Product Review: CTS Gen2 Motorized Trimmer Review

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Mr.Revolverguy

Mr.Revolverguy

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There are very few things in my humble opinion that is as rewarding as trying to achieve the most accurate ammo as possible assembled by your very own hands from your reloading bench. To be able to strike that steel plate 200, 300, 600 yards away or shooting those sub MOA groups at varying distances is a very rewarding accomplishment. To achieve that sort of satisfaction with reloaded rifle ammunition and bottleneck cartridges uniform trimming of your brass becomes essential. I find trimming the most time-consuming step in the process of reloading and up until now absolutely hated it. I think if you ask any reloader to name the most tedious part of rifle case prep, more often than not, the overwhelming answer will be trimming. To avoid trimming rifle brass I would often purchase additional once fired fully prepared brass to avoid the tedious process of trimming. I have used many manual trimmers and they all work as advertised but the process can be quite strenuous. There is also several cost effective power trimming options I have used that are available on the market that can be mounted in your cordless power drill or drill press. This class of trimmers work very well and are less strenuous yet it still was not as fulfilling as pulling the lever on the press and watching completed rounds fall into the bin. With so many empty 223 and 308 once fired and range pickup cases it just didn't make since to continue with my dislike of trimming. I then began scouring the Internet for a high volume powered trimmer and I found CTS Engineering.

CTS-Trimmer1.jpg

This has now become my favorite reloading tool --- sick huh but thats how easy it makes trimming.
Visit CTS Gen2 Trimmer Review For the full review and youtube video of it in action, stop by and leave comments and your thoughts.
 
Totally different machines the case prep doesn't trim.

I have many trimmers also but none that are as easy to use for high volume trimming. My view is that there are different classes of trimmers for different classes of users for different purposes.

This is no different to me than the Hornady, RCBS, Dillon war that often show up on the forums. I know many reloaders that own a Giraud and I believe this product is in that class products.
 
http://www.littlecrowgunworks.com/wft 2.html

There is no shortage of case trimmers around here, I do not own a Little Crow case trimmer but If I was looking for a case trimmer I would consider one made by Little Crow, I believe I could sell one of my trimmers and pay for the WFT 2 for $70.00.

F. Guffey
 
I can go out and take pictures if you like, I have the 2 WFT's, Possom Hollow, Lee Trimmer, Wilson Trimmer, RCBS Trimmer and they all work great and all are at different price points. I have seen others with the same argument of why pay the price for WFT when I can by the Lee. Again they are all different price points, serving a different use case.

I wanted something for high volume trimming that contained all the shavings, and didn't cause hand or elbow fatigue in long trimming sessions. Even though I and my website are focused on providing unbiased reviews I am not going to bash these other products here because this is about the CTS trimmer, and all those other products work well and fit the use cases they were made for, I have just grown past them.


Just like I now have a different use case and have grown beyond the other trimmers, maybe there are others out there in the same boat and will benefit from this review. I do not expect this trimmer to fit everyone's needs or use case, but hope most find the review useful.
 
How does this trimmer "contain the trimmings" as you posted above?? That is my only slight problem with most any trimmer.

I just bought a WFT and use it inside a plastic container.
 
Rule3,

Let me see if I can get a better picture. Inside of those steel post is a very hard plastic container. I will try to post back later with a better picture.
 
Rule3, I had the same question when I first looked at the pic. But, if you look real closely, it looks to have a clear plastic (Lexan?) cylinder that fits just inside the support posts. Note how the trimmings are in a circle. My question is how do you empty the trimmings?

ETA: Once again, I type too slow. Still want to know how to empty the trimmings, though.
 
I trim cases without filings/cuttings with a home made case trimmer, comes in handy when forming cases. there are times it is necessary to trim .200" from a case neck. When forming 100 cases that is 20 inches. of trimming.

Then there is the Black Out, The demonstration from Little Crow indicated it is necessary to trim about 3/8 inch or .375", that is 37.5 inches of trimming.

