World's finest trimmer question

The_Covenant · October 16, 2012, 10:55 AM

I bought the little crow gun works "world's finest trimmer" and I'm having some serious issues with it, despite having great reviews on midway USA.

Here's the problem: I'm trimming resized .223 brass. It indexes off of the shoulder of the case. I'm trimming to 1.750... but some of the brass comes out 1.730ish, some will be at 1.775 and it won't trim anything off of it.

Obviously I cannot shoot something that is so long. I'm using once fired military brass, (lake city, and other headstamps) and it's just being useless. Any ideas on how this may be remedied or what i'm doing wrong here?

I don't have tons of money to spend on fresh lapua brass, or the time to sort through each head stamp and sort 6,000 cases and adjust the trimmer accordingly.

My steps are in this order. Lube>resize>decap>trim

This is so frustrating. Starting to wonder if a dillon 1200b might work.

They should at least put a disclaimer to use all of the same headstamp or it's practically worthless...sorry, venting.

Help anyone?

Howard31 · October 16, 2012, 11:56 AM

I had a similar problem years ago with a Gracy Trimmer. If your resizer is not consistant your timmed cases will not be consistant. I see variations in my resized brass caused by hardness , amount of lube , neck thickness and a host of other problems but mostly neck tension when pulling the expander ball through the neck. If you have a Micrometer case gauge you can see the variations. If the length from the case base to the shoulder varies then will the case length vary using a trimmer that measures from the shoulder.
Strive for better consistancy when resizing your brass and then trim within those variations.

rebs · October 16, 2012, 12:31 PM

Not really help for you but I am using a Lee case trimmer setup, the whole thing is under $20.00, shell holder cutter and gauge.
It trim from the head and all my brass comes out right at 1.750 every time.
The shell holder go in my cordless drill, first I trim then chamfer, then debur and take the shell out and put another one in. Its not the faster system in the world and definitely not the slowest but it sure is accurate.
I believe that when you trim cases they should be trimmed for OAL, not just from the shoulder.

I was thinking about he Possum Hollow quick trim, but the Lee is easy to use and right on with the length.

the led farmer · October 16, 2012, 09:49 PM

Are you measuring before you trim or only after? Point being some of your brass may be short to start and if your not measuring before and after how do you know for sure

moxie · October 17, 2012, 11:06 AM

I would call the maker at the number on their website here:
http://www.littlecrowgunworks.com/wft.html

They will either help you get it dialed in or replace it, I would think.

The_Covenant · October 17, 2012, 01:09 PM

I'm only measuring after they are trimmed. there is no point in measuring prior. If I put a short case in there, and it's short, that's okay. Federal brass does that a lot. My only real problem is that it will trim brass down ridiculously short, or leave it really long (1.775ish) It's because it indexes off of the shoulder of the brass, and the shoulder varies slightly from makers of brass casings. The

Tool is literally useless unless you are trimming all of the same headstamp of brass. Which is why i'm frustrated. It's touted to be able to trim brass quickly and go through hundreds of cases in an hour.

In reality, it only works for those people who buy bulk brass with the same headstamp. Range pickup, and bulk machine-gun brass is literally no good for it.

Sad really.

the led farmer · October 17, 2012, 01:45 PM

Quote:

I'm only measuring after they are trimmed. there is no point in measuring prior. If I put a short case in there, and it's short, that's okay. Federal brass does that a lot. My only real problem is that it will trim brass down ridiculously short, or leave it really long (1.775ish) It's because it indexes off of the shoulder of the brass, and the shoulder varies slightly from makers of brass casings.

if you measure it short going it, it's going to be that short coming out, it's not trimming it "ridiculously short" because if it's short it won't hit the bit, you seem to be contradicting yourself, not understanding or your set screws are loose and it's moving all over.

Quote:

Tool is literally useless unless you are trimming all of the same headstamp of brass. Which is why i'm frustrated. It's touted to be able to trim brass quickly and go through hundreds of cases in an hour.

i have used it for thousands of .223 rounds and have very little to no issue. occasionally brass shaving can build up and cause it to vary the length. to combat this i stop the drill every five or so and dump out the shavings. it is helpful use some sort of organized system like in the video so if you do get bound up then you can back track a few and catch up.

is it properly adjusted to begin with? are the lock screws tight? go slow and strive for consistency, measure trim measure,measure trim measure. when is it getting out of whack and what is the variable? once you nail down the problem, then you can speed things up.

i have done so many i can tell instantly if it is short or not. if it's short it goes into the "other box" then i sort those etc, etc

oh and are you full length resizing or neck sizing only?

