Brass trimmer

[50of4064]

Laphroaig, I think what you did is genius. I love the Sierra bullet junction box, way cool ...everything about it is right on....and you made it your self !!!
What did you use as a shaft coupler to the motor, if you do not mind me asking, did you make that also?...Now you have me thinking...
Well done Sir. Thanks for sharing...

 

[Laphroaig]

What did you use as a shaft coupler to the motor

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HK8LQWC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details

 

[BigBL87]

Ended upgrading to the RCBS with the drill adapter and I've never looked back. It makes brass prep suck less.

I can get the RCBS (no drill adaptor, but looks like thats not very expensive) for about $110. Most of my starting equipment is RCBS already, and they do seem to make quality stuff.

If it would be more flexible than the Frankford one, I could definitely go that route.

 

[Varminterror]

I can get the RCBS (no drill adaptor, but looks like thats not very expensive) for about $110. Most of my starting equipment is RCBS already, and they do seem to make quality stuff.

If it would be more flexible than the Frankford one, I could definitely go that route.

It IS more flexible - more versatile - as you can trim pistol and rifle brass, both, 3 way trim if you prefer, turn by hand or by power driver.

But it’s slower, and if you don’t 3 way cut on the TrimPro, you’ll need to debur and chamfer on another device. That COULD be a Frankford prep center. I keep a Hornady Trio prep motor beside my RCBS TrimPro for cleaning pockets and DB & C.

 

[BigBL87]

It IS more flexible - more versatile - as you can trim pistol and rifle brass, both, 3 way trim if you prefer, turn by hand or by power driver.

But it’s slower, and if you don’t 3 way cut on the TrimPro, you’ll need to debur and chamfer on another device. That COULD be a Frankford prep center. I keep a Hornady Trio prep motor beside my RCBS TrimPro for cleaning pockets and DB & C.

Slower isn't a huge deal for me, I won't be loading large volume.

What I may end up doing is getting the RCBS, and then later getting the Frankford Arsenal Case Prep Center (Similar to the trim and prep, but has bits to chamfer, deburr, and scrape large and small primer pockets instead of one of them being the trimmer), which runs about 70.

 

[redcon1]

then hopefully move on to 9mm, 45 ACP, 223, and 308, not necessarily in that order. 9mm and 223 will definitely be my highest volume once I get set up for them.

for volume reloading, you don't want to use a hand crank set up, especially for .223 and even more especially for .308. It will get old real fast. You should just get something like the Giraud triway trimmer. You can easily trim 500 lake city 7.62 cases in an hour with this device. A hand crank would take you days to do that unless you were crazy enough to sit there for 12 hours straight cranking on that handle. No thank you. I chuck mine in a drill press that I just relocated right to my reloading room. It works great.

 

[ballman6711]

I trim on a Lyman hand crank trimmer, which works fine for me. I only trim rifle brass. I probably would have gone a different route and bought a trim/chamfer/deburr type machine, but I already had the Hornady case prep trio, which I use to chamfer, deburr, and clean primer pockets.

FWIW I usually only do 50 - 100 pieces at a time. Doing more may justify the expense of a faster, easier to use machine. Not sure if it matters, but my Lyman is pretty consistent with trim lengths.

chris

 

[conan32120]

I'm a fan of the Lee trimmer and a drill to spin it. I trim the piece pull out the trimmer then spin it again and use the chamfer/deburr tool, takes about 5 seconds per piece but it keeps me busy and out of trouble

 

[Soonerpesek]

I can get the RCBS (no drill adaptor, but looks like thats not very expensive) for about $110. Most of my starting equipment is RCBS already, and they do seem to make quality stuff.

If it would be more flexible than the Frankford one, I could definitely go that route.

Depending on the spending window you have, this may be an option (shouldered brass only, tho).
I have one and it works pretty consistently for what I need.
I do believe I have heard a few other members are happy with it also.

Lyman Case Trimmer Xpress 115V | Midsouth Shooters (midsouthshooterssupply.com)

 

[JFrank]

I buy ONLY L.E. Wilson brass prep tools. They are most likely the most costly.
Been using them since the 60s when the ole man and Mr Wilson would sit around the pot belly stove and chat reloading.
I make super match rounds, each one is real close to being the same as the last one.
I count by the diameter of a human hair.

It’s pretty tough to beat Wilson trimmers for accuracy, I don’t recall paying too much but I don’t need the micro adjust or the fancy little stand either.

 

[Slamfire]

I still have my hand cranked Redding lathe case trimmer



It was slow. Took a long time to set up, putting a case in the lathe and removing it was slow, and so was the trimming. And then I had to bevel the case mouth and de burr the outside. It took forever. I used to set through entire World Series trimming and deburring 700 30-06 cases. And I really don't like baseball. I mean it worked, but eventually I purchased a Gracey trimmer from Mr Gracey at Camp Perry for my 30-06 and 308 brass. And then a Giraud when I got into 223 Rem. Because I was shooting Highpower Rifle every weekend I needed quick case trimming. For odd ball stuff (270 Win, 6.5 Swede, etc) I use an motorized RCBS Trim Pro 2 case trimmer with the three way cutter. Yes the cutter is $60.00, but not having to bevel and deburr hundreds of cases is worth buying the trimmer.

