Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Case Prep and Trim Center

[glenr]

Does anybody have one and use it, what caught my attention is it made of die cast for the housing.

[pobro]

Yes, it's a beast. Made short work of my brass prep for my annual P dog hunting trip. Accurate for length too.... +/- 0.001"

[glenr]

Well that's good to know, just taking a break from processing mil crimps 5.56/.223, half way thru 200 using battery drills and bits to speed it up. But having one unit on the bench, seems like a good deal.

thanks

[glenr]

Well it came yesterday afternoon all 10 pounds of it! opened it up put the in and out chamfer bits in and fired it up only did 5 cases but so far it looks to be a winner.
A couple of things they have changed the style of outer chamfer bit.

Secondly Any of the tool ends like from the Lyman hand case prep tool that stores the heads in the handle. Work in the drive heads of this tool. the screw threads are 8-32 I believe. The trimmer one is a standard 3/8-24 and is standard on any number of aftermarket cutters. I ordered one of the Hornaday ones with pilots.

I think this one will make a difference in the fatige level of doing a large number of cases.

It comes with a sheet explaining the different cutter head than on the box.

Heavy duty case is die cast, motor and gear train are quite.

Will post more later.

[glenr]

Tool box, keeps everything together

The working end with their version of the primer pocket cleaner, a cross hatched hardened bit. It seems to remove a lot of brass.

Here is a wire brush version that I bought, but can't remember which brand it is. cleans, but doesn't remove brass.

Here is a wire brush version that I bought, but can't remember which brand it is. cleans, but doesn't remove brass.

This is their new version of the outside chamfer tool it does work well and no chatter.

I haven't set up the trimmer yet theirs doesn't come with a pilot, and with the ring and collect the instructions claim one isn't needed. I have ordered one and the same brand cutter from Hornaday. I will try it both ways.

[glenr]

Well after about 400 cases run through with the frankford prep unit I can say that I am very happy with it.
Just using the in/out chamfer bits is a great time saver. I have tried it in the upright and two of the angled foot positions.
I can say that I prefer to use my WFT in the drill press next to the bench.

Even with the trimmer head set up to the correct length. So far I haven't found the right set up that is comfortable for me to use just yet.
With the other bits set up in the head, it is a lot better than using a couple of battery drill motors.
That got old real fast since the battery drills don't have hold buttons on the triggers.

The other good thing is you get the casing done a lot fast than with separate operations.

[mississaugagunnut]

I am new to reloading rifle cartridges so I thought I would try this unit for case prep.

It works well and is a quality unit. My only concern is acquiring replacement heads for the cutter, deburring and chamfer heads. Being new to this I think I pushed too hard on the deburring and chamfer heads and dulled them.

[MarkCO]

Just buy new ones. Standard threads.

Had mine for a while. Love it.

[Graham Smith]

It doesn't look like this would work with a third party trimmer like the WFT from Little Crow. Correct?

[MarkCO]

No idea, but with the body collets and lock ring adjustment, I don't know why you would try to mix the systems.

[Kaldor]

It doesn't look like this would work with a third party trimmer like the WFT from Little Crow. Correct?

Might be able to get/make an adapter that would let you attach it. However, it may not spin the cutter fast enough. For reference, I spin my WFT2 at about 1500 rpm. Gives a very clean, quick cut at that speed. Tested at 1000 and 2000 rpm, and 2000 seems to be the best.

[Iowashooter]

I picked one up I was using a rcbs trim pro 2 with 3 way cutter head for 223 and an rcbs primer pocket swager. I bought this and a rcbs military crimp remover bit. I am not completely sold on the unit for speed yet. It is a great prep center for the cost but the hand fatigue gets me. I had been using a hornady primer pocket reamer to remove crimps but switched to the rcbs. If you are removing crimps with this the rcbs works far better than a standard reamer IMHO. I will have to set a timer to see which method is faster for prepping. I also put my original trimmer head f4om my rcbs trimmer with the .22 cal pilot and it worked well. I tried it with the pilot from my 3 way cutter head and it put far too much chamfer with a regular cutter head installed. If you don't have a trimmer I think this unit has great value. I will hang omto this for prepping other calibers, but might go back to the rcbs trimmer with drill and swager for large volume prep.

[Mush from PA.]

