Me trimming 30M1 brass

[Mark W.]

I did this 1350+ times

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[deadshot2]

You were clean-shaven when you started and grew the beard while trimming these, right?

I do a lot of .308 brass using this system except have an RCBS "Lathe" with a carbide 3-Way cutter. Trim length, chamfer, and deburr, all with the same number of "cranks". Don't have to use the little double end tool after the trim. The carbide cutter is "sharper than a mother-in-laws tongue" and makes quick work of the job.

Keep this up and you'll have to start wearing the next size up in shirts, just to be able to get the arm in the sleeve

 

[Mark W.]

Approx. 4.25 an hour on the video I figure I checked enough with the calipers and ran a bore brush in others to drop the actual rate down to about 3.75 per min. So I guess it took around 6 hours to do the trimming. Spread out over 4-5 days. Seams like a whole lot when you add in all the other steps but then again I am making about $900.00 worth of ammo at a cost of about $350.00 at a time I'm not working.

 

[bmgm37]

You did resize them before you trimmed them didn't you? I ask because it looks like you are depriving in the press and that would tell me they have not been sized.

 

[deadshot2]

You did resize them before you trimmed them didn't you? I ask because it looks like you are depriving in the press and that would tell me they have not been sized.

To me the die looks more like a Lee Powder/expander die, not sizing/depriming. He's most likely just flaring the case mouth.

 

[woody06]

I have the same case trimmer. I made the operation a lot easier and faster by removing the handle and replacing it with a 3/8" variable speed electric drill. To prevent placing an undue strain on the trimmer I planed a section of 2"x4" to the right thickness to support the drill. Works like a charm and no more sore elbow.

 

[Mark W.]

You did resize them before you trimmed them didn't you? I ask because it looks like you are depriving in the press and that would tell me they have not been sized.

The very first step I take in reloading is to punch the primers out with a special anvil and punch I have made up. The anvil is a Lee Decapper and base http://leeprecision.com/decapper-base-30-caliber.html mounted in the top of a 3/4" Copper pipe with a shorter 1/2" copper pipe inside it to take the force from the anvil.(I might be changing the inside pipe to steel but the copper rings less so I might keep it) This is then mounted in a corner in my reloading bench with the anvil about 3" above the bench top. This way I can punch primers as fast as I can place a case in the recessed area in the center of the little anvil and center my punch hitting it with a plastic hammer. Only takes a couple seconds to punch a primer this way. The long tube will hold a couple thousand spent primers before I have to take it out of its holder and dump it.

This way the primer pockets are cleaned in the vibrator and the water washes I do.

 

[Mark W.]

I have the same case trimmer. I made the operation a lot easier and faster by removing the handle and replacing it with a 3/8" variable speed electric drill. To prevent placing an undue strain on the trimmer I planed a section of 2"x4" to the right thickness to support the drill. Works like a charm and no more sore elbow.

Yea the hand cranking doesn't bother me. My left hand handling the cases gets tired way before my right. Its maybe hard to tell on the video but I place the case on the pilot first then back it into the collet and start turning the crank as I tighten the collet. I have found this method helps me maintain a tolerance of +.001-.0015" from my setting. So in this case I wanted 1.285 and I ended up with a few as long as 1.2855 and a few more as short as 1.2835 But 95% were from 1.284 to 1.285 So I'm happy.

I would so much like a Hornady Lock-N-Load® Case Prep Trio with its three rotary arbors. In the trimming stage I would set it up with the two champhering tools and a neck or case brush.

 

[woody06]

Doing it by hand is ok as long as it doesn't cause problems. Years ago I bought 1000 7.62 NATO cases that had been fired in a machine gun. All 1000 needed trimming. A lot of trimming. Got up the next morning and my elbow was the size of a cantalope. Doc drained a very large syringe full of fluid. Same thing the following morning. I've used the drill ever since.

 

[Mark W.]

Yea I'm not in that big of hurry I did almost 1400 30M1 over the course of three days. About 20-30 min at a throw. I rarely do more then 200 rifle rounds at a time and most of my hand gun stuff rarely requires trimming.

 

[deadshot2]

The very first step I take in reloading is to punch the primers out with a special anvil and punch I have made up.

Those Lee punch/anvil kits are great but not for the quantities I go through. I've automated my depriming operation for 9mm using an old Lee Progressive press. I just mount a universal depriming die run the press as fast as I can pull the handle. I deprime a couple thousand at a time. For me, it's the only thing "good" about the old Lee Progressive presses.

I totally agree with removing the primer before the cleaning process. The Stainless Steel pins do a great job of scouring out the pockets and if it weren't for the slight marks left by the sizing dies just above the base of the case you couldn't tell if the cleaned brass was new or not.

If you want to stop the "ringing" in a pipe base, just wrap it with Duct Tape. If you want some with a real thick adhesive which will dampen better, use the Gorilla brand.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

How many times has this brass been fired? It being M1 carbine and a short range caliber IMO it's a waste of time unless it has been fired several times and you are concerned about safety factors

 

[bmgm37]

How many times has this brass been fired? It being M1 carbine and a short range caliber IMO it's a waste of time unless it has been fired several times and you are concerned about safety factors

Trimming is very important with the .30 carbine as it headspaces on the mouth of the case.

 

[Mark W.]

Well in this case the cases ran from .003 over MAX lenght 1.290 to .013 over so there was no question of trimming. I'm not sure how many times some of the brass had been fired since it was bought at a garage sale. By my own spent brass was once fired and it still fell into the lenght that required trimming.

I been at reloading for 42+ years.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Trimming is very important with the .30 carbine as it headspaces on the mouth of the case.

If once fired how big a factor is OAL? I admit to never reloading the caliber as it does not interest me..

Mark, thanks for the clarification.. if you miked them and they were that different in OAL then it makes sense

 

[deadshot2]

If once fired how big a factor is OAL? I admit to never reloading the caliber as it does not interest me..

Mark, thanks for the clarification.. if you miked them and they were that different in OAL then it makes sense

The biggest OAL issue with any magazine fed weapon is that the round isn't too long for the mag. The next issue is that the ogive isn't too far forward that it engages the rifling before the bolt is fully in battery.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

The biggest OAL issue with any magazine fed weapon is that the round isn't too long for the mag. The next issue is that the ogive isn't too far forward that it engages the rifling before the bolt is fully in battery.

All true but OAL with 1 x brass usually isn't that bad for your basic blasting ammo, only if you need precision target loads. I suppose there are a lot of shot out M1 carbines out there with throat erosion, though

 

[Mark W.]

Well as said the 30M head spaces on the front edge of the case so its way more important then most other semi autos.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Well as said the 30M head spaces on the front edge of the case so its way more important then most other semi autos.

I am quite sure there is a margin of tolerance there, but I haven't studied the 30 carbine case/chamber dimensions

 

[Mark W.]

The std chamber spec. is 1.290" The chamber is cut with a little ridge for the top edge of the case to sit against. So if the case is longer then 1.290 the head will stick farther out of the chamber then its supposed to and will very soon will keep the bolt from rotating in to full lock position. So case lenght is very important as said.

The tolerance is from a MAX of 1.290" down to 1.280" the shortest trim to lenght I can find published.