WFT trimmer or?

I’m looking at WFT trimmers. Mainly for 223. Should I be looking at the Lol or just the original?
I even considered the Frankfort Arsenal which does different calibers. Leaning towards the original ***.
Have a nice smallish 1550 RPM motor with a 3/8” shaft I intend to use to power it.

 

I'm using the WFT for trimming .223 and can't imagine using anything else for speed and ease of use. I trim several hundred a month.

Full disclosure I also have a Forster and Lyman hand crank trimmers for lesser volume trimming!

Smiles,

 

I tried others before I bought my WFT for .223, I can't imagine anything that would work better or faster.

 

I appreciate the reply. That’s what my research is telling me as well.
Anyone know the optimum rpm to run one of these?

 

FWIW, I reach for my .223 HMR WCT (World's Cheapest Trimmer) when I have a few hundred 5.56cases to trim.

http://www.newhighpower.com/brass-trimmers.html

 

Isn't it, essentially, a Giraud Tri-Way?

 

The lyman powered trimmer is on my list. The Frankord unpowered is 100 ish and does not seem near as nice.

 

I like the Giraud better. Gave away my WFT after I got my Giraud. No deburring after trimming.

 

I looked at these trimmers but thought that the manual processes involved with them together with my messed up fingers suggested to ME that I get the L E Wilson lathe type trimmer.

Cost me a little over $ 100 and found it to suit my needs.

 

IIRC, with the WFT you still have to de-burr and chamfer after trimming.

With the Giraud tri-way trimmer it trims, de-burrs and chamfers in one step. That's the reason I went with the tri-way trimmer as it eliminated two steps when preparing brass. It may not seem like a big deal but when you are processing several hundred pieces of brass at a time it saves you a lot of time and wear and tear on your fingers.

 

I use the WFT. Got it before i know of the Giraud triway.

I have considered getting the Giraud for another caliber...but hesitated because of the design of the cutter....as far as I can tell, the cutter is just V shaped...doesn't that cut the brass and leave a sharp edge at the mouth of the brass?

 

I used the Lyman manual for a while. I picked up the Frankfort Arsenal a couple of years ago, and it works very well. I’m talking about the powered one with the three way cutter.
It got a lot of use when I was shooting NRA High Power. It held up well.

 

Hand cranking 100 bolt rifle brass is not too bad. I hand crank all my bolt gun brass on a Forster.

The first time I loaded MG fired 308 brass that I got from the web is when I searched for the WFT. I think I hand cranked 5 pieces of that brass before I quit and grabbed my wallet and started shopping

 

I have a 3/8 variable speed battery powered hand drill that works at any speed I've tried!

Smiles,

 

I use a small Skil 1/4 inch portable battery powered screwdriver on an old Lyman trimmer with the power adapter. Don't think the drill spins more than a couple hundred RPMs. Am i glad i have the drill? For sure as it beats cranking that little handle! I have also done several thousand cases using this setup. Just not all at one sitting.
As for chamfering and beveling the case mouth after trimming, i still use a LE Wilson tool held by an adapter that fits the same power screwdriver.

 

No. When you look at it under magnification you'll see that cutter is not actually a V but a \_/ shape. You can also adjust the whether you want more or less de-burr vs chamfer and vice versa.

 

I have a number of early generation WFT trimers. I like them where I have a larger volume of cases to trim.

I have some home made "go-no-go" case length gauges and measure all cases. I then trim those that fail the gauge, about 25% of the cases that I'm processing. I'd rather do that than put every case through the trimmer.

I also have a Wilson trimmer with the Sinclair International improvements. It is great for small quantities of trimming.

I'd love to have a Girard trimmer but I trim many different cartridges and the cost to get all the accessories that I'd need would be alot. Also, the change over from one cartridge to another would take more time than just getting the WFT out of the box and chucking it in the drill.

If got into competition where I was shooting and loading alot of one cartridge, I'd probably get a Girard.

 

That is good to know! I'll have to keep the triway in mind next time I need a new trimmer.

 

I have been using these trimmers for years and have no complaints.
I have trimmed thousands of .223, .308 & 300/blk.

As for the RPM, I don't remember what it is. I emailed them and received a quick reply.
That was years ago.

I run the trimmers in a table top drill press.
You adjust the RPM by moving the drive belt to different positions.
I would have to look at it to see where it is set.

FYI... I finally dulled out a cutter on the .308
I don't know how many rounds it trimmed. A lot of it was Nickel.

That being said, they use a standard End Mill as a cutter.
I think I paid $6.00 for one off of Amazon.

 

You might want to look at the Trim-it II. It's similar in design and function to the WFT in that you put the case into a caliber specific bushing and is powered by a drill press or hand drill. There are several differences between the two. First, the Trim-it II has a cutter similar to the Giraud. Second, it's cut is adjustable by loosening a set screw and dialing up or down. Third, instead of buying a complete WFT for each cartridge you can buy just the bushing/bearing for each caliber which costs less.

I've used several trimmers over the years but eventually ended up buying the Forster with the 3 way cutting head and use a cordless screwdriver to power the trimmer. Both Trim-it II and WFT require you to hold onto the brass and after a while my hands would get sore, especially on shorter cases so I went with a trimmer that would hold onto the brass and trim/chamfer at the same time.

 

Thank you.
There is a local store with a forester right on the shelf. Manual and I’m not sure what adapter it takes to put power to it but I like to give him business when I can.

 

I looked at many of these trimmers, but for 223/5.56 range ammo, I went with the Dillon electric case trimmer. It resizes the brass while it trims to length and then I use a decapping die to remove the primers. I have processed more than 1000/hour with it.

For accuracy ammo, I use a Wilson trimmer. I don't know that it's more accurate than anything else (haven't really done a comparison) but I like the way it holds the brass. What I would not own is any trimmer that requires me to put something in the mouth of the case to trim it.