Frankford Arsenal

I have one, I like it. Great for large batches of 223 or any other cartridge, I still use my Forster trimmer if only doing a small batch of 20 or so. Change over from one cartridge to another takes a bit of time is my only dislike on the FA unit, but it isn't a big problem.
 
I pretty much only trim 223 brass these days. I did have one but got rid of it for two reasons. The first is I was getting blisters on my fingers from shoving them into the trimmer and the second is the time. I process thousands at a time and it took too long and after every 100 or so I had to clean all the shavings out. I ended up dropping the coin and building a processing toolhead for my 650 with a 1200 trimmer and shopvac hooked up and now it fast and easy.

If you are doing a few thousand a year, the machine is great.
 
I just picked one up from Cabela's last week ($229 price matched w/ Tenda since I had gift cards).

I set it up last night and did a batch of 223. OMG so much better than running stuff in my drill press.
 
I like mine, very consistant trim length if you dont go all he-man jamming the cases in to the cutter. Upgrading the cutter head also helps. Reasonably quick, takes about 10 seconds per case to trim, chmfer inside and out, and clean the pocket.
 
Awesome little machines, some of the smaller brass is a bit of a PITA (.223 .300 blackout etc) but easily worth the money.

Why I struggled with a Lee cutter in a Dewalt drill for so long I will never know
 
Sleeper said:
Definitely change out the cutting head
One that came on mine was garbage
Click to expand...

Yeah I did 1K .338LM cases and tossed it. That's about the only gripe with this machine though!
You will instantly feel it when the OEM cutter loses it's edge... noticeable chatter. Install a quality cardie cutter and it rocks!
 
I have had mine for 3 years now, 20,000 rounds later and still going strong. .223, 243, 30-06, .308, 30-30 and 22-250. One of the best features is the is trim features, set and forget when batch case trimming. Also, when your done trim, just 3 more quick steps to chamfer inner/outer, then flip over and do primer pocket.

I hand cranked out 1,000's of brass with my old Lyman mini trim "lathe" and still had to chuck up drill for inner/outer mouth prep, then clean the primer pocket separately. It was killer on the wrists to trim and prep 100 X .223.

The FA machine has all the needed accessories for small/large primer, all bottle neck cases included.
- straight wall cases (45-70) don't work, along with pistol cases
- Reviews said to upgrade to RCBS cutters (I have not yet - supplied have worked just fine)
- I have set up on 45 degree angle and collect all brass trimmings,or stand straight up. The mounting base is solid, and I screwed to bench, pushed up against wall. NO movement
- Get a good pair of garden gloves, it helps to grip cases better, stop spinning in finger tips
- Blackout cases are very small in length, gloves a must for grip
- Wrist still get sore, but not as quick and for not as long, because the operation of single a case is about 20 seconds (Start to finish), and you only handle once after resizing

I have not found a single bad thing to say about it, it works, speeds up batches of 100 .223 (most fired) by at least an hour. I do batches of 100, 3 times a week during peak shooting times.

It just makes it easier. Watch the videos about how to set trim depth, and don't forget to push the rubber ring inside by hand. Don't try screw it in.
 
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