I bought one in November. The supplied inside cutter works well. The trimmer cutter does not cut but more like smear the brass but not cut. The outside cutter does not cut but more shines the outside of the case mouth. I have an old RCBS hand inside and outside trimmer and it works with little effort. I called Frankfort and they said some cutters were shipped that did not cut brass. (The cutters cannot be sharpened Frankfort said). They sent me a replacement trimmer cutter and outside cutter. I replaced the outside cutter that stayed sharp for (100) 223 cases. Now it is back to polishing the out side case mouth. I went back to using my WFT (worlds finest trimmer) for the first pass at trimming a case then smooth the cut with the Frankfort trimmer. At some point I plan on buying some RCBS cutters for the Frankfort Trimmer.

[glenr]

the WFT is made to be used in a drill press or hand drill. The standard threads on the FAP prep center are currently the same as almost any of the others. See my post #6 for the WFT in a drill press.

[Mush from PA.]

Yes, I use the WFT in a hand drill, the inside trimmer in one cordless drill and the outside trimmer in another hand cordless drill. It was awkward but worked. So I bought the Frankfort trimmer. I do think the speed is slow and would be better if it turned faster.

[Iowashooter]

I bought one in November. The supplied inside cutter works well. The trimmer cutter does not cut but more like smear the brass but not cut. The outside cutter does not cut but more shines the outside of the case mouth. I have an old RCBS hand inside and outside trimmer and it works with little effort. I called Frankfort and they said some cutters were shipped that did not cut brass. (The cutters cannot be sharpened Frankfort said). They sent me a replacement trimmer cutter and outside cutter. I replaced the outside cutter that stayed sharp for (100) 223 cases. Now it is back to polishing the out side case mouth. I went back to using my WFT (worlds finest trimmer) for the first pass at trimming a case then smooth the cut with the Frankfort trimmer. At some point I plan on buying some RCBS cutters for the Frankfort Trimmer.

The "outside cutter" isn't a cutter and is only supposed to knock the bur off. If it is cutting your brass and you get a sharp edge like a cookie cutter that will shorten the life of your brass. The cutter head will leave a relitively large bur when cutting. But as long as it cuts with decent speed I would say it is working properly.

[Mush from PA.]

The "outside cutter" isn't a cutter and is only supposed to knock the bur off. If it is cutting your brass and you get a sharp edge like a cookie cutter that will shorten the life of your brass. The cutter head will leave a relitively large bur when cutting. But as long as it cuts with decent speed I would say it is working properly.

Well I have two RCBS Chamfer and Deburring tools and a Lee tool. With three twists I can "knock the burr off" any brass case I have - but with the outside deburrer on the Frankford Case prep tool after a 10 count of holding the brass into the tool I still had to use the RCBS tool to "deburr" the outside of the brass. So how dull or bad or ineffective is the Frankford Case Prep tool would you say they sent me??????

I read from other posters that they had the same problem but fixed it with "debur tool heads" from other manufactures. I just want a tool that works but after spending around $200 for the case center, I will have to spend around $100 more for "cutters" to get it to work as well as the hand deburrs.

[Iowashooter]

The "outside cutter" isn't a cutter and is only supposed to knock the bur off. If it is cutting your brass and you get a sharp edge like a cookie cutter that will shorten the life of your brass. The cutter head will leave a relitively large bur when cutting. But as long as it cuts with decent speed I would say it is working properly.

Well I have two RCBS Chamfer and Deburring tools and a Lee tool. With three twists I can "knock the burr off" any brass case I have - but with the outside deburrer on the Frankford Case prep tool after a 10 count of holding the brass into the tool I still had to use the RCBS tool to "deburr" the outside of the brass. So how dull or bad or ineffective is the Frankford Case Prep tool would you say they sent me??????

I read from other posters that they had the same problem but fixed it with "debur tool heads" from other manufactures. I just want a tool that works but after spending around $200 for the case center, I will have to spend around $100 more for "cutters" to get it to work as well as the hand deburrs.

ok I thought you were wanting it to cut an outside chamfer. Try a little more pressure to see if it helps.

[Mush from PA.]

ok I thought you were wanting it to cut an outside chamfer. Try a little more pressure to see if it helps.

Thank you for the suggestion. I would agree with you normally. In my experience when steel "cuts" brass I can get a "curl" up to a half inch long on my Wilson trimmer down to a small chip. I call that tool head sharp with out really pressing hard. With the RCBS deburring tool I get a "chip" with little pressure down to what I call "dust". With the Frankford case prep no matter how hard I press for a 10 to 12 count sometimes I can hardly tell where the outside chamfer tool head touches the brass I only get sort of shine on the brass. The burr is still there so I dress it up with the hand chamfer tool. I do wish the Frankford tool had better tool heads and turned a little faster.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Mush from PA.