBS and the Forrester, and both are great.

-Bidah

[fullautovalmet76]

First off, which pistol cases are you reloading for?

The Hornady is good.  I have an RCBS and the Forrester, and both are great.

-Bidah

I loading for .38 spl, 9mm, and .45 ACP. Which models are the ones you use?

[Bidah]

I do 9mm and .45acp, and those I have not needed to trim.  With the exception of Starline brass in .45, they are all short and really never grew enough to get to trim length.  For the 9mm I have found them to be the same.  I have done .38, and those I did not trim either, but I never did a whole lot of reloading for them, so I may be incorrect on those.  The only cases I have ever trimmer were rifle.

-Bidah

[alfsauve]

Straight wall pistol brass rarely, if ever needs trimming.   The brass just doesn't "flow" in straight wall cases like it does in bottle neck (mostly rifle) cases.   Straight wall cases expand straight outward to fill the cylinder.   In bottle neck cartridges/chambers they also flow a little forward to fill the bottle neck.  Hence the case stretching.

In revolvers it isn't a critical dimension anyway and cases will split long before they'll ever need trimming.  I've kept track of my .357mzg and .357max cases and have never trimmed them.   They last somewhere between 10 and 20 reloads.

I wouldn't worry about it for 9mm, .38 and .45.

[Sponsor]

[billt]

I never trim any of my pistol brass, regardless if it's for a revolver, or an auto pistol that head spaces on the mouth. I've found most pistol brass will split at the case neck before it ever "needs" trimming. Bottleneck rifle brass is a whole different story. I have this Lyman manual model, which is quite similar to the Hornady model you are considering.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=795961

About all I can say is that it works. It is pitifully slow to do any kind of volume trimming with. I only use it for small amounts of expensive Magnum brass like for my Weatherby's and .416 Rigby's and the like. For high volume trimming I bought a Giraud Power Case Trimmer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGYLmHvKVd0

It was the best money I've ever spent! It works like an electric pencil sharpener. I trimmed 2,350 .223 cases in under 3 hours start to finish. The nice part is in addition to the machine trimming to length, it also chamfers the inside, as well as the outside of the case mouth. Most all other trimmers require the burrs to be cleaned up in yet another operation. This gets very time consuming if you're working with a large load of brass.

http://www.giraudtool.com/prod02.htm

They're not cheap, but when you consider the time you save, all of a sudden they are not that expensive. Most of the other units don't have a high enough horsepower of a motor. They get around this by gearing it down to increase torque. This makes them pitifully slow, and creates large burrs at the case mouth because brass is a non ferrous metal that requires a high surface speed to cut it clean. About the only other unit I would take a look at is the new case prep center from Hornady.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=314017

It's a bit less than the Giraud, but it does everything. It all depends on how much you shoot. With close to a dozen rifles in .223 / 5.56 MM I keep the Giraud quite busy. I left out one very important feature of the Giraud. My wife can run it! This reduces my case trimming time to zero!  Bill T.