The_Covenant · October 18, 2012, 12:54 AM

I'm full length sizing. I'm not contradicting myself. I'm not measuring the brass before I trim it. I set the trimmer to 1.750 using the required measurements, and check it against a known trimmed case.

The problem is that some cases have a shoulder depth that's different. This means that some cases will get trimmed properly, and others won't.

I have my trimmer set to 1.750, and some cases will come out at 1.750. Others it'll trim it SUPER short, and a few cases later, i'll put one in and it will not even take anything off, and I'll measure it just to be sure and it'll be WAY long. like 1.775ish.

If I set it to 1.750, I want it to trim my cases to that length. I'm not going to adjust it for each case, that's not how the tool was designed to work.

The screws are tight, I'm not completely oblivious.

Howard31 · October 18, 2012, 10:14 AM

Covenant; you're getting a little off track. Back to basics and keeping it simple. Your trimmer is fine and works exactly the way it should.
The Headspace of bottle neck cartridges is measured from the base to the shoulder. Your resize die should be setting the neck back to 0 SAMI specs. Just because you run you brass through a full length die does not mean the are resized back to Zero specs. I would suggest you get a Micrometer Gauge like the RCBS or MCS. The first thing you need to do is make sure your brass in uniformly resized because if it's not your trimmer will never be consistant.
The manufacteur or head stamp dosen"t matter when the brass is resized because all the outside dimensions are the same.
Be uniform in your resize operation and your problem will go away.

rebs · October 18, 2012, 12:48 PM

I agree with Howard, your full length resizing die should be setting the shoulder to the same position on every case. Make sure you die is set right and tightened down so it can't move.

89blazin · October 18, 2012, 01:13 PM

I agree as well. When you resize, lift the handle, spin the case and resize again. Some brass springs back different that other.

The_Covenant · October 18, 2012, 01:40 PM

Okay guys, I'll check my dies and make sure they're set properly and get back to you.

Thanks for the input. Will be back soon.

The_Covenant · October 18, 2012, 07:21 PM

Well guys, it looks like you were right about the resizing die not being set quite right. It was backed off a little too much. I re-sized a batch of 10 casings that were troublesome, after adjusting the sizing die. They trimmed right up. Wow.

Thank you guys so much for helping me out with this, I would have never thought of that.

Cheers!

October 16, 2012, 10:55 AM	#1
The_Covenant Junior Member Join Date: March 1, 2012 Posts: 7	World's finest trimmer question I bought the little crow gun works "world's finest trimmer" and I'm having some serious issues with it, despite having great reviews on midway USA. Here's the problem: I'm trimming resized .223 brass. It indexes off of the shoulder of the case. I'm trimming to 1.750... but some of the brass comes out 1.730ish, some will be at 1.775 and it won't trim anything off of it. Obviously I cannot shoot something that is so long. I'm using once fired military brass, (lake city, and other headstamps) and it's just being useless. Any ideas on how this may be remedied or what i'm doing wrong here? I don't have tons of money to spend on fresh lapua brass, or the time to sort through each head stamp and sort 6,000 cases and adjust the trimmer accordingly. My steps are in this order. Lube>resize>decap>trim This is so frustrating. Starting to wonder if a dillon 1200b might work. They should at least put a disclaimer to use all of the same headstamp or it's practically worthless...sorry, venting. Help anyone?

October 16, 2012, 11:56 AM	#2
Howard31 Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2009 Location: Hudson Valley,NY Posts: 231	trimmer I had a similar problem years ago with a Gracy Trimmer. If your resizer is not consistant your timmed cases will not be consistant. I see variations in my resized brass caused by hardness , amount of lube , neck thickness and a host of other problems but mostly neck tension when pulling the expander ball through the neck. If you have a Micrometer case gauge you can see the variations. If the length from the case base to the shoulder varies then will the case length vary using a trimmer that measures from the shoulder. Strive for better consistancy when resizing your brass and then trim within those variations.

