Trim dies, who is using them?

I use the quick trim die + the drill attachment(I use a small lightweight ryobi cordless), best low cost solution I know, but I'd still like a dillon trimmer setup for my press... maybe some day
 
I use a lee die with the cutter in a cordless drill. Only necked cartridge that I reload for is .308 so I don't bother with any of the straight walls or pistol brass
 
Bit more reading about the Lee gauge/cutter setup and quite a few people are saying it “mashes” vs cuts, not particularly my experience but there’s a lot of people that know a lot more than me.

The three jaw setup does look easier than the Lee threaded shell holder. On the other hand, the Lees cutting dies and the adapter for the Lyman trimmer allow for adjustments. Not overly a necessity but a nice feature none the less.

6MT- Is that a motor on your RCBS trimmer?
 
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My brother was using the Lee hand case trimmer for a bunch he was reloading and he couldn't figure out how you guessed if you trimmed enough off till I got him stopped and explained you have to put the screw the gauge into the cutter. Lucky he only cute a few off to short.
 
The Lee. And I do larger volumes…well…for me anyways. (A hundred at a time is considered large for me;).)

The RCBS unit works. It’s nice. I just find the Lee is quicker, easier, and more accurate. I have found the hand crank’s sweet spot.

But I have always done long cases (read: boomers like .338LM) on the RCBS.
 
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For large volume trimming I bought a Frankford Arsenal Platinum trim unit. The SP crimp remover is useless but other than that I find it to be very consistent when you separate by headstamp. The chamfer/deburr bits are great too. I did all my built up over-length .223 brass recently, about 1200 pieces in an afternoon. Not a great option with an injury as mentioned but for others it's a decent choice, I only paid a little over $200 for it.
 
B said:
For large volume trimming I bought a Frankford Arsenal Platinum trim unit. The SP crimp remover is useless but other than that I find it to be very consistent when you separate by headstamp. The chamfer/deburr bits are great too. I did all my built up over-length .223 brass recently, about 1200 pieces in an afternoon. Not a great option with an injury as mentioned but for others it's a decent choice, I only paid a little over $200 for it.
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I’ve just had a few wrist surgeries in my day and the whole primer crimp, chamfer, deburr was irritating it when doing a few hundred at a time. Solving that with a Lyman case prep centre but the trimmer on the frankford is intriguing and sounds fast. Case trimming is the next irritant to render. Have you used the frankford to trim pistol cases?
I’m still leaning to the adapter for the lyman trim station as the adapter is the only expense vs having to get trim dies for every caliber.

Quick search yields a YouTube video of a lees quick trim on the lyman case prep centre, anyone try this?
 
This works good but is noisy. I put in airpods and ear muffs and listen to a podcast or music.

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If you have a drill press (especially a small one) then this works great and is really fast at trimming. Just need a selection of collets.


pt1010-power-case-trimmer-1.jpg
 
I use a modified lee lock stud and shell holder in a large file handle in a drill press for trimming.
I found that using the bore scope that the "standard " case lengths are too short in my 308 , 6mmBR, and .223 mach rifles, so this system gets the neck closer to the chamber throat . I found that I get far less carbon build up this way.
Cat
 
Remmy700 said:
I’ve just had a few wrist surgeries in my day and the whole primer crimp, chamfer, deburr was irritating it when doing a few hundred at a time. Solving that with a Lyman case prep centre but the trimmer on the frankford is intriguing and sounds fast. Case trimming is the next irritant to render. Have you used the frankford to trim pistol cases?
I’m still leaning to the adapter for the lyman trim station as the adapter is the only expense vs having to get trim dies for every caliber.
Click to expand...

The only straight walled stuff I bother trimming are .30C and .454 Casull. The Frankford unit is designed to index on the shoulder of the cartridge so while you can trim stuff witout you will need a rimmed case or a good feel for how much you are trimming. I only trim .30 because cases too long can lead to OOB issues (supposedly) and .454 because the crimp I apply is so much consistent length is important. I have never found it necessary in any way to trim stuff like .380, 9mm, .38/.357 etc.

The Lyman is a pretty decent option as well if you are leaning that way. I have never owned one but they are easy enough to use.
 
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