Case prep centers...

I (or should I say my 13-year-old granddaughter) use the Hornady Lock-N-Load case prep center. I like it. The downside is it is about $450.00. The upside is it will trim the brass, chamfer, deburr. neck brush, and take care of the primer pockets all in one sitting. And the way it is designed the trimmings are caught and don't make a mess. The key to this prep center is don't use a heavy hand. Let it do the work. Some try to manhandle it and will strip the gears. I have not had this problem, and I have used it for three years without a problem.

I've had the Lyman for at least 4 years now. Nothing fancy but it doesn't move around on the bench (unless you want it to) and has enough torque for de-milling 223/308 brass. I have no complaints but also have no experience with the other brands to compare, perhaps I'm missing out on something.

I use the RCBS - it is OK, but it is the first and only one I have used.
I have heard good things about the Frankford Arsenal Platinum series tool. It maybe worth a look - and see what others say about it.

I've had the RCBS for at least 8 years and it is still working perfectly. A friend recently got the Lyman's and it's nice too. It has a larger foot print and is maybe a little quieter.

I use the Lyman, works great.

I guess the number of features you want in a case prep center is proportional to the cost. I never used one for decades and several years ago my brother gave me a RCBS Trim Mate Case Prep Center which works out well enough for my needs. I pretty much use it for chamfering and debur of case mouths as well as cleaning primer pockets. It works well and does what it is supposed to do and again I went decades never feeling a need for one.

Ron

Another Lyman user.

The Hornady Lock-N-Load or RCBS Universal seem to be really well thought-out, but expensive, solutions to the issue of case preparation.

I have been using the Lyman for several years, and I have been happy with it. It came with all the necessary tools and I got it for a great price $100.00

I bought the Frankford Arsenal Platinum case prep center a few years ago, and couldn't imagine going back to the slow way of doing things.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00H...rep+center&dpPl=1&dpID=41-AvcH2rIL&ref=plSrch

I currently use a small hornady LnL trio & a seperate forster case trimmer. If I were to do it again without a doubt I'd go for the FA Plat. (still going to)

I have the Frankford Arsenal Platinum. It works well but I don't use it for trimming, preferring instead to trim cases with a Wilson case trimmer. It also can't be used with cases that don't have a shoulder, such as 30 Carbine. 300 BLK cases are a little hard to trim because they're so short and it's hard to get a good grip on them.

Do prep centers offer anything to justify their expense? I ask as to me they seem expensive compared to other options. So either I'm missing something or I'm missing something ;-) !!!!!!

Hokie_PhD said:

Do prep centers offer anything to justify their expense? I ask as to me they seem expensive compared to other options. So either I'm missing something or I'm missing something ;-) !!!!!!

Click to expand...

Well as I mentioned in my post #7, I guess it depends on what features you want and if you want them automated. I went decades using a #2 Phillips screwdriver to remove crimps on GI brass with a few twist and did fine. Then I got a case prep center as a gift so started using it. Since it was free there was no expense. Maybe I would have eventually bought one. Making great accurate ammunition has been done for decades less many of the newer tools. I figure tools are a priority. For example do I want a good case concentricity gauge or case prep center? Which will aid my reloading more or better? The need vs nice to have thing comes along. I guess only the shooter can decide when in alignment with his or her pocketbook.

Ron

Hokie_PhD said:

Do prep centers offer anything to justify their expense? I ask as to me they seem expensive compared to other options. So either I'm missing something or I'm missing something ;-) !!!!!!

Click to expand...

I'd say it's one of my best reloading expenses because it got me back to enjoying reloading. I usually shoot 30-80 rds of various bottle neck cartridges a week, most weeks, but I really despise all the case prep required for rifle cartridges. With my case prep center I wind up breezing through all of my least favorite parts of reloading. In the grand scheme of things, $120 was really nothing given all the time and frustration it saves me.

Doing case prep with hand tools isn't an option for me because of severe arthritis in my hands. If I'm going to use a powered tool anyway I'd prefer to use one that allows me to attach as many tools as possible and takes up as little space as possible. That's my only justification.

I ream crimp primers, use the pocket uniformer for brass that has the flash hole punched backwards (I am talking to you IMI, both crimped and punched backwards), pocket primer cleaner (rarely), and I even will ream poorly punched and ragged flash holes.

Mainly used for crimped primer pockets however. Totally worth it just for that alone. I use my Lyman case prep station with the Hornady reamer. Best combo I have found. That Hornady reamer is solid gold!

I found that the FA prep center didn't do a great job of removing military crimps, mainly because it didn't rotate fast enough. It's much faster to chuck the RCBS military crimp remover in my cordless drill and use a higher speed.

Thanks for all of the comments
It's interesting to hear people's perspectives on tools.
I know my view is that to begin one can start with some pretty basic stuff and make good safe ammo.
Once the basics are learned then we begin to learn what we like, dislike, would like to have, don't need etc.

So if someone told me I needed to buy a case prep center when I started I probably wouldn't have. But as I reload more, it's nice to learn how folks are more efficient and how they make the process more enjoyable to them.

"...There are always "good/better/best"..." No, there isn't. Kits just let you buy all the bits and pieces at once. Some of said bits and pieces may not be necessary though. Prices are usually less than the total paid if you buy all the bits and pieces separately too.
"...cordless drill and use a higher speed..." Too easy to remove too much.

Sunray, the RCBS military crimp remover has a hard stop and doesn't let you remove too much. At least not so far in the thousands I've processed.

Now I still have a Hornady Cam-Lock case trimmer mounted on my bench, but I don't use it anymore because of all the brass shavings that are left all around it on the bench. I use to use a handheld camfer and deburrer after I trimmed the brass. Now I don't know where it happened but I got a piece of brass shaving embedded in my pants and when my wife was ironing them it embedded it's self in her finger. Well, I got it out for her and told her it was a thorn. But I knew it was a piece of brass. This is when I decided to get the Hornady case prep center. Now it does not catch all of the shavings. But it catches about 95%.

Now I can find no other brand that can contain the brass fillings for both trim and case prep as the Hornady.

If you are loading bottle necks there is a lot of trimmer's out there that do all that for you. Mine is a trim it 2.