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Tonto
03-08-2006, 10:29 PM
I've been prepping cases this winter and doing a lot of trimming. Looking for speed and accuracy, repeatable performance and guess what I discovered...of the three methods I have for trimming, the simplest and cheapest is the fastest and the best..I have the Lyman lathe type trimmer with power drive from a cordless screwdriver, a tool from Cabelas that indexes off the case shoulder and the good old fashioned Lee trimmer with the lock stud for drill power...By far, the Lee delivers the fastest and most accurate sizing for the time, energy and money....I'll be listing the two trimmers for 22-250 and 223 on eBay soon, they set me back about $20 each....I would have never guessed this, the two methods that didn't work as well required the exact pressure when trimming...tougher when you do 200 cases at a sitting...differences ran .005 or more at times..technique was FL sizing, trim then chamfer then measure after final tumbling in treated corncob media

Four Fingers of Death
03-09-2006, 06:54 AM
I have a Lee tool for every calibre I reload now. Quick as. I have an RCBS lathe with lots of spuds which I pull out every once in a while, but after jerking about with it I usually put it back and go for the Lee.

The Redding file trim dies were good, quick couple of strokes, spin the debur tool and away you go. I have these in 308 and one in another calibre, 223 I think (hope).

The beauty of the Lee system is you can polish the cases as well. I mount mine in the drill press and use a tuft of imregnated wool and finish off with a soft cloth. They come out looking like museum pieces. I have a friend who is a dealer and he collects cartridges. He brings them to me and I tried to tell him that they would be more valuable left standard, but he doesn't care (he doesn't bother with old rare stuff anyway, so it doesn't matter), He insists on paying me $5 a case. I let it rack up and buy something off him everynow and then. They sure look purty when I give them back to him, he is always as happy as a lark and gets his son to airbrush them with clear gloss varnish.

Junior1942
03-09-2006, 08:19 AM
If you have a drill press, chuck the Lee cutter in it. Then turn on the drill and chuck a case in the Lee shell holder and push it up and onto the case length guage/cutter. You won't believe how fast & easy trimming cases can be.

waksupi
03-09-2006, 09:42 AM
Junior, I don't respond to many of your posts. I am usually in awe of some of the neat ways you go about things. Once again, I am agog, at another darn good idea.

felix
03-09-2006, 10:54 AM
Yes, indeed, this Lee trimmer dealie is the most accurate of them all, even when doing them by hand. I do it with 222 and 308 cases in particular. My other guns could care less how accurate the lengths are because of all of the other limitations to their shooting accuracy. ... felix

Four Fingers of Death
03-10-2006, 07:44 AM
If you have a drill press, chuck the Lee cutter in it. Then turn on the drill and chuck a case in the Lee shell holder and push it up and onto the case length guage/cutter. You won't believe how fast & easy trimming cases can be.

I chuck the Lee shell holder into the drill press and then set the case into it. I then insert the cutter into the case mouth, trim, etc and then polish. If you are using rags, etc you have to watch your fingers and hold i right as the drill press will grab them as quick as all get out if you hold them wrong. I'm a bit more wary of this, having already lost a finger.

They sure do sparkle though!

kenjuudo
03-10-2006, 09:19 AM
I adapted a sewing machine motor to hold the Lee holder, lock in the case, hit the pedal, trim and chamfer inside and out.

TC66
03-10-2006, 09:36 AM
Junior

That is exactly what I do and you are very right. It is fast and easy.

Junior1942
03-10-2006, 09:40 AM
Mick, my method is about twice as fast as yours. It's perfectly safe, too, but not if you hold it with a rag! That's a good way to become 3fingermick.

abunaitoo
03-10-2006, 04:23 PM
Fastest way is to chuck the cutter in a drill. I've found that if you run the drill fast, the shell won't grab. If you go slow, sometimes the shell will catch.
I've been wanting to try the universal shell holder that Lee has. Seems like it would make it faster yet.
I made a handle for the shell holder out of a file handle. Works great.

Blackwater
03-12-2006, 01:23 AM
I use the drill with the Lee case spinner, and I hold the drill with my right hand while I chuck a case in the shell holder, screw the lock stud down, then insert the trimmer with my left hand. A quick brrr, and it's trimmed. Take that out, lay it down, pick up the Lee chamfer/debur tool, and chamfer & deburr. Again, one quick brrr on the drill's trigger, and all done, except then I pick up a small tuft of 0000 steel wool, and hold over case mouth, and one more quick brrr, and the case mouth's slick as glass. Bullets seat noticably easier when the case mouth's polished like this. VERY noticably. Then if the case looks like it needs it, I run the steel wool down the neck, shoulder and body of the case to shine it up. Really looks better than factory new after this.