LUCKYDAWG13
Member
I'm in need of a case trimmer for 223 brass i have more then i want to do on my RCBS hand trimmer looking for something that i can use in a drill press anything out there
thanks
thanks
case trimmer suggestion
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ArchAngelCD
Member.
If you want fast and good look to the WFT from Little Crow Gunworks.
http://www.brownells.com/reloading/...gunworks-worlds-finest-trimmer-prod45315.aspx
http://www.brownells.com/reloading/...gunworks-worlds-finest-trimmer-prod45315.aspx
I'm not aware of anything that is made for a drill press, there are several tools that could be used in a drill press but you'd have to come up with a way to hold each case the same way and a way to repeat the depth of cut.
I modified my RCBS Pro trimmer to be used with my cordless drill and a Forster 3-N-1 case trimmer, it's fast and accurate.
I modified my RCBS Pro trimmer to be used with my cordless drill and a Forster 3-N-1 case trimmer, it's fast and accurate.
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LUCKYDAWG13
Member
this might just be what i'm looking for
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I'm glad I could help.
One thing to be aware of when using the WFT (I've got one and have used it extensively but I now use my modified RCBS) is that the trim-to-length is based upon the shoulder position so if your shoulder setback isn't consistent then your trim-to-lengths will vary.
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LUCKYDAWG13
Member
Thats a good point thanks
Doublehelix
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Look into the Giraud Tri-Way Trimmer. It also chamfers and deburs. Costs about $100, and it is caliber-specific.
RainDodger
Member
You might also look at the "Trim-It", which is basically the same as the WFT, but it is adjustable in thousandths. Very nice and easy to set up. I have both, and it's a pain to initially adjust the WFT right where you want it... but once you do, it works great. The Trim-It is much faster to change settings. Just a thought.
Same here, LCGW works fine for me. Mine isnt in a drill press, I chuck it in an old corded hand drill, which I clamp in a vise. You use your hand to hold the case, so I guess you could put it in a drill press and leave it in position, but I like the drill/vice setup which is side to side, for me pushing it up for a drill press would be a little awkward, maybe not? BTW, I find if it is tilted slightly up, brass filings tend to not fall out, and occasionally i take it out of vice and shake/blow it out. Tilted slightly downward prevents this for the most part, but each casing has a pinch of filings in it. No biggie either way.
Also, when the cutter gets dull enough to buy a new one, spring for the carbon steel one. Just a few more bucks and cuts better and for longer.
Russellc
Cannibul
Member
Giraud Tri-Way. I have a WFT and wish I had gotten the Giraud.
With the WFT you still have to chamfer and deburr. With the Tri-Way it's one pass and you're done.
With the WFT you still have to chamfer and deburr. With the Tri-Way it's one pass and you're done.
maxxhavoc
Member
This isn't for a drill press, but it is self-motorized.
https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Cas...=1483906547&sr=8-1&keywords=frankford+trimmer
I have one and love it. No shellholders, and it will trim darn near anything with a shoulder. I do .223, .308, .30-06, 30-30, 7.62x54r in it. Everything comes in the box for all calibers, you don't need to buy anything else as caliber selection expands.
It is not as nice as a Giraud, but the price is right.
https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Cas...=1483906547&sr=8-1&keywords=frankford+trimmer
I have one and love it. No shellholders, and it will trim darn near anything with a shoulder. I do .223, .308, .30-06, 30-30, 7.62x54r in it. Everything comes in the box for all calibers, you don't need to buy anything else as caliber selection expands.
It is not as nice as a Giraud, but the price is right.
Varminterror
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A much cheaper option than the LCGW or Trim-it:
Get a Lee Case Trimmer, an appropriate Lee case length "gauge" which comes with a case holder ring, a 1" piece of dowel about 5" long, and some JB Weld Epoxy. Rasp a flat onto the side of the dowel in the middle, such the flat is as far across as the diameter of the lock stud. Drill a hole in the center of the flat a bit larger and deeper than the hex shank on the lock stud. Epoxy the lock stud into the flat - basically you've put a T-handle onto the lock stud to make it easier to hold. Put the cutting head into the drill chuck, put the dead length pin into the cutting head, adjusted for your appropriate case length. Leave your drill press running, with the pulley's set to turn at its lowest speed, then just slip the dead length pin down into the cases and trim as designed. Having the T handle on the lock stud helps avoid hand fatigue, and leaving the drill press running continuously really speeds things up - all you have to do is put the case into the holder, tighten, trim, loosen the ring, repeat... It goes very fast.
If your drill press chuck head doesn't expand enough to let you use the full diameter trimmer body, you can get the Lee Threaded Case Trimmer which has a threaded 8-32 shank on the cutting head, made for use with power case prep centers - this smaller diameter shank will fit into any drill press chuck.
Nice part here - the whole kit costs about $15 and for $5-6, you can add different cartridges, whereas with the other systems, you'll pay the same original high price for every cartridge (I have 3 LCGW WFT's, paid $70 each!). It's faster to not need any case holder with the WFT type, but not fast enough for me to pay $70 each with the high number of cartridges for which I reload.
Get a Lee Case Trimmer, an appropriate Lee case length "gauge" which comes with a case holder ring, a 1" piece of dowel about 5" long, and some JB Weld Epoxy. Rasp a flat onto the side of the dowel in the middle, such the flat is as far across as the diameter of the lock stud. Drill a hole in the center of the flat a bit larger and deeper than the hex shank on the lock stud. Epoxy the lock stud into the flat - basically you've put a T-handle onto the lock stud to make it easier to hold. Put the cutting head into the drill chuck, put the dead length pin into the cutting head, adjusted for your appropriate case length. Leave your drill press running, with the pulley's set to turn at its lowest speed, then just slip the dead length pin down into the cases and trim as designed. Having the T handle on the lock stud helps avoid hand fatigue, and leaving the drill press running continuously really speeds things up - all you have to do is put the case into the holder, tighten, trim, loosen the ring, repeat... It goes very fast.
