silvercorvette Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Before I stopped reloading a few years ago I just did handgun ammo so I know rifle brass needs to be trimmed and I read about annealing. But I don't know what I will need, I saw a universal that will trim all calibers Link to Hornady trimmer sold at Midway I also read the thread titled anybody try the RCBS Trim Pro Case Trimmer 3-Way Cutter ? and when I checked it out at Midway I noticed that you need to buy different sized trimmers for each caliber. So why not just buy a one size fits all instead of buying a bunch of trimmers that will cost a lot of money? The second part of the question is how often do you have anneal your brass, what things do you look for that indicate it is time to anneal them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ammo Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Before I stopped reloading a few years ago I just did handgun ammo so I know rifle brass needs to be trimmed and I read about annealing. But I don't know what I will need, I saw a universal that will trim all calibers Link to Hornady trimmer sold at Midway I also read the thread titled anybody try the RCBS Trim Pro Case Trimmer 3-Way Cutter ? and when I checked it out at Midway I noticed that you need to buy different sized trimmers for each caliber. So why not just buy a one size fits all instead of buying a bunch of trimmers that will cost a lot of money? The second part of the question is how often do you have anneal your brass, what things do you look for that indicate it is time to anneal them? http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productnumber=127743 get the power adapter, look them up on you tube,, for power trimming it is the cheapest,, for Rifle,, also,, go for Small Base full leangh rifle dies,, you will not be sorry, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I never anneal my brass, usually people who anneal it do it for calibers that are uncommon. 223 and 308 brass is very plentiful and you will likely lose it before it wears out. The same goes for a bunch of other calibers. I would probably anneal brass if I were using brass that was oddball or hard to replace. As for trimming, I use the Dillon 1200B mounted in my 650. When I load 223 rem ammo, I don't chamfer the case mouths since I use nothing but boat tailed 55's in it. If you load flat based bullets, you'll need to chamfer the cases for ease of seating them. My advice is to get yourself a good reloading manual that describes the whole process. There are several methods to this madness but you can get conflicting reports on what to do. I do have one of the RCBS tools, but I use the electric chamfer/deburr tool.. not sure what it's called.. I think it was about $100 and it is useful for all calibers from .22 up to .45. I used to use one of those hand tools to do it, but my hands aren't what they were 20 years ago.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvercorvette Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 I never anneal my brass, usually people who anneal it do it for calibers that are uncommon. 223 and 308 brass is very plentiful and you will likely lose it before it wears out. The same goes for a bunch of other calibers. I would probably anneal brass if I were using brass that was oddball or hard to replace. As for trimming, I use the Dillon 1200B mounted in my 650. When I load 223 rem ammo, I don't chamfer the case mouths since I use nothing but boat tailed 55's in it. If you load flat based bullets, you'll need to chamfer the cases for ease of seating them. My advice is to get yourself a good reloading manual that describes the whole process. There are several methods to this madness but you can get conflicting reports on what to do. I do have one of the RCBS tools, but I use the electric chamfer/deburr tool.. not sure what it's called.. I think it was about $100 and it is useful for all calibers from .22 up to .45. I used to use one of those hand tools to do it, but my hands aren't what they were 20 years ago.. I have a bunch of reloading manuals that are still packed away from when I moved from NY to SC. I starting back up and have my reloading tools and manuals packed away in two different garages and more stuff is upstairs in a spare room, and more stuff in a down stairs spare room. I will probably be a while till I get my stuff in order but it was mentioned in the other thread that Midway is having a sale so I figured it would be faster to get an answer here, and by the time I find my reloading manuals the Midway sale would probably be over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CiDirkona Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Possum Hollow ftw. I would never reload another necked case again if it weren't for the Possum Hollow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvercorvette Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Possum Hollow ftw. I would never reload another necked case again if it weren't for the Possum Hollow. I checked out the link provided by M ammo and it looks like you have to buy a different possum hollow trimmer for each caliber, and that brings me back to the first question about why can't I just buy one universal trimmer instead of a lot of different ones. Does the Possum Hollow do a better job, work faster or do a better job than the Hornady one size fits all trimmer? As I said before I never trimmed a single case so I have no way of knowing what is important when buying a trimmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ammo Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Possum Hollow ftw. I would never reload another necked case again if it weren't for the Possum Hollow. I checked out the link provided by M ammo and it looks like you have to buy a different possum hollow trimmer for each caliber, and that brings me back to the first question about why can't I just buy one universal trimmer instead of a lot of different ones. Does the Possum Hollow do a better job, work faster or do a better job than the Hornady one size fits all trimmer? As I said before I never trimmed a single case so I have no way of knowing what is important when buying a trimmer I have one for 223 and one for 308,, it comes down to,,, if you can, get the case in the trimmer up to the blade,, you can trim it,, looking at,, powered trimmers,,, PH is cheap enough to buy 2 or 3,, and still have $$ left,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinosaurMikeGolf Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Possum Hollow ftw. I would never reload another necked case again if it weren't for the Possum Hollow. I checked out the link provided by M ammo and it looks like you have to buy a different possum hollow trimmer for each caliber, and that brings me back to the first question about why can't I just buy one universal trimmer instead of a lot of different ones. Does the Possum Hollow do a better job, work faster or do a better job than the Hornady one size fits all trimmer? As I said before I never trimmed a single case so I have no way of knowing what is important when buying a trimmer Universal trimmers won't work due to the different calibers. It is like trying to use a .308 bullet seating die for .30-06. Possum Hollow trimmers ensure the cases are trmmed to the prescribed distance from the mouth to the case shoulders. