Armory Sponsor
Posted: 11/28/2013 4:31:23 AM EDT
|
I want to expand my reloading to rifle cartridges and was wondering what trimmer do you guys use?
I was looking at the Lyman Universal Trimmer... most of the are around $100 is there anything less expensive? 
|
|
Quoted:
I want to expand my reloading to rifle cartridges and was wondering what trimmer do you guys use? I was looking at the Lyman Universal Trimmer... most of the are around $100 is there anything less expensive? Find one at MidwayUSA and use the BlackFri code for $20 off $100. |
|
i would suggest something else.
i have the lyman and it sucks. would not hold a constant length no matter what i tried. you can get a power adapter for it for a cordless drill, but it wore it out in 2k rounds trimming. i did this and it has saved my behind and it is a far superior setup go buy a drill press from har bor freight then go buy a forester power case trimmer for a drill press this has saved me so much time and 100% accurate and you can do as many cases in a sitting than you could ever think of. I can do 500 at a time in 1/2 the time it took with the lyman and it does a better job. http://www.forsterproducts.com/catalog.asp?prodid=700292&showprevnext=1 do not forget to buy the collet for the calibers you need and pick upa extra trimmer and upgrade the allen wrench to a good one. theirs are not that good |
|
Quoted: I want to expand my reloading to rifle cartridges and was wondering what trimmer do you guys use? I was looking at the Lyman Universal Trimmer... most of the are around $100 is there anything less expensive? 1) budget 2) trimming speed 3) universal trimmer, or trimmer that only does 1 caliber only.  If you are looking at a universal lathe trimmer, I suggest the RCBS. Comes with and without a motor. PRO tip, get the 3 way cutter.  Why? the 3 way cutter trims, deburrs and chamfers all at once. Close up above. Faster but 1 caliber only is the WFT for about $70. They seem to be popular, someone that has one will be along to tell you about them. In the first pic below the RCBS trimmers are the Possom Hollow (the black one) and the Lee. |
|
Quoted: I want to expand my reloading to rifle cartridges and was wondering what trimmer do you guys use? I was looking at the Lyman Universal Trimmer... most of the are around $100 is there anything less expensive? The Lyman, RCBS, or LE Wilson lathe trimmers. The WFT, CTS, or Possum Hollow - shoulder indexing trimmers. The Lee or Lyman 2-part trimmers that index off of each other. If you just want accuracy and repeatability in your case overall lengths - the LE Wilson is hard to beat. But it's slow. Fine if you'll only do a couple boxes of brass. More than 100 and your hands will be cramped, tired, and you'll hate the tool. The other lathe trimmers are similar... great for a coupel boxes of brass at a time. Even with the various power adapters. I had a Possum Hollow in 223. Used it on 2 pieces of brass. Yes - 2 and only 2. Sold it and never looked at one again except to wonder what the guys who like it see. Maybe it's me? WFT - I never owned one, but in researching case trimmers last winter when I was getting setup to make 300BLK, I looked at both the WFT and the CTS trimmers pretty hard, reading every online review I could find. Both use standard 4-flutes 3/8" center cutting end mills, so you can switch to full carbide cutters. Despite various opinions to the contrary, the fact is, given enough time and use brass will wear tool steel. Especially when you don;t remove the case lube from your cases. The WFT2, with it's interchangeable case inserts is interesting, and you would save a few $$ by going that route over dedicated trimmers. The second review is what lead me to the CTS. Only problem I had was wearing out the cutter after just 2,000 pieces of brass. Solved that by switching to a full carbide cutter. Wore the first carbide cutter out after the equivalent of 40K pieces of brass. I was trimming way too much brass to getto final case OAL, so modified my rough cut length and expect my current cutter to last a long time. CTS makes a couple of trimmers - the basic one that runs about $50, and a couple of powered trimmers that run quite a bit more than that. PM me if you want the makers contact info. If you're going to be doing only 1 caliber, either the CTS or WFT would fit your needs and both can be adapted to an electric motor when you get tired of holding your hand drill. I had mine clamped in a bench vise and used a velcro cable tie to hold the speed trigger. one thing to remember with case trimmers that index off of the shoulder is accurately setting your headspace when resizing your brass. If you're doing 556/223, brass hardness varies by manufacturer, that will affect how much the brass will spring back after resizing, thereby giving varying headspace (and case OAL) when you trim. Aslong as you're aware of that, you can remedy it by sorting your cases by headstamp, or just deal with the 0.001"- 0.003" variation between headstamps. Annealing is outside the scope of your questions, but annealing before resizing can help in OAL consistency by bringing the brass to a uniform hardness (spring back of the shoulder), and annealing may also increase neck tension uniformity. Good luck. |
|
The Wilson trimmer is the most accurate trimmer out there. They are also amongst the least expensive. It's a great tool but is a bit slow. ($)
