Hand Trimming

[praetorian97]

I just manually trimmed and reamed 450 rounds of 223/5.56......

*\&@-)-;?€£¥{***%#.


What was I thinking buying a hand trimmer and how come no one warned me?!

Anyone want to buy a slightly used Hornady Case Trimmer?

[Miata Mike]

Yeah, sucks don't it?
Now just wait until you find that some need to have the primer pockets swaged to make the primers fit.

[LarryFlew]

Cordless drill works good for both

[NWPilgrim]

Buck up!

I've trimmed thousands of cases with my Wilson trimmer. I tried a drill attachment but didn't seem as even as by hand. I did however try out and start using the RCBS X-die so I only trim once.

It is hard to recommend or to sort out recommendations because everyone has different needs and different pain points. You don't want to overwhelm someone starting out with every gadget available. And you could get hundreds of different opinions.

Doesn't Hornady offer some form of drill attachment/conversion for their trimmer?

[Volucris]

Buy this:
http://www.giraudtool.com/
Cry once.

only once.

[FrankenMauser]

I just ran 100 pieces of .30-40 Krag through my Hornady trimmer, tonight. It's not that bad. Trimming is a piece of cake.

It's flash hole deburring and case mouth chamfering/deburring, that are minor annoyances.

Do it in smaller lots, and you'll "see the light".

[Jim243]

Just purchased one of these:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=720825

Makes the job on 223/5.56 cases a little easier.

Jim

[praetorian97]

Will say the first batch I did of 223/5.56 25gr Varget w/ 55 FMJ didnt stretch out any of the cases. I think since Im only working on exercises and drills at the range I will stick to these light loads.

[GWS]

I bought a Forster Original Trimmer (when it was the original) like 40 years ago. It's worked well, but admittedly trimming was always the less fun bottleneck.

That didn't bother me too much until I went progressive with my RCBS Pro 2000. From that time on the bottle neck started feeling like strangulation.

I couldn't afford the Giraud, but Forster and RCBS came to the rescue. RCBS with a fast tool to take care of primer pocket flash holes and uniforming (Trim Mate).Forster with their new and VERY NIFTY 3-way cutter that deburrs and chamfers as it trims.

Bought those two items, a Dewalt clutched drywall screw gun, a Forster drill converter for their trimmer, then proceeded to build it all in.

Result was the contraption shown below. It works better than I hoped...no more bottleneck.


Trimmer raises and lowers with a pulley and foot pedals. Nicholson File handle screwed to the Forster collet handle makes securing the case extremely fast......notice NO holding on to the case while trimming.

Vacuum and really sophisticated piano wire ejector. Noisy vacuum unit is on the other side of the wall in a storage room. Bin to the right receives ejected trimmed brass the instant the collet is released.

Momentary switch turns on the trimmer and vacuum together.

Picture Essay and Description (Before improving simplifications: Combo-switching, doing away with the black box [an answer to a problem that didn't exist], and moving the vacuum unit to the next room.)

[praetorian97]

Can I just mail my brass to you for trimming? LOL

[GWS]

If only things were that simple....I'm having a hard time these last two months finding time to reload at all...or even shoot. Stupid economy is coming back a little and and we are short-handed.......of course. Nothing but work.

At least, now you know how a simple hand-turned trimmer can become something much much better for $200 and a free weekend......

[chris in va]

Now just wait until you find that some need to have the primer pockets swaged to make the primers fit.

That's easy. Get a Lee case mouth trimmer for $3, chuck the 223 case in your 1/2" cordless drill and buzz that military crimp right off. Takes all of five seconds.

[Miata Mike]

Usually a person doesn't notice the crimped primer pocket until it is too late. I have been running mine through a Super Swage 600 if there is any doubt. I think it is better to leave the brass instead of removing it, although I used a Lyman pocket uniformer that looked like a gimped up screw driver to remove the crimps.

I too chucked the .223 case in my Milwaukee cordless and had at it, but it seemed too crude.

I hate it when a primer gets smashed in the primer pocket and you have to "extract it" before moving on with loading. Kind of like finding Berdan primed brass for the first or second time. I had to cull over 20 cases of .223 yesterday. One case had a very small flash hole that pulled my decapping pin out!

I am getting much better at inspecting head stamps now.

[TXGunNut]

I maxed out my engineering ability when I screwed my Lee Zip Trim to a scrap piece of 2X4 and secured it in a vise. I'm in awe, GWS! Cool machine. I'm wondering how the bearing surface on the rotating end of your Forster tool is holding up but a good lube will probably keep the heat down.

[GWS]

So far so good. At first it screeched. That's when I realized I needed a counter weight (spring) to keep the pvc parts in alignment. Once that was figured out, I rotated the fittings until alignment was perfect then drilled and screwed the parts together so they couldn't rotate out. No more screeching. I use sewing machine oil on the Forster bearing surface....one drop per session.

TxGunNut: You'd be surprised out easy this project is. Especially if I were to make a parts list, that includes a simple how-to. No engineering degree required. A couple of Saturday afternoons would do it....I'd be willing to create the thread, but I really don't think there's much interest.

I suffer from carpel tunnel syndrome (25 years of designing buildings on Autocad) plus some finger arthritis is bothering me a little these days, probably due to the 40 years with a hammer in my hands. I'm 61. Because of the above, my tool is a better fit for me than even the wonderful Giraud Trimmer and it's nearly as fast. With the Giraud you have to hold the case tightly while it trims/chamfers/deburrs. I don't think I could be happy with that very long. I don't especially want to share my hobby fun with pain. I get more than I want of that at work...you can only take so much ibuprofen in a day.

My tool only requires picking up a case out of the "in" bin (left hand), and placing it on the collet....feet rotate back dropping the trimmer pilot into the case mouth, while the same hand tightens the collet a quarter turn. The other hand (right) presses the red button for 2 or 3 seconds (trimming, beburring, chamfering and vacuuming), the left hand then releases the collet & grabs the next case while the feet raise the tool and the case flies into the "out" bin. Repeat. I can handle that without wearing my hands out any further.

If I built another one would I do anything different? Yes, I'd paint the PVC black first! (except the part that slides up and down inside the sleeve, of course.)

[TXGunNut]

I wouldn't change a thing, GWS. Paint wouldn't stay on the PVC very well anyway, looks good to me. The power trimmers I've seen "headspace" on the case shoulder and I don't like that. I think the collet and trimmer on the Forster (and RCBS) are more accurate but I'm probably wrong about that.
I don't trim enough cases to make something like your machine worthwhile but I'm betting Capt Kraig wishes he'd had one when he was shooting HP regularly.

[GWS]

The power trimmers I've seen "headspace" on the case shoulder and I don't like that. I think the collet and trimmer on the Forster (and RCBS) are more accurate but I'm probably wrong about that.

Yeah, Gracey, Giraud, and even the vaunted Wilson hand trimmer seat from the case shoulder. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but I personally just don't see the great advantage that offers. Granted, it prevents issues with buggered rims seating nicely in the bottom of a collet, but I see so few of those, its a non-issue for me. When I attempt to collet one that got through inspection, it's obvious enough, I just set it aside and grab another case. If I owned a rifle that consistantly buggered rims, I'd get it fixed. If I happen to find some range pickup that has buggered rims, I file them smooth long before I resize anyway, and if they're really bad I leave 'em where they lie.;-)

I don't trim enough cases to make something like your machine worthwhile but I'm betting Capt Kraig wishes he'd had one when he was shooting HP regularly.

Capt Kraig???

[stu925]

My solution is an RCBS Trim Pro with a 3-way cutter attachment. I attach a 1/2" cordless drill to the trimmer shaft and put a Speer reloading manual under the trimmer. The 3-way cutter does all the chamfer/deburr work while it trims the case. Best investment I've made in a long time. As a matter of fact I need to pick up 2 more so I can do the rest of my rifle brass with it and not have to change the settings.
Stu

[m&p45acp10+1]

Call me a cheap skate red neck. I just use the Lee trimmer, and lockstud, with the case length guage. Less than $7 per caliber I do .223 with one Did a 3 pound coffee can full with a corded drill while watching a movie last night. My money goes to supplies, and more guns too much to spend on more piece of gear that with my shooting I am not so sure there would be a notable differance made if I used it.

[straightShot]

After staring at 5 gallon buckets of brass and only doing 100 or so on any given night with my Wilson trimmer, I broke down and bought a Giraud. I have no regrets, and it gets borrowed a bit, too...

[PawPaw]

Originally Posted by m&p45acp10+1

Call me a cheap skate red neck. I just use the Lee trimmer, and lockstud, with the case length guage. Less than $7 per caliber I do

Yeah, buddy! Me too! I chuck the trimmer into a drill press and take care of that easy, peasy.