Case Trimmers

R

RC20

New member
If any volume, then the tri trimmer types are the only way to go.

The Gerard Tri Trim can be chucked up in a drill and clamped in a vice and you have a motorized Gerard with a solid base (I have three of those)

My only other one is a Trim it II as Gerard does not make 7.5 Swiss in the Tri Trimmer type.

I can trim 300 cases in 30 minutes with those, corded drill clamped upside down in a vice.
 
M

Mk VII

New member
Lee trimmer, (glued in a doorknob) with the universal chuck, on the lowest speed setting.

standard.jpg
 
L

langenc

New member
Whatever brand make sure it is NOT Lyman..

Wish I had a Wilson but Im so far into Lyman I cant aford to get out..
 
M

Marco Califo

New member
"Wish I had a Wilson but Im so far into Lyman I cant aford to get out."
What? Are they going to pop your kneecaps or something. I have many Lyman products, even more Lee stuff, and find RCBS dies to be dependable.
Guess what? They all play nice with others.
 
M

math teacher

New member
Gee, my Lyman Universal Trimmer had only lasted a little over 45 years so far and it has been used as a power trimmer almost the entire time. I ground off the handle and turned the shaft down to a quarter inch. With a variable speed drill you have a power trimmer. You can do the same thing with most hand crank trimmers.
 
M

Metal god

New member
Whatever brand make sure it is NOT Lyman..
Click to expand...

Will you explain further ?

Gee, my Lyman Universal Trimmer had only lasted a little over 45 years so far and it has been used as a power trimmer almost the entire time.
Click to expand...

Me too although mines only 6yrs old but I've trimmed literally thousands of cases . I just did 500 - 308win last week and have another 500 sitting on the bench I'll start tonight . These are LC military once fired cases that I'm trimming close to .015 off each case . I'll also add that I just ordered the carbide cutter for the first time a couple days ago , should be here soon . I'm expecting the trimmer to be even better with the carbide trimmer .
 
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U

Unclenick

Staff
I think he just means he's got the Lyman trimmer and so many pilots and cutters and other caliber-specific stuff that having to duplicate it all for the Wilson would be more costly than his tool budget currently allows.
 
M

Metal god

New member
OK you want pictures , I got pictures :D

Cases went from this
tS1SLr.jpg


To this
hwAhUo.jpg


Now I'm on this stage after sizing and this one takes awhile

tnxnD4.jpg


I just bought the prep center and so far I like it but only have done about 600 cases with it so far .
 
M

Metal god

New member
I like anything that starts with “universal” . I trim 9mm , 45acp , 38spl , 357mag , 30-30 , 270 , 223 , 308 and 250 Savage although I’ve never loaded that last one . Either way my Lyman “universal” case trimmer will trim all of those cases and need nothing extra to do so . Although I did buy the prep center I only need a $5 chamfer/deburing tool that will also work with all those cartridges .

My thought process has been buy and use manual tools first to always know how to load with them incase for what ever reason I’m with out power . I only then buy the cooler power tools to use .
 
U

USSR

New member
Metal_god,

This is what you need:

attachment.php


Trimming and chamfering all in one step. Only way to go when dealing with large amounts of brass.

Don
 

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G

GTOne

New member
If you are dealing with one caliber and a lot of it, then the caliber specific powered options are worth it, probably, maybe.
If you have 500+ dollars in a trimmer like the giraud and don't have 5 gallon buckets of that caliber to trim.......well.

If you are the average shooter and hand loader with multiple calibers that need trimming with the occasional ice cream bucket of .223 or .308, then the orange universal absolutely shines.
I hand crank mine, and properly set up with everything in reach I am just a tick off of something like the wft set ups. I have the powered cutter option, but it is actually slower to use and the hand cranking doesn't really hurt me as far as hand fatigue.
That quick chuck thing is the game changer in lathe type trimming. If one is a BR shooter then maybe the collet type(Forster) is better, but then speed doesn't matter(that kind of trimmer is very slow to use)
 
R

reinert

New member
Since I don't do the high volume reloading as many do, I've had and have used my old, collet clamping, RCBS case trimmer II for the past near 40 years, and it's still all I need. Just a couple of months ago, I bought a new carbide cutter head to replace the original, and the trimmer works just as good as it always has for me.

When they first came out, what 30+ years ago now? My wife bought me the "Trim Pro II" upgrade system, which replaced the old original collet clamp unit on my trimmer with the new (at that time) spring loaded palm pusher using the shell plate holder business to secure the cases in place. After using that system for a while, I absolutely found that I didn't like it, because it never held the cases tight enough to trim properly, for me anyway. I can only imagine that the new ones work just fine, but I boxed up and shelved mine long ago, and returned to the old collet system. And again, for all my trimming needs, it's all good for me.

After all these years, I should just send that palm pusher unit back to them for an inspection (they'd probably get a kick out of seeing that old unit...maybe). And through the years, the few times I've needed some customer service from "the good ol' boys," I've never had to send them a penny for their work.

And BTW, and FWIW, my 40 year old Rock Chucker II still cranks out ammo as good as it ever has, too.
 
R

RC20

New member
The Trim Trimmer deburrs and chamfers

I do 300 cases at a time, big pain and I like to shoot, reloading is an ends to that. I also do some 270 for a brother and I got a Gerard Tri for that as well.

Basically if I wanted to crank something, I would volunteer for an Americans Cup racer :eek:
 
M

Marco Califo

New member
That Gerard Tri Trimmer that fits on my drill is a great buy at $105. Looks like you can only order from them over the phone (landline).
 
M

Metal god

New member
Is that $100 per cartridge or is it a universal trimmer ? How much more will I need to spend to trim the 10 different cases I trim ?
 
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