RCBS Trim Mate Case Prep Center and military crimp removal

[Arkansas Paul]

Does anyone use the Trim Mate Case Prep Center and the crimp removal head for removing military crimps?
I've been wanting to get one forever and this seems like a good excuse to go ahead and get it. I've recently came by 1k pieces of brass that are mostly LC with crimped primers. I'm trying to figure out the best way to remove them and like I said, I've been wanting the case prep center anyway.
Anyway, how well does it work?

 

[Mike 27]

There are cheaper effective ways but that is probably not what you want to hear. Go get it if you want it. I use the RCBS primer pocket swager 2 and it works very well and fast. If you are like me that is not what you want so it will bug you till you get what you want and try it for yourself.

 

[blarby]

You can, very easily.

Just get a phillips screwdriver head thats threaded for your trim mate.


Hornady makes one.

I just got a bit sized magnetic adapter thats threaded to that thread, so I can put all sorts of bits in it- it does all kinds of neat things now.

Honestly though, a #3 hpillips screwdriver with a wide sturdy handle you can get a grip on takes about three turns.

Putting a #3 bit into a cordless trill is even faster, and you probably already have one of those.

The drill method is how I do mine, and its fabulous........

 

[GW Staar]

RCBS's first attempt at a military crimp reamer (for the Trim Mate) caught a lot of flack from people because it left a wide chamfer on the head and those people thought that was taking too much brass from the head. So Hornady's reamer was tried and it seemed to satisfy.

RCBS then redesigned the reamer and it works very well. I especially like the method of bearing on the case head rather than bearing on the primer pocket bottom as the Hornady does. Either works well enough.

In the picture below, I show two cases, the left one is reamed by the new RCBS reamer, the one on the right is swaged by RCBS's new Bench Swager.

If it matters to you, to be able to readily to see which brass is decrimped....the reamer has an advantage, IMO.........but I use both, depending on the need and situation. I think that reaming guarantees a more sure result if you are using a progressive press, and don't want trouble.

 

[rikman]

I have one and it makes SPEEDY work of case prep,primer pocket cleaning. I was using nice hand tools but it takes so long. I'd buy one and use the rcbs rebate.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Thanks guys. I've been wanting the Trim Mate anyway because it just seems to make case prep a breeze. The crimp removal tool that fits it would be more of a bonus/excuse to buy it than the primary purpose.

 

[Blackrock]

The RCBS tooling form the Trim Mate didn't work the way I liked so I put a Lyman VLD inside neck reamer on one station and it works great at removing primer pocket crimps. The steepr angle cuts easier and faster.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000157777800

The tooling from the Lyman tool fits right into the RCBS.

 

[blarby]

And the lyman hand tool set makes a fantastic trim-mate tool set, at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

That's good to know. Think I'm gonna go ahead and order one.

 

[Technova]

I used the Lyman tools on my Trim Mate also, much better for the pockets than the RCBS cutter.

 

[GW Staar]

That's your opinion and that's fine....I prefer RCBS's new one. Lyman's on the left; RCBS's on the right. Primer pocket depth can vary. That doesn't affect the RCBS, since using it, the depth of cut is determined by the case head not the pocket bottom. Also the angle is not so wide, and since it continues to the bottom, as the tool goes in, there is no chance of scoring the pocket's sides, since the reamer only touches the sides at the crimp elimination point. Yes they are more money. $18.80 vs $8.50....worth it IMO. An extra $10 is not exactly devastating.