What is your case trimming method?

[357Maximum]

I have come back to the basic Lee caliber stud trimmer. Its accurate, much faster than any other method I've tried, and well .... very inexpensive.

After using RCBS and, Lyman lathe type, and never being satisfied with the consistency, the Lee is tops in my book.

My speedy and fast method:
1.) Decap and resize. (not so fast)
2.) Place the shell holder in a cordless drill and snug it down.
3.) Lock in the resized case.
4.) Insert the caliber specific stud and cutter.
5.)Engage the drill clockwise and slide the cutter toward the drill until the trimming stops.
6.)Remove the cutter stud and insert the deburring tool.
7.)After deburring, cover the outside of the case with fine steel-wool engage the drill and remove lube, grime and leave a polished case that looks as if it has been tumbled and shined.

The trimming polishing process takes about thirty seconds, and the case's are trimmed nice and square. Something my lathe trimmers have difficulty doing.

Lathe trimmers are around $50.00 bucks to start.
Lee trimmers $11.00 to start, then an additional 5 bucks per caliber after that. (plus the drill)

I guess you can tell I 've had some down time today.
Hope this helps someone that hates the case prep routine.

[Rocky Raab]

It does indeed work very well. Slow, but very well. It's also a bit hard on the fingers to constantly tighten/loosen that lock stud on each and every case.

If you have a lot of cases to do or a lot of material to remove, the lathe type is faster, especially with a drill or driver installed.

[skb2706]

RCBS case Trimmer II
10/24 sockethead cap screw stuck in the end where the handle used to be
short piece of 5/32" straight allen wrench
rechargable Metabo drill

git r dun

Requires safety glasses and it does make a mess.

[Catfish]

Faster and more accurate than a Layman or RCBS lathe type with an electric swrew driver. I`ll race you title for title, forget it. I`d end up with a piece of Lee junk and just have something else to through in the trash. If you get the idea I don`t like Lee equipment your right!

[357Maximum]

Originally posted by Rocky Raab
It does indeed work very well. Slow, but very well. It's also a bit hard on the fingers to constantly tighten/loosen that lock stud on each and every case.

If you have a lot of cases to do or a lot of material to remove, the lathe type is faster, especially with a drill or driver installed.

I have used the lathe type and cutting square has been my issue with those type. With the lathe type, after the trimer would stop trimming, I would rotate my cases 180 degrees then trim again, and it is rare that more material isn't removed which (to me) indicates the trimmer head isn't engaging the case square. I have tried adjusting the lock side to no avail.
I don't think Lee stuff is all that great, but I have yet to find a trimming method the does what it does for the money.
The collet dies and the factory crimp dies are very good in my experience.

I'm sure that there are some super accurate lathe trimmers, but I have yet to use one. Accuracy is more important to me than production. But speed is good with the Lee trimmer.

[Jack]

I use one of the lathe trimmers. It's a Forster, but it's actually marked Herters (tells you how old it is) - Herters bought em from Forster.
For small quantities of trimming, the lathe type works ok- either hand cranked or with an cordless screwdriver attached.
For high volume work, Forster makes a really neat tool no one seems to know about....it's a base that goes on a drill press table. This base holds the case head with the same collet the lathe trimmer uses, and has an extended handle for quick tightening and loosening.
You chuck the cutter in the drill press, and use the drill presses stop to set your case length.
Takes a few minutes to set it all up, but once you do, it's the fastest, easiest set up I've seen. Wth a drill press, you will NOT have a problem with your power unit bogging or slowing down, no matter how much you need to trim. Fast and easy- providing you own a drill press.

[Gil Martin]

I have various Lee trimmers and they work very well. They are inexpensive and easy to use even when there are a lot of cases to check and trim. For heavy duty trimming, I go to the Wilson lathe set up. All the best...
Gil

[Dom]

Well, that's one area I haven't upgraded yet, that motor is quite expensive, so I'm using the old reliable RCBS hand turn trimmer, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[Dan Morris]

Forrester.
Dan

[tooldummy]

RCBS Power Trimmer.