Hot knife through butter - RCBS Carbide cutter

[Gadawg88]

I use the Frankford Arsenal case trim and prep center and have been very pleased with it. I had recently noticed that it seemed like it was taking longer to trim than it used to, but hard to tell. This got me looking to replace the cutter. The stock steel cutters are cheap at only $5 from FA. But, I ran across some posts somewhere talking about people replacing the stock cutter with the RCBS Carbide cutter head. I decided to give it a go and man is it a lot better. I tested both heads by measuring each case before and after and clocking the time it took to trim then averaging each group. The RCBS was twice as fast. Not shocking I realize, but thought there might be some others out there that could benefit. Only downside is that it is not cheap. I paid $37 on Amazon with free shipping.

 

[Bang!]

I have the same prep center. The FA cutter didn't last long. Replaced mine with the RCBS carbide cutter head, too. Different as night and day. The carbide cuts faster and cleaner. Less curling on the edges of the case mouth, less time needed to chamfer and debur. Don't have to press as hard on case while cutting. All adds up when you're trimming a thousand cases.

I use one of the three rotating tool positions to cut out crimped primer pockets. The cutter from my Lyman hand held primer tool has the same threads and works well.

 

[243winxb]

Steel cutters benefit from brushing the shaving off the cutter with a tooth brush treated with CLP.

 

[mahansm]

I just upgraded my RCBS trimmer to carbide. Very nice. Be careful when ordering the cutter, as there is another part number with a smooth shank that's one digit away. Don't ask how I discovered this. :-(

 

[jenrob]

A 3 way cutter will take care of the chamfer and deburring.