Lee case trimmer. The base either goes in a nut driver or an electric screw driver (or a small vice grip if I can find either of those). Base (shell holder) also works great for case neck turning.
Lee case trimmer. The base either goes in a nut driver or an electric screw driver (or a small vice grip if I can find either of those). Base (shell holder) also works great for case neck turning.
"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
~Theodore Roosevelt~
WFT for .233 and .30-06. Sinclair version of Wilson trimmer for everything else. Also trying out the newer Lee die based Deluxe trimmer, looks promising for speed as well.
Giraud Tri-Way
"Hollow Points"-"From Those Who Care Enough To Send The Very Best"
Lee case trimmer mostly. I also have a Forster, but Lee is a bit quicker. The Lee 3-jaw chuck goes into the drill to chuck the cases. Pretty quick and efficient...
Bayou52
NRA Life Member
"Keep Calm and Reload"
I use the Lee tools, the case length gauge, cutter, and case holder are very inexpensive. A little slow, but all the cases come out exactly the same, plus, when you want to switch to another case, all you have to buy is the appropriate case length gauge. I use a cordless drill.
L E Wilson for every thing
Lee, C&H, and Forster. Use them all and all do a good job. I like the C&H the best though. james
The Lyman as it seemed the best at the time and recently upgraded to the powered RCBS unit as it will chamfer and debur as well. Looking at the WFT for processing oodles of .223.
BTW, I cannot recall ever trimming pistol brass except for making ammunition for accuracy testing of .38 Spl. over 40 years ago and it was not worth the effort.
Don Verna
I use an RCBS trimmer primarily. But I also use the Lee hand trimmer when doing bulk and mainly mil spec stuff. Add a drill and you can knock out a couple hundred cases quick. In one of my recent buys of stuff I got a Wilson trimmer. Cleaned up nice and I ordered a .223 holder for it. I am going to set it up for .223 and lock it down. As long as accuracy is there, I'll have a dedicated trimmer to .223.
Buy one of these.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/62...nd-trim-center
You will be glad you did. I wished I had discovered it years ago. Used to do everything by hand. With this tool, you can trim, chamfer, debur and clean the primer pocket in about 20 seconds and done. Works about all cases from .223 to 45-70 without any additional attachments. Now instead of measuring all cases, I typically just go ahead and trim to the minimum.
Rosewood
Evangelical, deplorable redneck and proud of it.
I use both an RCBS trim pro and an motorized version of the same. they are piloted lathe trimmers. that and a caliper and you can get .xxx trim precision. It sounds harder than it is.
I started loading bottleneck rifle before I ever loaded pistol... I was surprised to see how much less work it was to load pistol.
For trimming you have a lot of good options. A lot depends on your process. I use Lee and an RCBS. Small runs I use the Lee. With the Lee you have to deprime first. The case gauge goes through the cartridge case and the end goes through the flash hole and touches the shell holder to set the length. They are simple and efficient and affordable. The only complaint I have with them is they used to have a hardened insert for the tip. Now they just machine it in. Not horrible but I prefer the originals. If I am doing a bigger batch I like the RCBS because you do not have to deprime the case first. The other types mentioned index off of the shoulder of case. So it needs to be resized first to be accurate. FB
My 1st. one (in the '60s) was a C&H. Gave it to a dear friend when he moved.......he always liked it.
Replaced it with a Forester which works well.
For volume I have a Gracy which I rarely use since I no longer shoot XTC.
If you have a caliper or similar measuring devise, I'd suggest the Forester.
Henry
Lyman Ezee trim for common calibers and my old Forster for the others.
I appreciate all of the responses, I'm thinking for my limited space and low volume, I'll give the Lee tools a shot. (Unless I happen to stumble on something else cheap and used) So the Lee setup consists of a case length gauge, a hand/power driver, and a cutter. I see they also offer the Zip trim lathe type thingy, does this use the same pieces? Is it even useful, considering I could chuck up the existing holder in a drill?
Between the Lee Zip Trim and their 3 Jaw Chuck I recommend the 3 Jawed Chuck. It really is a very good ancillary tool for trimming with Lee case length gauges. It's just so much easier and faster use with a drill.
"An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out." Will Rogers
Country Gent posted a nice summary of whats available.
I use a Giraud for high volume rifle cases and a Wilson for the lower volume calibers. I use the Giraud for speed. I can maintain 14-16 cases pre minute and .001 in accuracy. I use the Wilson because it makes an accurate and square cut. I've also owned and used the Lyman and RCBS trimmers. The universal chuck on the Lyman is nice.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |