Worlds Cheapest Case Trimmer?

Found what was advertised as the worlds cheapest case trimmer on ebray the other day and the cost had me ordering two of them to try out and see if the less than $30 ea trimmers were indeed good enough to cut the mustard. Received them yesterday set them up for case length and chucked them up after removing my .223 cutter that cost almost $100.

What I found was impressive. These cheap little cutters held the length to within several thousanths and while ugly I can live with plus or minus .002 in length surely just as good as those cutters you spend $100+ on that you chuck up each case and turn the crank.

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They were 23.49 each with free shipping. I am in no way associated with the manufacturer of this product. I just thought I would share my find of what I consider to be a good deal for those that might be looking at this type of product.

I think the world of my Tri Way trimmer by Giraudtool.com the results I got from the cheapest trimmer are in line with the tolerances I can hold with the more expensive trimmer. Note that both do require that you keep the surface inside chean because any trimmings tht get in the way will result in different and non- similar results. Both tools locate off the shoulder and the manufacturer claims the material will not wear out. Note due keep some Q- tips on hand to clean the inside of the tool as you would the more expensive Tri Way cutter.

Thank you for the report. I just ordered on in .223 to process a few thousand cases.

http://www.newhighpower.com/brass-trimmers.html
HMR TRIMMERS
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Details​


​NEW: HMR "WCT" Worlds
cheapest trimmer!
Don't let the acronym fool you, because this trimmer is very cheap, but also VERY effective! Available in your favorite cartridges, with more to come.
The WCT is a caliber-specific case trimmer that indexes off of the shoulder of the case. It has a chamber cut in the trimmer body, and an adjustable endmill to control the case trimmed length. To use, you must size your brass prior to trimming. The more uniform your sizing, the more uniform the case trimmed length. The trim length has approximately .225” of adjustment, to accommodate any custom length you would like.
​Adjustment
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This is pretty straight forward. Loosen the endmill-retaining set screw. Then insert a case that is trimmed to the length you want your cases. ​
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While keeping the case seated into the trimmer body, move the endmill into the body until it makes contact with the case.
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Retighten the set screw to hold the endmill in the proper position. It doesn’t take a great amount of tension to hold the endmill in place.
Ordering
Please visit the HMR Shop page or ebay page to order!

The WCT only trims to length. It does not chamfer inside or out like some other very nice, high capacity trimmers, but it costs $20, not $300+. You can operate the WCT by hand, but it works exceptionally well with a drill press or cordless drill motor. The faster the better.

The WCT is available in .223, .300 Blackout, 6.5 Creedmoor(also works for 6.5 Grendel), 30-30, .243 Win, 22-250, .308, and 30.06. More calibers will be available soon.

Thanks for the head's up
Looks like a good deal

I always found that the biggest PIA with trimming was the inside/outside champfering. So I've gone big time for Lee's "Quick Trim Deluxe" which gets that done with one pass. And would also take the title for "world's cheapest" away if you get set up for more than one cartridge as you use the same cutter with the different cartridge die bodies.

Makes sense

Referring to it as the "WCT" is sure to ruffle some feathers w/ Little Crow Gun Works. And rightfully so because it's going to create confusion w/ their product. I guess I have higher standards. The Forster tool is slower but every case comes out the same length.

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Originally Posted by dragon813gt

Referring to it as the "WCT" is sure to ruffle some feathers w/ Little Crow Gun Works. And rightfully so because it's going to create confusion w/ their product. I guess I have higher standards.

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Dragon: In todays world nobody cares about riffled feathers, and especially on Ebay. This WCT vs. WFT thing is pretty minor compared to the things that normally happen on Ebay that they do nothing about.

I have had no less than 25 different outfits knock off my Jeep Seat Riser Product over the last 10 years. Some have gone so far as to use my description word for word or my pictures. You can complain all you want, Ebay doesn't give a ship. They are getting their fees and that's really all they care about. I have had no luck getting them to take down other products or even descriptions or pictures that were mine. They really don't care.

One outfit was selling the product as the "Buchanan Precision Machine Seat Riser Kit!" Except I didn't sell them any product and they were having them made somewhere else and saying they were mine. I went directly to them and threatened to sue them for using my name and they backed off.

