Yes, I'm asking. Never trimmed a piece of handgun brass but my crimps are not allowing a few of my rounds to chamber. So, what do y'all use to trim 357 mag brass? I'm wanting something I can run a bunch of cases through quickly and easily.

You can use the lee trimmers or any case trimmer I would think. I have a Hornady case trimmer but have never trimmed my 357 Magnum brass or any other pistol brass with it.

Quickly and easily, well, you might want to look into a power machine or a decent hand crank model. Forster makes nice stuff but it's expensive. I don't have to "usually" trim handgun brass but I use the basic Lee trimmer (case length gauge cutter and lock stud). Rifle rounds always get checked for length.

By the way, I meant some rounds failed to drop into cylinder, not chamber.

Anywho, I'm thinking a power trimmer of some sort. I hand crank my rifle brass to trim but not about to run 2000 or so 357 mag pieces on that trimmer.

Have you measured your brass after sizing to determine if it is too long? Are you sure the problem is not with your crimp rather than the length? Like others, I have never trimmed a .357 magnum case in my almost 60 years of reloading.

I have done thousands of .38 Special and .357 Magnum cases using the Lee Zip Trim and Lee cutters and mandrels. Lee stands behind their products.

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Waste of MY time......

Randy

You can trim any brass with any case trimmer, but why do you feel it will solve your apparently tight fit in the chamber? (You said the cartridge won't "drop in"), rather than fail to chamber, which implies they don't fully seat. What type bullet are you seating in the case, does it have a crimping cannelure? If not and you attempt to crimp (either a roll or taper), instead of crushing into the bullet or its jacket, it may be making a slight bulge in the case along the crimp edge, making it too tight a fit in the chamber. You'd either need to switch to a plated bullet that has a softer jacket, or straight lead bullets, or jacketed bullets with a cannelure, which is designed to be within the seating lengths for the completed cartridge. You may also be putting too much crimp into the bullet.

One other consideration about trimming brass is how much you're taking off. Take too much off (below the minimum SAAMI length) and you're effectively decreasing the case capacity, which will affect ignition pressures, which dictate a decrease in the powder load for a specific performance, or to be a safe load. There's only 0.135" difference between a .38 Spl. case and a .357 Magnum case length, and putting a magnum powder load into a Spl.-length case could create overpressure problems.

Of course, the brass needs to be within SAAMI specs for length when you process it for loading, which may mean trimming the cases back to spec before loading them. I can use my handgun brass many times before it gets out of spec for length. I start worrying about splitting the case mouth from too many sizings before I have issues with length, and that even extends to semiauto cases that headspace on the case mouth.

AS I re-read the op's complaint...it is not an over length casing problem, it is a crimping problem. Too much crimp....

Size a casing without seating a bullet, insert into cylinder....should drop in if your dies are seat up properly.

Flare the case mouth only enough to seat the bullet.

Seat a bullet with the crimp backed of as much as possible.....check in cylinder or case gauge.

Turn stem down until it just barely crimps.....check in cylinder...

Usually this problem shows up when you have over crimped the casing.

Check it against a cartridge that chambers with no effort.

Randy

The problem is with some once fired, nickel 357 brass that I picked up from a friend. All my Starline stuff feeds/fires fine. But, about one in 5 of these nickel cases won't drop into the cylinder, some will with a little effort. Looking at the crimps tells me these cases are a little longer than the Starline.

I have no idea how many times they've been fired. Furthermore, I load RNFP and the crimp groove is tiny. I'm considering going back to a SWC keith type bullet cause crimp area is so generous.

RNFP feed my lever gun flawlessly.

Too much crimp or not removing mouth flare. I started reloading 38 Special in '69, 357 Mag in '72, 44 Magnum in '88 and also 6 other handgun calibers and have had no problems chambering any and never trimmed any brass. My crimped revolver rounds are very consistent and all chamber in 5 revolvers I reload for. I have 7 semi-auto pistols (and two handgun cartridge rifles) and all feed, fire extract and eject flawlessly with no "crimps...

In about 2000 I bought a Lee 45 ACP case trimmer out of curiosity and trimmed maybe 20 cases. The trimmer is now somewhere out in the shop, used just once.

