? for you .204 Ruger reloaders

[Dr. Phil A]

What have you been using to trim the .204 cases? How tough is it to find the necessary accessories?

[wolf308]

rcbs hand trimmer and 20 cal pilot thingamajig, got mine at pnd enterprises edmonton

[222rem]

RCBS is your friend .part #
9376 - CT PILOT .20 CALIBER (https://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&action=ProductDisplay&screenlabel=index&productId=3580&route=C13J036N014)

assuming you own RCBS trimmer

[Dr. Phil A]

Looks like I am buying a RCBS trimmer.

[haffordite]

I use a Forster trimmer. I had some difficulty getting a .20 caliber pilot so I took a 243 pilot, chucked it in a drill press & held a file to it until it was the correct diamenter. Be careful though not to under size it. For some reason 204 reloading stuff is hard to find. Lee doesn't even make dies for it yet. Go figure

[Dr. Phil A]

they make them but you cannot get the full length die, the neck collet die and bullet die in one set. They come in two die set which if you want the three you have to buy both and end up with two of the bullet dies.

I was told that they won't make a case length gauge because the threaded end is bigger than 204. I asked if they had considered a one piece cutter with the length gauge but have not heard back yet.

[Gileas]

The lee case length gage for 22-250 could be a starting point. SAAMI says 22-250 is 1.912 and the 204 is 1.85 so polish .060 off the pilot that goes through the flash hole. Then chuck it in a drill press or get a friend with a lathe to bring it to the correct diameter. Only the neck area needs to be really correct, the lower part can be smaller without any problem. I did something like this to make a length gage for a couple of things that lee doesn't make (actually cut shorter near the threaded area some and finished by polishing the pilot & shortened the threads too if I recall). Not really a problem, & very portable. I'm thinking about a 204 & just assumed lee made a length gage. Tx for bringing this up.

http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/204%20Ruger.pdf

http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/22-250%20Remington.pdf

[Dr. Phil A]

I do have access to a lathe so that part would be reasonably easy to deal with.
I have thought along the same lines as you turning down a bit larger length gauge. I did get the impression that the cutting blades would not reach the brass. I did not get a chance to look tonite if that was fact or not.

I got this reponse from Dennis at Titan Reloading. Seems he works with Lee Precision as an engineer.

"I would say a smaller tapped hole would work like a #8 thread however I’m not set up to make them. I have mentioned it to Lee because there are 4 other guys that would like this. Call them at 1-262-673-3075 or email at info@leeprecision.com . They have responded to input as with the 18 cavity buck shot mold. Good Luck."

Dennis

I ended up buying another case trimmer but it won't be as fast. When I get a chance I will attempt to turn down a larger one.

[aulrich]

I was an early adopter of 204, I modified a 22-250 trimmer to suit. emery cloth , a drill press, micometer and patience. only one try too.

things are better now.

[DLab]

I'm also setting up to reload .204,same situation with Lee.Considering the 22-250 trimmer modification,looks straight forward enough.The only potential for a problem that i read about was excess clearance between pin and cutter head,allowing case to slip in and pinch.If you're lucky enough to get or have a cutter head with slightly tighter tolerances,you're good to go. Just what i read on another forum researching this.

[Dean2]

My Lyman trimmer does them fine, as well as the FBs, which are much shorter. The 17 and 20 caliber pilots wre available off the shelf at Wholesale in Calgary. Sinclairs alwasy has them for mail order if you can't mail order them fro WS>

[Dr. Phil A]

That is what Dennis at Titan Reloading was telling me but not as clearly as you. If you can find a cutter the would come right to the edge of the length gauge you would be away to the races.