Trimming brass

[bandmiller2]

Guys theirs nothing I hate more than trimming a pile of brass, I have the Lyman crank trimmer. I have some piloted countersinks and a big Jacobs drill chuck. Any reason I shouldn't do it on the milling machine.?? I shoot a savage 24v 222/20ga and 222 brass is getting hard to find, our range is littered with 223, but that's a lot of cranking. Whats your easy way to trim brass. Frank C.

[sammorgan3]

I don't see a problem with clamping a shellholder up nice and centered then hold brass to stop spinning. Use depth stop on quill with gentle down pressure. I've often considered using a drill press with a 5/8 chuck to hold a lee cutter and length gauge over a small granite plate.

Edit: Don't consider doing anything like this if you aren't an experienced, competent machinist with a healthy respect for the spinny bits.

[GRUMPA]

All I use is 1 of the RCBS lathe type trimmers, the 1 with the collet. I had custom cutting heads made that cuts everything all at once. With a high speed drill attached to it (2100RPM's) it takes me longer to put the brass in the collet than it does to trim.

I do thousands of conversions a month and couldn't do it any other way.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/162764eb1a5735a9d2.jpg


I make the 222Rem as well (In the VS Section) and if your not reaming the necks you should be. There's such a large difference in brass thickness it isn't funny, even if your working with the same head stamp.

[runfiverun]

rifle brass I do on the Dillon trimmer.
it's the same speed as sizing a case, in fact I lube my cases because I am sizing it at the same time..

[mpmarty]

18volt drill on bench and the LEE trimmer works for me just fine.

[Smoke4320]

Giraud Powered Case Trimmer for most calibers.
223 and Blackout like runfiverun above I size and trim in one step.. Actually on 300 I am converting, sizing and trimming in one step
then I deburr both ends (pockets and necks) then resize again as I am loading

[45-70 Chevroner]

I used a Forester trimmer for several years, back in the early eighties. Then I discovered the Lee Trimming system and using a 4 volt drill driver to chuck the shell holder in I wouldn't use anything else. It works great and is very accurate.

[petroid]

Check out the cts case trimmer. Chuck up in drill press and it indexes off the shoulder so you stick one in, trim, and grab another. It's that fast and not expensive compared to a lot of other options

[David2011]

I have the Lee trimmers in every rifle caliber I reload, a Forster with pilots for all my calibers, a Possum Hollow in .223 and a WFT in .223 and a Dillon Rapid Trimmer 1200 set up for .223. By far the WFT and Possum Hollow are the fastest conventional trimmers I have. I did burn out a pretty decent drill using the WFT.

The Lee is inexpensive and reliable. It's a little slow as designed but can be sped up by using their 3 jaw chuck and a drill press or hand drill. The 3 jaw chuck is stiff and balky when new but works pretty well after being broken in. It's unlikely to cut cases too short by its design and requires no adjustment. Inside/outside chamfering is required. I can't imagine using it without the drill adapter.

The Forster is a nice tool for low volume rifle case trimming. It's accurate once adjusted to your desired length but a pain to set up. Inside/outside chamfering required.

The Possum Hollow will trim any case within a given class, i.e., one model will trim .17 Remington, 221 Remington Fireball, 222 Remington, 222 Remington Magnum and 223 Remington. Another will trim 243 Winchester, 260 Remington, 7mm-08 Remington, 308 Winchester and the third will trim 270, 280, 25-06 and 30-06 so they're economical if you have several cartridges within a class. Precise adjustment is difficult without a properly trimmed case to use as a guide. The drill adapter is a necessity to me.

The WFT I have was bought a few weeks before the interchangeable insert model was introduced so it will only trim .223. It's fast and repeatable but not a whole lot faster than the Possum Hollow IMO. They use standard end cutting end mills as the cutter. I have only used it with the high speed steel cutter and some light chamfering is required. I suspect that the optional carbide cutter might give a faster, cleaner cut. Precise adjustment is difficult without a properly trimmed case to use as a guide.

If I were to ever use either the Possum Hollow or WFT for large volume (thousands) trimming again I would make an adapter and attach it to a suitable electric motor rather than a drill. It would be quieter, have more power and be less likely to overheat.


