Discuss handloading, reloading and presses here.
 #41209  by stephpd
 
Case trimming is more for necked down rifle rounds. Pistol rounds head space off the the end of the case (not the neck). What happens over time with rifle rounds is the brass gets pushed forward causing the case to become to long and the neck can get into the rifling. Since handgun rounds aren't necked down they don't seem to get any longer over time and reloads. (or something like that :roll: ) I think I did use the case trimmer for revolver rounds, being crimped they do tend to stretch some over time and reloads.

I started with a progressive press from Hornady (I had the money and never started with the single stage presses). 2 years ago they offered 1000 JHP's as a rebate for purchasing the press. I got the rebate in .45 cal and based on the cost savings the press only cost $150.

But for all the advantages of a progressive press I'm using it as a single stage press right now. I've collected several thousand rounds of 30-30 and 30-06 that I'm finally putting together. First I cleaned them in a tumbler, then trimmed,sized and deprimed. Most of the 30-06 was military ammo and the primer pocket needs swaging to remove the crimp, so priming is a single step too. Lastly is dropping the charge and seating the bullets, both done at the same time on the press.

I'm kinda anal with the rifle rounds. All sorted by headstamp, then by weight. All bullets are also sorted by weight.(surprisingly even match grade bullets vary in weight.) As each batch of rounds are made they are still sorted and stored by all these criteria. Out of 1000 rounds the largest group of exactly the same specs is ~50 rounds. (some as low as 10)

I don't expect this exactness from handgun rounds and usually only sort by headstamp. (and the variances in bullet weights are even more extreme)

The tumbler is nice in that it keeps from messing up the sizing dies by keeping the cases clean. From what I've read stuff like Nu-Finish is one of the best things to add to the medium in the tumbler. (some brass cleaners, with ammonia, can effect the cases and make them brittle.) Walnut shells are what I prefer for medium, found at the pet store as lizard or bunny litter.
 #41214  by Condition1
 
jslacker wrote:OK you 9mm and .40 S&W re-loaders, what say you? Do you need a case trimmer for 9mm and .40 S&W on brass that is only reloaded a max of two times?
You can probably reload much more than two times - 10, 15...more! I only throw away cracked brass, I don't know how many times I have reloaded the same brass in .45acp (that is the beauty of reloading).
 #41216  by stephpd
 
Even with rifle brass you should be able to get 5-7 reloads, if doing full resizing. If only neck resizing it goes way up, somewhere around 20-30.
 #41229  by Strelok
 
stephpd wrote:Even with rifle brass you should be able to get 5-7 reloads, if doing full resizing. If only neck resizing it goes way up, somewhere around 20-30.
+1 for this advise.
Also, if you load light charge brass will last longer without resizing.
 #41231  by jslacker
 
Thanks, now I wish I remembered who I heard that you can only reload factory brass like two times before it is no good from.
 #41232  by Strelok
 
jslacker wrote:Thanks, now I wish I remembered who I heard that you can only reload factory brass like two times before it is no good from.
Reloading rule of thumb (at least from the reloading manuals) that you can safly reload straight walled cases 4-6 times, but still should inspect them before every reload. Practically case can last longer than that depending on your load, etc.