Old RCBS case trimmer

[bigjake]

I received an old RCBS hand crank lathe style case trimmer from the elderly lady thats across the street from my mothers house. Its from the 70's i'm guessing. anyway, I don't know if its me, but the darn thing can't be set to repeat! I have an old forester one and its a charm.
I figured out its in the locking collet, it wants to pull the case back when you tighten it. The thing is, you cant tighten it the same every time, especially with different make cases.
If im not doing something wrong with it, then I'll be really surprised that RCBS made and sold these things!!

I jumped the gun. I should have put this post in the "reloading equipment" section. please move it if necessary.



Has anyone experienced this with the old trimmer?

[triggerhappy243]

any pictures of the collets? and keep in mind, if it is worn out, rcbs will replace it free of charge.

[clearcut]

I'm not sure what you got but when I get old stuff I take it apart then clean lube then re-assemble and most of the things work . RCBS has the best customer service ever just give them a call they will make it good!
CC

[dudel]

Did you pull the documentation down from the RCBS site?

[Hardcast416taylor]

Does it have any sort of Model number on the frame somewhere?Robert

[Pipefitter]

I don't know if RCBS still sells it, but years ago I ditched the collet system and bought the spring loaded shellholder (Trim-pro???)system for the trimmer. 2 screws to change the head out. Sorry, but I don't remember what it cost.

[buggybuilder]

I have one of these and called RCBS about replacement parts.
They referred me to Midway so I could buy them because this unit was too old and they do not stock the collets and replacement cutters. But try it anyway, sometimes it depends on who you talk to. Please post your results.

[bigjake]

buggy, I called RCBS and ended up speaking to a supervisor. she told me there was nothing she could really do since it was so old and that i got it second hand. She was nice but to no avail.
I said that I really like rcbs equipment and heard that they had the best customer service. with that being said I told her that I couldn't believe that rcbs could build and actually sell a trimmer that literally does not work. she said that it must have worked, I said it trims cases but it will not repeat with any accuracy. when you tighten the collet, it keeps pulling the brass back as you tighten the t-handle screw. the newer style trimmer 2 and my forester trimmer works well because the brass stays in one position no matter how hard you snug the screw handle.

[GSM]

Probably doesn't cut square either.

Ditched the RCBS for a Hornyday several years ago.

[triggerhappy243]

Now I know which trimmer you are talking about. If the case rim is a different diameter, the collet does draw it further in... changing the whole O.A.L setting. I never set my case lathe up to repeat, i trim each case to the length i need. So I never knew there was an issue. So in regard to your trimmer, have a friend call in and tell them it no longer trims the cases the same and let rcbs make the call to just replace it... with a current model... or just trim like i do.

now on a second note, i have been told that 2 to 4 thousandths of an inch variation will not effect accuracy unless you are shooting a $2000.00 bench rest rifle. I do not trim all my brass to dead nuts accurate and I do just fine.