Another way to uniform primer pockets

[Three44s]

A member recently sold me a pair of Lee Zip trims.

I wanted to stretch the horizons on what the little gizzmos will do ......

I could not find much on how to cut pockets ...... save for a partial quote from the CBA web site ..... I'd have to join to read the rest of it. I am a member on more than enough web sites already ..... CBA is certainly worthy ...... but I just don't do the sites I belong to justice already.

The partial quote mentioned a .40 S&W case ..........

My current cutters are Lyman and they use the standard 8-32 thread ........ my idea was to get a coupler nut (they are longer than standard) and and I started looking at a 9mm Luger case .......

Well .... one thing lead to another and by the time I had some sort of a solution for now .......... I was using a 40 S&W case with a 9 mm also.

So here's what I did:

I took the 9mm case and deprimed it and oversized the flash hole and taped it to 8-32. I also deprimed the "40" and then with the two cases facing each other ..... I married them up ...... installed the Lyman cutter into the new threaded rear of the 9mm casing and set it in the Zip trim with the the 40 s&W case in the Zip tool.

I went to town with a box of re-sized 243 Win cases this afternoon and in no time I had them all primer pocket uniformed ........ and no sore hands ....

I read all the "Zip trims are junk" claims and that's all fine and good but I am not buying it ..........

In the course of our ranching ....... we run more than our fair share of Briggs engines .......... they power our side roll sprinkler lines when we move them ........ and there is one thing you learn about rope starters ..... quick!

You learn that you DON'T let them fly to over speed the rewind and you DON'T hit the end of the travel when you are still pulling out!

The zip trim is no different!

And I learned a further lesson with the "zip" ....... when you are re-winding to get another pull on the same case for a particular operation .......... you want to release the pressure of the work so as to allow a more free re-wind of the tool.

I have cordless drills and corded drills and all that good stuff ........ it seems like I am forever re-charging something just to run a little brass.

I can burn some beans on a little zip trim and save money from having to go to a fitness club cause I used power.

Best regards

Three 44s

[Walter Laich]

glad it works for you.

[bhn22]

I mount the uniforming reamers in a cordless drill and have at it myself. My drill batteries are always charged.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have found that very few Lee tools are junk. They do test things for a good amount of time before they release them.

Any outfit selling a product has to look at two different things before they market. That is the number of sales the product will generate,,, and more importantly the number of "Returns" you will get if the product sucks.

Sales can only help you. Returns can only hurt you but they can do it in several ways. You either have to replace or refund,,, either one of which costs you money. But what really kills you is the bad press you get as a result of exposing an inferior product.

Word of mouth is a powerful thing and it is a double edged sword.

Not all products are winners. Some just fill a need for a segment of the population. Others are Homeruns and are widely touted. There is room for both in anyone's inventory. However marginal or inferior products need to be weeded out and dumped. They can only hurt you in the long run.

The "As Seen on TV Stores" and drug stores are full of them. These products definitely fall under the heading of "Caveat Emptor."

However if the product works for you, it still can be of value,,, it just isn't of value to most people. Nothing wrong with that.

Randy

[kryogen]

the lee trim tool was junk to me. (the length guide rod). It works for hand operation, but it got worn so fast when I ran it on a drill (just rubbing against the metal bottom of the case holder, just slight hand presure). First one failed after 600 or so, 2nd one failed after 300 or so. (it gets longer, so the OAL gets shorter and shorter).

I just bought a WFT, they are quite fast and wont change OAL.

I never wanted a zip tool..... just buy a cheap drill and strap it in a vise or on your bench or anything.

I use a press drill just because it doesnt move, but of course I don't use the "press" handle.

[DR Owl Creek]

the lee trim tool was junk to me. (the length guide rod). It works for hand operation, but it got worn so fast when I ran it on a drill (just rubbing against the metal bottom of the case holder, just slight hand presure). First one failed after 600 or so, 2nd one failed after 300 or so...




Some years back, I had several thousands of pieces of .223/5.56 NATO brass to process. When using a cordless driver, those Lee trimmer pilots wore down below spec in as little as 200 pieces. I had one of those Lee pilots for 44 Magnum too, and it wore down after trimming about 120 pieces of Federal brass. That one really p*ssed me off.

After that, I also opened a brand-spanking-new one for .45-70, but I could see through the plastic packaging that the pilot had swirl marks on it, and it looked used. I measured it, and it was about .020" too short right from the factory. I assumed someone had returned it to Lee, and they just repackaged it to sell it again. To me, that's unethical. They all went into the trash then.

That was my last experience with Lee.


Dave

[mdi]

Well, I got a Lee trim tool for .223 mebbe 12 years ago. I use it for my single shot ammo where I'm doing a lot of "over prep." on my brass. I have yet to wear out a stud or holder with normal use (stud/cutter in a drill, case/holder in hand). All the ones I've used are hardened...

[kryogen]

Well, I got a Lee trim tool for .223 mebbe 12 years ago. I use it for my single shot ammo where I'm doing a lot of "over prep." on my brass. I have yet to wear out a stud or holder with normal use (stud/cutter in a drill, case/holder in hand). All the ones I've used are hardened...

I did exactly that, last 2 ones lasted 200 rounds of 223 or so only.

Lee makes some good products, and some too cheap products. I use a lot of their stuff, but some is just unusable.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I just finished making 500 Makarov cases out of 9mm Luger cases. This required removing .040 from each case, which is a lot more than normal trimming will ever do.

I used a Lee 3 Jaw Chuck in my cordless drill and the pilot held on the wooden knob. My pilot is still good and I really don't understand those that have a wear problem with these tools. The Pilots are hardened material. You don't need to sit there and grind on them after the pilot hits the bottom,,, You are done as soon as it bottoms out?

Also did you know that you can back the pilot out of the cutter a little and it will still hold adjustment?

I have a complete machine shop to work in and I tried every method I have available to do this massive trim job. That includes Mills and Lathes.

The Lee Tool was by far the fastest and easiest method available, and at the price I really don't see how anyone can go wrong.

Now if I was going to trim 2000 .223 cases on a regular basis I would probably buy a WFT or similar. However I would never trim 2000 .223 cases or that many of any other caliber, so I guess I won't have that problem. Now I think about it, I'd probably do it the same way I did the Mak cases.

.223's are a one way trip for me. I pick them up, I reload them and shoot them, and then I seldom find them again. No need to trim O/F cases.

YMMV

Randy

[kryogen]

well like I said my last 223 trimmer lasted 200 rounds
Don't ask me why, I don't know.
"my own point of view only, might not represent reality:
Probably, the company that makes them in china used cheap metal or bad hardening process, and they were pure junk simply"
That's why they failed. I guess.
And no, I didn't grind them or anything, just use them. Stop when they bottom out.

[Three44s]

Though my point was not about case trimming with the Zip tool ......... it was about another way to spin up a primer pocket uniformer ......... I guess I'll have to see how soft my Lee case length pilots are? I've never really trimmed much with the Lee system as my main case trimmers are the Lyman universal and then a pair of Wilsons when I want the length to come out to a knat's rear end.

I would say a bit of Imperial die wax would remedy the Lee soft syndrom? (if my stems have it ........... )

It certainly stops galling on the shoulder stop of my pocket uniforming cutter.

Thanks and best regards

Three 44s

[MT Chambers]

Okay, everyone together now...."bring back the Zip trim, bring back the Zip trim"

[kryogen]

is it discontinued?