[SWO1]

I ordered the Lee Deluxe Quick Trim and 3 Trim Dies, .223 Rem, .308 and 30-06.

The Quick Trim goes in a press and allows trimming the case to shorter than SAMMI specs. It adjustS to .001". The Lee Case Length Gauge and trimmer do a good job but only go down to SAMMI length. Sometimes you want to trim cases shorter to try specific loads listed in manuals. the Quick Trim does this and also chamfers inside and outside of case necks at the same time thus saving a step and changing tools. Comes with a tray to catch the brass shavings. Only $20 and each caliber specific die insert is $12. MERRY XMAS TO ME ......

 

[hombre243]

Metoometoometoo

I ordered the Lee Deluxe Quick Trim and 3 Trim Dies, .223 Rem, .308 and 30-06.

The Quick Trim goes in a press and allows trimming the case to shorter than SAMMI specs. It adjustS to .001". The Lee Case Length Gauge and trimmer do a good job but only go down to SAMMI length. Sometimes you want to trim cases shorter to try specific loads listed in manuals. the Quick Trim does this and also chamfers inside and outside of case necks at the same time thus saving a step and changing tools. Comes with a tray to catch the brass shavings. Only $20 and each caliber specific die insert is $12. MERRY XMAS TO ME ......

Looks like something I can use. I don't load many rifle calibers but for the price, and I can see the speed advantage. This is worth the money and then some. Thanks for posting.

 

[SWO1]

Looks like something I can use. I don't load many rifle calibers but for the price, and I can see the speed advantage. This is worth the money and then some. Thanks for posting.

They make the trim dies for all Pistol cases also .... If I am satisfied with them I will get the .38, .357, .38 super and .45 acp later.

For info after I ordered from Cabelas, I noticed on Midway they have them CHEAPER .... should have looked harder I Quess, Oh Well. Browells also now lists them. For a long time nobody had them so I jumped as soon as I saw them.

 

[SWO1]

Got the Quick Trim and dies yesterday. Of course had to go right to the bench and try it out. Trimmed a 30-06 case first with the basic Lee cutter and the case length gauge. The shortest it would trim left it .005 longer than what Hornady called for in loading their 165gr A-Max bullet. I put in the quick trim with the die and within about 12-15 cranks had it down.

Only did one and noticed it put a slight bevel on the rim of the neck. I don't know if that is what its supposed to do ?? Today I will try it on some .223 and .308 and see if it does the same. Looking at video of it in action and reading instructions ( Lee Instructions are for Crap ) I cant find how the neck rim should come out. Depending on results of the .223 and .308 I may have to call Lee. OR maybe just more practice with it ..... But as far as trimming shorter does a fast and good job.

 

[SWO1]

I trimmed a couple .308 cases. Sierra and Hornady both call for COL of 2.005 a full 100th shorter than SAMMI spec. Both cases started out 2.015 and the Quick Trim took them down to 2.009. Lee says it will Trim .006 off of Spec ( + - ), and it did exactly that. There is a spacer you remove to trim Pistol cases so quess I could try that. Will just play with it and see what happens. The .308 also trims and leaves a slight bevel on the neck rim. I figured it would as you use the same cutter and just change dies for different cases ( length and diam. ). I had been shooting the .308 with a COL OF 2.015 so will load some up with the shorter cases and see how they shoot. COAL stays the same. I can see how the shorter cases will cause the bullet to be seated deeper to obtain required COAL thus raising pressures and Velocity. So Performance should ( will ) change. Hopefully for the better.

The .308 and 30-06 shoot around 1" or better now which is Plenty good for hunting rounds. The real test will come with the .223 in the 7XVH Marlin that I only shoot off the bench. Before I havn't able to trim to spercified case length but using a longer COL it shot sub .4 groups, with a best of .226 ( One time Only ). Usually the groups where in the low .3s. I want to find some 53gr Flat Base Sierra Match Kings and try them. Now I only have 52gr BTs. If Sierra dosnt have them next Monday I will order them from Midway as they list them on their site. They go on and off back order so may have to wait a while for em.

 

[FOUR4D4]

Nice! now I wish I would have bought the single stage press

 

[SWO1]

Went to check the .223 cases for trimming. WHATTA YA KNOW ..... Sierra wants them .005 shorter than Spec. I shoot Federal Bulk .223 Rem. for the brass ( which don't shoot to well in my gun ) reload them and they shoot GREAT. The brass is ALREADY .006 SHORTER than SAAMI Max and .001 shorter than my Sierra load data uses. ANYBODY HAVE A BRASS STREACHER ????? Guess I will have to find some Factory New brass if I want to trim to Sierra's suggestion for Top Accuracy.... or maybe not .. Their suggested accuracy load uses Federal Brass and if the .308 shoots good .005 longer in my guns then only makes sense that the .223 at .001 shorter does in my gun also. I neck size only so will take a LONG, LONG TIME to stretch them out.

 

[hombre243]

I ordered the Lee Deluxe Quick Trim and 3 Trim Dies, .223 Rem, .308 and 30-06.

The Quick Trim goes in a press and allows trimming the case to shorter than SAMMI specs. It adjustS to .001". The Lee Case Length Gauge and trimmer do a good job but only go down to SAMMI length. Sometimes you want to trim cases shorter to try specific loads listed in manuals. the Quick Trim does this and also chamfers inside and outside of case necks at the same time thus saving a step and changing tools. Comes with a tray to catch the brass shavings. Only $20 and each caliber specific die insert is $12. MERRY XMAS TO ME ......

