Need new case trimmer, ideas?

I use the Little Crow Gunworks trimmers. Not inexpensive but very fast and precise. I put mine in a small drill press but you could use a power drill almost as easily.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/11...260-remington-7mm-08-remington-308-winchester

You can buy direct or Midway sells them.

I use the Lee trimmers. They are caliber specific but very cheap. Throw them on a drill and go. With some practice you can get pretty quick with them.

Lee trimmers, takes up very little space. Then put the Zip Trim on it.

I use the Lee trimmer setup as well. Here is the link to the Lee trimmer. It is about 6 dollars per caliber. I would recommend getting the cutter with the ball grip.

I'm on a Lyman Universal, love that universal chuck. I have a power adapter on the way in case I get tired of cranking. 100 case batches are about my limit, way better than holding a case though, any trimmer where one has to hold the case is a bad idea for old carpal tunnel arthritic hands.

The Lee trimmer system is about the best bang for the buck until you start to do large numbers of cases. What os a large number, that is a theshold you would have to determine.

The WFT trimmers are slick and I have aquired ones for cartridges I shoot most. They make a couple versions that handle a "family" of cartridges but they would need resetting when changing cartridges.

While investigating the Giraud trimmer, I learned complete cutter heads cost the same as the WFT. So, if you can get past the initial capital cost, the Giraud is the same price as adding additional WFT trimmers.

I find using a drill motor cumbersome so I may invest in a Giraud in the future.

Hope this helps.

I have a Giraud. While it's very expensive and a PITA to change calibers, the accuracy and speed of it is awesome and there's a LOT of advantage to the fact that it chamfers the inside and outside of the case mouth at the same time! That's a feature to be considered. Trimming 1000 cases is one thing, but when you then have to chamfer the inside and outside of the case mouths by hand afterwards, that's a real drag.

If you are trimming in volume, look at Giraud. Anything that has a chuck or a shellholder is going to get old, quick. I can do 14 to 15 a minute, and sustain that rate over the long haul. The Giraud trims to length and de-burrs the inside and outside. I have owned several differeny trimmers and used quiet a few others and the Giraud is where its at. Lightman

Trimming 1000 cases is one thing, but when you then have to chamfer the inside and outside of the case mouths by hand afterwards, that's a real drag.

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Boy howdy. It prompted me to pick up a Hornady Case Prep Trio. Now trimming and deburring/chamferring is about 98% less painful than hand tools.

That Giraud is big, I don't have room, and it is $500+extra for other calibers?

Lee lock stud in a cordless drill. I agree on the ball cutter. I didn't splurge and wish I would have.

GT1 - you have the Lyman Universal & Hornady Case Prep Trio.

How does the Lyman Universal compare to Forster & LE Wilson?

Also, where would an RCBS Trim Mate fit in - same function as Hornady?

If you like the Lyman trimmer, you will like the Lyman power trimmer, same chuck, no collets and your pilots are the same. I have one and a RCBS case prep center...love em for large quantities of brass prep

GT1 - you have the Lyman Universal & Hornady Case Prep Trio.

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Yes, like them a lot. The trio is small, about the size of a soda can. I went through 500 .223 cases the day after it got here, about a 1001 count on each bit was perfect and I hope to never have to use my RCBS hand debur/chamfer tool in anger again.

The lathe type trimmers in basic function are all similar, some use pilots and some use other means to hold alignment. I suspect any of them rely on the operator to get the best results.

I only have experience with the Lyman and Lee trimmers.

The trim mate and Lyman case prep centers are large and while I'm sure they are awesome, they were just too big for what I needed.

Trio holds three bits and they are ran on a similar planetary gear drive as the big machines, think of it as more of a hand held prep center.

little crow, WFT. not too pricey and sure beats the lee thing.

CTS case trimmer from ebay. $43 shipped to you. It is similar to the WFT, but doesn't have a ball bearing. The new bits, used in the cutters, leave no bur on my 30-30 brass. The 223 brass has a very slight burr. A boat tail bullet takes care of the inside and a very slight crimp knocks the sharp edge off the outside. I load for 3 gun shooting, not high precision.

I made my own motorized base to use with the CTS trimmer, but the guy that makes them also sells an electric motor. Customer service is great. Send him an email. I wanted a giraurd, but didn't want to spend the money. The CTS also works in a hand held drill or drill press.

I also use an adapter to run my deburring tool on my machine, for cases that I might want to debur. Trimming takes 1-3 seconds per case and deburing takes half a second for inside or outside.

Small batches I do with my Lee in my drill press. Just bought a Little Crow to do 1000 5.56, man am I glad I bought it. It is fast and painless, a great trimmer!

http://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/10632/inline/1

But wow - did they go up in price!
I 'think' I spent $200 on mine about 2 years ago.

$239.99 at Cabelas

The Hornady LnL case prep center has worked very well for me. Very convenient to go through all the steps on one unit.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/314017/hornady-lock-n-load-case-prep-center-110-volt

Is how long does it take to just trim a single piece of brass on the Hornady, silicosys4? Does it have a lot of power, or does it stall easily?

It looks pretty cool. I have an electric lyman trimmer. It is very slow, the cutter doesn't seem that sharp and it is easy to stall the motor. The ball handle it tiring on the hands and I have to grim the trimmer and force the shell into the cutter. It beats my old RCBS hand crank trimmer, but it left a lot to be desired.

I still trim my 460 mag brass on the lyman, but I think I will have CTS build a trimmer for the straight wall cases. He mentioned that he could.

I like to have an informed opinion on products to make recommendations to others. I know my brother will be looking for a trimmer as soon as he can get a press setup for 223 ammo. I have a feeling my brother may go with the Dillon trimmer. I would have liked to run the Dillon trimmer on my 1050 to swage and trim 223 brass, but I keep the 1050 setup for 9mm. I didn't want to buy another toolhead and trimmer kit all at once, plus I still have a number of other cartridges to trim.

That Giraud is big, I don't have room, and it is $500+extra for other calibers?

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It's not that big, doesn't take up any more bench space than a big phone book, I'd say. And changing calibers, all you need is a different shellholder for the new caliber. The PITA is readjusting the cutter for the different case mouth diameter. I haven't done it yet, I bought mine setup for .223 and it's still that way. But I do have a .30-06 shellholder for it already.

Once the cutter is setup for .308 diameter, then any .308 diameter cases should trim OK. But change to .303 Brit or any other .310-.312 diameter caliber, and the cutter would be off just a little and you'd have to readjust it. I think shellholders are available for nearly everything except .30 Carbine, I guess they're too short.

30 carbine is most likely not offered due to being a tapered case or closer to straight wall. These trimmers index off the case neck, of which the 30 carbine doesn't have. Giraud may offer a cutter for this solution, but I am not yet aware of it.

CTS has made a 30 carbine trimmer in the past, but he says he now has a different design for that. I am seriously considering having CTS make a cutter for 460 mag revolver brass which is also a straight wall.

I thought I read that the Giraud had a way to swap out the cutter and shell holder to eliminate the need to readjust for each different cartridge.