Suggestions for which Case Trimmer to get

[Harriw]

So I was trimming some cases tonight and realized I never closed the loop on this thread...

GWS - as much as I loved your vertical, gravity-assisted setup, I finally admitted that it simply wasn't going to work on my bench. While good-sized, my bench is in the corner of the basement in a location where I can't use either edge of the bench to mount a vertical trimmer. So the main shaft would have to go through the center of the bench somewhere. It simply wasn't going to work with all the other tasks that bench has to work for (like cleaning long-guns), and all the stuff I store underneath it. So I set out to make something very similar in a horizontal setup that I could bolt down to the bench and remove when not needed. I did score a good deal on a Forster trimmer on ebay, and picked up a 3-in-1 cutter head for .224 as well as the hex drive shaft. Here's what I came up with:



It comes off for storage rather quicly by unscrewing the 2 star knobs on the ends, and unplugging the driver. The driver is actually an electric torque gun I rescued from the dumpster at work. It's intended for a production environment, so it has a pressure interlock built into the tip. That means I can leave the driver switched on in the forward direction, and it won't engage the drive until I push the driver relatively hard into the case mouth. It works perfectly, as I can press lightly into the case to help seat the case before locking it into the collet, then press harder to engage the cutter head. I made a case kicker out of some 10awg magnet wire I had left over from an inductor I wound for work, and it works surprisingly well - very repeatable and reliable. Here's a better shot of the business end:



The wood is all cherry scraps - even the locking handle is a piece of cherry I'd turned on the lathe a while back and had no other use for, so I just bored a hole in it and slid it on. The plexiglass shield I had lying around as well, and just needed to trim to size. I find I can burn through cases quite quickly. My right hand stays on the back end of the driver and pushes it in and out. Left hand grabs a new case with thumb and first 2 fingers (I typically trim right after sizing, so the cases are still covered in sizing wax, which I try to minimize the spread of). With my left hand inserting the case, the right hand presses in the driver to hold it into place. Left hand slides over slightly, and my pinky/edge of my left hand presses the locking lever down just before I push in the rest of the way with the driver and size the case. Pull the driver out and lift the locking lever with my pink again, and the trimmed case gets kicked into whatever akro bin I've mounted there. Rinse and repeat. Cases take seconds each - I went through around 200 5.56 cases tonight about 10 minutes or so.

I'll see if I can get my son to take a quick video next time I have a batch to run through it.

Thanks for all the input everybody!

 

[PWC]

Do you then chamfer as separate step, or B 4 you drop on akro bin?

Seems I'd do it B 4...just saying

 

[Harriw]

Do you then chamfer as separate step, or B 4 you drop on akro bin?

Seems I'd do it B 4...just saying

Chamfering the case mouth? That gets done at the same time the case is being trimmed (de-burring as well) using the 3-in-1 cutter head. Big time-saver, and makes the de-burring/chamfering uniform and identical for every case.

If you mean chamfering the primer pocket to remove military crimps/stakes though, I do that and de-burring the flash hole in a seperate step. I chuck the appropriate bit into my wood lathe, spin it up, and run each case through:



That's actually the flash-hole de-bur bit. I prefer to do that step first as it's slightly more puttery, then finish up with the primer pocket bit. These steps go pretty quickly too.

 

[PWC]

Chamfering the case mouth? That gets done at the same time the case is being trimmed (de-burring as well) using the 3-in-1 cutter head. Big time-saver, and makes the de-burring/chamfering uniform and identical for every case.

View attachment 934989

That's actually the flash-hole de-bur bit. I prefer to do that step first as it's slightly more puttery, then finish up with the primer pocket bit. These steps go pretty quickly too.

Chamfering the case mouth? That gets done at the same time the case is being trimmed (de-burring as well) using the 3-in-1 cutter head. Big time-saver, and makes the de-burring/chamfering uniform and identical for every case.

Huess I didn't see the chamfer part of the tool....TKS

 

[Skeptic13]

I have the Forster Original Case Trimmer as well and really like it.

 

[GW Staar]

Looks like a winner to me! Good job! Video indeed would be cool! Would like to see it.

 

[AJC1]

I'm not a hi volume shooter, probably less than 1500 rounds a year. Never had the money for any of the horizontal trimmers, so I use the Lee trimmer system. I started with 30-06 and never had a problem. 30 years later that is all I still use. After reading all these forums about uniform crimping and accuracy, and in a case of the "twilight zone", I bought "mandrils" for pistol carts. When I woke up from the "zone", I realized I will never shoot to that level of accuracy, so I don't trim pistol unless it is to make 38 Spl from 357. I don't have a 357 so there is no problem there. No one shoots my reloads and I don't shoot others.

Rifle, I usually trim 100 or less at a sitting. 75 yr old thumbs are beginning to get sore. Now, I use my drill press to hold the cutter and mandril, and a machinist vise bolted to the press platform to hold the case holder.

Install the cutter in the press; mount case to the holder and put it in the vise. Lower the cutter into the case and move the holder/vise around until everything lines up. Clamp platform/vise/holder in place. Run the press at low speed. Loosen/tighten the case holder to change case...lower cutter and repeat. Chamfer inside and out

I've done exactly the same thing and just held the cartridge and shell holder.