Trimming 30 Carbine

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bersaguy

bersaguy

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Ok, here's the situation. I have successfully loaded a few hundred 30 Carbine at this point, but I'm finding the trimming to be a royal pain in the backside. Looking for a better solution. Right now I'm using a Lee trimmer on my cordless drill, and thats fine, it works. However, the process is, take my deprimed, tumbled brass, size it, and then I have to flare it in order to get the length gauge to fit, trim, and measure. Also, its not the most repeatable process. I'd say I wind up with 5-10% that wind up being a hair short. Trim to length I'm shooting for is 1.286, and I'm within 2-3 thousands 90% of the time, but some get down to 1.280, or so.
So, I'm looking for a trimmer that does not require me to flare before trimming, and that is a little more precise than the Lee system. And hopefully can speed this process up a bit.
I've been loading for an early Plainfield, but we recently, and unexpectedly just had twins......a gen 1 Universal, and a Winchester. So now with 3 hungry mouths to feed, I need to up the efficiency:)
 
An L E Wilson trimmer trims cases without a pilot entering the case mouth. I get fairly consistent results with mine but part of the process is to keep a constant pressure on the cutter from case to case and let the cutter do its job. In other words, do not try to trim too fast.

I’d get the L E Wilson trimmer from Sinclair Inernational with Sinclair’s base. They make an adapter for a drill but find the hand crank adequate.

Another option is to get a trim die. They mount in a single stage press. You run the case into the die and file off the excess sticking out the top of the die. The top of the die is hardened and resist damage from the file. You will also need an extended shell holder for 30 Carbine.

Of course with both of the above methods, you will need to chamfer and deburr the case mouth after trimming.

I only trim my 30 Carbine cases that are longer than the “trim length”. The cases go 3 or 4 loadings or so between trimmings. Taper crimping is pretty forgiving.
 
Another option is a Lee Quick Trim die. I know some people don’t like them, but I find them very useful. Plus if you have the deluxe trimmer, you simultaneously deburr and chamfer the case mouth.
 
I’ve never flared my cases before trimming.
I use the Lee trimmer set also.
But, I use a cross slide on the bench top drill press to hold the locking spindle.
I turn the cutter and pilot turned into the chuck.
I too only trim when needed, perhaps every fifth loading.
 
I hated trimming my .30 carbine brass so much that I sold my M1 Carbine.
 
I think i May have schmucked up my case length guide when I installed it into the cutter, may have to replace that, sounds like i shouldn't be needing to flare before trimming
 
For production volume, I prefer my Lee trimmers to my lathe trimmer. You should:
1) Reduce the diameter of the trim stud, but be sure to leave a sharp square corner or the burr will grab the stud.
2) Stop worrying about a 0.010" variation. . . it's less relevant than the phase of the moon.
 
2 things. If you are not using a case gauge, get one. It is a quick way to see if you even need to trim. Don't trim the brass unless it is over max.

Next, if you need to shrink your case length gauge, chuck ît in a drill and use the drill to spin the shaft as you put sandpaper on it. This makes sure it stays concentric. A little goes a long way. Don't overdo it.
 
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Good advice here, thank you. I have a new length gauge on the way, may chuck mine up and take the sandpaper to it in the meantime. Question, all I have is a 'trim to' length. What is the max and min case length for this cartridge?
 
My straight wall 350 Legend has the same problem, it won't trim with the Lee trim set up after sizing. So I trim it before sizing. The sizing doesn't give it much on length so it's real close after sizing maybe .0005" longer. Not enough to worry about.
 
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bersaguy said:
<snip> However, the process is, take my deprimed, tumbled brass, size it, and then I have to flare it in order to get the length gauge to fit, trim, and measure.<snip>
Click to expand...

Why are you depriming, tumbling then sizing (which requires lube, which requires you tumble again to remove the lube)?

I load far more .30 Carbine than any other cartridge. My process is to lube, size/deprime, trim if necessary, then wet or dry tumble. Far less time consuming, and thus more efficient.

