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Case trimmer....the hand crank ones. Feedback?
- Thread starter Wallace's
- Start date
I have a Forster hand crank trimmer. Works fine. But I also use the Lee hand held cutter and simply chuck the case in a drill. Also works fine, and a bit quicker than the hand crankers.
I have the lyman and the Frankford Arsenal motorized trimmer setup.
I reload a variety of calibers, so having the hand crank lyman for some lower volume stuff is nice. easy to set up, and I can just clamp it on the bench and not make too much of a mess. cheap to switch from one caliber to another (pilots I think are the only thing needed).
I purchased the FA case prep center a month or two ago with the need to be able to trim a variety of cases in decent volumes. Mostly 556 and 308 but if I get the itching to resize and trim 300 35 remington cases, I can do it pretty quickly and easily.
The nice thing is you don't need extra tools to change to different calibers, and after you trim to length, you can de-burr and chamfer right there and toss the case in the pile and move to the next. I can do anything from 22 hornet to 348 win without having to worry about it they make a specific setup for my calibers.
If you mainly need it for one or two calibers, I would have bought the Giraud triway trimmer. I may still get one just for 308 or 556 at some point but for me wanting to be able to do many different calibers without having to have specific setups for each, the Frankford Arsenal was a good option.
I reload a variety of calibers, so having the hand crank lyman for some lower volume stuff is nice. easy to set up, and I can just clamp it on the bench and not make too much of a mess. cheap to switch from one caliber to another (pilots I think are the only thing needed).
I purchased the FA case prep center a month or two ago with the need to be able to trim a variety of cases in decent volumes. Mostly 556 and 308 but if I get the itching to resize and trim 300 35 remington cases, I can do it pretty quickly and easily.
The nice thing is you don't need extra tools to change to different calibers, and after you trim to length, you can de-burr and chamfer right there and toss the case in the pile and move to the next. I can do anything from 22 hornet to 348 win without having to worry about it they make a specific setup for my calibers.
If you mainly need it for one or two calibers, I would have bought the Giraud triway trimmer. I may still get one just for 308 or 556 at some point but for me wanting to be able to do many different calibers without having to have specific setups for each, the Frankford Arsenal was a good option.
I used the RCBS trimmer for years.... the case holder works fine.... I replaced the hand crank with a hex screw and turned it with my electric screw driver.
I stopped using it when Lee came out with their new case trimmers - so far, so good
I stopped using it when Lee came out with their new case trimmers - so far, so good
For the ones using the hand cranks like the Lyman, not sure if you are doing this or not, but if you are having problems making adjustments for trim length, I keep a master case for each caliber marked with a sharpie and labeled for the trim length in my tool drawer so I have something to check lengths by without digging the books out when trimming. When I swap calibers, I insert the master case, then feed the pilot in and lock the case down in the shell holder and tighten the length adjusters. Then remove the master case and start trimming cases. Has been flawless with perfect lengths every time since I started doing this.
I do the same....
I bought the Lyman with universal head awhile back. It did great for awhile the started cutting crooked. Messed around with it and couldn't figure it out, Tips? Anyway, I bought a LE Wilson case trimmer and absolutely love it. If you're just doing one caliber the cost wouldn't be terrible
Used to use a manual trimmer. Upgraded to the frankford arsenal powered trimmer/processing machine. Wonder why I didn't get one years ago. Now I can trim, chamfer, debur and clean primer pocket in about 20 seconds. Used to have to handle each piece of brass 4 times to do all that at at least 4 times the time. And frankford will use the accessories from other manufacturers.