If your drill press chuck head doesn't expand enough to let you use the full diameter trimmer body, you can get the Lee Threaded Case Trimmer which has a threaded 8-32 shank on the cutting head, made for use with power case prep centers - this smaller diameter shank will fit into any drill press chuck.
Nice part here - the whole kit costs about $15 and for $5-6, you can add different cartridges, whereas with the other systems, you'll pay the same original high price for every cartridge (I have 3 LCGW WFT's, paid $70 each!). It's faster to not need any case holder with the WFT type, but not fast enough for me to pay $70 each with the high number of cartridges for which I reload.
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LUCKYDAWG13
Member
thank you for all the suggestions
I find with any tools, buy the best and only cry once. If you do only 50 or so at the time, it may not matter so much, but doing batches of 1000 would be a royal pain without something, whether LCGW or other similar product chucked in a drill, drill press, etc.
Russellc
Russellc
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sellersm
Member
I really like the CTS Engineering trimmer: http://www.ctstrimmer.com/case-trimmers/8-cts-trimmer.html
RainDodger
Member
That new Frankford Arsenal one at the link that maxxhavoc sent... can you adjust the bit with a rotating collar by the thousandths, or is it a set screw like the basic WFT? Looking at the description, I can't tell. That's interesting.
If you want case mouths to be at the same place in the chamber neck for every round, get a trimmer that references the case shoulder. That's the case part that controls where its mouth is in the chamber for cases head spacing on their shoulder. Their case heads can be anywhere because they not part of the fit equation.
Bart, forgive me if I'm missing something, but if you FL size first bumping back the shoulders properly, arnt all of your cases very close to exactly the same length from head to shoulder? The only difference is the neck which you then trim to uniformity?
Yes, cases so resized will have shoulder headspace with little spread. About .003" spread is common when shell holders don't touch the die bottom so shoulder bump is correct. It varies with the amount and type of case lube, how long the press ram stays in place holding the case in the sizing die, how much the press pulls the die down as it contracts from being stretched as the case goes into the die and the case's springback from being squeezed down. Coupled with trimming necks relative to case shoulder or case heads does make case mouths' dimension consistent to them.
Remember that rimless bottleneck case shoulders are driven hard into chamber shoulders by the firing pin, then stay there until the primer fires and burns the powder that ends up pushing the bullet out of the case. Meanwhile, the case head is clear of the bolt face by some amount equal to the spread of case headspace plus it's difference from chamber headspace. There's usually a thousandth or more case shoulder setback from firing pin impact which adds to case head clearance from the bolt face. This all ads up to position the case mouth's position in the chamber having a greater spread than its distance from the case shoulder as reloaded.
Resized case headspace is more uniform if the shell holder stops hard against the die bottom. Using Reddings Competition Shellholders lets one of the right height above the .125" standard minimizes full length sized case headspace spread about the desired shoulder setback amount. They come in .002" steps across all five in a set.
My experience shows that a .015" spread in case mouth position is in the chamber neck is not an issue. Nor is a .010" spread in case length from case head to mouth added to case headspace spread and the .001" to .005" shoulder setback from firing pin impact that squeezes the case neck forward a little bit. There's bigger fish to fry; as that old saying says.
These dimensions on ammo are easy to measure to four decimal places. Some can be held to minuscule tolerances. Yet new, unprepped cases with the right components in them for the barrel used yet case dimensions not all that precise will shoot near half MOA at longer ranges. Therefore, tiny spreads in case dimensions are way down on the "must do" list for best accuracy and precision. They do make one feel good about being meticulous in their work making some material things consistent.
Keep in mind the thing that causes the most spread in group sizes on target is that which aims the rifle and holds it while the bullet goes through the barrel.
Remember that rimless bottleneck case shoulders are driven hard into chamber shoulders by the firing pin, then stay there until the primer fires and burns the powder that ends up pushing the bullet out of the case. Meanwhile, the case head is clear of the bolt face by some amount equal to the spread of case headspace plus it's difference from chamber headspace. There's usually a thousandth or more case shoulder setback from firing pin impact which adds to case head clearance from the bolt face. This all ads up to position the case mouth's position in the chamber having a greater spread than its distance from the case shoulder as reloaded.
Resized case headspace is more uniform if the shell holder stops hard against the die bottom. Using Reddings Competition Shellholders lets one of the right height above the .125" standard minimizes full length sized case headspace spread about the desired shoulder setback amount. They come in .002" steps across all five in a set.
My experience shows that a .015" spread in case mouth position is in the chamber neck is not an issue. Nor is a .010" spread in case length from case head to mouth added to case headspace spread and the .001" to .005" shoulder setback from firing pin impact that squeezes the case neck forward a little bit. There's bigger fish to fry; as that old saying says.
These dimensions on ammo are easy to measure to four decimal places. Some can be held to minuscule tolerances. Yet new, unprepped cases with the right components in them for the barrel used yet case dimensions not all that precise will shoot near half MOA at longer ranges. Therefore, tiny spreads in case dimensions are way down on the "must do" list for best accuracy and precision. They do make one feel good about being meticulous in their work making some material things consistent.
Keep in mind the thing that causes the most spread in group sizes on target is that which aims the rifle and holds it while the bullet goes through the barrel.
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