Case trimmer recommendations?
- Thread starter wil1969
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I HATE trimming cases. I also shoot a LOT. I looked at the Giraud, the Lyman, the RCBS, etc. I settled on the Possum Hollow trimmers. I got one for each caliber that I shoot. I set it and forget it. When I trim, I chuck it up in either my lathe or my drill press for power. You can also use a drill. They are fast and accurate.
paperpuncher49
Member
Wil,
I've owned and used all three you mentioned. The Forster and Redding use a collet to hold the case while the RCBS uses a spring loaded shell holder. With the collet, there is a possibility that any given case might not be seated as deep in the collet as the previous case which could lead to minor dimensional differences. This isn't possible with the RCBS setup. While I mostly use a Giraud (very expensive), I do have an RCBS that I use when I wish to usea manual trimmer. I would recommend the RCBS for you, and it can be converted to a power trimmer should you decide to do so.
I've owned and used all three you mentioned. The Forster and Redding use a collet to hold the case while the RCBS uses a spring loaded shell holder. With the collet, there is a possibility that any given case might not be seated as deep in the collet as the previous case which could lead to minor dimensional differences. This isn't possible with the RCBS setup. While I mostly use a Giraud (very expensive), I do have an RCBS that I use when I wish to usea manual trimmer. I would recommend the RCBS for you, and it can be converted to a power trimmer should you decide to do so.
jamesicus
Member
I have owned numerous case trimmers of different makes over the years - my favorite is still the Lee case length gauge and trimmer:
Mikee Loxxer
Member
I like my Gracey case trimmer. Although they take a little effort to set up, once you gave done so they are very fast.
NRA-Highmaster
Member
+1 for the Gracey
ChefJeff1
Member
I started out with the lee. It worked for a while and it got dull and rolled the edge over and I got inconsistent lenghts. I bought a forster. It took about 30 minutes to get it set up and it works awesome. The lenghts are perfect everytime. It cuts like a hot knife through butter. I also bought their debur tool which works just as great.
jamesicus
Member
I have not encountered that problem in trimming many hundreds of cases - my cutters still trim the cases crisply and with ease. But there again, I only trim by hand and reload small batches at a time. I have a feeling that the Lee trimmer requires a light feed and rotation.
stork
Member
+1 on the Forster.
I bought mine over 30 years ago. After 10's of thousands of rounds there is still no perceivable movement of the cutter shaft in the bushing. I have had to send it back once to be resharpened about 20 years ago. I picked up a Wilson about the same time (20 yrs) and quit using it quickly. It just wasn't as fast as the Forster. I also use a cordless drill to power the cutting, just easier on the hand & arm when doing large quantities of brass.
My first one was also the Lee. I grew frustrated with not being able to trim to a length other than what they thought I should. Welcome Forster.
FWIW
I bought mine over 30 years ago. After 10's of thousands of rounds there is still no perceivable movement of the cutter shaft in the bushing. I have had to send it back once to be resharpened about 20 years ago. I picked up a Wilson about the same time (20 yrs) and quit using it quickly. It just wasn't as fast as the Forster. I also use a cordless drill to power the cutting, just easier on the hand & arm when doing large quantities of brass.
My first one was also the Lee. I grew frustrated with not being able to trim to a length other than what they thought I should. Welcome Forster.
FWIW
GW Staar
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My powered Forster is 40 years-old. I recently spent around $100 to upgrade it.
Oh, just the new.30cal and .22cal 3-way cutters!
My oh my! Why didn't they think of that 20 years ago! It was always a really nice tool, but now it is even better.The beauty of the new cutters is that you don't even remove the old one. Just slide the new 3-way over the top, tighten the set screw and go. If I want to trim an odd caliber, just loosen, slide off and use the original cutter. Nothing is simpler. Since most of my bulk rifle reloading is .308 and .223, the 3-ways make prep fast and easy. (they also sell a .243 3-way)
RVenick
Member
I agree I started with the Lee trimmer it was killing me it was so slow. I got the Possum Hollow Trimmer for 223/5.56 and did about 2000 cases in about a hour and a half. Thing was like $30 at Midway and worth a lot more.
BigJakeJ1s
Member
L.E. Wilson. Sinclair sells several accessories that are very nice (and very expensive), but not necessary.
