Reloading pistol brass - case trimming made easier:

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Jer
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Location:Buckhannon, WV
Reloading pistol brass - case trimming made easier:

Post by Jer » Tue May 20, 2014 11:04 am

Reloading pistol brass is a pain in the ass. Mostly due to the trimming of the brass and how it's not as easy as trimming rifle brass.

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That is my Wilson case trimmer - quite possibly one of the most accurate and best case trimmers for precision reloading. The round cylinders are the individual holders for various calibers.

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The "pain in the ass" part is that you have to tamp the shell into the cylinder with a hammer and punch. This takes time. This bruises thumbs. This makes noise. This is not necessary.

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As you can see above, it can also damage the brass when you are tamping the shell into the cylinder. The whole process is just a giant pain in the ass and I hated it.

But after getting the brass into the cylinder, you still have to trim it and extract it.

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Trimming the case to length is NECESSARY AS HELL if you want a consistent and precision round. Too long of a case is one reason a revolver would jam, and 90% of the reasons that automatics don't feed or extract well.

After you trim the case to its optimal length - you still have to extract it from the cylinder. This requires more tamping - this time from the inside of the case:

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Again, that's more wasted time and more potential damage to the brass case, and still a giant pain in the ass.

So, I made a jig. This is the "phase 1" prototype for testing and to prove the concept - but it works fantastic.

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Yep - I said it was ugly and a prototype. But it works.

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I now simply place the cylinder (all of which have the same outer diameter) in the hole, place the case in the cylinder and lower the press arm down. I took two pieces of copper tubing, welded them together and drilled a hole in the middle so it would pivot. The copper is softer than the brass and wont mar the case. The leverage easily pushes the case into the cylinder.

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Then it's off to the trimmer for a precision trim:

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After trimming, I simply place the cylinder with the trimmed case into the second hole:
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Move the lever to the left and lower - the copper tube pivots to drop into the case -
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Apply pressure and pop the case out of the cylinder:
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I need to refine the design a bit, make it completely out of metal so I can easily clamp it to the reloading bench and possibly re-design the way the case is extracted to I don't have to "flip" it out with my fingers. (Probably some sloped slide that it will roll down into a container) I also need to fine-tune the balance of the copper rod so that it swivels more freely... But this is a hell of a good prototype. :)
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
--John F. Kennedy

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Blackthorn-USA
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Re: Reloading pistol brass - case trimming made easier:

Post by Blackthorn-USA » Tue May 20, 2014 10:40 pm

Sweet, I can see where that would make the process considerably easier. Better patent it quick and make your million!
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Double-Tap
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Re: Reloading pistol brass - case trimming made easier:

Post by Double-Tap » Wed May 28, 2014 9:46 pm

Ok correct me if I'm wrong ( I'm new to the reloading game) I thought only necked brass needed to be trimmed?. I have reloaded quite a bit of 9mm and never had to trim one, And never had any problems. I'm guessing case trimming would be needed if you were using the maximum powder charge recommended?

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