TAROMAN
US Veteran
Wondering if any other brand (RCBS, Redding, Lyman, Hornady) of pilots will work in a Forster trimmer?
Anyone?
thanks,
Anyone?
thanks,
Trimmer Pilot Interchangability?
- Thread starter TAROMAN
- Start date
If the male end of the pilot is the same as the female end of the Forster trimmer I don't see why you couldn't use it. It must not be undersize which would put the pilot off center of the case.
I have an update for this question.
Hornadys use the same size as the Forster and Redding, which is 3/16". RCBS uses a 5/32" diameter. I'm not sure about Lyman.
Also, after a recent whizzin' match I remembered an experiment I had thought about years ago. Would you be able to use the case length gauges from the Lee trimmer sets in a regular case trimmer?
I had measured the diameter of a Lee gauge and found it was just a hair too big for my Forster trimmer and thought the answer was "no, not without altering it". Actually I have a ton of those Lee trimmers, because they are useful for other things, but the only one I use as intended is for the .41 Colt. I looked at the slit in the shank and a little bulb came on, with a little force you can get it started in a 3/16" hole, twist it in place and tighten the set screw. I can't guarantee how well the screw threads will hold up on the gauge, so use your own discretion.
Now I just need to see if there is a collet that will take the .41 Colt case.
Hornadys use the same size as the Forster and Redding, which is 3/16". RCBS uses a 5/32" diameter. I'm not sure about Lyman.
Also, after a recent whizzin' match I remembered an experiment I had thought about years ago. Would you be able to use the case length gauges from the Lee trimmer sets in a regular case trimmer?
I had measured the diameter of a Lee gauge and found it was just a hair too big for my Forster trimmer and thought the answer was "no, not without altering it". Actually I have a ton of those Lee trimmers, because they are useful for other things, but the only one I use as intended is for the .41 Colt. I looked at the slit in the shank and a little bulb came on, with a little force you can get it started in a 3/16" hole, twist it in place and tighten the set screw. I can't guarantee how well the screw threads will hold up on the gauge, so use your own discretion.
Now I just need to see if there is a collet that will take the .41 Colt case.
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I don’t know if this will help or not. Here’s a pic of my lyman trimmer with a spare cutter head/pilot holder sitting on the trimmer along with a pilot. As you can see the cutting head has a hole in the center of it for the shank of the pilots & the shank of the pilots gets held in place with a allen head set screw that in the side of the cutting head.
The thread size on the cutting head is 7/16-20, it will unscrew so that other tool heads can be screwed onto the shaft of the trimmer. The shank size of the pilots for the lyman trimmer are .135”, good luck.
The thread size on the cutting head is 7/16-20, it will unscrew so that other tool heads can be screwed onto the shaft of the trimmer. The shank size of the pilots for the lyman trimmer are .135”, good luck.