My wife fights this battle constantly for her little store. People use her pictures complete with the water mark she puts on them, some try to erase the mark, others use her descriptions and maybe change a word or two.

Ethics in the business world is a thing of the past and only exists in few places, and none of them involve very much money. If there is any significant amount of money involved, anything goes.

My Seat Riser Product is priced so low nobody but me can make any money off it. But they still try and there is a new one every few months. It takes no brains whatsoever to knock off a product that is no more than 8 Blocks of aluminum with holes, 8 bolts, and 8 washers. And the no talent SOB's out there who do it are nothing more than thieves In My Not So Humble Opinion. Ask me how I really feel!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is also the reason why you'll never see my Hand Press on Ebay. Amazon maybe. The Chinese would have it knocked off in a heartbeat.

That said, these guys did come up with viable inexpensive product that looks like it would work fairly well. One thing about it that I don't like is the fact that the cartridge body is rotating against the shoulder of the case. This will eventually wear the body of the tool and all of the cases, but I don't see it as a big problem. The expensive ones have the cartridge holder mounted in a ball bearing so it stops when it hits the case.

For $23 I think this might be a good thing. Also if you ran it on a drill press and kept an air jet blowing on the holes it would blow the chips clear and you could probably run continuously.

Randy

I meant they might be hearing from Little Crow Gunwork's lawyers. Not that eBay would intervene. They certainly have a case w/ causing confusion. And the maker of this tool used the name he did specifically because it closely resembles the other product. If a large company had this happen to them, and eBay did nothing after being informed they would end up in court. That's what it's going to take for them to be proactive.

I realize this is small scale businesses. The company I work for has trademarks on all sorts of names. It was because we developed the product and trademarked any name we could think of. This prevents the competition from using it in the future when the patents run out. Lots of money involved in this process but it's protecting hundreds of millions in the long run.

Sorry if I derailed the thread. I didn't mean to.

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Originally Posted by dragon813gt

I meant they might be hearing from Little Crow Gunwork's lawyers. Not that eBay would intervene. They certainly have a case w/ causing confusion. And the maker of this tool used the name he did specifically because it closely resembles the other product. If a large company had this happen to them, and eBay did nothing after being informed they would end up in court. That's what it's going to take for them to be proactive.

I realize this is small scale businesses. The company I work for has trademarks on all sorts of names. It was because we developed the product and trademarked any name we could think of. This prevents the competition from using it in the future when the patents run out. Lots of money involved in this process but it's protecting hundreds of millions in the long run.

Sorry if I derailed the thread. I didn't mean to.

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So far I don't own a little crow trimmer but I'm sure they are very good. I'm going to make the assumption that they gauge off the shoulder and so does my $98 trimmer and so does this cheap little trimmer. Legal problems? All the manufacturer has to do according to what I have been told is to change severa things. The cheap trimmer doesn't use a metal enclosure and the other two main trimers do. Also its looking like the cheap trimmer is a run of the mill end mill tool and I believe the other two are more complicated in their design. My $98 trimmer does deburr the neck inside and outside and also trims to length.

As mentioned the cheap trimmer doesn't deburr the neck but that is what I have my Hornady setup for it does the primer pocket, neck inside and outside. So the fact that I have another operation doesn't bother me. Actually the $99 tool seems to grab and one needs to be careful when operating it and the cheap tool is so darn smooth. Another note....I thought I would have a problem with the chips building up inside the tool but they all seem to vacate the tool thru the two round openings. In doing some this morning before I left for work I found they do vary a little more than I first experienced but I was able to stay pretty close to my innitial length of 2.006 that I setup for my .308 brass. I haven't tried the 22-250 with any amount of brass so far but the 1/2 dozen that I did came out real nice.

So, in operating the cheap trimmer I can say that I am satisfied with its operation and its construction and for the price I think its decent. As mentioned it may not be as accurate as some trimmers tht you clamp the case in firmly and can hold right on your set length. One needs to remember that this trimmer like the Little Crow indexes off the shoulder and I think FL resizing one can experience some differences.