 

[Skeptic13]

As others have said don't need to trim your pistol brass. I started out with the lee case trimming set. It worked well for several thousand cases then it started to become inconsistent for me. I upgraded to the Forster case trimming set and have been very pleased. It is a little pricey but it was well worth it for me. I probably trimmed several thousand cases with it and it is still very consistent.

 

[Varminterror]

You should just get something like the Giraud triway trimmer. You can easily trim 500 lake city 7.62 cases in an hour with this device. A hand crank would take you days to do that unless you were crazy enough to sit there for 12 hours straight cranking on that handle.

I tend to turn between 10 seconds on my RCBS TrimPro. Even taking a bogey that I’m quick and not everyone would be as fast: 500 x 15 is 7500seconds, that’s a hair over 2 hours, 10sec per case is an hour and 20min… clipping along I can hit around 6-7sec per case. I’ve trimmed for YEARS on my RCBS lathe and running batches 100-1000, I’ve never turned so slowly that 12hrs for 500pc would even remotely make sense. The same ~10-15 sec per case to hit the powered Hornady Trio for DB & C, the same hour and a half to 2 hours for 500pc. 3-4 hrs… I cut that in half by buying 3 way cutters for most calibers I load so I don’t have to separate DB&C into a second step.

Admittedly, it’s nice to sit back and watch the robot work on its own on my Giraud. But there’s $1500 on the bench and another few hundred bucks in the drawer in case holders. It’s nice. But it ain’t for everyone.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I set up the Lyman trimmer that came with my kit. It is easier to put cases in the shell holder than my RCBS trim pro 2. I'll use both though. I have the RCBS Set up for 223. The Lyman i set up for 7.62x39. I shoot those 2 the most.

 

[Varminterror]

no drill adaptor, but looks like thats not very expensive

I don’t use the RCBS drill adapter on my TrimPro, for years and years, I just used a cheap hex bit. The RCBS adapter is the same, just a longer ball end hex bit and a washer… $10 for something which would only be a buck and a half at the hardware store.

There’s an aftermarket power adapter I really like, for $15, which replaces the screw and uses a trumpet shaped hex adapter to seat against the spindle of the lathe. Better option even beyond the standard hex bit - and has held up really well for me so far (maybe 3-4K rounds trimmed with it). I found it on Amazon, I’d have to look again at the seller, but searching “rcbs trimmer power adapter” will find it, I’m sure.

Also, use either a power driver or a VFD drill with a low speed setting. 1500rpm isn’t really a friendly speed - it’s too much energy and can throw flare on the case lip which can either increase your deburring burden or cause chambering issues. It kinda smears the brass instead of cutting.

 

[redcon1]

I tend to turn between 10 seconds on my RCBS TrimPro. Even taking a bogey that I’m quick and not everyone would be as fast: 500 x 15 is 7500seconds, that’s a hair over 2 hours, 10sec per case is an hour and 20min… clipping along I can hit around 6-7sec per case. I’ve trimmed for YEARS on my RCBS lathe and running batches 100-1000, I’ve never turned so slowly that 12hrs for 500pc would even remotely make sense. The same ~10-15 sec per case to hit the powered Hornady Trio for DB & C, the same hour and a half to 2 hours for 500pc. 3-4 hrs… I cut that in half by buying 3 way cutters for most calibers I load so I don’t have to separate DB&C into a second step.

Admittedly, it’s nice to sit back and watch the robot work on its own on my Giraud. But there’s $1500 on the bench and another few hundred bucks in the drawer in case holders. It’s nice. But it ain’t for everyone.

Lake city once fired .308 brass is a nightmare on a hand cranked trimmer. I've never seen anything worse to trim. The brass is thick and after resizing, tends to be quite long and, therefore, requires a lot of brass removal. Subsequent trimming is much much faster and easier but this first one is miserable. My Forster original case trimmer gave me excellent results but it was taking forever to remove all that brass this way and I was getting blisters from cranking that handle. I timed myself once and it was like 1 minute per case or thereabouts. I timed myself with the Giraud triway trimmer and it was about 6 seconds per case and every case was perfectly chamferred and deburred and generally within .001". If you aren't messing with lake city brass, it's probably not as much of an issue but if you're volume reloading for a .308, you're probably messing with Lake City once fired 7.62 brass and any kind of power assistance will be much preferred. I think it's a "buy once, cry once" thing.

 

[JFrank]

My 6 br-Ackley cases only need trimming occasionally , my Wilson does a great job yet not really fast. So there’s that ..