lee hand trimmer on the 9mm

romex2121 · Oct 29, 2009

im using the lee hand trimmer but im having some issues with the 9mm cases,, the cases are new win. but when i try to insert the trimmer its tight ,hard to turn, and leaves a ring on the inside of the case mouth,, im having to resize and bell the the mouth of the case before the trimmer will turn well,, my other lee trimmers work well but there for rifle,,
i thought i was to trim first and then size,, as of now im having to size,bell, then trim ???????

YoteSmoker · Oct 29, 2009

I'm not sure what is going on but I use the lee case length gage/trimmer for pistol and rifle with no trouble at all. My method of case prep is: size, trim, chamfer, deburr, clean primer pockets. This works for me whether its straight wall cases or bottlenecks, fwiw.

Divernhunter · Oct 29, 2009

My question is why are you trimming pistol cases? especially new? Straight wall pistol brass rarely(read never) needs to be trimmed. Thus I cannot explain the trouble you are having as I never have trimmed pistol brass and see no need in doing so. I suggest you just use it and not worry about trimming it.

romex2121 · Oct 30, 2009

Divernhunter":2r0l9ni2 said:
My question is why are you trimming pistol cases? especially new? Straight wall pistol brass rarely(read never) needs to be trimmed. Thus I cannot explain the trouble you are having as I never have trimmed pistol brass and see no need in doing so. I suggest you just use it and not worry about trimming it.

:wink: well for one reason the new win. brass is not all uniform in length,, and i want them all uniform :wink:
i thought all new brass needed trimming???? wouldnt not trimming to a uniform length make your seating depths different???? hell if it doesnt make a difference id be more than happy to skip the trimming

( on pistol brass )

romex2121 · Oct 30, 2009

YoteSmoker":2t517xfb said:
I'm not sure what is going on but I use the lee case length gage/trimmer for pistol and rifle with no trouble at all. My method of case prep is: size, trim, chamfer, deburr, clean primer pockets. This works for me whether its straight wall cases or bottlenecks, fwiw.

im doing the same prep as you but for some reason the trimmer fits tight, is hard to turn and leaves a ring on the inside of the case mouth,, lee says they can make it work if i send them a couple resized cases and the trimmer,, it seems to me its just a hair to big to fit the case mouth properly,, never had a problem with my bottle neck trimmers

Divernhunter · Oct 30, 2009

Alot of people do not trim pistol brass but do trim rifle brass. The bottle neck in the case is where you get the brass flowing forward. Straight walled brass does not grow like bottlenecked brass. Also pistol brass works at a lower pressure than most rifle brass. I think you will find that trimming the pistol brass will make little to no difference in accuracy/funtion with the straight walled pistol brass. I have 45acp as well as 357/44mag/454 brass which has been loaded many times and has never been trimmed. They all work fine. Trimming is a process which can be missed with pistol brass and you will not be able to tell any difference in the loads.