Cool tool SW. I looked it up on the Lee web site.

http://leeprecision.com/deluxe-quick-trim-case-trimmer.html

The Deluxe spruces up the case mouth. The economy model does not. It appears you got the deluxe at the economy price. Now I want one too. My birthday is coming up this year, so now I have 2 justifications. the 2nd one is ...I want it.

 

[SWO1]

Cool tool SW. I looked it up on the Lee web site.

http://leeprecision.com/deluxe-quick-trim-case-trimmer.html

The Deluxe spruces up the case mouth. The economy model does not. It appears you got the deluxe at the economy price. Now I want one too. My birthday is coming up this year, so now I have 2 justifications. the 2nd one is ...I want it.

Yeah the economy model doesn't chamfer the neck rim, but for the couple of bucks extra didn't make sense not to get the Deluxe. You can upgrade the economy but will cost more than just buying the deluxe to start with. I really like it, does a good quick job. The cutters can be purchased and changed if and when they get to dull. Next up is a Sonic Case Cleaner. I've been checking them out and will run under $100 for the volume I require. I don't load multiple hundreds at a time so no need to get one that will do a bucket full. Besides it doesn't take long to clean them anyway. More time drying than anything.

 

[hombre243]

brass stretcher...haaha

Went to check the .223 cases for trimming. WHATTA YA KNOW ..... Sierra wants them .005 shorter than Spec. I shoot Federal Bulk .223 Rem. for the brass ( which don't shoot to well in my gun ) reload them and they shoot GREAT. The brass is ALREADY .006 SHORTER than SAAMI Max and .001 shorter than my Sierra load data uses. ANYBODY HAVE A BRASS STREACHER ????? Guess I will have to find some Factory New brass if I want to trim to Sierra's suggestion for Top Accuracy.... or maybe not .. Their suggested accuracy load uses Federal Brass and if the .308 shoots good .005 longer in my guns then only makes sense that the .223 at .001 shorter does in my gun also. I neck size only so will take a LONG, LONG TIME to stretch them out.

Reminds me of an article in our local paper in the 70's...a woman went into the paint mfg co near where I lived and got her paint...all mixed just right for her use. She took it home and a couple hours later came in to the paint place and wanted, of all things, paint thickener. It was funny. The man behind the counter did not want to insult her with the truth when she argued that if they have thinner they should have thickener also.

He mixed her up another gallon of paint and gave it to her and told her to measure carefully so she didn't get it too thick. If she did it would ruin the paint because once thinner and thickener mix together it stabilizes the mixture and adding any more of either will set up the paint so fast it wont be usable...or something like that.

BTW SW, how much does a bottlenecked cartridge actually stretch, per full length resize? I know it reworks and hardens the brass but what actuallt stretches, the case itself or just the case neck?

 

[SWO1]

BTW SW, how much does a bottlenecked cartridge actually stretch, per full length resize? I know it reworks and hardens the brass but what actuallt stretches, the case itself or just the case neck?

Depends on brand, some are thicker than others. I have a lot of .308 cases so have only reloaded any one about 3 times with a full length size. Seems to me that the Rem tends to stretch more than Win or Fed, with Fed the least. The part that stretches the most is from the bottle neck portion up. You have to look for necks splitting. Havnt had to discard any yet. The ones I neck size only I have never had to trim, but again only about 3 reloadings so far. I keep track of # of reloads for each batch. As soon as I find a defect in any one I will discard all of that brand up to one less than that # of reloads. For example if a Remington case shows signs of wear at 8 reloads I will discard all Rem after 7 cycles. Right now the only ones I full length size are SOME .308, every thing else, .223, half of the .308s and all 30-06 are neck sized.

 

[hombre243]

Thanks for the tips

Depends on brand, some are thicker than others. I have a lot of .308 cases so have only reloaded any one about 3 times with a full length size. Seems to me that the Rem tends to stretch more than Win or Fed, with Fed the least. The part that stretches the most is from the bottle neck portion up. You have to look for necks splitting. Havnt had to discard any yet. The ones I neck size only I have never had to trim, but again only about 3 reloadings so far. I keep track of # of reloads for each batch. As soon as I find a defect in any one I will discard all of that brand up to one less than that # of reloads. For example if a Remington case shows signs of wear at 8 reloads I will discard all Rem after 7 cycles. Right now the only ones I full length size are SOME .308, every thing else, .223, half of the .308s and all 30-06 are neck sized.

I haven't reloaded any of my 308's, and only loaded a handfull of 30-30s one time. The 30-30s will always be full length resized, so I will have to keep an eye on them. The 308's...I will try it both ways. Hopefully i can get by with neck sizing...my Savage 308 is a bolt gun so it should be ok.

 

[SWO1]

I haven't reloaded any of my 308's, and only loaded a handfull of 30-30s one time. The 30-30s will always be full length resized, so I will have to keep an eye on them. The 308's...I will try it both ways. Hopefully i can get by with neck sizing...my Savage 308 is a bolt gun so it should be ok.

Just make sure the 308 brass was FIRST SHOT IN YOUR GUN ONLY. Fire formed brass is really the only candidate for Neck Sizing. Autos, pump and lever guns do not have enough cam power to properly chamber a fire formed cartridge. As a General Rule Fire Formed and Neck Sized produce better groups. NOT 100% for every gun but most all.

I saw on the LEE site today that they now offer their Rifle Dies in a "4 die set", Full Length Sizing Die, Collet Neck Die, Dead Length Seating Die and Factory Crimp Die.

 

[oldbrass]

I now know what to do with my "extra" quick change bushings