Lyman lathe trimmer or RCBS?

GW Staar said:

My Forster turned 50 this year. Improved now with a 3-way cutter, vertical mount, foot pedal raises and lowers shaft, and a screw gun turns it. No discernible wear...still.

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Wow, I love that set-up. That's some serious engineering!

I'm behind the times; I have to check into the 3-way cutter. I didn't know they existed.

ETA: Ouch, $80 per caliber. I think that I'll pass.

All of my Loading equipment is RCBS except for my trimmer which is Forster and I have it hooked up to a Craftsman cordless screw driver, works great and I love it. If I didn't have the Forster my choice would be RCBS. Just my two cents worth.

I own the Lyman and use it mostly for oddball calibers I dont have for my Giraud or WFT2's. It trims quickly and consistently with no issues with the case mouth being square. Can leave a little burr, but I have to chamfer and deburr anyway, so its minor. If I used it alot I would buy the power driver for a drill and I think there are carbide cutters as well.

GW Staar said:

My Forster turned 50 this year. Improved now with a 3-way cutter, vertical mount, foot pedal raises and lowers shaft, and a screw gun turns it. No discernible wear...still.



I would think one, could probably do the same thing with a Lyman or RCBS.

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GW, thats pretty slick!

In a previous post I stated that I had ordered a new Lyman trimmer. Well it was delivered a few days ago and I just got to play with it a little. I love my Wilson trimmer but its a pain to trim straight wall cases on so I bought the Lyman for trimming pistol cases. It works well. It cuts the case mouth square and its accurate. I got the optional carbide cutter and I feel its worth the extra cost. The pilots are a tight fit and I have chucked them up in a drill and spun them against a piece of 1200 grit emory cloth and later a piece of steel wool. This helped a lot. I didn't think to measure before and after but I doubt that I reduced the diameter to any extent but they are much smoother.

Been using RCBS trimmer for 40 years.

Use a cordless drill, instead of the hand crank.

Some may be easier or faster, I've never used anything else. RCBS WORKS.

My RCBS trimmer with the optional Ridgid power system.


Edit add: added the power to trim some 800+
LC 30-06 ...in one sitting...the time it saved over hand trimming...well you get the picture..the two screws are to screw the base to the bench, the drill has two jobs..lol

I have a Lyman and a Forster and prefer the Forster. If you choose the Lyman, you will want to get the carbide cutter.

I have 2 Lyman trimmers and one RCBS Trim pro 2. They all work great but the RCBS gets used the most because it's easier and faster. The Lyman is probably a little more accurate. I also the the RCBS inside case neck reamer.

For not much more you could try a Giraud tri way. granted it's limited in caliber. I bought one for the 223 and 308. choked at the price initially. Now, I would never go back.

Seedy Character said:

Been using RCBS trimmer for 40 years.

Use a cordless drill, instead of the hand crank.

Some may be easier or faster, I've never used anything else. RCBS WORKS.

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I have used mine even longer but have never been in a big enough hurry to stop using the crank. I will wear out before it does and someone in the family will get a trimmer still in excellent shape.

anothernewb said:

For not much more you could try a Giraud tri way. granted it's limited in caliber. I bought one for the 223 and 308. choked at the price initially. Now, I would never go back.

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I agree! That's exactly what I did also. Giraud takes the "W" out of work!

I use the Wilson and get perfectly square and trimmed to exact length cases.
No need to buy the stand and little arm and micro adjust rather the basic model and set the length with a feeler gage.
When I bought mine it was from Bruno’s iirc $80 ish

CoalCrackerAl said:

I mounted it to a piece of 2x4.

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CoalCrackerAl said:

I mounted to then bench. My arm got tired of holding it down while trimming some 30.06 brass.

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I have a Lyman hand trimmer mounted to a piece of 2x6, and I just clamp it to my bench when needed, unclamp and move when not needed.

When I trim brass, I do it separate from loading. I'll do 50-100 pieces then walk away, keeps my arm from getting tired.

chris

CoalCrackerAl said:

I mounted to then bench. My arm got tired of holding it down while trimming some 30.06 brass.

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Mine is mounted to a piece of 1 X4 and I clamp it to my bench when I use it with a c-clamp. When not in use it is set to the back of the bench out of the way and the clamp goes into a drawer underneath the bench. Just one more piece of equipment I don't have to work around when not needed..

Ironicaintit said:

I have a vintage Lyman, and it's the only one I've ever used, so I can't really offer a comparison.
I can say that the Lyman is fast and easy, and once you set it, there is zero variation in lengths of cases.
Would buy again

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Concur with this. Been using a Lyman for over 50 years. Last used over the weekend. The fact that it came with (and still is available) pilots just adds to its value.

The 1969 model RCBS I have uses a collet that can vary trim lengths because of the various rim diameters of brass .... I solved that by making a pilot that uses the primer pocket and brass case face as the length limit ...

What I made is basically "between centers" ... hold the brass with my hand ...drill driving the cutter shaft ... I can cut about as fast as you can swap out the brass ....no fooling with the collet ....