Just my .02 for anyone looking for a cheap trimmer.

6bg6ga,

Since it doesn't have a floating chamber for the case shoulder do you feel any need to lube the case to avoid case shoulder scuffing? or is the residual lube from the case sizing die operation enough?

thanks,

Not the cheapest. These work every time.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/47...-and-lock-stud
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/27...308-winchester

On sale for ~$12.00

I bought one of those cheap trimmers off eBay and honestly its paid for itself. I processed 4000 cases with it and never had to touch the adjustment once after the initial time. The difference I noticed with end result between the wct and the wft was the edges have more burrs to be cleaned up with the wct. But not a big deal when thats the next step anyway. I own both and both will do the job.

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Originally Posted by Johnny_Cyclone

6bg6ga,

Since it doesn't have a floating chamber for the case shoulder do you feel any need to lube the case to avoid case shoulder scuffing? or is the residual lube from the case sizing die operation enough?

thanks,

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Johnny,

That is a very good question. One that I also pondered while I waited delivery on the cutters I purchased. The manufacturer claims that because of the particular composition there will be no wear. As both of us have already figured out you are inserting a case into a spinning object that doesn't have a bearing assembly unlike some of the other brands. To answer your question I cannot prove or disprove if there is going to be wear but as my mind seems to work I am going to error on the side of there has to be some wear sooner or later and why not reduce that wear. I plan to FL resize my cases and then trim to length using the cheap trimmer followed by a ultrasonic bath to remove the lube followed by some tumble action. I like clean shining brass. I'm going to recommend running things thru that are lubed simply to reduce drag and to prolong its cheap little life.

One more idea..... I initially set my length and locked it down with the set screw and in most cases would would assume that it would not move or shouldn't. I chuck mine up and simply seat the cutter in and tighten down the chuck. This way the unit cannot change to a longer length because the nylon portion's ability to move if the set screw loosened is eliminated.

Attachment 203644

Picture of the cheap cutter in the chuck so the length cannot get larger as mentioned in above post.

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Picture of the cheap cutter that doesn't deburr the neck and the $99 one that does.

Attachment 203646

Picture of my cheap motor and chuck setup.

Attachment 203647

How I deburr the neck inside and outside.

Picture #1 shows the cutter inserted tightly against the Jacobs chuck. Picture #2 shows the Tri Way cutter that ALSO deburrs the neck inside and outside all at the same time. Picture #4 shows my Hornady deburring tool that does three things it deburrs the neck inside, outside, and deburrs the primer pocket if needed.

Some have wondered why I chose the cheap option over the Tri way this go around. Its a good question. While I do like the Tri Way Giraud trimmer I do find that unless one is very careful the Tri Way unit can and does jerk the case out of your hand. To be blunt the cheap cutter is smoother to operate and I don't mind having to deburr the case inside and outside using the Hornady unit. When you crunch the numbers the cheap cutters cost less than $50 for the two I bought and if I had purchased the Tri Way it would have been $98 X 2 so there is a savings I can use to purchase OTHER reloading equipment.

I've had my 223 WCT in service for over two years and it works great. For the price you can't go wrong. I wish they would come out with one for 25-06.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Johnny_Cyclone

6bg6ga,

Since it doesn't have a floating chamber for the case shoulder do you feel any need to lube the case to avoid case shoulder scuffing? or is the residual lube from the case sizing die operation enough?

thanks,

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The housing is a very slick plastic-one of the high density wear resistant types for me they have worked very well. A little touchy on initial set up but after that no issues. I seldom ever have to chamfer anything but inside and then only slightly. I run in a drill press--it doesn't take long to process a lot of cases. Best money I have spent in a while.

I'm going to give it go.

Thanks everyone,

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Originally Posted by earlmck

I always found that the biggest PIA with trimming was the inside/outside champfering. So I've gone big time for Lee's "Quick Trim Deluxe" which gets that done with one pass. And would also take the title for "world's cheapest" away if you get set up for more than one cartridge as you use the same cutter with the different cartridge die bodies.

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That's what I use and I'm happy with it. It makes converting 30-06 to 8mm Mauser SO much faster.

