Case prep centers...

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Another vote for the RCBS. I got mine slightly used from a coworker. It has worked great and has been a huge time saver. I also looked at the lyman and almost got it for the price until the coworker offered me his RCBS at a crazy deal.
 
I received a Hornady case prep machine as a gift - the big one with the trimmer on it that operates in a vertical position. I tried it. Far, far too slow for me. Yep, it works ok, but I found it to be cumbersome and slow. I DO use the lower part of the machine that mounts and powers the primer pocket reamers or chamfer bits, etc.

For case trimming, I use a Trim-It 2 like ponchh above, or if I'm doing a small number of cases, an L.E.Wilson trimmer which is simply the best (and simplest) there is. There you have it. My two cents and the advice is worth exactly what you paid for it! :)
 
I received a Hornady case prep machine as a gift - the big one with the trimmer on it that operates in a vertical position. I tried it. Far, far too slow for me. Yep, it works ok, but I found it to be cumbersome and slow. I DO use the lower part of the machine that mounts and powers the primer pocket reamers or chamfer bits, etc.

For case trimming, I use a Trim-It 2 like ponchh above, or if I'm doing a small number of cases, an L.E.Wilson trimmer which is simply the best (and simplest) there is. There you have it. My two cents and the advice is worth exactly what you paid for it! :)
O.K. see you are retired military so I know your bench is clean. How in the hell do you keep the brass shavings off of everything using the Trim-it 2?
 
DRAINSMIT 10657161 said:
O.K. see you are retired military so I know your bench is clean. How in the hell do you keep the brass shavings off of everything using the Trim-it 2?


I don't do mine on my loading table, I have another table to trim and cut for black out.
The table top will be covered.
Note the two trays on each side. I pick one up from left and slide into trimmer, at the same time pick one up from right. By that time the left is done. Slide left out and right in, drop left into left empty tray and pick up another. Left right left right. Can do a lot of brass in a hurry.


NCM_0304.JPG
 
Now I see that you did about 200 pieces and look at all the brass shavings. Now, in the following photo is a run of 2000 and you see a few shavings but nowhere near as bad as yours. And mine still makes my skin crawl.
IxGRrVql.jpg
 
Oh, by the way, my Doc has the same set up you do with an addition of one of those pink hospital pan underneath the press.
 
Now I see that you did about 200 pieces and look at all the brass. Now, in the following photo is a run of 2000 and you see a few shavings but nowhere near as bad as yours. And mine still makes my skin crawl.
View attachment 764634


Well no, that is from the 600 already done. The ones on the table are the third batch of 300. I do everything in 300 batchs. As for the mess, that
is what the cardboard is for. When done lay the drill press on its side to dump shavings, press goes under table, fold cardboard in half, walk to trash can and dump. It's not that bad.
To knock out 300 ready to load in well under 20 minutes is worth the mess. The thought of debur
and chamfer in a separate step is out of the question.
 
ALL right that makes sense. The photo I took was to show my granddaughter the mess she left. And it's true it takes much longer than 20 min to do 300. When I do it it takes me about a min. to do four to five pieces, but that is plenty fast for me.
 
After looking at...and reading....I can see I do things WAY TOO SLOW !! Holy cow....I need to make some changes! Thanks guys! I've got to make improvements!

Mark
 
Mark, for me speed is not the most important thing. Now, this is my opinion and only my opinion. It may not be others. But here is the order that is important to me.
1. The accuracy of the trim. I want the first piece of brass to be perfect and the last piece to be the same and everyone in between.
2. Next is versatility. I want my trimer to be able to prep the brass. And with the Hornady, it has 5 stations below the trimer.
3. Cleanliness is next. I can not stand a mess, and them damn brass shavings can get anywhere. The Hornady does a good job of containing most of it.
4. Speed is the next thing. I can do 5 pieces every minute, that is fast enough for me. But way to slow for others.
5. Now the last thing. I have read that a lot of folks complained that the nylon gears were being stripped. Now I have not seen any photos or videos fo this so it might be Hornady haters making things up. Now, these gears are made of the same thing that is in the gears of your garage door opener. And they can take a lot of force. So after a year I took my prep center apart fully expecting to find brass shavings in the mechanical part of the prep center. I found none...NONE. I lubed everything up and ran it for another year and took it apart once more. No brass and the gears are still in perfect condition.
Now, I trim my brass, chamfer. deburr, clean and size the pockets and wire brush them. I then drop them into a cartridge gauge, and I can still do 250 - 300 in an hour. If that is not fast enough for you, please do not get the Hornady. You will be sadly disappointed.
 
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