Brass Prep Station Questions

[jaytee]

Looking to buy one of these to give my hands a break and I've looked at youtube video's, read some reviews and they all seem to have good and bad points. I like the idea of having a trimmer incorporated but the Hornady machine seems to have issues with the trimmer adjustment, or lack of a micro head so its a hit and miss deal. The Frankford Arsenal unit looks okay and from the reviews the trimmer is accurate and consistent. The one problem I noticed with the Frankford unit, and maybe with the others, is when the machine is running, you can see noticeable runout or wobble in some of the tool heads. I cant help but think this could cause inconsistencies if you were trying to uniform the primer pockets. Or am I being to anal? The Lyman machine doesn't have the trimmer option and the RCBS unit with the horizontal trimmer also looks like a good unit. Steer me in the right direction!!!

 

[Rsadams]

I bought the Lyman a few years ago and I am not a Lyman guy but have been very happy with it.... As far as a built in trimmer I don't think you will be as consistent as a manual trimmer so I am not to worried about that.... The Lyman accepts most other companies cutting tools... You can also get a pretty good deal on one when they go on sale... I mainly use mine for .223 , it's a hand saver for sure.... For small cases a pair of rubber gloves really improve grip like garden gloves...

Pros , never had a problem with it...plenty of power... A real hand saver , you will kick yourself for not buying one before... Comes ready to run with all attachments...
Cons , maybe it's a bit large.... I just keep it on a bottom shelf out of the way... It has a power cord like a computer that unplugs easy so it's not a problem... I don't care for the standered primer pocket cleaning tools and picked up the rcbs metal brush type.... They screw right in and work fine....

This is really my list of cons , the thing works fine... As far as size , it makes it very stable and its not something you would leave on your bench anyway because you don't use it everyday

 

[garandman]

I have the Frankford Arsenal and am pleased with it.

Yes some wobble in the inside and outside neck chamfer and primer pocket uniformer but then I'm not holding it perfectly squarely to the tool head either.

 

[marchboom]

I've had the RCBS unit for approx 7-8 yrs and it works fine. These brass prep machines are a definite must have piece of equipment.

 

[Toddmack]

If you're not using them to trim cases there's no way you could wrong with any of them. I find the RCBS pretty handy for de-burring/chamfering brass because I don't have a 3 way trimmer. If you don't tumble with stainless, the primer pocket brush is pretty handy for cleaning those up. Using brass with crimped primers? Just screw on the primer crimp cutter.

Needless to say, I like my RCBS unit and my kids will fight over who gets to do the work for at least the first 40 cases. I have to do the rest.

 

[acloco]

Have been using the RCBS trim mate for 14 years. ONLY deviation, VLD chamfer bit added.

Best time and hand saver on the bench.

 

[bozo699]

Have been using the RCBS trim mate for 14 years. ONLY deviation, VLD chamfer bit added.

Best time and hand saver on the bench.

same same!
Wayne

 

[ppaul]

Yes, another satisfied rcbs user here.

 

[D-4297]

Have been using the R.C.B.S Trim-Pro ll for a couple of years now , and it holds excellent accuracy on case lengths . Just added the Three way Trimmer head , and fell in love . Best money spent for any case prep tool . That's one crank I don't mind turning , for 15 - 20 sec.

 

[DirtySteve]

I have the Frankford Arsenal and am pleased with it.

Yes some wobble in the inside and outside neck chamfer and primer pocket uniformer but then I'm not holding it perfectly squarely to the tool head either.

You can get rid of the wobble by replacing the original trimmer with a carbide cutter and the place the appropriate pilot in the cutter before trimming.

 

[dnellans]

You can get rid of the wobble by replacing the original trimmer with a carbide cutter and the place the appropriate pilot in the cutter before trimming.

I haven’t seen anything with a pilot - link?

 

[rkittine]

I had the RCBS and it was OK. Bought a Lyman one on sale on Amazon for under $100 and love it. I especially love how it keeps all the trimmings in one place and makes clean up very easy.

Bob

 

[DirtySteve]

I haven’t seen anything with a pilot - link?

I had one of the RCBS hand crank trimmers with a pilot set. I added a carbide cutter to the Frankford Arsenal prep-station and insert the appropriate pilot for the cases being trimmed. This requires changing out the pilot for each different caliber but eliminates the wobble.