What have you found to be the best case trimmer.

This one does not use your drill but I like it
Lyman Universal Power trimmer---expensive but works great

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/case-trimmers/
You can purchase this a lot less than the list price that Lyman shows

I purchased this many years ago because it was fast & very accurate.
Now with my hands full of pain I am happy to have this unit--I turn it on & it does all the work.

The lee shellholder that fits in a drill.

The cutter is great- I just made the metal handle a little bigger, and added a "bite" guard shield between my hands and the depth gauge.

Works fantastic !

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/352653/lee-zip-trim-case-trimmer-universal-3-jaw-chuck-case-holder

Plus this

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/17...nk-for-use-with-3-jaw-chuck?cm_vc=sugv1352653

Plus a couple of these:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/136199/lee-case-trimmer-cutter-with-ball-grip?cm_vc=sugv1174316

And then one of these for each caliber:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...nd-shellholder-223-remington?cm_vc=OBv1136199

And your cordless drill.

You don't have to dedicate bench space for this system. You don't have to lock it in a vice, every time you use it. No messing around with depth adjustments when you change caliber. Just screw the guide in. With some of the fancier systems, you end up having to adjust, trim, measure, readjust, trim, measure... ok, got it. Now lock it down and you're good... until the next caliber change.

The Zip Trim chuck spins the case. So after trimming, you can hold the case against your manual chamfer tools and give the drill another quick spin. If there's some crud on the case that the tumbler missed, hold some bronze wool or a scrap of leather loaded with polish/rouge over the case and give another quick spin.

And because the case is what spins, you always get a level trim, even with such a simple method. Like how drilling a hole in a rod by chucking the rod in a lathe always makes a concentric hole.

I suggest at least one cutter ball for each actual caliber, as in case diameter. Cuz the guide screws down against the cutters. It stands to reason that a 30 caliber guide screwed down over the cutter might dull the blades for subsequent use on sub-30 caliber cases? This is one complaint some people have. But the cutter is a $5.00 consumable part, anyway. I have a couple, and it makes it even faster when you don't have to change the guide. Just grab the right cutter, and you're good to go.

I think the Little Crow Gunworks trimmer is really nice. It's caliber specific, so you'll likely need several. Last night I trimmed 100 cases of once fired brass someone gave me in about 10 minutes. I have a drill press, so it's going to be faster than a handheld drill, but you'll still find these are easy to use.

www.midwayusa.com/product/119117/li...260-remington-7mm-08-remington-308-winchester

spleify said:

What have you folks found to be the best, easiest and quickest trimmer? I am looking to speed up this process with something that is easier on my hands and goes faster.

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I use the Lee trimming system and the L.E.Wilson/Sinclair International trimmer.

I use a battery screw driver to run the Lee because I find a drill motor too cumbersome. The Lee works well but has its problems mostly with tightening the shell holder. An appropriately sized open end wrench or Sinclair International's Redding die wrench can be used to snug up the shell holder.

The L.E.Wilson trimmer has a bit more work inserting and removing the case from the case holder. I made a block that makes it easier.

Using a drill press or lathe can speed trimming but my big power tools are in another shop away from my reloading room and I have not bother to try some things out with them.

For volume trimming, one needs a Dillon, Giraud or a Gracey trimmer. But they will set you back a bit of cash.

I have, but have not used much a Possum Hollow and WFT trimmer systems. They have potential.

L.E.Wilson with the Sinclair International power adaptor. Works great hooked up to my cordless drill.

Don

The Giraud is my favorite, followed by the Lee trimmers (using the universal collet instead of the individual shell holders).

blarby said:

The lee shellholder that fits in a drill.

The cutter is great- I just made the metal handle a little bigger, and added a "bite" guard shield between my hands and the depth gauge.

Works fantastic !

Click to expand...

I would like to see a picture of this set up if possible. I also use the Lee system,and am interested in your mods.

My vote is for the Forester.

Lot's of options available for trimming, neck reaming, neck turning ect. (if needed in your future) to make precision brass.

I use a cordless drill on mine at times, Forester also has one model to use in a drill press that uses all the same pilots/collets there other model uses.

DM

The Lyman Universal Carbide is excellent. Yes, it is hand crank. Is that the same unit you are trying to adapt to run with your drill?

