What is your favorite case trimmer?

[chuckw2]

Which do you like best and why?

Which have you tried and not liked?


Chuck

 

[memilanuk]

Tried and didn't like:

Hornady: generic collet type trimmer. Case wobbled all over, hard to get a square, consistent cut.

Gracey: good idea, cheaply made. Two HSS blades, hard to adjust, piece of friggin' hose for a drive shaft coupling, no on-off switch, oil-bath bushings. After about 100 case my fingers would cramp up from having to squeeze so hard to keep them from spinning

EJS Kwik Trim from Sinclair: works well enough, chuck it in a drill or a cheap $50 bench-top drill press. Little touchy as far as setting; the cases I was trimming at the time needed a *lot* taken off so it wasn't very comfortable for that heavy of a use.

Tried and Loved:

Wilson trimmer w/ Sinclair micrometer, stand, and clamp: absolute trimming perfection.

Giraud: Took the concept of the Gracey to the next level. Single carbide blade, interchangeable cutters, belt drive, sealed bearings, spring-loaded shell holder to push the case away from the cutter until you press in for safety. On-Off switch,something about unplugging a motor, even a small one, under load strikes me as a flawed design). Hundreds of cases per hour possible if you set up your bins right... literally two-handed trimming as fast as you can move your hands.

 

[chuckw2]

Maniluk,
Thanks for your input. I ordered the Wilson setup from Sinclair today, the Giuard looks great but 300 bucks is just too much.





Chuck

 

[memilanuk]

Good choice! The Wilson w/ the micrometer and the clamp and all is about as good as it gets. The biggest reason I have one of the motorized jobs is for one thing and one thing only: VOLUME!!!

200 6mm BR cases isn't too big a deal. A 5 gallon bucket full of .223 Rem cases, on the other hand... I don't even want to think about trying that w/ a hand-crank trimmer!

 

[USAPatriot]

Lyman's power trimmer. While the floating cutter seems a bad idea, with the micrometer stop you set your length and let it do the job. The cutter dulls after about 1000 cases though. -Rod

 

[SlowpokeRodriguez]

I use the RW Hart and my drill press! Works very very well! My hand used to get cramps from that #$*%& manual device!

 

[tenring]

I have the Wilson and a Forster. Wilson is great. Forster does not cut consistently to same length. I also use the Forster for neck turning, and that is less than adequate. Only turn necks rough with the Forster, i.e. to about .010 from final finish, then use K&M, etc.

 

[Forum Boss]

I get consistent length cuts with the Forster, but there are a couple tricks.

1. You may have to seat the shell twice in the collet.

2. The "fine tune" length set screw wears down and may have to be re-adjusted.

Overall, I prefer a Wilson. The cost of a case-holder is actually less than collet and pilot for the Forster. The Forster is a bit of a PIA to adjust, requiring some trial an error. With a micrometer, the Wilson is easier to dial-in.

 

[RGraham]

Sinclair sells an adapter that takes the place of the crank on the Wilson for using an electric screwdriver or drill. If you are doing quite a few cases it really speeds things up and the cuts are still quite accurate.

 

[Robar]

I have a Forster, and I like it. I've never had ANY problems with it, and when I mic my brass it's always come out the exact same lenght every time.

 

[bcott]

RCBS power case trimmer. Fast, easily adjustable, and accurate. bcott

 

[Magical_Merlin]

I use the Hornady trimmer. The first one I got wouldnt spin the case straight. Had to send it back for another. Never had a problem since. Cases seem to be consistant after trimming.

 

[NorCalMikie]

My vote is for the RCBS Power Case Trimmer. 200 to 300 .308 cases in a row. Different caliber pilots. A real workhorse! Mike.

 

[anyrange]

Link to my new trimming station using Lee trim gages and cutters. Fast and easy. Basically no set up. I have a special Sinclair case holder driver that will work with the Lee trimmers. K&M also works.
My New Trimming Station

 

[6Dasher]

I used to have the Wilsons. Now I have home-made trimmers made from stainless-steel and added some micrometers,€12.50 each on sale). Cutter and crank are still from the wilsons trimmers. Good stuff! I can trim consistantly to within 0.01mm,that's 0.0004"). Manual labor rocks!!!!

 

[6Dasher]

Bummer, hit enter too quickly. Here's a pic...

 

[M700]

Mighty fond of the Wilson setup. Easy to use, and accurate. Produces a nicely trimmed case. Do a quick chamfer afterwards and the case is ready to load.

 

[JamesnTN]

By Far the Wilson is the trimmer to have I own one for every cartridge I shoot.
I ain't into resetting them back up from one case to another so I just buy a new one everytime I get a new rifle or a new chambering. Same goes for neck turners.

 

[Forum Boss]

If you add a micrometer to the Wilson set-up it is easy to switch from one caliber/cartridge to another. While the Wilson seems a bit more expensive than a Forster at first, remember that with a Forster you need to buy pilots and collets. With the Wilson you buy a case-holder and that's it.

The Forsters are efficient and make a good clean cut.,They can also be adapted for neck-turning.) However, setting the cut depth for case-trimming with a Forster is a tedious trial and error exercise, using set screws on a locking collar. The fine-adjustment set screw also wears down with friction, so you have to periodically reset the cut length.

With the Wilson, you can buy the micrometer from Sinclair, or some guys have adapted inexpensive micrometer stems purchased from eBay.

 

[StephenPerry]

Wilson and my hand tools by Kurt Von Epp.
Stephen Perry