Which case trimmer to buy? Powered, manual, drillbit?

[sneaker]

I've been getting away without trimming my brass for as long as I can and the times come where I need to start doing it.

Do the manual rotary ones do the trick? Quite a jump in price for a motorised one...

I see there are the Lee brand setup which is like a 2 piece drill bit? 1 to hold the shell and 1 into the power drill for the rotation. Seems like you might over trim easily doing it this way? Or lose a fingertip or two?

What does everyone recommend? Style and brand of trimmer?

Cheers.

[tarnagulla]

Good luck with this - after years of having to trim cases, I am yet to find a "best" system. Much depends on (1) how many cases do you need to trim, and (2) how many calibres?

If you have only a few cases, the Lee system is good, but best when used manually - I have found that chucking them up in a drill often results in the case working its way off-centre, with the trimmer then being ripped out of your hand and flying off to find the nearest window or other breakable!

The "manual rotary" ones (and I presume you are referring to the "mini lathe" types) do a good job, BUT you need a standard length case to set them up in the first place. If you have to trim a large number, you end up with blisters!

I have obviously tried both, and I am still searching for the "best" alternative. Dillon offers the Rolls Royce possibility - a sizing die, on which is mounted an electronic trimmer (separate die and possibly cutter for each calibre of course) but the system is not cheap, and only available in 110v at present!

I too will be interested to read of the experience/opinions of other members...

[Aster]

I'm ready to try a powdered one.

I have a mini lathe (thanks tarnagulla for the real name ) style trimmer and it takes about 20 seconds or so to trim a case. I can tell ya it gets old reeeeeeal fast when you've just come back from emptying 100 cases at the range.

[Brute]

If you have only a few cases, the Lee system is good, but best when used manually - I have found that chucking them up in a drill often results in the case working its way off-centre, with the trimmer then being ripped out of your hand and flying off to find the nearest window or other breakable!

Man, really?

I was just at my LGS today and the guy couldn't talk up the Lee powder drill one enough.

He failed to mention the flying trimmer issue.

[tucked]

He failed to mention the flying trimmer issue.

Just hope you're misses isn't in the way of it when the trimmer goes flying. Then you've got 2 issues

[Herdsman]

If you have only a few cases, the Lee system is good, but best when used manually - I have found that chucking them up in a drill often results in the case working its way off-centre, with the trimmer then being ripped out of your hand and flying off to find the nearest window or other breakable!

You want one of these:



"Cutter with Ball Grip" which is $10US according to their website.

[tarnagulla]

I didn't really want to bag the Lee system Brute, in fact it is probably the best way to go, unless you are looking to trim a hundred cases or two at a time. The ball handle is a good idea too Herdsman, (unless you are doing a lot cases at a time) but a friend of mine found a cheaper and more durable alternative - he just welded a steel cross-piece on the end of the standard cutter!

Lee does offer a you-beaut universal shell holder to suit any case from .25ACP to around .338 Lapua, (which automatically centres the case) but it only fits on their "Zip-Trim" tool, and takes a larger diameter gadget than the one supplied with the standard cutter ( I know, because I ordered one from the US, and found out the hard way!)

I have thought about having one made up to suit this shell holder - is anyone else interested?

[Blackened]

... and it takes about 20 seconds or so to trim a case.

You must be turning that handle reeeeal slow

[Aster]

You must be turning that handle reeeeal slow

Just because you've had lots of practice running your hand back and forth quickly

[Lorgar]

I have thought about having one made up to suit this shell holder - is anyone else interested?

I could be interested, but I'm dubious over how cost effective it would be...

I've had a brief look into a few small runs of these kinds of things and they've always been prohibitively expensive.

e.g. I had a look into getting some stainless-steel squares cut that would be suitable for plinking for larger calibre rifles, something like a 3/4 inch sheet that a .308 or similar wouldn't blow gaping holes through.

For 10 decent size targets a sheet of suitable stainless was $1200 :/

Always kills you on small runs

[tarnagulla]

Slightly off the original topic (though I see where you are coming from) - but why did you want stainless? I would have thought that standard steel plate would do the job, or "bisalloy" if your loads are really hot?

[Lorgar]

I initially thought stainless for longevity really. Given how expensive it was going to be I was thinking perhaps stainless might last a little longer overall than mild steel once rust set in.

