Saw for cutting down brass??

[LRhunter514]

Harbor Freight mini saw. Looks like a small miter saw, have used one to make 300BLK from 223.

 

[CliffBigFeet]

Do you own a band saw with a fence that stays true?

 

[blackburbot]

The mini chop saw works great. I drilled a hole in the end of a 2x2 piece of wood to use as as holder for the brass. Drill the hole a bit shallower than finished length, trim with saw. then finish the last couple thou on your regular brass trimmer to get the edges nice and square. Probably do 50 pieces once set up in under an hour with minimal effort

 

[redneckdan]

For coarse trimming I like the little crow WFT2 in a drill press. I use a small vise grip with the jaws wrapped in tape to hold the case. Crank the drill press up to mach stupid, set the case head on the table and give 'er hell. Fine trimming I prefer the wilson.

 

[Janno05]

I have used the mini chop saw for cutting down .223 brass for .300 blk. It is definitely worth it for doing brass in bulk.

 

[25WSM]

I built a holder for my dremel tool to fit in my lathe tool post. I put a locking shell holder in the chuck and set the length and just use the cross slide to run the dremel in take 5 seconds to cut through a brass wall. I used to cut down 223 brass for my first 35. But when the 223 basic brass came out I started making the Chambers deeper to use the brass full length.
Shep

 

[osprey176]

I use a Harbor Freight mini chop saw to make 30 and 357 Herrett cases from 30/30 brass. I used a short piece of angle aluminum and a fine threaded bolt with a couple Nyloc nuts to make an adjustable jig. I drop the case in the V-notch and slide it against the bolt head,then cut. The whole works is mounted on a piece of 1x12. You can buy replacement blades from Amazon,the original won't last too long and you wind up using too much pressure and slowing down the saw. This will kill the motor,so keep a good blade and be gentle.

 

[mlayne]

I've used the mini chop saw to cut down 223 brass to reform to 222. Really fast but I leave it a little bit long and finish on my Forster Case Trimmer. Works great.

 

[Alibiiv]

I have been trimming down brass with a hand trimmer (lathe) but it's getting old trimming .215" off of each case (using 358 Winchester brass to form a shorter 35 cal wildcat)

Do any of you have any suggestions? I've heard of guys using a cheap harbor freight mini chop saw for 300 blackout case forming. School me please.

Any input, insight and or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I have a Forster Original case trimmer. To speed the process of trimming my cases back I have removed the crank handle and replaced it with my De Walt drill. I do not know what casings you are trimming or how many at a time, using the portable drill ought to make is a whole lot quicker and easier. Chop saws are designed to cut metal, without the proper wheel that is made for brass the wheel could clog up with brass. And......unless I had a fixture that I could use with a chop saw I wouldn't be attempting to use one as I value my fingers too much.

 

[mlayne]

I have a Forster Original case trimmer. To speed the process of trimming my cases back I have removed the crank handle and replaced it with my De Walt drill. I do not know what casings you are trimming or how many at a time, using the portable drill ought to make is a whole lot quicker and easier. Chop saws are designed to cut metal, without the proper wheel that is made for brass the wheel will clog up with brass. And......unless I had a fixture that I could use with a chop saw I wouldn't be attempting to use one as I value my fingers too much.

I left out a few details: I use a fixture to set the length of cut and use an electric screwdriver to run the case trimmer and to turn the necks. I'm pretty fond of my fingers too

 

[del2les]

For longer brass reductions, I've used a mini chop saw and an older adjustable copper tubing cutter that has an adjustable stop for short pieces. For just long trim jobs, the old Lyman drill press trimmer.

 

[dkhnt]

I use the Harbor Freight mini chop saw the make .45 ACP shotshell cases from the .308 Win. family of cases. When it seems the blade doesn't want to cut as well as it did at the beginning of the session I lube it with a piece of hand soap and you're good for another 25, or so, cases. I'm not a fan of Harbor Freight but it was cheap enough and had it not worked I could have returned it. I've done 100+ cases in a given session in the past and it works fine, especially when I lube the blade with a bar of soap.

 

[25WSM]

If I didn't have a full size lathe I would get the mini chop saw and put a v-block on it. They would be slightly crooked but would clean up easily when trimming to length.
Shep

 

[MTtimberline]

Try this. Might want to order extra belts too.
https://www.harborfreight.com/2-in-mini-bench-top-cut-off-saw-62136.html