case trimmmer: electric vs manual?

If you are going to be trimming a lot of brass, go electric.
Now that does not mean necessarily getting the special designed electric station, but at least you want an electric drill that you can easily use to run the trimmer.
I am one seriously cheap SOB, but after trimming a couple o' hundred 5.56 brass by hand, and looking at that pile of 30.06 and 7.62 still sitting there, I fully converted to electric all the way. Life is too short to be doing that (IMHO).

RCBS manual trimmer with 3 way cutter head chucked up to a drill. Fast, cheap and easy.

RCBS power trimmer w/ 3 way cutter. Fast, expensive, and very easy.

Old adage, Good, cheap, fast: pick two

As long as you are not trimming straight-wall cases, the Giraud is the top-end solution to the trimming problem.

Fast, easy, accurate. Trims & chamfers like the RCBS 3-way cutter, but a lot faster. Collects the chips in a cup like a pencil sharpener, too.

You have to resize before trimming. The Giraud (like a few others) indexes off the shoulder, so if the shoulder isn't consistent, your case length won't be either.

But, unless you are doing thousands of cases, it is difficult to justify the $450 price.

(One nice thing that isn't commonly known -- quick change heads make a second "caliber" relatively inexpensive.)

Unless you have only 20 pieces of brass, get something with a motor or that can be spun with a drill.

Dillon is another consideration. Not as expensive as a Giraud, but it resizes as it trims. Usually need just a bit of deburring and chamfering but that just takes a second to do. Often there's so little burr I just tumble the brass for about ten minutes and the burr is gone. Cost is about $90 or so. It's very fast to use.

Since you're asking about the RCBS and NOT another brand. I bought the RCBS trimmer in manual and then upgraded it. For large batches of brass the electric is the cats arse. It's even great on small batches.

I picked up a Lyman elect trimmer about 40 years ago---at my age now I am happy I spent the extra money for the electric---it does not bother my fingers.
At todays prices you can save quite a few bucks by getting the Lyman over the RCBS

I had the RCBS manual trimmer. For anything up to 200-300 cases at a time it was bearable. If you are doing more than that I think there are better solutions that the RCBS trimmer, even with a drill or other power attachment.

I prefer the Wilson trimmer (powered by a cordless drill) over the RCBS. I think it's faster to get shells in and out. Granted, chamfer and deburr were a separate operation but I could still process about 250 cases per hour with it.

If you have A LOT of cases to trim, before you spend nearly $300 for the RCBS, consider the Giraud or Dillon. Both are ideal for processing large quantities of brass.

I have the Dillon. I was attracted to it because I can trim cases without adding an extra operation.

BTW, When I had the RCBS Trim-Mate I also bought the 3-way cutter but I was very unhappy with it. The deburring cutter was not concentric with the center and as a result it would take a lot more material off one side of the case mouth than the other. A few Google searches revealed that I was not alone in my complaint.

As always, buy once, cry once ... the Giraud is built like a tank and does a great job quickly - it can always be sold with virtually no loss. They rarely come up for sale used but here's one for $415 shipped.
http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=140756

/Bryan

I have the RCBS manual trimmer with the attachment for an electric drill to speed things along and it works ok, but it tends to leave a pronounced burr. I've changed cutter heads, but no difference. For a couple of calibers I use the Lee system which is fast, trims MUCH cleaner, stores in the die box and requires no adjustment. The RCBS isn't too bad to adjust once you make a dummy "trim to" for each caliber (an old corrosive brass piece is good for that since you don't then have to sacrifice a good reloadable casing). FWIW

I'm considering adding a Dillon 1200 to my LnL press. Deprime, resize and trim on the press and then tumble.

I just last night trimmed a bunch of cases....my arm and fingers are still sore from spinning the little handle. Then cleaning primer pockets and such...ouch.

You don't use a hand saw you use a circular saw now....

As Tim "the tool man" taylor would say....POWER.

I am going to be getting mine hooked to a drill very soon.

I've been using an RCBS Trimmer for over 25 years. Bought it back in 1985 and it's one of the collet types. It was slow and hard to use but then I upgraded the cutter to the 3-Way with carbide cutter. Now it's fast and easy. If I were to do it again I'd get a new RCBS hand powered trimmer with carbide 3-way cutter and the universal "chuck". Add to it the power drill adapter and for my money it's a good balance of cost and productivity.

Adding the carbide cutter took the job from a crank turning ordeal to a "one or two turns and done" job. The 3-Way cutter finishes the job all in one operation with chamfer and deburring (both fully adjustable) done at the same time as the trimming.

For my .223 cases I use the Rapid Trim on my Dillon 650. ALL .223 brass is decapped, sized and trimmed before it goes into the cleaning process. A dedicated tool head with universal depriming die and trimmer is then removed and my loading dies, with an "expand only" die at station #1 is installed for loading. This lets me clean once rather than coming back for another clean up to remove lube from the finished rounds. Also, no lube in case necks this way.

I use a 30 year old RCBS manual trimmer. I removed the handle and put a hex head screw in the shaft. With a nut driver chucked in my drill it shortens 30-30 to 357 Herrett without cramping my fingers.

I use a high quality cordless drill with a Lee case length guage/trimmer and find it to be very consistent, and reasonably fast. Once you buy the stud and cutter ($7-$10) each specific cartridge application is $5-$7 for the case length guage. And while the case is still in the shell holder, I touch it up with the Wilson ream and chamfer and continue with the process. Like I said, it's only reasonably fast, but so far as I know, most case trimmers are pretty limited in this respect anyway.

TxBobS said:

>>>I'm considering adding a Dillon 1200 to my LnL press<<<

Here's a video of my Dillon trimmer on my Hornady LnL-AP press:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snp6C7dbV3E

Trimming is just such a pain no matter what you have.
Late yesterday I decided to resize and get prepped about 1200 .30 Carbine cases I had piled up.
I just have an old Forster trimmer and I figure when I finally get this project done I'll be a basket case.

John M-

Do something similar to what I've done.

Mount your trimmer (if you're using a lathe type) to a heavy serving tray like used in cafeterias. Then you can sit watching TV with this setup in your lap and trim away. The tray catches all the little "trimmings" and holds the trimmer steady.

I trim all my .308 cases this way and can usually get 100 or so done during the evening news.

dbarnhart said:

TxBobS said:

>>>I'm considering adding a Dillon 1200 to my LnL press<<<

Here's a video of my Dillon trimmer on my Hornady LnL-AP press:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snp6C7dbV3E

Click to expand...

That's Dave. Your video is the most informative one out there and the reason I'm wanting to go this path. Thanks!

Mount your trimmer (if you're using a lathe type) to a heavy serving tray like used in cafeterias. Then you can sit watching TV with this setup

Click to expand...

I can't stand to look at a TV during the day and if I'm watching a movie in the evening I just fall asleep anyway.
I've got an old sewing machine in the junk assortment out in the shop and I'm toying with the idea of mounting it up someway with the right sized pulleys to drive it with an O-ring belt.

I have a forster manual trimmer and it is easy and fast. I only do 50-100 at a time. The only part that bothers me is the deburring. I need to get an electric one. I think I'll get hte RCBS withe primer pocket swager. But the forster hand crank once set up is fast and stays sharp. I think it cost me $50 from the dealer down the street, some 80 year old guy who sits in his garage waiting for someone to come buy reloading equipment.

Forster has just released 3 way cutter heads for 223, 308 and, I think, 243.

I am considering the Dillon 1200 but have read quite a few negative reviews on it. Trying to justify a Giraud and I think after the batch of 223 Im doing now, it may be a done deal. :-(

-178S