Case trimming, How necessary is it?

Do you case trim?

  • Yes its a must!

    Votes: 128 84.2%

  • No I dont do it

    Votes: 13 8.6%

  • Whats case trimming?

    Votes: 11 7.2%
  • Total voters
    152
i trim all my cases, for the amoutn of time it takes i would rather have a reliable feeding properly functioning round... if you look around there is quite a few horror stories of guys who bad poor case prep habbits and rounds goin off when slamming the bolt forward..

in a semi auto yes yes yes yes trim them, in a bolt or single shot u can squeeze by with a few 1000s longer, but if you have to force the bolt forward, youve done somthing wrong and stop right there and then. there is no sense in blowing your fingers off to save 20 minutes of work
 
I don't do it for my rifles yet, but I need to invest in a high volume trimmer soon. After a few firings, some cases become too long to fully chamber, and it is especially noticable in bolt actions.
 
Unless you want to risk developing extremely high pressure that can lock up or damage an action,it is a must.When the brass gets long enough,forcing it into the chamber wedges the brass against the bullet,which results in higher than normal chamber pressures.
 
The question is very incomplete and poorly worded.
Bottle neck rifle cases grow with shooting and must be trimmed, or they will become dangerous to shoot. Some get longer with far fewer shootings than others. A 270 grows much faster than a 30-06 and a 243 is faster yet in the neck getting longer.
Staight walled cases, rifle or pistol, do not expand with firings. If they get any longer, whatsoever, it is such a minute amount as to be ignored by any handloaders I have heard of.
 
As you fire the round, the brass expands. It is good in some instances, as it will "fire form" your brass to your chamber. The down side is that it grows in length, and this will eventually lead to a situation where you cant close the bolt. Therefore, trimming is a must in rifle cases.
 
You only have to trim if the case is too long. If you full length resize it will not be very many sizings before the case is too long. But, if you only neck size then you may go a long time without neck sizing.

In any case it is no big deal. Just buy a hand Lee trimming tool and the gauge for your cartridge. Costs less than $10 and is the best tool on the market -- much better than those expensive mini lathes. No need for the Zip attachment. If you have a lot of trimming to do then use the drill adapter to drive the case in a drill.
 
Ron AKA said:
You only have to trim if the case is too long. If you full length resize it will not be very many sizings before the case is too long. But, if you only neck size then you may go a long time without neck sizing.

In any case it is no big deal. Just buy a hand Lee trimming tool and the gauge for your cartridge. Costs less than $10 and is the best tool on the market -- much better than those expensive mini lathes. No need for the Zip attachment. If you have a lot of trimming to do then use the drill adapter to drive the case in a drill.
Click to expand...

amen aint nothin easer than this thing i run em through each loading
 
Craig0ry said:
Is it absolutley necessary to case trim?
Click to expand...

Again, as Bruce has said, poorly worded question.
This question can easily be answered, "No, it is not necessary to trim the case". However, you WILL have to throw your brass away after just a couple of f/l sizing sessions. Even neck sizing cannot keep it from growing indefinitely. It is imperative that when a question is asked here, that the proper thought goes into phrasing it. I recall one thread that just went completely haywire for the OP because he was not cautious enough in his phrasing. Here, we eat our young it seems, and other questions could arise from yours. Like:
Is it absolutely necessary to clean your rifle if you fall down and jam the muzzle 8 inches into the ground? Answer, nope. But you will only have to worry about firing it again once. Or,
Is it absolutely necessary to ensure that you do not double charge your cases? Answer, nope. But again, there is a good chance you probably won't fire that action again.

Information you have received here is good advice. You should always trim your cases before you load them the first time. After that I know that some people wait until they begin to have a problem chambering. I always trim before I load the first time, even new brass. Then I measure and record the length of the trimmed cartridge, then record the listed OAL for the brass. After 5 loadings, I measure randomly. If ANY brass in that series comes close to the OAL, then they all get trimmed to length.

Enjoy this hobby, but as was said before, re-read your manual.

RW
 
Ron AKA said:
You only have to trim if the case is too long. If you full length resize it will not be very many sizings before the case is too long. But, if you only neck size then you may go a long time without neck sizing.

In any case it is no big deal. Just buy a hand Lee trimming tool and the gauge for your cartridge. Costs less than $10 and is the best tool on the market -- much better than those expensive mini lathes. No need for the Zip attachment. If you have a lot of trimming to do then use the drill adapter to drive the case in a drill.
Click to expand...

Yea I think thats what I'll do, I'v got about 1000 1F .308 brass to trim and decrimp, And needed a speedy way to do it.
 
Nearly all bottleneck cases will eventually grow enough to require trimming. I set my caliper to the maximum OAL and trim any fired cases that don't pass through. If all, or almost all, of the first few cases are too long, it's quicker to just trim the entire batch.

Pistol cases do not need to be trimmed.

I am currently using the Lyman trimmer with the drill adapter shaft. I used to use the Lee case length gauge setup, but I find that it tends to vibrate excessively. Also, tightening and loosening the shell holder is hard on the fingers and is slower than the Lyman, with its quick releasing Universal chuck.
 
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