lancslad Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Was given a lyman case trimmer, and was just wondering when it should be used. Just started hand loading purely because I couldnt get a heavy weight soft point for deer stalking in .223, so went for the speer semi spitzer 70g. Im shooting 24grains of varget, loads are not "hot". I am loading into lapua brass and, once I get throught this next lot of rounds I will be on my 3rd loading. Offers and advice greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowz Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Was given a lyman case trimmer, and was just wondering when it should be used. Just started hand loading purely because I couldnt get a heavy weight soft point for deer stalking in .223, so went for the speer semi spitzer 70g. Im shooting 24grains of varget, loads are not "hot". I am loading into lapua brass and, once I get throught this next lot of rounds I will be on my 3rd loading. Offers and advice greatly appreciated. i'm pretty new to reloading but i was told to do it after every time the case was used, well thats what i do anyway, surely if you've not been doing it your case has stretched and may affect the chambering and bolting?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varmartin Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Have a look in your reloading manual mate ...trim your cases when they have exceeded the max case length ... Got this from my loading manual... Every rifle case must be checked for size before reloading. Rifle cases stretch when they are fired, and they stretch again during the sizing process. During the reloading process, the cases are trimmed to remove this extra length. If a rifle case is loaded without being trimmed, the resulting cartridge may not chamber correctly. A cartridge made from an untrimmed rifle case may also result in unsafe, dangerous chamber pressure when the cartridge is fired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyw Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 i'm pretty new to reloading but i was told to do it after every time the case was used, well thats what i do anyway, surely if you've not been doing it your case has stretched and may affect the chambering and bolting?? sniper fox if after every firing your cases are exceding max case length you may have an issue somewhere.i check my fired cases for 4 rifles every time i fire them and then i select a few from each batch if one is at or over my max case length i trim the lot for that calibre then they are all the same.good quality brass like lapua is worth investing in to reduce a lot of variables in reloading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streeker59 Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 My .223 load is rather warm and i found that using soft commercial brass meant trimming cases on every reload was a must. This of course lead to a short case life. Using Lapua meant a thinned out wallet especially. Perhaps not an ideal solution but i now use RG cases. These thick walled military cases only need resizing every 5 - 6 firings. Powder charges are lowered due to the diminished case volume which is handy and case to case consistency is remarkably good for a mil spec jobby. Case prep from the first time fired case is essential though. primer pockets must be recut to remove the primer crimp and the new primer must be inserted with care as they will collapse easily if not inserted dead flush. A small price to pay methinks as i'm still using cases that have had more than 20 firings without splitting. I do have to keep an eye on neck tension as the case mouth lessens it's grip on the bullet as the brass loses it's spring-back capability.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancslad Posted February 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 Cheers all. Looks like the next batch will be subject to a bit of trimming then. Ive not had any problems with jamming or bolting right now, but would rather not experience anything like that. Had a quick look through the manual but cant find anything about max case length.....anyone offer any advice on that one or should I just go off an unfired case as the "test". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamfarmer Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 hi, 223 rem case lenght max is 1.760 inches so if under load and go if reach that lenght then trim back to 1.750 inches dont forget to clean up the inside and outside case chamferes after doing it so you dont mark bullets when seating or have mag feed problems. graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 Ideally, you should be using your case trimmer every time you reload a batch of fired brass. I set my trimmer (or better yet, use the Lee unit) for my "trim-to" length and if it cuts, it cuts. If not, it doesn't need it. In any event, I end up with uniform brass... and safe brass.~Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streeker59 Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 Trim length for the .223 is 1.75" with a max length of 1.76". As andrew has said, if you use a Lee case trimmer to check length at every loading, your cases will always be uniform.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancslad Posted February 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 Ok, just so I get my process right... Gun goes bang. Collect brass. Now, do I Check case length if 1.76 then put into trimmer and then deprime and re-size. or do I Collect brass, De Prime and Resize. Check case length and then trim if 1.76. Probably a stupid question, but the stupid ones often dont get asked and they cause accidents. And Im not afraid of being called stupid,,,,,,,,,,,,the wife calls me worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamfarmer Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 hi , clean your brass if so inclined or brush out the inside of the neck and clean neck area then resize and de prime either whole case or more common if reloading for your self neck size only then trim after, as resizing will bump the shoulder back about 20 thou thus shortening case length thus bringing case back under a safe length and until neck is sized it will wobble on the trimmer if a piolt is used to center the case . cases from any one batch will all grow in length at different rates when going through a batch some will not need trimming others will . graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowz Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 sniper fox if after every firing your cases are exceding max case length you may have an issue somewhere.i check my fired cases for 4 rifles every time i fire them and then i select a few from each batch if one is at or over my max case length i trim the lot for that calibre then they are all the same.good quality brass like lapua is worth investing in to reduce a lot of variables in reloading. sorry could of put it better, i run mine threw a trimmer everything to see if it needs it, i run Lapua match brass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarinePMI Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 I have a Lyman case trimmer as well, and to be honest, it spends most of its time at the back of the bench. The Lee trimmers are the ones to use, quick, easy and dead nuts consistent. The Lyman gets used when it's some "odd ball European catridge" that Lee doesn't make a trimmer for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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