I'm just shooting standard .308 and .243 loads, nothing blazing that would require seriously heavy duty plates. You may well be right, regular still could be totally fine.

I forget the figures now, but from memory even a sheet of mild steel wasn't going to be all that much cheaper from what I recall. To be honest I didn't get terribly far into exploring all possible options for this after finding out the ballpark prices.

I'm thinking now something from a metal scrap yard might be a better option. Find a bit of railway steel or something like that...

[redrum]

I've just started with the Lee system, 2 faulty trimmers is all I've got so far

[Igoe]

I just bought my first case trimmer - a Wilson stainless steel manual trimmer with micrometer attachment.
It wasn't cheap, but it is brilliant. Easy to use, very accurate, super easy to load and remove cases from the case holder.

I did my first 200 or so cases the other night. Only took about 1 hour, including learning how to use it properly.

Ian

[Lorgar]

I did my first 200 or so cases the other night. Only took about 1 hour, including learning how to use it properly.

That's a pretty solid trimming rate for a manual trimmer.

You chamfering your case necks too? or just trimming as is?

[Igoe]

I did my first 200 or so cases the other night. Only took about 1 hour, including learning how to use it properly.

That's a pretty solid trimming rate for a manual trimmer.

You chamfering your case necks too? or just trimming as is?

Just trimming.
Also got a Lyman Xpress for primer pocket cleaning, chamfering, etc. Great bit of kit. Can do 5 different tasks with it in the time it takes to do one task manually.
Bought a bit of gear in the US on a recent trip, so while they are not cheap, they are half the price there compared to Aus.

Ian

[Zilla]

Bought a bit of gear in the US on a recent trip, so while they are not cheap, they are half the price there compared to Aus.

If only we has US prices here in Aus...

Costs 4x the value of a rifle in the US to ship it to an Aus store apparently

[Norton]

Costs 4x the value of a rifle in the US to ship it to an Aus store apparently

The police state tax.

[Lorgar]

Just trimming.

I feel slow now

[sneaker]

Late reply here, but thanks for the info guys.

Ended up getting the Lee drillbit system and after a bit of getting used to it's all good

Trimming cases galore

[reddog]

I've got a Redding 2400 model with the micrometer adjustment , and once you get used to putting the cases in and out of the chuck
it's really quick , only takes about 5 spins a case . Its really a good trimmer , but of all my reloading tools its the least used and was
more expensive than my press !

[SendIt]

Any idea roughly how many you can trim an hour with your setup, reddog?

[Bills Shed]

I agree that manual ( turning the cutter by hand in a small lathe set up) gets painful pretty quick.

Depending what you have in your shed there is no reason you can not turn a manual set up into a electric set up. The chuck and pilot usually come with the trimmer.

20 years ago I built one out of a Sewing machine motors and controller. It makes short work of trimming. Make a long shaft for the cutter head and put it in a good set of bearings. Took a bit of work to build a quick change chuck to have the same centre heights, but it is fast. This is the way I went as I did not have the cash at the time.

If I was going to do it again I would have a serious look at the RCBS pro trim Electric trimmer. Modern day trimmers are well built and worth the money. They do not get much work but will last you a life time, and make trimming easy. It is not available in 240v but a cheap transformer on eBay will fix that.

At the end of the day if you find something that works for you, use it

[whert]

If I was going to do it again I would have a serious look at the RCBS pro trim Electric trimmer. Modern day trimmers are well built and worth the money.

So expensive though

$350 or whatever they are vs $25 for a drill bit cutting one

[Aster]

20 years ago I built one out of a Sewing machine motors and controller. It makes short work of trimming. Make a long shaft for the cutter head and put it in a good set of bearings. Took a bit of work to build a quick change chuck to have the same centre heights, but it is fast. This is the way I went as I did not have the cash at the time.

Any chance of some pictures of this?

[reddog]

Any idea roughly how many you can trim an hour with your setup, reddog?

Thankfully I haven't had to do an hours worth
But I reckon 50 in 10mins
With the Redding you clamp the case in a quick change chuck and spin the case not the cutter
It has a big handle on it so no blisters and is also convertible to power if you wanted to down the track

[Arth]

Thankfully I haven't had to do an hours worth

But I reckon 50 in 10mins.

Not bad. That 150 in half an hour (obviously... go captain math! ) which is more than I've ever shoot in a single session.

If you can turn around a days brass in one quick session, happy days.