Case head thickness? How were you measuring them cases...The collets on my RCBS seat against the case head and the cutter does the rest from the other end. I have always measured the whole length of the case. What? How? I am confused... Something about the Hornady trimmer I don't know about?

Bushy, I measure the whole length of the case too, and pay no attention to rim thickness. But then, wtf do I know. lol.

sniper will be able to complete or correct what I see going on with my Hornady Cam-Lock trimmer.

First of all, Hornady's 2008 catalog says that with their trimmer you "get accurate, consistent case lengths". They go on to say "Thanks to the unique way the case is locked in place in the shell holder, all trim lengths are accurately measured from the base of the cartridge, with no variation due to rim thickness, etc. You get the same trim length every time".

According to my very limited experience, that last statement about getting the same trim length every time is essentially true, give or take a .0005" to .001" piffle every now and then.

Looking at the mechanism that locks the case in place (the Cam-Lock), it seems to me that when the Cam-Lock lever is raised the inner edge of the case rim (the edge that the bolt's extractor grabs) is pushed against the 'upper' edge of the shell holder - the direction of push is lateral, to your right, not up as in a press, just so you know what I mean by 'upper'. This pushing is done by a centrally located rod that the Cam-Lock lever pushes through the shell holder aperture against the case bottom; this push-rod is slightly larger in diameter than the primer pocket.

One thing that remains consistent throughout the loading and cutting operation is the distance between the shell holder's 'upper' edge against which the case's inner rim registers, and the cutter blade. This is probably how Hornady removes case rim thickness from the length equation. But then, when rim thickness changes, case length would change, no? Don't know about youse guys but I'm confused. lol.

Back to how this thing works:

The Cam-Lock push-rod aperture in the shell holder being quite large in diameter is the reason why this trimmer only works with Hornady shell holders. My RCBS and Lee holders have narrower apertures, just big enough to let a primer fall through, but not big enough for the Cam-Lock push-rod.

Another observation: there is absolutely no 'cam' device or mechanism in the Cam-Lock....the lateral movement of the push-rod happens because it is threaded into the tailstock. All these parts are beautifully machined and very slick working, btw.

The bottom line is that my cases end up trimmed pretty well to the same length, and predictably so without having to fuss or fiddle.

I'm using the RCBS Trim Pro Manual Case Trimmer and really like it. Setting the length is easier and more consistent than my old collet type RCBS.

twofifty wrote:

The bottom line is that my cases end up trimmed pretty well to the same length, and predictably so without having to fuss or fiddle.

Yes! THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

Either remove the primers as suggested here or throw it all away and forget it.

One of these two is the way to go.

Wildhorse, I ended up partial FL sizing after removing the decap pin (RCBS die), without any drama whatsoever.

This tightened the necks down to where they held bullets. The 80 goofed rounds shot just fine, and have since been reloaded a couple times by neck-sizing with a Lee collet die. I like the simplicity of the Lee collet die. The results on target are very good too.

Thanks to all for your input.

Glad to hear that everything worked out for you..
Remember to ask for help if you are not sure of what you are doing.
Someone here will have an answer for you/

Morax wrote:

this is why i like my single stager.. i can look into every case as i go and i aint gonna lie i have dumped a few out cause they didnt look right and reset everything and re did them..

What he said! I have only had one strange sounding round. Pulled the bullet, and found it blackened from the primer. Fortunately, it didn't get into the barrel.

I DOUBLE check now!

That is why I run all the cases through each step before going on to the next step. After charging the cases with powder I can look them over and compare the powder levels before I put a bullet in any of them.

Why don't you guys immediately seat a bullet as soon as you've poured the powder in a case?

Seems to me that would avoid the chance, no matter how carefully one looks things over and compares charges, of having rounds fizzle out.

Nope...PaulS has it. As I do the same. I place all the primmed rifle cases to be loaded in a loading block and charge all of them with powder and inspect all the charged cases first then start the bullet seating process...

This insures that there are no missed cases and that they are all at the same charge level.

If I'm loading using my standard powder measure, then I load all the cases & then seat the bullets.
If I'm using the RCBS Loadmaster, then I seat the bullet while the next load is dispensing.

Like Paul and Bushy, I too charge all cases then inspect prior to seating the bullet.

Maybe its being a little anal about how I do things, but a check of things at the end of each step ensures that I'll not have a squib load or powderless load. There is also the "satisfy me" factor that I have done things correctly.

Cheers, Vince

That final check routine was developed after my buddies had several stuck bullets due to primer only loads. I find that I can load faster because I dont have to change dies for each case. I use the one die and run all the cases through it, then I switch dies and run them all through that one. I can load 150 -200 rounds an hour on a single stage press.
That quality assurance - "satisfy me" factor goes a long way toward confidence in your loads.

Unless I'm using a compressed load, my last check is to hold each round up to my ear & give it a shake - you can hear the powder move even in a near full case & it only takes a second.

Never found a "dud" round yet but I'll continue the practice.