Lee Zip Trim Troubles

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Kaido

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Like the average Joe, I'm far from being a fan of case trimmer when it come to reloading. I thought I would be able to save some time by getting a Lee Zip Trim, but right now I have a bit of an issue.
I bought it Amazon and it took a bit to get here so before going the return route, I figured I'd see if anyone here may of had the same issue.

I have two shell holders, the one for .308 works fine and locks the case in place and allows for trimming with the ball cutter handle and case gauge. The trouble starts when I try and do the same with the .223 attachment.
The first sign of trouble was that the .223 case length gauge wouldn't easily screw into the ball cutter, that wasn't a big deal since I was able to eventually get that seated properly.
My major issue is that when I try and get the shell holder to hold the case in place, it doesn't seem to grab very tightly. With the holder being bottomed out, least what seems to be bottomed out, I can still slid the brass in and out of it with little to no effort.

Has anyone else had this issue with the Lee system(s)?
 
Icefire said:
isn’t the shell holder screwing in the black adaptor until it contact the brass?
Click to expand...

That's how the .308 one is working for me. If I have no brass in, the shell holder will bottom out on the black adapter, with brass it hooks the case and hols it in place.
When I put the .223 holder on with out a piece of brass, there's a gas between the bottom on the holder and the adapter. With brass the same thing happens leaving it loose enough for me to slide the casing around.



Auggie Doggie said:
Get the 3 jaw chuck for it. It works far better. Well worth the $23. Western Metal has them in stock.

https://www.westernmetal.ca/shooting/lee-precision-3-jaw-chuck-lp-90608

Auggie D.
Click to expand...

I'm kind of wishing I went that route now. I thought this is something I would run into with the 3-jaw and I'd be safe from it happening with the proper shell holder.
 
The problem is the ball bearing inside the cutter is too big and makes the cut too aggressively. You have to remove it (keep it for larger casings!) and replace it with slightly smaller bearing. I used a 6mm airsoft B.B. and it works great for me. Took me a long time to figure this out!
 
Icefire said:
Contact lee might be the wrong shellholder?
Click to expand...

That's what I think I might do. I haven't found a way of making it all match up at all.

Attilathecanuk said:
The problem is the ball bearing inside the cutter is too big and makes the cut too aggressively. You have to remove it (keep it for larger casings!) and replace it with slightly smaller bearing. I used a 6mm airsoft B.B. and it works great for me. Took me a long time to figure this out!
Click to expand...

You're thinking of the Lee Quick Trim. I had and used that one for a little while, but I found it tok a little to long for my liking to trim the cases down, that's why I picked up the Zip Trim.
 
Kaido said:
I had and used that one for a little while, but I found it tok a little to long for my liking to trim the cases down, that's why I picked up the Zip Trim.
Click to expand...

Do you have any motorized tool for deburring or chamfer?

Lee now make a threaded cutter so you only have to use the shellholder/black holder to push on the pilot
 
Kaido said:
That's what I think I might do. I haven't found a way of making it all match up at all.



You're thinking of the Lee Quick Trim. I had and used that one for a little while, but I found it tok a little to long for my liking to trim the cases down, that's why I picked up the Zip Trim.
Click to expand...

With the Lee Quick Trim dies and manual cutter, it takes me an average of 12 seconds per case to trim to within 0.001" and get a nice consistent chamfer inside and out. Compared to over a minute to perform the same operations with poorer results using a drill mounted shell holder and the hand held cutter and chamfering tool. Longer if the brass wasn't perfectly centred in the shell holder and either fell out or had to be re-set.
 
Icefire said:
Do you have any motorized tool for deburring or chamfer?

Lee now make a threaded cutter so you only have to use the shellholder/black holder to push on the pilot
Click to expand...

I don't have the motorized one, it's their little pull cord style trimmer where you attach a shell holder and then use a case length gauge that screws into a cutter. Then as you pull the cord it spins the brass against the cutter.
When it comes to chamfering/deburing, I just use the little hand tool since it take a second or two per case.


dirtybarry said:
With the Lee Quick Trim dies and manual cutter, it takes me an average of 12 seconds per case to trim to within 0.001" and get a nice consistent chamfer inside and out. Compared to over a minute to perform the same operations with poorer results using a drill mounted shell holder and the hand held cutter and chamfering tool. Longer if the brass wasn't perfectly centred in the shell holder and either fell out or had to be re-set.
Click to expand...

Maybe I was just to impatient with it, it always seemed to take for what seemed like ever.




On the positive side of things, I did call Lee about the problem. It took all of a few seconds and not only was the issue figured out on their end, but they also have a new shell holder they'll be sending out.
The problem is that the shell holder wasn't threaded far enough, so it won't sit low enough on the adapter to grab the case.
 
dirtybarry said:
With the Lee Quick Trim dies and manual cutter, it takes me an average of 12 seconds per case to trim to within 0.001" and get a nice consistent chamfer inside and out. Compared to over a minute to perform the same operations with poorer results using a drill mounted shell holder and the hand held cutter and chamfering tool. Longer if the brass wasn't perfectly centred in the shell holder and either fell out or had to be re-set.
Click to expand...

I'll second recommending the quick trim. It's more consistent than my Lyman bench trimmer, and quicker too.
My expectations were low at first, but the quick trim is now one of my favorite tools. Partially because I hate trimming and this made it so much easier.
 
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