Does anyone trim their 5.56 brass?

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berettaprofessor said:
I trim. I don't measure every piece, however, because I've got a Frankfort Arsenal trimmer set up specifically for 223. So it's quicker to put each piece in, let it trim if it wants to, and then move on. All other calibers I use a Lee's Quick Trim because I don't shoot them in any great quantity.
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I agree. I use a Lee Quick Trim, and trim all of my rifle brass every time. In the time it would take to measure each piece, I can trim all to the same length for consistency, and chamfer for ease of loading. I believe it all depends on the volume of loading one does, and how OCD they are, but it works for me.
 
badkarmamib said:
I agree. I use a Lee Quick Trim, and trim all of my rifle brass every time. In the time it would take to measure each piece, I can trim all to the same length for consistency, and chamfer for ease of loading. I believe it all depends on the volume of loading one does, and how OCD they are, but it works for me.
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Pretty much what I do.

I have noticed that once-fired LC 5.56 brass almost always needs trimming, and FC brass quite often needs little or no trimming.
 
ImI a benchrest shooter only , for accurate safe loads case prep is very important , for your case you have a trim to length and w maximum length , I trim every time to the center trim measurement , every firing , doesn't feel like a trim more like a clean up , very little comes off . Gives you consistent neck tension , too long will give you pressure problems to a dangerous point if too long . Case headspace on autos .003 full length sized and .001-2 full sized for bolt no need to crimp ..
 
I measure ,sort , trim as needed ,chamfer, deburr and finally run a case neck brush through each case. Along with some other steps before and after. I don't like bad surprises and inconsistency.
 
For my bolt varmint rifle I sort headstamps, trim them, debur the flash holes, and rarely ever have to trim them again because I only collet neck size.

For using AR15 range brass though it’s mandatory. Some of them have huge chambers. I set a caliper to .010” below max length (pre sizing) and use it as a guage to check them. Good ones go in the “load it bucket”, bad ones go in the “trim it later” bucket, and sometimes the trash if I have a huge excess of them. A WFT is probably the best solution but I don’t have one. I have a forrester which is menotonis.
 
I have a WFT, I just run it all thru, faster than measuring, if it's to long it get trimmed, if not it doesn't.
As mentioned already if it is two long and the case neck pinches the bullet bad things can happen.
 
I sort into a few groups, namely 1.245 which covers most range brass where very few would be discarded as too short. This is my trim to length. Another group would be the under 1.245 and then the overs for trimming. Every headstamp gets its own box and a consistent length. When box is full, then it can get loaded, either 50 or 100, or just sit for years. Sometimes the sorting will get me a pile of some other, common length, that I can skip sizing.
 
CoalTrain49 asked:
Does anyone trim their 5.56 brass?
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Yes.

When I get brass that is "new to me", it gets decapped, tumbled, lubed, sized, and then run through the trimmer which is set to 1.753 inches. Not every case has "grown" long enough to be trimmed, but running every case through the trimmer assures every case is no longer than 1.753.

After this initial trimming, my 223/5.56 brass will not be trimmed again.

I settled on a non-standard trim length after years of experience taught me that recovering only a fraction of my brass each time meant all of a batch of brass would (statistically) be lost to the weeds before it needed to be trimmed again.

My process is unique to my circumstances and needs. As they say, your mileage may vary.
 
Walkalong said:
The Forster trimmer is excellent, but tough for big runs. Very tough.
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Yep! Bought mine in 1973. When I bought a progressive I had to motorize it ...... buying something faster wasn't an option at the time. It's plenty fast now....and tho I could buy something else, no reason to replace it. The Dillon's nice but really noisy, as John pointed out....this H.M. one sounds like a sewing machine....and trims, chamfers, and deburrs in one pass.

The file handle from Home Depot makes all the difference to my hands. I bored a hole in the Forster's handle, tapped it and bolted the file handle to it. Power source is a $100 Dewalt drywall screw gun with a clutch. Eventually did away with the vacuum nozzle, since watching the trimmings fly was the timing event. IOW's no more brass flying away meant the piece was trimmed. Having to sweep the floor once in a while is no big deal to me.
 