World's Fastest Trimmer is good, too. ($) Both of those just trim. Deburr and chamfer are separate operations. Giraud is the fastest (by far) and it deburrs and chamfers while it trims. ($$$) |
|
New member here, and my first post. Hello for youse. I just got my WFT from Little Crow Gunworks this afternoon, and promptly zapped off 200 cases of 5.56 Federals. I set the cutter with a "master" case trimmed to 1.750". Using a corded variable speed electric drill, I pointed the tool up so that it was easier to push the cases into the tool. The advantage to this was the brass chips didn't go flying out centrifugally, but rather stayed in the bottom of the tool until I blew them out after every 15 pieces. The trim result was: all the cases varied from +.001 to -.002 of the nominal 1.750. For now, with a new sharp end mill cutter, the tool is leaving a sharp edge rather than a distinct burr. As the cutter dulls, the burr will probably appear, but for now, a light twist with a case deburring tool breaks the sharp edges off the mouth. I did the 200 pieces in a little over an hour. I am pleased with its performance. |
|
Quoted: New member here, and my first post. Hello for youse. I just got my WFT from Little Crow Gunworks this afternoon, and promptly zapped off 200 cases of 5.56 Federals. I set the cutter with a "master" case trimmed to 1.750". Using a corded variable speed electric drill, I pointed the tool up so that it was easier to push the cases into the tool. The advantage to this was the brass chips didn't go flying out centrifugally, but rather stayed in the bottom of the tool until I blew them out after every 15 pieces. The trim result was: all the cases varied from +.001 to -.002 of the nominal 1.750. For now, with a new sharp end mill cutter, the tool is leaving a sharp edge rather than a distinct burr. As the cutter dulls, the burr will probably appear, but for now, a light twist with a case deburring tool breaks the sharp edges off the mouth. I did the 200 pieces in a little over an hour. I am pleased with its performance.  Hope you spend some time reading at the top of the page. Lots of good info up there.
|
|
Quoted:
The Wilson trimmer is the most accurate trimmer out there. They are also amongst the least expensive. It's a great tool but is a bit slow. ($) World's Fastest Trimmer is good, too. ($) Both of those just trim. Deburr and chamfer are separate operations. Giraud is the fastest (by far) and it deburrs and chamfers while it trims. ($$$) I think you mean, "World's Finest Trimmer". I have two. It's supposed to deburr/chamber too but maybe not as good as Giraud (havent used so can't compare). I bought the WFT 300 BO and 223 only because I reload those the most. However, I found I rarely need to re-trim 300 cases because their shape results in very little stretch. But it worked great for that initial trim after cutting/re-sizing 556 brass though so don't regret the purchase. Haven't used the Wilson but the WFT 223 gets a huge amount of use. It's fantastic IMO. Yes, it's not cheap but you use it so much, the time saved is amazing and worth it. I use it on a drill press. I can turn them out incredibly fast. Bought at Brownells and glad I did. I had one issue worth noting. The Endmill that came with it was the wrong size so it was ripping up the case mouths (cleaned up ok). I realized it when I compared it to the replacement End MIll I got as a spare. Brownell's was great. Sent me new one really quick. Reason I mention this, if you happen to get bad results, check your endmill. It may be wrong. Perhaps LIttle Crow needs better quality checks but they are a small outfit I think. For other less used brass, I go with the cheap Lee trimmer using the drill method. Lee ZIP was a pain. I have it collecting dust somewhere still in box in like new condition. If someone wants it, PM me and I will sell for cheap. |
|
Forster classic trimmer.
Accurate, Fast. Expandable with shorter(pistol) and longer(50bmg) bases. Plus the all in one cutting head and the power adapter for a drill. Mine got a heavy workout last year when I was trimming 9mmLuger brass by 1mm to make 9mmMAK brass. It handled 800rds no sweat. Made a BIG pile of brass curls. |
| Forster Original Case trimmer for someone wanting a hand crank trimmer!! I like the Universal trimmer case holding chuck but the fingers on mine wore out and rounded off after less than 1000 rounds of .223. Quickly and free replacements from Lyman and they have lasted better than the original fingers. It has a cheap fiber bushing rather than a steel bushing to hold the cutter shaft. Not precision. The cheap fiber bushing is held in an aluminum sleeve. The steel stop collars on the cutter shaft stop against the aluminum which isn't good. For a casual reloader who only shoots and reloads a few hundred rifle rounds per year it would be ok but not a volume reloader. For someone who wants a hand crank trimmer I highly recommend the Forster Original Case trimmer. It'll hold up. Longer bases are available for really long rifle cases. Forster for a hand crank trimmer and you can get a power attachment. Original model for most case trimming and the longer classic base for long cases. Comes with collets that will hold most all rifle and pistol cases. |
Armory Sponsor