Case Trimmer recommendation for LOTS of brass

[William@swrmfg.com]

I'd like some recommendations for a case trimmer to trim a large quantity of 223 and 308 brass? I have access to a drill press and a small lathe. What do you use when you need to trim more than 1000 rounds?

Thanks in advance,
WE

[jmart]

If you are set on using your drill press, then I'd go with a Forster.

If not, then either a Dillon or Giraud.

The Giraud trims/chamfers/deburs all at once. The Dillon just trims, but the cut is very clean and often you can get by w/o chamfering and deburring.

The Dillon also sizes simultaneously whereas the Giraud is a separate operation performed off the press.

Reconfiguration between .223 and .308 will be quicker on the Dillon, but you need a separate die for the 2nd cartridge.

The Giraud has the better motor, the Dillon motor is warrantied for just one year IIRC.

The Dillon requires a fixed toolhead or a single stage press for operation. It won't work on a rotating head turret press.

[markm]

Depends. I know "ti ti" about .308. But with .223 and some 5.56 you don't need to trim. I can get 3 loadings out of many kinds of brass without ever trimming them.

Now if you have LC or WCC brass, forget it. Those cases stretch like rubber bands. (with the exeption of the LC that Red box Fed AE was loaded in. That stuff doesn't stretch at all)

To get back to what to use... I can't really recommend the Possom gadget. It requires a lot of additional work to clean up the brass after you trim it.

The giraud is the king obviously.

[Solomon]

Sinclair/Wilson Ultimate Micrometer Trimmer w/ Shark Fin is top of the line if you don't want to fork out for a Giraud. Edit: your topic now says for lots of brass: there is a Wilson drill bit attachment available for this product.

[MarshallDodge]

I have used the Lee trimmer kits for years and they work great.

http://www.cabelas.com/spod-1/0003098.shtml



You can use them by hand or chuck them in a hand drill.

[markm]

I have used the Lee trimmer kits for years and they work great.

What does it index off of so you don't over trim? How clean is the caseneck?

The possumtestical unit really leaves a lot of post trimming clean up work.

[MarshallDodge]

It indexes off of the case length gauge by extending through the primer hole and bottoming out on the shellholder. You cannot adjust the length, it is set from the factory to the SAAMI standard.

You buy the lock stud and cutter as a kit and then you buy the shellholder and case length gauge for whatever caliber you are going to reload.
The picture on this page shows better.
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/cata...g/casecon.html

....and a youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_ByDDdMiSg

I chuck mine in the hand drill and it takes about three seconds to trim. After that I run the drill and give it a quick inside and outside deburr with the Lee chamfer tool. It takes about 10 seconds to load the case, trim, and deburr.

I am not a huge fan of Lee products and had my doubts about this one until a friend bought the trim set for doing 222 Rem. I have been sold ever since.

[jmart]

The Lee works great, just not for trimming a lot of brass. It gets old, fast.

Indexing is off a fixed pilot which screws into the trimmer head. Chuck caseholder in drill, unscrew case holder slightly, insert case, screw holder back down firmly, insert pilot, start drill, push down until pilot bottoms out, remove pilot, unscrew casehead to remove trimmed case, repeat. Then chamfer and debur because the cut leaves a lot of burrs.

The problem with a drill/drill press is, it doesn't spin fast enough. That's why the Dillon is so good, that blade spins at several thousand rpm's, the cut is very clean and you can get by w/o deburring.

[sinister]

Giraud trimmer.

Gracey second (with a Bob Jones tungsten cutter blade).

Anything else is wasting time.

[Ttwwaack]

You should have mentioned a budget but I'll go over what I've used and my opinion and results.

Lyman manual case trimmer, slow and inconsistant trimming/turning necks.

Lyman powered trimmer, slow, real slow.

Foster/Bonanza trimmer, slow but consistant. I use it for bolt action brass/case forming.

Dillion RT1200, FL resize and trim in one operation. I use it to trim 308 blanks to primed 308 brass, neck size and load. Needs alittle cleaning up although I've never trimmed 223/308 fired brass in it. Just 308 blank.

Giraud, I've had one for three years. Fast, pretty consistant and plenty of power. I can probably trim 100 cases in about 8-12 minutes but never timed myself. I'm getting ready to set the Giraud up for 308 too for an M1A. For the money I've spent, I wish the Giraud would have been available 20 years ago. For production loading with a single stage press it is good. A Dillon 650/1050 with case feeder and die head set up for trimming, the RT 1200 would probably be the way to go with case feeders ect.

One thing I've notice with the giraud, It has to be set up specifically for each neck diameter. I use a .245/6 for AR's and a .252 for a bolt gun. Can be difficult to adjust until you learn the trick of using a sized and trimmed case to set the cutter diameter.

The Dillon was a loner from a friend. No a bad piece of equipment, pretty consistant but from what I've seen, the brass has to be neck sized after trimming. If you are loading on a single stage, that is three times through the press.

The Lyman stuff is going on the auction block. The Foster will remain for light duty with various rifle calibers. If I were to purchase another crank case trimmer again, I would look at the Sinclair Wilson Set up.