Lyman Universal Trimmer - 45/70

littleshooter

littleshooter

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I have a Lyman Universal Trimmer - I am having problems with my #45 pilot (recommended for 45-70 from Lyman) The Pilot seems to be a little larger than required and is not sliding in the case as other calibres I have trimmed. Is this the right Pilot? What I am I doing wrong? The case has been FL sized and the pilot is still to tight? Thanks
 
I have the same trimmer and in a few 45 calibers I've experienced the same problem. 45-70 and 458WM. Just about in all the other calibers and cases I trim for, I FL resize prior to trimmimg. With the 45-70 and 458WM, because of that problem, I have to trim before resizing, or;) cheat and use a Lyman #45A pilot which is listed primarily for use on handgun cases like the 45ACP, 45LC etc. The #45 mics out at 0.4528" and the #45A at 0.4455".
 
Thanks for the help....I don't have a 45A but I can pick one up.....It is very close with the #45 but there is a interference. Thanks again, I will try the #45A pilot and see how that works.
 
The pilot is designed to go into a case that has been expanded up after sizing. For the .45-70, that means that you need to run the neck expanding die partially into the cases before trimming. You don't want to run it all the way, such that you bell the case mouth, but enough to allow the trimmer pilot to enter the case.
 
littleshooter said:
Hi There

I did run it through my FL die, but it was still tight. I don't have a Neck die just a FL die....
Click to expand...

I believe what Al-Sway is referring to is the expander plug component in the neck expanding die of a three-die set. Do you have a two or three die set? The neck expanding die is, to my way of thinking, is pretty well a must have item for reloading cases that you're planning on shooting cast bullets in, especially plain base cast bullets. Slightly bell mouthing the case a minimal amount allows you to seat a plainbase cast bullet without shaving lead.
 
I have the 3 die set from Lee and also the Factory Crimp Die as well. The 3 die set includes the power through expanding die, the Bullet Seating Die and the Full Lengh Sizing Die and of course the Factory crimp.

Eric
 
There are a number of possible solutions if you encounter the problem. On a larger straight wall rifle cases and even the shorter straight wall handgun cases, trimming before you resize isn't a detriment to the process or the quality of your reloads. With the bigger bottle neck cases, there may be more of a problem.

In addition, I believe the general rule of thumb is when you trim, trim to 0.010" under the maximum case length. I usually trim only to 0.005" under the maximum case length and in doing so, I probably trim a little more often than most but I think this regular 'clean up' of the case mouth helps minimize the start or some of the beginnings of splits and helps prolong brass life. Something else that may also help on bottle neck cases brass life is just to neck size on cases that have been fired from your rifle. Having said that, on my hunting ammo for use in the field, I always FL resize.
 
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