RCBS Trim Pro: GGRRRRRRR!

[dbarnhart]

I inherited an RCBS Trim Pro - the one that uses the shell holders - and it is a royal PITA.

Perhaps there is a problem with mine, but when I press the lever down I have to struggle to get a shell seated all the way down in the shell holder. I am to the point of tossing it out in the road.

So I'm looking at replacing it, but first a 'theory' question. I see some trimmers (like the Giraud) base their trimming on the neck-to-mouth dimension while others (like the RCBS, Wilson etc) base it on the total case length.

It would seem to me that a FL sizing would stretch the case along its entire length and so the Giraud would not trim a case to its trim-to length.

Somebody educate me!

 

[jeeptim]

take the trimmer apart remove one of the spring washers and ta da the rim on some shells are thick and dont fit so well s and b come to mind.
also squirt it down with wd-40

 

[snuffy]

Not familiar with the RCBS trimmer, but a call to them would be advised. They will talk you through how it's supposed to work, then send you free parts if needed.

The giraud indexes off the SHOULDER datum line. You should be trimming after sizing, so the shoulder is in the same place. You set it for however much you want trimmed, it should trim the same each time. But I don't have one of those either, my lee trimmers work as well as I need them to.

 

[DANNY-L]

Try a different shell holder with a different caliber your shell holder may be bad.

 

[Waywatcher]

My money is on a bad shell holder too.

I have an RCBS Trim Pro, and I got a bad shell holder once. Called RCBS and they sent a new one that works perfectly.

 

[Steve in PA]

Bad shell holder or something adjusted wrong. I've been using mine for several year, moving up from the collet type trimmer, and love the Trim Pro. I also added the power unit to mine.

 

[dbarnhart]

I did what Jeeptim described and that solved that problem (Thank You). My next discovery was that the cutter is dull. I'm a tool junky. Rather than sink another dollar into it, I ordered the Wilson and the screwdriver adapter.

 

[dbarnhart]

>>You should be trimming after sizing, so the shoulder is in the same place<<

So if I take two cases, one unfired, the other fired and resized 50 times, the shoulder-to-neck length will be the same on both?