All these rounds are loaded on a Dillon 550, the only change is the nickel cases. Maybe I'll just trim them.

I use this one, chucked up in a drill to trim my .223/5.56 brass
Works just fine and it won't break the bank, as long as you already have a drill.
Lyman E-ZEE TRIM Hand Case Trimmer| Case Trimmers & Accessories

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My experience with 357 and 38 Special goes back to 1974 when I got my first pistol. And yes, I do trim 357 Mag brass every once in a while because it will "grow" over time, especially when you load on the hotter side. But I also find that it seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how much it will grow in a particular batch of brass too, in that some will be longer than others in a particular batch, which makes getting a consistent crimp and seating depth a problem. So I will take that batch of brass and process the whole bunch back to consistent OAL to some point near the minimum OAL for 357 brass.

I use my old Lyman case trimmer to trim my 357 Mag brass. I did change the trimmer shaft out on it to the one you can use with a drill, so it saves effort on the hand and trims faster. And I find that once trimmed, the 357 brass seems to keep pretty consisten thereafter on OAL.

I also use the Ezee trim, it's fast and effective. I had the same problem using mixed 357 brass I would get an occasional long case that would then over crimp.

Nickel is a little harder to size. Make sure you are full length resizing<brass touching shell plate>. I have never resized a 357 case but would like to know the outcome. Resize some and drop into the cylinder or case gauge without loading. Also note that if it happens on the same cylinder. Do you have another 357 to try?

You might start by pulling the bullets..........

Full sizing the case and checking it's OAL.

1.290" is the maximum length for a case.
.379" is the Dia. for the case mouth.

Good luck.

Measure them before going to the trouble of trimming.

I will run some of these nickel and do as you suggest. And yes, I have more than 1 357 revolver.

Thanks for all the suggestions. And I would have never thought of the Lyman trimmer. TY!

When I trim brass, it is with my old, trusty Lyman Universal Case Trimmer. I have found that with most straight walled handgun brass, one trimming is all it needs. I take a batch of new brass, resize it, measure to determine length and length discrepancies, then trim so as to get them all the same length. I guess straight walled cases can stretch, but I have yet to see enough to have to trim a second time.

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measure the brass, my bet is something with the crimp, I started to use the Lee factory crimp die on all my pistol calibers and not one has fail the KIR-PLUNK test since and yes I check them all.

....for trimming pistol brass. If you use mixed range stuff the differing lengths can cause trouble seating and crimping easily.

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I keep my brass in lots, usually 500 at a time. First time through they all get trimmed to a uniform minimum length. After that I have never had to trim again. Some of my .38 Special brass has been in use for well over 40 years, and I have .357 brass of about the same age (although it has been used fewer times).

Bench mounted Redding case trimmer, hand operated. I can trim about 100 per hour.

For most applications this is a one time operation. The key is keeping your brass segregated by lots so there is no need to tinker with seating or crimping dies during a production run.

Well, I'm now considering using my RCBS Trimmer II and starting with these nickel cases. Shouldn't take long and if I've only got to do it once no big deal.

Great input from y'all, TY

Full disclosure: After trimming there will be a little more work to complete the job. A chamfering tool is used to remove the sharp edges of the case mouth (inside and outside) after trimming. Quick and easy, but it is worth mentioning.

Good point. I use the heads from this kit - also chucked up in my drill - to do those two tasks as well as pocket reaming (as needed).
Case Prep Multi-Tool| Lyman Case Prep & Care Kits

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Understood on brass cleanup after trimming. I’m checking rcbs for 3 way cutter

...chucked into my drill press.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Worked for me for 40 years.

For the ultimate trimming experience accept no substitute, Henderson Precision Gen2.

^What he said ^ With pistol brass I've found that a round that won't fit in the case gauge hasn't been crimped sufficiently to remove the case flare completely. Typically it's the shorter brass that isn't making it completely up into the crimp die.

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What could possibly go wrong?

I use the Lee Trimmer for every caliber I load zero issues putting the shell holder thing in a powered screwdriver or slower speed drill helps but can be handheld if need be


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It measures/trims as necessary. I like them.