October 16, 2012, 12:31 PM	#3
rebs Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2012 Posts: 3,881	Not really help for you but I am using a Lee case trimmer setup, the whole thing is under $20.00, shell holder cutter and gauge. It trim from the head and all my brass comes out right at 1.750 every time. The shell holder go in my cordless drill, first I trim then chamfer, then debur and take the shell out and put another one in. Its not the faster system in the world and definitely not the slowest but it sure is accurate. I believe that when you trim cases they should be trimmed for OAL, not just from the shoulder. I was thinking about he Possum Hollow quick trim, but the Lee is easy to use and right on with the length. Last edited by rebs; October 17, 2012 at 07:07 AM.

October 17, 2012, 11:06 AM	#5
moxie Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2006 Location: TX Posts: 513	I would call the maker at the number on their website here: http://www.littlecrowgunworks.com/wft.html They will either help you get it dialed in or replace it, I would think. __________________ If you want to shoot...shoot...don't talk! Tuco USAF Munitions 1969-1992 RVN 1972-1973

October 18, 2012, 12:54 AM	#8
The_Covenant Junior Member Join Date: March 1, 2012 Posts: 7	I'm full length sizing. I'm not contradicting myself. I'm not measuring the brass before I trim it. I set the trimmer to 1.750 using the required measurements, and check it against a known trimmed case. The problem is that some cases have a shoulder depth that's different. This means that some cases will get trimmed properly, and others won't. I have my trimmer set to 1.750, and some cases will come out at 1.750. Others it'll trim it SUPER short, and a few cases later, i'll put one in and it will not even take anything off, and I'll measure it just to be sure and it'll be WAY long. like 1.775ish. If I set it to 1.750, I want it to trim my cases to that length. I'm not going to adjust it for each case, that's not how the tool was designed to work. The screws are tight, I'm not completely oblivious. Last edited by The_Covenant; October 18, 2012 at 12:57 AM. Reason: brevity

October 16, 2012, 09:49 PM	#4
the led farmer Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2012 Location: so cal Posts: 246	Are you measuring before you trim or only after? Point being some of your brass may be short to start and if your not measuring before and after how do you know for sure

October 17, 2012, 01:09 PM	#6
The_Covenant Junior Member Join Date: March 1, 2012 Posts: 7	I'm only measuring after they are trimmed. there is no point in measuring prior. If I put a short case in there, and it's short, that's okay. Federal brass does that a lot. My only real problem is that it will trim brass down ridiculously short, or leave it really long (1.775ish) It's because it indexes off of the shoulder of the brass, and the shoulder varies slightly from makers of brass casings. The Tool is literally useless unless you are trimming all of the same headstamp of brass. Which is why i'm frustrated. It's touted to be able to trim brass quickly and go through hundreds of cases in an hour. In reality, it only works for those people who buy bulk brass with the same headstamp. Range pickup, and bulk machine-gun brass is literally no good for it. Sad really.

October 18, 2012, 10:14 AM	#9
Howard31 Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2009 Location: Hudson Valley,NY Posts: 231	trimmer Covenant; you're getting a little off track. Back to basics and keeping it simple. Your trimmer is fine and works exactly the way it should. The Headspace of bottle neck cartridges is measured from the base to the shoulder. Your resize die should be setting the neck back to 0 SAMI specs. Just because you run you brass through a full length die does not mean the are resized back to Zero specs. I would suggest you get a Micrometer Gauge like the RCBS or MCS. The first thing you need to do is make sure your brass in uniformly resized because if it's not your trimmer will never be consistant. The manufacteur or head stamp dosen"t matter when the brass is resized because all the outside dimensions are the same. Be uniform in your resize operation and your problem will go away.

October 18, 2012, 12:48 PM	#10
rebs Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2012 Posts: 3,881	I agree with Howard, your full length resizing die should be setting the shoulder to the same position on every case. Make sure you die is set right and tightened down so it can't move.

October 18, 2012, 01:13 PM	#11
89blazin Senior Member Join Date: March 13, 2009 Posts: 107	I agree as well. When you resize, lift the handle, spin the case and resize again. Some brass springs back different that other.

October 18, 2012, 01:40 PM	#12
The_Covenant Junior Member Join Date: March 1, 2012 Posts: 7	Okay guys, I'll check my dies and make sure they're set properly and get back to you. Thanks for the input. Will be back soon.

October 18, 2012, 07:21 PM	#13
The_Covenant Junior Member Join Date: March 1, 2012 Posts: 7	Well guys, it looks like you were right about the resizing die not being set quite right. It was backed off a little too much. I re-sized a batch of 10 casings that were troublesome, after adjusting the sizing die. They trimmed right up. Wow. Thank you guys so much for helping me out with this, I would have never thought of that. Cheers!