Trimming 223 Brass, index off of neck vs OAL

[Terry44]

For trimming 223 brass, is there any advantage or disadvantage to trimming brass with a trimmer that indexes off the neck like the Frankford Arsenal case prep over a

lathe style like the Hornady  cam lock trimmer that trims based on overall all length?

 

I'm new to reloading for the rifle and I'm looking at the Frankford Arsenal for case prep.  But it is a little different than most in that it indexes off the neck.  Is that something

that I need to stay away from?  

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Terry44

[RiggerJJ]

For precision ammo I would not use a trimmer that indexed from the shoulder of case.

It may be ok for 3gun ammo, not sure as I use a Dillon on press trimmer...

[bigedp51]

I use the WFT that indexes off the case shoulder for trimming.

 

The ejector and firing pin pushes the case forward until the case shoulder contacts the chambers shoulder. Meaning the case mouth will be at the same point in the chamber when indexing off the case shoulder. When trimming and indexing off the base of the case the case mouth location in the chamber will vary depending on shoulder location.

 

This is very obvious when neck turning your cases and indexing off the case shoulder when trimming. Meaning when neck turning the cutter stops at the same exact point at the neck shoulder junction.

Edited February 12, 2019 by bigedp51

[Terry44]

29 minutes ago, bigedp51 said:

The ejector and firing pin pushes the case forward until the case shoulder contacts the chambers shoulder. Meaning the case mouth will be at the same point in the chamber when indexing off the case shoulder. When trimming and indexing off the base of the case the case mouth location in the chamber will vary depending on shoulder location.

 

This is what I was thinking but I don't have the experience to know if that was correct or if I was missing something. 

 

The reason I ask is everything I read talks about indexing based on OAL is best.  But all of the higher end trimmers I see on the market now index off the shoulder, the WFT, the Henderson Precision, the Giraud, the new Lyman that is coming out.  So, it has me wondering, is the general line of thinking on this is changing. 

 

 

[RGA]

Another variable to consider. A lathe style trimmer that uses a pilot in the case mouth will lead to not a square cut if the pilot has a less then perfect fit. This allows the case to wobble slightly when trimming.

 

Indexing of the shoulder does not have this disadvantage and will lead to a square cut (most of the time).

[AHI]

1 pencil sharpener type trimmers are real hard on your hands    (frankford arsenal, graud,)

2 in all reality the Dillon is trimming from the shoulder.

3 all trimming is based off of OAL

4 in a hand crank trimmer for more precision look at wilson/sinclair

5 depending on the volume and intended purpose the dillon is very hard to beat for .223

I use  a dillon set up for 223 at this time in a 1050 it holds to .002 +/- length. Have used it in a single stage press .001+/- length.

Every thing else (6mmBR, 6.5 Grendel. etc) use the wilson)

.

 

[chevrofreak]

12 hours ago, AHI said:

1 pencil sharpener type trimmers are real hard on your hands    (frankford arsenal, graud,)

Tell me about it.  When I did my first big batch of 223 brass a couple of years ago I had a WFT chucked up in my drill press and I was cranking them out.   Later when I took my glove off I realized that I had unknowingly developed and popped a very large blister, and that the skin had peeled off of about half of my index finger!

[Xfive]

Get a Dillon trimmer and save yourself a lot of time.