Andy
Andy
I like and use the Lee system. But note, if you use a drill motor, you tend to spin the case too fast which leads to dulling the cutter. I use a battery powered screwdriver.
I use a L.E. Wilson with a Sinclair micrometer adjuster for cases that Lee does not make a case gauge for such as the 17 Remington. While the micrometer adjust is expensive, it makes setting up the trimmer a snap when changing cartridges.
I recently bought a Possum Hollow for 223 Remington. Have not had time to try it yet but it does look interesting. I do think you need a cutter for each different cartridge where one cutter covers a family of cartridges. Adjusting the cutter does not look convenient.
I use a L.E. Wilson with a Sinclair micrometer adjuster for cases that Lee does not make a case gauge for such as the 17 Remington. While the micrometer adjust is expensive, it makes setting up the trimmer a snap when changing cartridges.
I recently bought a Possum Hollow for 223 Remington. Have not had time to try it yet but it does look interesting. I do think you need a cutter for each different cartridge where one cutter covers a family of cartridges. Adjusting the cutter does not look convenient.
dc.fireman
Member
LOL.... That's gotta be the best product endorsement I've read yet...
Grumulkin
Member
I would also recommend the Forster. I had one but got a Redding unit instead. The Forster never gave me any problems while I've had multiple problems with the whiz-bang Redding trimmer.
When I was looking a trimming several thousand cases, I went with the RCBS powered trimmer and it works well. I had considered the Giraud but that one isn't as flexible if you need to trim many different cartridge types.
Also, if you don't usually trim that many cases at a time (say only 100 to 200), consider a trim die. They're cheap and low tech, will give you a perfectly even and consistent case mouth and work well even with nickel plated cases. Nickel plated cases dull Redding trimmer heads FAST; read ruin them fast.
When I was looking a trimming several thousand cases, I went with the RCBS powered trimmer and it works well. I had considered the Giraud but that one isn't as flexible if you need to trim many different cartridge types.
Also, if you don't usually trim that many cases at a time (say only 100 to 200), consider a trim die. They're cheap and low tech, will give you a perfectly even and consistent case mouth and work well even with nickel plated cases. Nickel plated cases dull Redding trimmer heads FAST; read ruin them fast.
RedHawk357Mag
Member
LE Wilson after struggling with a RCBS one. Not knocking RCBS by any means just got an item that slipped passed quality control. LE Wilson with Q-type case holder rocks for everything but speed.
I have, and like, a L E Wilson trimmer with a Sinclair base on it. I use it for cartridges that Lee does not have a case gauge for like the 17 Remington.
My only complaint is rapping on the case mouth to extract the case from the case holder does not sit well with me. I made a block with a hole for the case to sit in and then use a small rod to tap the case out of the case holder.
I have an old, 1980s vintage, RCBS trimmer that uses a collet to hold the case. I could never get it to trim cases uniformly because depending on how tight you cranked down on the collet, the location of the case would change affecting the trimmed length.
The current RCBS trimmer has a better arrangement of holding the case. So, in my opinion, any trimmer that indexes off the case base needs a fixed stop for the case to rest against t reduce variability in trim lengths.
My only complaint is rapping on the case mouth to extract the case from the case holder does not sit well with me. I made a block with a hole for the case to sit in and then use a small rod to tap the case out of the case holder.
I have an old, 1980s vintage, RCBS trimmer that uses a collet to hold the case. I could never get it to trim cases uniformly because depending on how tight you cranked down on the collet, the location of the case would change affecting the trimmed length.
The current RCBS trimmer has a better arrangement of holding the case. So, in my opinion, any trimmer that indexes off the case base needs a fixed stop for the case to rest against t reduce variability in trim lengths.
243winxb
Member
I would NOT recommend the Lyman Universal for benchrest. The case mouth is not cut square to the case head on mine, but it is easy to use. Plus an outside neck turning attachment works well.
mbopp
Member
I too have an '80 vintage RCBS trimmer. I find to be consistent in the case length it's important to tighten the collet to the same position. I rotate the collet until the t-handle is snug in the 12:00 vertical position. And I use a cordless drill on the low speed "screwdriver" position.
jhansman
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What TonyAngel said. I had to trim 2k pieces of once-fired LC .223, and my cordless drill and the Possum Hollow tool made very short work of it. True, I still had to debur and chamfer them, but I put some music and a pot of coffee on and ended up enjoying the process. The PH tool is a great invention.
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