RCBS makes a power trimmer. Give that a look.

triming

i second the forester !

Lyman.

Originally Posted by blarby
The lee shellholder that fits in a drill.

The cutter is great- I just made the metal handle a little bigger, and added a "bite" guard shield between my hands and the depth gauge.

Works fantastic !

Click to expand...

Yes. I too would love to see a picture.

"WFT" ... Dale's got a real winner with this one!

I use the Lee Zip Trim, because it brings back fine memories of a lawnmower that would never start

Actually.... it's very handy

On the rare occasion that I decide to do a large batch of brass, I chuck the lee cutter (the one without the wooden ball) with the appropriate length gage installed into my drill press and turn it on at the lowest speed.

Then I raise up the table to about 4 inches below the tip of the gage and tighten it up.

Using a rubber dish glove on my left hand for a good grip, I hold a deprimed case with the head flat on the table and lower the spindle untill the gage pin hits the table.

The rotational force of the cutter head cutting the brass has never yet spun a case out of my grip when I use the dish glove.

This goes pretty darn fast.

Just don't pull down on the spindle too hard, or you can bend the tip of the length gage.

for a drill , cheep and eazy ,and works good , go with the lee set up ,, I have yet to dull one, for od-ball cases I use a pacific hand crank trimer or my C&H trimer, but for many years I got buy with the lee, (about 12 years)

lee set up ,, I have yet to dull one

Click to expand...

I have a friend that managed to go through a few. He was doing a conversion that required the cases to be cut down by about a third of an inch. I suggested he slow his drill or use some coolant, cuz he was making the thing smoke. His response was the cutters were so cheap, it was easier to just buy more.

FTR, I initially bought a Wilson trimmer specifically for 223, my high volume trim caliber. I thought splurging a little would pay off after enough cases were trimmed. Later, I bought the cheap Lee system just for some oddball calibers, simply because the entire Lee system and guides were cheaper than buying a Wilson case holder for each additional caliber. It didn't take long before I got the Lee 223 guide, and the Wilson has been in deep storage ever since.

I have a Hornady Cam-Lock case trimmer. About the only decent trimmer I could find cheaper (locally) was a Forster and the Hornady seemed like it would be easier to secure cases into the shellholder. I would have liked to have purchased a powered case trimmer but the price of them has kept me away so far. Even so the Hornady trimmer isn't too time consuming to use if you are only trimmer 100, 200, or even 300 cases at a time. If you want to trim 1000 pieces of .223 brass like I did last week it can give your arm a little workout and take a bit of time, but that's the downside of a manually operated trimmer. But if you go with the Hornady trimmer it supposedly only accepts their shellholders.

Favorite, there are not many I do not have, I do not get into mortal combat with trimming, the most accurate is the trim/forming die (my favorite), expensive? yes. then there are the trimmers that set on the shoulder of the case while the case body is held in the end, meaning when measuring the case length the case is measured from the case head to the mouth of the case, when trimmed the case is held in the hand and trimmed when set up on the shoulder???

Not a problem for me, this stuff does not lock me up, I measure the length of the chamber from the bolt face to the shoulder of the chamber, when trimming cases for a few of my chambers I have to add .014” between the case head and shoulder, if I followed instructions and advise I would have cases with shorter necks than necessary, so? trimming the neck of the case while setting up on the shoulder is the same as understanding how to use and read a L. E. Wilson case gage, it reads both ways, from the shoulder (datum) to the mouth of the case and from the shoulder (datum) back to the head of the case, simultaneously.

F. Guffey

3rd on the Forster. Love mine! I'm getting ready to get the 3 in 1 piece for it that trims, chamfers, and deburrs all at once. For only $60 I think it will be money well spent.

LEE that works in the drill. I have one for all the calibers that I have.

I use 2 Possum Hollow trimmers and with a little tweeking work well.

Little Crow Gunworks trimmer and a drill press works for me. Use to gauge all my brass and then trim if needed on a Hornady or Lee trimmer. The Little Crow Gunworks trimmer is so fast that I don't bother checking my brass, I just run it all though the trimmer. There is a reason they call it the "Worlds Finest Trimmer."

Lennie