Best way to trim 1/4" or more of brass?

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analog_peninsula

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Hi everyone,

What's the best way to perform larger trimming operations on brass? For example, cutting down a .500 S&W to .500 Special or similar, where the usual trimming or filing tools fall short.

Thanks!
 
I haven't tried it myself, but I have read about people using one of those benchtop mini chop saws to to do the rough cut and then a case trimer to square up and finish to length. Make up a simple jig to set the length in the chop saw for the rough cut.
 
My buddy in college was obsessed with trying to figure out how to efficiently trim 9x19 to .380acp so he could justify buying a registered Mac-11 in .380; after lots of trial with a 100% failure rate he gave up on the idea.

However, I think you just need a good powder cutter and a second cutting head to use as a rough cutter or at least I would.

I don't know if these will work with straight wall cases?

But I'd be willing to bet this would

I think you can get replacement cutting head blades but I'd still have a rough cut head and the added bonus of chamfering with your finish head.
 
www.dillonprecision.com

RT1500 | Electric Case Trimmer

The RT1500 Electric Case Trimmer is designed to handle the heaviest trimming jobs, including converting 223 Remington into 300 AAC Blackout.
www.dillonprecision.com www.dillonprecision.com

If your wanting to do alot.

Also as others have said there a few ammobspecific mini chop saws mostky for 300blk from 223 but im sure theres other calibers they can work with
 
I used a Dremel tool to remove most of the neck of 416 Hoffman brass to make 416 Taylor brass. Full length size and trim to length. I reloaded the 400gr pills with Reloader 15 and have used them to harvest a couple black bears here in Ontario.
I do regret cutting them down as I could have traded my Hoffman unicorn teeth for a whole bunch of brass that I could have also used to make Taylor brass.
 
I’m actually making .40-70 Sharps bottleneck brass from.45-90 brass, and cutoff plus jig is where I’m heading. That said, making a convenient jig isn’t all that simple, but I’m stumbling through it. I was hoping someone had an easy button, but they seem to be in short supply.
 
Guys that get into this need frequently will create a soft-jaw chuck for their lathe or build a fixture to create a locking shell holder on their lathe. For massive, rapid conversion this is the ticket.
 
analog_peninsula said:
Hi everyone,

What's the best way to perform larger trimming operations on brass? For example, cutting down a .500 S&W to .500 Special or similar, where the usual trimming or filing tools fall short.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
We have a CP2000 with the Dillon power trimmer. It will eat .223 and spit out 300blackout as fast as you pull the handle. I know the .500 is much bigger diameter but I can’t imagine it not cutting them down at a moderate speed.
 
The challenge is working with straight walled cases. If they were bottleneck cases, I'd just use the WFT or similar trim tool and let it spin. Doing the same with the RCBS tool, which handles straight wall cases without difficulty is just masochism due to the slow trim speed.
 
I was assuming you only had small quantities and didn't want an expensive solution. However if dealing with large quantities there is a more expensive, but better, solution. CH Tool and Die make Dillon Trim Dies for calibres that Dillon doesn't. CH make a trim die for the .500 Special. https://chtoolanddie.com/calibers/caliber?id=500Spe As well as the die you'll need the Dillon RT1500 Electric Case Trimmer https://www.dillonprecision.com/62164.
 
Moat of the wildcatters on Jim Saubier's old small bore forum used the innexpensive Harbor Freight Saws.
 
I used a Dremmel to trim 270 win down (making 6,5x58 Portuguese).
once I had it roughly to the correct size I'd use my regular trimmer to square the case mouth up.
This was for a small amount of brass and was not efficient at all but it can be done that way.
 
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