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Intermittent use is the norm in my tool too. The Power window motor ought to work great. Free is always a big plus! Mine is wired with a momentary switch....it goes on only when a case is set and I push the red button in the picture below for a few seconds.;)
IMG_1066.JPG
"Plumbing" is connected under the bench by a pulley to foot pedals to raise and lower the trimmer shaft with my feet! :) All my hands do is place the case, tighten the case holder and push the red power button. Screw gun is friction fit....Forster's power attachment pushes and locks in the gun as if it was made for it. I use lead weight under the bench to bear on the shaft downward except when the foot pedals are pushed. (This is a sit down operation......of course....lazy does it)

You have to know your limitations....repetitious work with my hands equals pain sooner than later....result of too many years swinging a hammer.

BTW, I wonder what a power window motor would cost from a salvage yard? The reason I bought a drywall screw gun was for the built-in clutch.....shaft doesn't rotate until you press it against the brass....probably not that necessary, since you don't run the motor except when the momentary switch is pressed.
 
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This always comes up in the 'is 5.56 the same as .223' posts.....YES, LC once fired often will have long necks that need trimming. I've run a few thousand through the cutter and not surprisingly it removes pretty much all of what had been the crimp but doesn't touch the neck when cut to .223 length. I firmly believe that LC makes their 5.56 cases longer so they have more material to crimp into the cannelure at 5.56 OAL. Using RCBS X-dies has eliminated any further trimming need for the brass I've managed to find and run through guns more than a couple firings.
 
Are they rated for continuous duty? I would not be surprised if they were only designed/rated for intermittent use.
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I have no idea what they are rated for but there is very little load on them trimming brass and I use the motor housing as the handle (it doesn’t get hot).

If any power window motors were going to give up, I’d have put money on the ones used to reset my plate racks but they have lasted for years, decades for the oldest one.

 
You should be verifying rifle case length after every sizing. Not doing that is a good way to make your gun go boom. Doesnt matter how you do it, just do it. For me, I can run them all thru a WFT2 trimmer faster than I can measure every case or run them thru a gauge.

1.750" is pretty normal, but max is 1.760". Alot of factory brass will measure at 1.745"ish even after firing.
 
cw308 said:
ImI a benchrest shooter only , for accurate safe loads case prep is very important , for your case you have a trim to length and w maximum length , I trim every time to the center trim measurement , every firing , doesn't feel like a trim more like a clean up , very little comes off . Gives you consistent neck tension , too long will give you pressure problems to a dangerous point if too long . Case headspace on autos .003 full length sized and .001-2 full sized for bolt no need to crimp ..
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Can't say it any better. And I do the same for what I run in my AR rifle and pistol.
 
I made a small primer and large primer "stud" out of 1/2" round bar . ..Chuck The small one in the collect and place the DeWalt cordless on the handle end ... becomes a between center lathe ... I use my fingers to hold the brass ... only takes a few seconds per brass .... dead accurate lengths too..

IMG-20180801-173133526.jpg

IMG-20180801-173046806.jpg
 
Capt.Roll said:
I do a full length resize on my .223/5.56 brass and then trim to 1.75" with an acceptable +/- of 0.002". I'm sure my AR would function just fine with brass in the 1.74" to 1.76" range. Checking length and trimming does take some extra time (ha, I even slightly bevel the O.D and I.D of the case mouth) but I'm not concerned about how many rounds I can push out every hour. I like my reloads to be consistent.
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This is precisely what I do. Precise prep begets easy loading, which begets accuracy. I shoot prairie dogs at long and longer distance. My reloads are very accurate. It's worth the work to get it right.
 
I have been using a Giraud for several years for brass that is used in my AR's and semi-auto rifles. Only draw back is sore fingers from holding brass so I use a Harbor Freight spark plug wire tool.
I never have had to trim brass on any of my bolt rifles, just next size.
 
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