Get a decent trimmer. I've been using a Forster for decades and it's very simple and works flawlessly; set it for length and forget it. But I've seen RCBS and Hornady in use and they seem to be just as good.

Don't worry about a few thousandths here or there in case length. The .30 Carbine case is tapered, so case length is not super critical. 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP etc. all headspace on the case mouth, but we don't worry about case length with these cartridges, do we?

35W
 
35 Whelen said:
Why are you depriming, tumbling then sizing (which requires lube, which requires you tumble again to remove the lube)?
Click to expand...
Depriming before tumbling to keep the lead content as low as possible in my dry media, tumbling before sizing to keep shmoo out of my sizing die and then using One Shot, so shouldn't need to tumble after sizing. As far as my process goes works great for pistol calibers, but no doubt may not be the best for rifle calibers. My sized cases were running on average 1.290-1.295, so 5 thousands over max...which probably isn't the end of the world. But I suppose now that these will be being fired out of 3 different rifles, I'd like to keep them as close to factory standards as possible.
 
bersaguy said:
Depriming before tumbling to keep the lead content as low as possible in my dry media, tumbling before sizing to keep shmoo out of my sizing die and then using One Shot, so shouldn't need to tumble after sizing. As far as my process goes works great for pistol calibers, but no doubt may not be the best for rifle calibers. My sized cases were running on average 1.290-1.295, so 5 thousands over max...which probably isn't the end of the world. But I suppose now that these will be being fired out of 3 different rifles, I'd like to keep them as close to factory standards as possible.
Click to expand...

Depriming before tumbling is fine, but cleaning the brass prior to sizing doesn't compute with me. Regardless of what case lube you use, it's lube and needs to be removed from the brass at some point. Using the method I detailed above, I never get trash in my die. In fact, last week I disassembled my sizing die just for grins, and it was clean as a whistle.

As far as case length is concerned, too long is something you definitely want to avoid. When I said not to worry about a few thousandths here and there, I was talking about the cases being a bit too short, not too long. For my .30 Carbine cases, I keep one of my calipers set and locked at 1.285" and after I size the brass I check it with these calipers. If they pass through, they're tossed in the tumbler, if they don't, they're trimmed, reamed, then tossed in the tumbler with the others.

This is just the most efficient way I've found to do this.

35W
 
AK Hunter said:
My straight wall 350 Legend has the same problem, it won't trim with the Lee trim set up after sizing. So I trim it before sizing. The sizing doesn't give it much on length so it's real close after sizing maybe .0005" longer. Not enough to worry about.
Click to expand...
I had the same problem. I turned down the tool. But I decap and size in the same step.
 
Ok, after some research and development, I do believe I have a workable, albeit temporary, solution to my trimming issues. Of course, the caveat is, temporary solutions are only temporary if they don't work:D 1st, I had to take a couple thou off the guide pin, had the same issue with the new replacement. No biggie, but the lock stud was an issue, kept slipping and swinging around all kattywompus in the drill. That happened even after I started using an open end wrench to lock it down. So I dug out the old Zip Trim with the 3-jaw chuck. Figured out the best way to use that thing. Disassemble it, and throw everything away but the spindle and the chuck. Then chuck that up into the drill. That still takes a little finesse getting the 3 jaws to catch into the extractor groove. Once I got the feel for that, not bad, its just a quick flick of the thumb now. Grab ahold of the flywheel with my left hand, lock the chuck with my right, and the case stays tight and centered. I had to back the guide pin out of the cutter about a quarter turn as i was cutting a few thou more than I wanted. I'll hit that with some locktite soon, but for now I'm just shooting the pin with some one shot every 10th case or so to keep the drag from some of the tighter cases from screwing it back into the cutter. And just that easy:eek:...I have consistent trims from this Lee trimming...ahem...system. Actually, its not that bad now, I am within +/- .001" of my target length, and its taking me ⅓ the time that it had been. If I do make the leap into loading any other rifle calibers, I'm definitely investing in a better tool. 20211224_122004.jpg 20211224_122034.jpg
And now the thought of cranking out another 20-30 boxes of these is not so daunting 20211220_192402.jpg 20211224_125521.jpg
 
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