I haven't tried the WCT personally but the gentleman that makes them lives about a half hour from me and is a retired machinist and very good guy to deal with. In fact I just recently got my first Garand from him and lots of helpful information. I look forward to dealing with him again and if I didn't have my 650 set up to trim I wouldn't hesitate to deal with him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Johnny_Cyclone

6bg6ga,

Since it doesn't have a floating chamber for the case shoulder do you feel any need to lube the case to avoid case shoulder scuffing? or is the residual lube from the case sizing die operation enough?

thanks,

---

Same question I have, seems it would work good for one or two trimming cycles but eventually will damage the brass. I'm currently in the market for a .358 win trimmer wonder if the 308 model would work?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by oldblinddog

Not the cheapest. These work every time.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/47...-and-lock-stud
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/27...308-winchester

On sale for ~$12.00

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Oldblinddog beat me to it but this was my thoughts too. Its been a few years since I have bought any of these but I was thinking you could get set-up to trim one caliber for between $10 and $12. So, its not the cheapest! It looks like it should work ok though!

As far as dealing with the cases after you trim them with this tool I would use a long tapered countersink type cutter for cleaning out the inside burr, and then just tumble the cases to remove the outside burr.

On pistol cases like converting 9mm to Makarov where you take a bunch off, I just tumble them after cutting them and they get deburred inside and out in the process.

Anytime you trim cases, you should follow by tumbling anyway.

Randy

Randy, what's your reasoning behind this - Anytime you trim cases, you should follow by tumbling anyway.

I have never tumbled after trimming.

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Originally Posted by flashhole

Randy, what's your reasoning behind this - Anytime you trim cases, you should follow by tumbling anyway.

I have never tumbled after trimming.

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Even if you deburr and chamfer the metal is still a little rough. Tumbling smooths everything out. I tumble mine because I prefer to either store them dirty and unprocessed or ready to load. Tumbling them before bagging them up costs them in NuFinish so they don't tarnish.

Flash: I usually tumble cases before sizing and after sizing to get the goo off them. If they are going to be trimmed it happens right after sizing so they would get tumbled anyway.

I don't trim very many cases. Only if absolutely necessary. 5.56 never as they will only be loaded once or twice before they are lost. Pistol cases never period.

If you tumble after you trim the cases just come out looking better and are thus more fun to load. We all want to make the best looking ammo possible ,,,Right?

Randy

I tumble then lube and size followed by trimming to length followed by tumbling again and then loading.

I also tumble after trimming to insure there are no chips remaining in the case. I have a Gracey trimmer and its cutters do put some fine chips in the case. For handling cases I modified a lee priming tool ( the single primer model) by making a longer pin for it this pinches the case between the shell holders rim and primer pocket giving a good grip for trimming and or deburring under power. ( also saved blisters on finger with large batches). Make the pin .125 longer than the factory pin orso works good and givesa better grip.

The problem with trimmers that locate off the shoulder is brass has to be separated by shoulder to case head length for consistent trim length. I get much better results from the Wilson and rcbs trimmers.


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It looks intriguing, but he doesn't make them for 257 Roberts! DRAT! 8-) Oh, well...my Lee trimmers are inexpen$ive, and last a long time. :smile:

Straighten out your perceptions a bit as you are looking at this a bit crooked.

:razz:

WCT only references an angled shoulder as that is all it touches.

The distance from the shoulder is set by you and IT DOESN'T CARE how big the case mouth is.

I bought an 8mm unit and use it to trim ALL shouldered rifle cases that are 30-06 to 308 or similar in format. 7mm-08, etc.

I bought a .223 unit and use it for all the short cases.

I also use the Holub idea on a homemade 350 Legend (shoulder less) case trimmer that you put the case into a keyless drill chuck then put the trimmer over the protruding case and trim it to length off the face of the chuck. You have to use some care to put the case consistently all the way into the keyless chuck but you still get =/- .003" trim jobs off the system.

So, I trim everything using 3 rig ups ...... I find that brand new sharp new carbide end mills cut more consistently for length compared to two flute HSS end mills.