Trimming To Length Bulk .223 Brass ? Dillon Power Trimmer

[Danhits]

I use a 550B for bulk loading of .223 and .308.

I clean all the brass then lube, resize and decap on one toolhead.

I then trim all the brass using a Gracey Trimmer.

I then clean all the brass again and drop powder, seat bullet and crimp on second toohead.

The Gracey Trimmer is wearing my hands out doing 4000-5000 cases at a time. Maybe I'm just not doing it right or wearing out the cutter blade edges and trimming with dull blades. I don't know. Just seems like there must be a better faster more consistent way. For the moment I'm looking at the Dillon Power Trimmer as an option (any opinions on other options?).

Looking for feedback from others using Dillon Power Trimmer for use trimming bulk amounts of .223 and/or .308 brass. Please share your experiences, good and bad, with the Dillon Power Trimmer and if possible provide descriptions and pictures of your set-ups if possible (dies used, type of adapters for vacuum hose, type of hose, ect).

Haven't been able to locate much in the way of first hand experiences with the Dillon Power Trimmer and have only seen pictures of how it's set-up in the catalog and a magazine article or two here and there. Interested to hear what tips and tricks you may have learned over time doing bulk amounts of brass with the Dillon Power Trimmer.

[dillon]

While I am biased in favor of our electric case trimmer, i can provide some input to your query about use of our electric case trimmer. It requires it's own trim dies; it does not attach to a regular size/deprime die. The carbide blade has three cutting edges, each edge is good for about 250,000 + cases. If you adjust the trimmer motor down too far, then the blade contacts the interior of the trim die, usually chipping the cutting surface.

The trimmer includes the blue plastic manifold that clamps around the trim die. It is guaranteed not to fit any specific brand of vacuum hose, but a couple of wraps of duct tape will correct any improper fit.

The trim die full lenght resizes, trims, and removes any outside burr. It does not deprime or inside deburr. The cutter spins at about 7000 RPM, so an inside deburr usually isn't mandatory if loading boat tail bullets. (we're rather lazy here )Do not trim and reload at the same time. On the 550B, I suggest setting up the trimmer on a separate toolhead. Clean and lube your cases, run then through the trimmer and eject the loaded rounds into the plastic bin. Swap toolheads, lightly relube the brass, and load it. Tumble the loaded ammo in a vibratory case cleaner in plain corncob for 10-15 minutes to remove the case lube, load and shoot. Repeat.

[D.Hayden]

The above says it all.

I have a little neopreme (sp?) sleeve that I use my shop vac to attach to a PC orbital sander, it worked great. And the trimmer plugs into an auto-on/off outlet on my vacumn, so when the trimer is turned on, the vacumn starts up too.

The only thing I noticed, was the trimmer gets very hot. I was too chicken to run it too long, and finally attached a digital temp gauge to it, and would shut it off for a while when it got > 120.

I did it a little differently... sized and trimmed the cases, then tubled in corn cob to get the dillon lube off. This also knocked off any burrs of the case mouths.

Switched tool heads..

Then loaded, still with the Dillon full length sizer on, to make sure the flash holes were clean, and double checks the brass was sized right. (no lube used this time).

The first batch, I had the sizer die adjusted wrong, now I just always run it, as insurance against hthose cases. It just tocuhes them, and there's no sticking.

I do this on a 1050, but the process is the same.. it's just wicked fast with the cases being fed.

I think we did about 7,000-8,000 cases. It takes about an hour to do 700-1,000.

[n2ipsc]

Interested to hear what tips and tricks you may have learned over time doing bulk amounts of brass with the Dillon Power Trimmer.

Absolutely the only way to fly.

I have a dedicated toolhead set up for my Dillon 650 -

• Station 1 = RCBS small-base die
  
• Station 3: Dillon power trimmer
  
• Station 5: Redding neck-sizing die
  

IMPORTANT NOTE: All dies set/checked with headspace gauge...

Dump lubed cases in the casefeeder. Small-base die resizes and knocks primer out, power trimmer does its thing (but leaves the necks undersized with an internal burr), neck-sizing die correctly resizes neck for bullet seating - and rolls the inside burr away.

Faster than loading completed rounds - 1,000 rnd/hr of brass in an hour easily - thence into the tumbler to clean the lube out and primer pockets out...

I used to trim .223 and .308 on a Lyman power trimmer - slow, slow, slow, and sore fingers to boot.

You won't regret buying one...

[Patrick Sweeney]

Back when I was loading on a 1050, we had two toolheads for .223. the first was a pair of sizers and the trimmer. The clean lubed brass woud get sized (each sizer doing half the work) trimmed, pockets swaged and dumped out. then we'd tumble again to clena off thelube, and load on a toolhead wiht the sizer backed out a turn just to make sure the necks weren't dented and the deprimer could knock out any tumbling media.

Now on a 550, one toolhead is sizer and trimmer. The loading head has the sizer backed out a turn.

Once you use a Dillon trimmer, you won't go back. And you'll scan the list of trimmer dies, wondering if you can justify loading any other calibers.

[straightshooter1]

I have two Dillon trimmers, one is set up for 223, the other one I use for the other calibers I load for (8mm, 7mm, 30-30, 303, 308, 30'06 & 6.5 Swedish). I am thinking of buying a third and setting it up for only 30'06. Seems easier to do that than to keep changing over for the various calibers, and 223 and 30'06 are the two I load the most. Am weighing the cost of another trimmer ($175 plus shipping and another tool head vs the time and effort to change over from one caliber to another).

I have an RCBS power case trimmer which I use for 30-40 Krag and other calibers. I wish there was a way to do 30-40s with the Dillon. The RCBS is okay, but slow and I shoot a lot of this stuff.

I have two questions I guess:

The first is whether anyone else is using multiple trimmers to avoid the changing of the trim die, resetting the trimmer for the proper length, etc.?

The second is whether anyone has found a way to trim calibers for which Dillon doesn't make a trim die (especially 30-40 Krag)? I keep thinking of trying to trim with no die-just setting the blade low enough to whack the top of the brass but I think it is so "loose" when just held by the shell plate that it wouldn't be consistent or even.

Hope someone else has gone there before.

Thanks,

Bob

[anyracoon]

Bob

See if Dillon will sell you a blank trimmer sizing die or buy one that you can have machined out to fit the shell case that you want to trim.

For my 223 brass I use my 650 if I have alot to trim or my 550 if I have a short run of 200 or so. The only thing that I have not been happy with is the fact that I have to use Duck Tape to hook up my Dillon trimmer to my shop vac hose. I have never been able to find a adapter that works.

[straightshooter1]

We have a big ACE Hardware store nearby and they sell hard plastic spa/pool tubing in different diameters. Their 1" tubing fits inside the blue output from the trimmer and goes tightly into a 1" hang-up style shop vac. No more duct tape.

I will contact Dillon Monday or maybe dillon will read this and post the answer to a blank or "custom" die.

Bob