F. Guffey
 
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Follow Up Video CTS Trimmer

First and foremost I am not great at making videos, this is only the third one I have made. Hopefully the quality is good enough to answer the questions I am being asked about brass shavings. As time goes on hopefully I will get better and incorporate more videos into the reviews on this site.

Upon posting the initial review I received a number of questions about the containment of brass shavings and if contained how would you empty them out. In this short video the shavings in the bottom of the container is about 40 cases worth of 308 shavings. The brass shavings are contained by a very thick polycarbonate plate that totally encompasses the trimmer preventing shavings from being thrown all over your shop floor. There are also three holes in the top, by placing a shop vac over one of the holes and covering the other two will make short work of emptying out your trimmer.

Hopefully this picture and short video will clearly demonstrate what I am talking about and answer the questions pertaining to the brass shavings

CTSTrimmer Follow Up Video
 
looks like a fine machine, but if i spend that much on a trimmer, i'll pony up a little more and get a Giraud so I don't have to chamfer and deburr separately.
 
Yeah understood, Giruad was over my budget but I don't feel like I sacrificed anything at all. Considering I was already doing those steps separately with my other trimmers and that I had my Hornady Trio up for sale on the club board for some time with no takers it saved me over $150 with this setup and all calibers I reload and trim over the Giraud.

Gosh and with gas prices the way they are and continue to go upward I need all I can save to be able to continue driving to the range :)
 
Thanks for the extra video. I get it now.That cleans that up:)

So How much are these fine items, where is a price list or is there just one style?? Someone mentioned $350? where did that come from?
 
Yep. I bought all the budget trimmers and case prep centers before I finally got smart and just bought the Giraud. If I had it all to do over again the Giraud would have been my only trimmer purchase. The only way this trimmer compares is in the fact that it trims a case.
 
I believe they have different models, the price I believe has gone up to $350. Even so I would still buy again, The Giraud is nice also but it was out of my price range for the number of calibers I trim for. Though I have a friend who has one it is nice. The one thing I did not like about the Giraud was the setup and making sure you get the chamfer and debur right.
 
Good videos,nice job
I will have to put that on my list of trimmers to check out when the time comes for a new/different one.
Are the inserts made of plastic or aluminum?
 
Inserts are made of ABS High Impact Plastic I believe :)

Video's aren't to bad considering they are my first two. Definitely not as fancy as some of these other guys.
 
Without a web site and a price list they are not going to sell very many. I like to have information and know who I am dealing with before purchasing something. An upstart company can't rely on just e mail these days.
 
CTS Gen 2 Trimmer Part 3

This is part 3 of the series of videos and possibly the final of the initial review series. I say initial because I plan to keep very detailed records on the number of trimmings of each caliber run through this trimmer and report back.

As with the second video this idea was brought about by questions via email and private messages I have received from the inquisitive readers that have seen the first two videos. This is by no means a scientific experiment meant to provide an unquestionable answer. It is meant to help those with concerns or questions about noise discern the difference between the two tools I had running on the reloading bench during the first review/video while bringing about a little more clarity to the actual noise level of the CTS Gen2 Trimmer.

During this video on display is my old IPhone with a decibel meter on it. Again not meant to be scientific I know the IPhone is no where near capable of providing a true DB reading, but I believe it does assist in giving us an idea of the noise level of both devices. One other thing to keep in mind is that anything on or attached to the bench will only reverberate the noise or hum given off from these devices and there are 3 presses attached to this reloading bench at the time this test was conducted, but all loose items were removed.

DB Meter reading: Baseline when absolutely quiet in the shop — 50DB

CTS Gen2 Peak Meter Reading — 78DB
CTS Gen2 Average Meter Reading — 75DB
CTS Gen2 Average Noise Level — 25DB

Hornady Trio Peak Meter Reading — 91DB
Hornady Trio Average Meter Reading — 88DB
Hornady Trio Average Noise Level — 38DB

CTS Gen2 Trimmer Noise Video

Hope this helps.
 
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