The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old August 27, 2006, 07:34 PM   #1
Huffy
Junior Member
 
Join Date: August 27, 2006
Posts: 10
Case Trimming 38 Special

After trimming 200 pieces of brass, i just discovered that my Lee case trimmer/gauge is comming up on the short side of the max trim length of 1.155inches. My cases are comming up short, measuring 1.130 and am wondering if I need be concerned? I have been chucking the tool in my drill press and holding the cases by hand. Is it possable I may have worn the tip of my tool down and that is what is causing my shells to come up short? I have only use this tool on about 500 rounds. Has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks
Mike H
Huffy is offline  
Old August 27, 2006, 08:18 PM   #2
stinger
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 6, 2001
Location: west texas
Posts: 772
I've got too many other important things to do with my life than trim pistol brass. I went to look, and Lyman tells us to trim to 1.149".

Your are definitely shorter than recommended, but I am not sure if that would be problematic or not. A light load might not require much of a crimp, so in that case, I probably wouldn't worry about it, depending on how they looked.

The first thing I would do is rezero your caliper and measure the cases again. Hopefully that will cure your problem.

If they were indeed as short as you said , I would use this as a learning experience, and never trim 500 cases without checking the length.

Hope it works out for you,

Stinger
stinger is offline  
Old August 28, 2006, 01:28 AM   #3
JJB2
Junior member
 
Join Date: December 14, 2005
Posts: 558
great advice stinger!!!!! always check your work often!
JJB2 is offline  
Old August 28, 2006, 02:35 AM   #4
Scorch
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 13, 2006
Location: Washington state
Posts: 15,248
Huffy-
No problem with the cases being short, as long as they are all short. Just adjust your die and crimp them all the same. Next time, forget about trimming pistol brass.
__________________
Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs.
But what do I know?
Summit Arms Services
Scorch is offline  
Old August 28, 2006, 05:39 AM   #5
Huffy
Junior Member
 
Join Date: August 27, 2006
Posts: 10
Guys, Thanks for the advise. I did check my lengths early on when I started to load 38 special. I check every 10 rounds for correct powder weight and OAL but because the Lee length gage seemed pretty fool proof, I stopped checking. You are right though, check often is the answer. I guess I'll start looking for a better method of trimming or not trim at all.

Thanks all
Mike H
Huffy is offline  
Old August 28, 2006, 08:27 PM   #6
BigJakeJ1s
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 8, 2005
Location: Arlington TX
Posts: 663
The way you are using it, the lee trimmer could trim them too short if you were not securely holding the brass against the drill press table. Also, how smooth is the top of your table? Is it posible that there is a .020" roughness to it, or a pit/dimple in it?

Depending on how forceful you were with bottoming the cutter against the table, it is possible that it wore down after 500 rounds, and it could be from a rough table, or abrasives embedded in it from using the drill press as a sander, etc.

If you chuck up a piece of brass in the lock-stud/shellholder setup, what length will it trim to? If it still cuts short, send it back to Lee and they will replace it. OTOH, it may be cheaper to buy a new one than to ship it to them.

If not, try using a smooth, clean (no rust) piece of steel to bottom out the cutter on.

Andy
BigJakeJ1s is offline  
Old August 29, 2006, 03:47 AM   #7
steveno
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 18, 2004
Location: Minden , Nebraska
Posts: 1,407
there isn't any reason to trim straight walled cases at all
steveno is offline  
Old August 29, 2006, 11:36 AM   #8
Scorch
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 13, 2006
Location: Washington state
Posts: 15,248
I wouldn't say there is no reason to trim straight-walled cases. Making sure you get a consistent crimp would be a good reason. If you use a progressive press and your brass is all different lengths and you want to make sure the case mouth is crimped into the cannelure, or you don't want to overcrimp or undercrimp the rounds, trimming might be in order. But as a general rule, don't bother.
__________________
Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs.
But what do I know?
Summit Arms Services
Scorch is offline  
Old August 29, 2006, 01:42 PM   #9
benedict1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 26, 2006
Location: Southern California
Posts: 245
Lee Factory Crimp Die

If you use LFC die in the final station you don't really ever have to worry about final crimp and case length with pistol rounds. I load 9mm, 38 Special and 45 ACP with brass coming from all over the lot; it goes in a tumbler for a little cleaning if it is really grungy; then through the Lee Carbide pistol dies to the LFC die and they shoot!

The guns are Kimber Custom Target Stainless II 9mm and 45 ACP and Ruger New Blackhawk .38 Special/.357 mag with a convertible 9mm cylinder.

I worried about trimmng too--LFCD solved that problem.
benedict1 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:04 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.04871 seconds with 8 queries