The Dillon RT1200 is pure luxury on a 650 with a casefeeder. I found a lightly used one at a good price; otherwise would not have bought it at retail. They're expensive if new. Note that it sizes and trims in the same step utilizing a special Dillon die made expressly to size and hold the trimmer. The 650 toolhead will decap using a Lee universal decapping die on stage 1, size and trim on stage 3 and I'm trying to figure out how to chamfer the inside of the case on stage 5 although it cuts cleanly enough thanks to the carbide cutter that chamfering is optional. There is an aftermarket primer pocket swager available to replace the priming tool. With that added, a 650 could fully process military brass in one pass. The Dillon is so fast that you don't have to feed the cases into it slowly. It's pretty quiet, too. I expected it to howl like a router but the sound is more like any electric motor running unlaoded; just a hum. It runs at about 4500 rpm and is 1/4 HP so there is a LOT of power available. The only real noise is the shop vac to draw away the brass shavings. Adjustment is relaively easy due to the threaded die that holds the trimmer in place but cases seem to need to be separated by brand as they don't all trim to the same OAL.

David

[blikseme300]

I use the WFT for trimming converted 223 to 300blk but as this does not chamfer the inside & outside. I use a Forster with their 3 in 1 mouth cutter powdered by a LIon drill to finish or trim cases. The Forster 3 in 1 is limited to a few calibers but I have made my own pilots to support other calibers.

I have a Dillon RT1200 but it has seen little use as cases for CB's need to be deburred or chamfered still.

[MOcaster]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/721759/forster-power-case-trimmer?cm_vc=ProductFinding
You might want to check this trimmer out. I haven't used it but it looks like it would work pretty well.

[petroid]

I have actually gotten away from deburring/chamfering altogether. The cts trimmer leaves no burr, inside or out. And flaring the neck/mouth is enough to prevent scraping lead/copper in my experience. I actually use a flaring die instead of inside chamfering. It's just faster

[rockshooter]

I used the Lee hand trimmers for years, mounted in a drill on a stand, and routinely chamfered in/out but was having issues with getting the collet to hang on to the brass- kept coming unscrewed. I switched to WFT for .223 and 300 Blackout. The .223 originally came with a 2-flute cutter and required chamfering. The 300 came with a 4-flute cutter but I replaced both of the cutters with 4-flute carbide ones. With the .223 the cut is now good enough that no further treatment is needed (I do use an "M" die for belling). With the 300 I inside chamfer because it is a cast boo let shooter. I still keep the Lee trimmers handy because sometimes I just need to trim a case or two and don't want to bother getting the WFT out.
Loren

[GL49]

forster with a cordless screwdriver. quick, easy, but still a process I've learned to dislike. I chuck up a HARD socket head cap screw in the cordless screwdriver, screw it into the hole that the handle retaining screw goes into, and trim away. A locknut keeps the screw from bottoming out in the hole.

[blikseme300]

Even when no burr is left the 90* edge will shave lead if the CB touches it. I use M-dies or equivalents to open up case mouths but belling alone is not enough for me. The smallest amount of alloy shavings make me uneasy as I know the CB is no longer perfect.

I don't trim every time I reload so the effort to trim is reduced as I retrieve all my brass every time I shoot. There are many ways to achieve the same goal and to each his own.

[Love Life]

This thread isn't complete without a mention (or picture) of the CBRick's case prep machine. I cry quietly to myself every time I think about that machine...and the fact that it's not mine.

[owejia]

I bought a Lyman universal used trimmer off of gunbroker cheap and took the universal chuck off and made a jig to mount it on and can clamp on Bridgeport mill table and use a 2 flute end mill to trim with, these were the 308 brass to make the 45acp shotshell with, after being cut off with the little harbor freight cutoff saw, can trim to within a .001 really fast. I usually do 500 hundred at a time.

[ukrifleman]

18volt drill on bench and the LEE trimmer works for me just fine.

Same for me, my battery drill clamped in a vice, The Lee universal chuck and case trimmers.

Just about as accurate and consistent as you can get.
ukrifleman.

[dragon813gt]

This thread isn't complete without a mention (or picture) of the CBRick's case prep machine. I cry quietly to myself every time I think about that machine...and the fact that it's not mine.

Same here. I don't have the skills to build one :(

I don't crank by hand. That is some tedious work.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/TimeToMakeAmmo/81AA7EE2-7C73-4FC7-9F29-2990A45F0DA5-13126-000007F4AF7E16A9.jpg

I have the 3 in 1 cutters for 223/308 but they have not held consistent lengths for me. For chamfering and deburing I have a small crank cutter from Lyman. Since it's only one crank per case it doesn't take long. But I will be buying one of the powered case prep centers. They aren't much money and for chamfering and deburing they should work just fine.

[burrkiss]

I have a worlds finest trimmer in my drill press. i have a 1/2 gallon bucket from a itailan place to catch brass shavings. there is a whole in the bottom for the brass go into. the WFT never removes too much once set up. my arm just doesnt have the strength for holding a drill or cranking manually.

i can send pics if someone is interested. pm me.