If you seat and crimp in the same operation it is possible the longer cases will bulge below the crimp and be hard to chamber.

Lee makes a CARBIDE FACTORY CRIMP DIE 38/357 with a carbide ring in its base. The carbide ring will size any bulge below the crimp and allow the case to chamber.

The Lee carbide factory crimp die is nothing more than a "cheat" for people who do not trim their cases to the same length. This die simply sizes any bulge below the crimp.

Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die
Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die - Lee Precision

A carbide sizer inside the Carbide Factory Crimp die post-sizes the cartridge while it is crimped so every round will positively chamber freely with factory like dependability. The adjusting screw quickly and easily sets the desired amount of crimp. It is impossible to buckle the case as with a conventional bullet seating die. Trim length is not critical so this extra operation takes less time than it would if cases were trimmed and chamfered.

Revolver dies roll crimp with no limit as to the amount. A perfect taper crimp is applied to auto-loader rounds. The crimper cannot be misadjusted to make a case mouth too small to properly head-space. A firm crimp is essential for dependable and accurate ammunition. It eliminates the problems of poor ignition of slow burning magnum powders.

Needed to f/up with this. I purchased the Dillon dies to replace the RCBS dies. I also now seat and crimp separately.

AND, took my 357 revolvers and my Marlin 1894 357 out over the weekend and all older reloaded rounds that didn't fit in the revolver cylinder, got fed in the Marlin lever without a hiccup.

Fancy case trimmers seem to be the one thing that doesn't get scarfed up quickly when they liquidate someone's firearm collection.
I've always got by fine with the Lee trimmers, chucked into a hand drill.

I did not trim any brass. I installed the Dillon dies and adjusted them and everything is right again. I was ready to pull bullets and reload brass that didn't fit the revolver cylinders until I tried em in the Marlin. By the way, that Marlin 1894 (1980 yr of mfr) is one of my favorite firearms.

Seating and crimping in separate steps is the only way to go, in my opinion. Glad you to hear you fixed the issue, Stan.
Dillon dies for Dillon machines makes a lot of sense. But remember you can get that extra die in the Lee sets as well.

The Lee Collet and the Lee Factory Crimp Die are not sensitive to case length. The FCD is available for more cartridges, but I prefer the Lee Collet.

Yep, have several Lee Collet dies for bottle neck brass.

I bought a Forster Original Case Trimmer kit that is super fast and accurate but it runs about $125 for the kit. It does cover most common cartridges and you can buy additional collets and pilots for larger cartridges like the 45-70.

It looks like a little lathe and can be turned by hand or with a drill with the power adapter.

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Trim handgun brass? The thought gives me nightmares.

I didn't see this thread when first posted but as I read thru it just now it seems that the nickel cases are the problem. Toss em. There's enough brass available to not have to mess with nickel. JMO and YMMV.

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Dan
Ps 96 SWCA 2930 SWHF 524

^^This.
I have Lee trimmers for handgun calibers but have not used them since the collet crimp dies came out. Trimming is just not needed.
I have shortened collets to make crimp dies for 38spec, 44spec, and 32 long.
Never failed a plunk test, consistent velocities, great accuracy.
Left pistol and revolver case trimming behind years ago.

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I'm with her

Never trimmed any straight wall handgun case in over 50 years of loading them.
I have had some 357 cases that simply wore out and did not neck split. They would not chamber at all. Almost all were nickel plated Remington brass that had been loaded many many times. I threw them away when I started having case heads blow out. I should have tossed them long before but did not.
IMO your problem is old much used brass.
For the record I do not as a normal practice shoot the max loads.

I load 357 mag brass to 38 special load data. Grand kids love em, me too. So nothing heavy in any of my older Smith's. These nickel cases were purchased to help a guy out. Before all this pandemic stuff and new administration I loaded up with new Starline brass. I'm set for life with 357 brass so if these nickel cases give me anymore grief they're gone.

I also have one that I use a lot on rifle cases.
I have yet to need a collet for my 38, 357 or 9mm cases.
I must be using the wrong powder..........
since I can't get by cases to "Grow" .