Hornady case trimmer issue

[0hw0rd]

Greetings all-

I have been searching around and cant seem to find anyone having a similar issue, so maybe I'm just being anal about this, but ---

I've been using my hornady LNL case trimmer for several months now, and have noticed its not trimming evenly. One side of the mouth is roughly .005" higher than the opposite side, and it's happening in the same location each time. If you were to look strait on at the shell while it's locked in, it trims the spot at 5 o'clock much less than the rest of the mouth. I've taken it all apart, put new o-rings in, tried different cutting heads, but it still will not cut evenly.

Is this common? Am I being anal about 5 thous? Any idea(s) on how to solve this?

As always, thank you greatly. As motivation, I will send some brass to the person who can get my trimmer working as it should!

Thank you!

Geoff

 

[beatledog7]

What cartridge?

Perhaps you're not getting cases locked into the shellholder straight, or maybe the non-cutter end is misaligned.

Lock in a case and trim it. Then, loosen the big cylinder in the shellholder end and twist it 180 degrees. Lock in another case and trim it, then check to see where the uneven spot is. 11:00? If so, you've found the problem.

If not, the next suspect is the shellholder itself. If it's not perfectly flat, it might lock the case in at a slight angle, and if you line it up the same way each time to lock in a case, it could cause that high spot in the same place--like 5:00--every time. Turn the shellholder 180 degrees as above, and see where your high spot is.

I've used mine for .223 mostly, and I don't have the problem you describe (at least I don't think so).

 

[chrome_austex]

Yeah, what cartridge? I can't see how the cutter could be misaligned if its fitting in the shell mouth on a 223.

 

[0hw0rd]

What cartridge?

Perhaps you're not getting cases locked into the shellholder straight, or maybe the non-cutter end is misaligned.

Lock in a case and trim it. Then, loosen the big cylinder in the shellholder end and twist it 180 degrees. Lock in another case and trim it, then check to see where the uneven spot is. 11:00? If so, you've found the problem.

If not, the next suspect is the shellholder itself. If it's not perfectly flat, it might lock the case in at a slight angle, and if you line it up the same way each time to lock in a case, it could cause that high spot in the same place--like 5:00--every time. Turn the shellholder 180 degrees as above, and see where your high spot is.

I've used mine for .223 mostly, and I don't have the problem you describe (at least I don't think so).

Thanks for the quick reply. It's a 223 holder, but I trim 300blk with it as well. I've tried the rotating thing before, and it does continue to move 'around the clock' if you will. The brass is definitely seated correctly in the holder, so I am guessing your theory of the shell holder being the issue, could be it. I even broke the entire thing down, cleaned everything down to make sure there were not filings or gunk keeping it from locking in correctly.
I just remembered I have a .45 holder for it as well, so I will drop that in tonight and see if I get the same results with that.

If you PM me a/your address, I'll send you out a small "thank you" package for your help/time.

I'm not sure if it has been covered before, but I figured out which parts hornady uses in its $30 power adapter kit and can PM anyone who wants to know which parts they need (It cost me a grand total of $2.50). Definitely makes the trimmer a much more efficient piece of equipment!

 

[0hw0rd]

Oh, I want to also mention that when I swap cutting heads with an RCBS 3-way cutter, I still get the uneven cut in the same spot. It's actually MORE noticeable with the 3-way, as the outer deburring blade cuts much further into the high side (I think...it might be the low side)

 

[beatledog7]

Given that you can make the high spot move around the clock face in concert with rotation of the shellholder end, there is definitely something making the case not line up, forcing it to be non-concentric with the trimmer axis and therefore out of square with the cutter. It's probably not more than a degree or two--not enough to see.

Checking with the .45 set up is a good idea. If the problem is the trimmer itself, the problem will be exaggerated by the larger case mouth.

I hope it's the shellholder--that would be an easy fix.

Please just let us know when you've solved it--all the thanks I desire.

 

[beatledog7]

Ohw0rd,

Did you ever get this solved?

 

[0hw0rd]

Sorry for not getting back sooner, it's been a crazy month or two.

I tried with the .45 holder and was getting the same results as before. I ended up taking apart the shell holder side again and took a closer look at the rubber o-ring under the locking collar piece. The o-ring was not even close to being uniform in thickness so I left it out and put everything back together. Without the o-ring inside, it cuts almost perfectly now, and I have noticed zero problems from not having the o-ring in place. I could drive to lowes and get a replacement o-ring, but I feel silly spending my time and gas on a $.10 o-ring that appears to make zero impact on the unit (hopefully I don't end up eating my words later).

Thank you guys for your help...If anything changes with it, I will be sure to update the thread.

Geoff

 

[TxBobS]

Oh, I want to also mention that when I swap cutting heads with an RCBS 3-way cutter, I still get the uneven cut in the same spot. It's actually MORE noticeable with the 3-way, as the outer deburring blade cuts much further into the high side (I think...it might be the low side)

Don't mean to take this another way but it seems resolved at this point so I wanted to ask. The RCBS 3-way cutter will fit in the Hornady LNL trimmer? I was planning on getting the Forster setup but may reconsider if this is true.

 

[0hw0rd]

Don't mean to take this another way but it seems resolved at this point so I wanted to ask. The RCBS 3-way cutter will fit in the Hornady LNL trimmer? I was planning on getting the Forster setup but may reconsider if this is true.

Yup, it fits/works perfectly. I can post a photo later if you want confirmation.

 

[TxBobS]

Yup, it fits/works perfectly. I can post a photo later if you want confirmation.

That's fine. I believe you. I just wanted a 3-way trimmer on whatever I got and was looking at the Forster. Seems like I could save a few bucks with the LNL and the RCBS cutters. I'll probably just use this trimmer for my bolt actions and match loads for either the Garand or AR. For plinking AR rounds, I'll probably go with some kind of power trimmer on a drill; my assumption being that the hand trimmers would be more precise. Maybe that is an incorrect assumption.

 

[0hw0rd]

I also use my LNL trimmer with my dewalt impact. Works extremely well and I can get through hundreds of cases an hour without an issue. They are all +/- .001, which is fine with me.