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I like the Wilson trimmer personally. It's pretty fast with the crank handle (25 cases in about 5 minutes last time i clocked myself) and even quicker with a power adaptor. There are different case holders that are needed for various cartridges tho. Just about every trimmer out there needs something different for each caliber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CiDirkona Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Also not mentioned in the above posts is the sheer SPEED of the possum hollow. Throw it in a drill, shove the case in it for 2-3 seconds and you're done. No locking the case in the trimmer, no sliding something down the neck, etc. It's at least 10x faster than having done trimming with the Lee equipment. (Don't get me wrong, I love the value of Lee equipment, but also thoroughly appreciate the value of Dillon, Possum Hollow, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvercorvette Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Thanks for the schooling, I guess the universal isn't such a good idea, it's going to be a while before I get around to it but I guess I'll start off with a .223 possum hollow trimmer and see how I like it then buy additional trimers as I need them. At the moment I don't even own any rifle dies because I didn't have much to do with rifle shooting and the in NY other than the Winchester lever actions I had which were in .45 Colt and .44 magnum . I didn't own anything other than rifles that used anything other than handgun caliber ammo and I didn't get and guns with a necked cartridge till I was moving from NY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 The Dillon 1200B is used for every caliber rifle.. all you need do it pick up a caliber specific holder/sizer.. I use my 1200B to trim 223, 308, and 30-30 Win. Some people like the Gracey and Giruad trimmers, but they are big money.. for competitive shooters they are pretty nice trimmers. If I didn't have the 1200B I might pick one up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvercorvette Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 The Dillon 1200B is used for every caliber rifle.. all you need do it pick up a caliber specific holder/sizer.. I use my 1200B to trim 223, 308, and 30-30 Win. Some people like the Gracey and Giruad trimmers, but they are big money.. for competitive shooters they are pretty nice trimmers. If I didn't have the 1200B I might pick one up. I checked it out on the Dillon site and it seems a bit expensive, I wish Dillon had a video showing how it worked. I found video but it really isn't too helpful. I probably won't make any decisions for a few weeks and right now I am just gathering info and people opinions of different models. Thank you to everyone that responded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bimmer Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Since we're already talking trimmers... I'm looking for a trimmer for .30 Carbine. That eliminates the Possum Hollow (no shoulder) and the Dillon (no die/adaptor available). I plan to buy a RT1200B later to do .223 and .308, so I'm not excited about spending a lot of money for something that I'm ONLY going to use to do .30 Carbine... I assume that the manual RCBS trimmer is OK, because Dillon sells it, and it's less than $100 OTD. I'm tempted to get the Forster power trimmer, but I don't have a drill press yet (I guess this would be a good reason to get one). Other suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvercorvette Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Since we're already talking trimmers... I'm looking for a trimmer for .30 Carbine. That eliminates the Possum Hollow (no shoulder) and the Dillon (no die/adaptor available). I plan to buy a RT1200B later to do .223 and .308, so I'm not excited about spending a lot of money for something that I'm ONLY going to use to do .30 Carbine... I assume that the manual RCBS trimmer is OK, because Dillon sells it, and it's less than $100 OTD. I'm tempted to get the Forster power trimmer, but I don't have a drill press yet (I guess this would be a good reason to get one). Other suggestions? Thanks for joining the discussion. One of the reasons I bought the Hornady press was the cost of caliber conversions on my Dillon 650 was high. I guess I could have done it cheaper by not getting a tool holder along with a complete powder system foe each caliber. So I want to keep the cost of adding additional trimmer calibers as low as possible. I was considering the Hornady one size fits all approach but was convinced that is not the way to go. I am in the same situation you are in not owning a drill press but I do have a few hand held drills and they do make a press that you can clamp a regular hand held drill to but I have a feeling that isn't going to be accurate consistent case lengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mush from PA. Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 One more vote for the Wilson Trimmer. I use it on my 30 Carbine, 223, 7-08, 270, 243, etc. - it is fast and works great. I Used the basic set up for a year then bought the stand with the shark fin holder and I wish I bought it eariler. I just bought the micro (I forget the real name) case length adjuster and it is slick. It takes one second to change lengths with only one check of the caliper. Go on U-tube and watch the videos of each trimmer and pick the one you think works best for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvercorvette Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 One more vote for the Wilson Trimmer. I use it on my 30 Carbine, 223, 7-08, 270, 243, etc. - it is fast and works great. I Used the basic set up for a year then bought the stand with the shark fin holder and I wish I bought it eariler. I just bought the micro (I forget the real name) case length adjuster and it is slick. It takes one second to change lengths with only one check of the caliper. Go on U-tube and watch the videos of each trimmer and pick the one you think works best for you. I spent about and hour on utube last night before I feel asleep in bed with my computer on my lap. I learned a lot but I have to confess the more I watch the more confused I got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mush from PA. Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) Socrates' quote " True knowledge comes in knowing that you know nothing''. or "the more I learn, I find the less I know". Have some breakfast and keep looking. Keep asking questions. Go find a reloader and ask to see how they trim brass. Keep reading the boards like this one. Or go buy a used trimmer, learn how to use it and if it doesnt float your boat, sell it and buy one that does. Edited February 12, 2011 by Mush from PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I learned with a $5 garage sale hand trimmer, put it in a vise, and crank it by hand, like a pencil sharpener. I learned how on this, and got an electric trimmer later. Really taught me the concept, and I learned that I didn't want to hand crank trim in bulk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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