Bottle neck case trimming options?

[willfully armed]

I used to trim cases with a Lyman trimmer, but I stopped shooting rifle for a period and sold the trimmer to a friend. In it's stead, I use little crow WFT for 308. I've started loading 223 again, and wonder, is the WFT the better option? Or something along the lines of the case prep stations? 

 

 

[warpspeed]

I have used both the Giraurd Tri-Way and Power Trimmer.  

 

The end result is the same but the Power Timmer is less tedious for large numbers.

 

I think the WFT is similar to the Tri-Way being both are motor/drill mounted.

[willfully armed]

I forgot about Giraud. I think the power trimmer will be my purchase. 

 

Thank you sir!

[Chills1994]

6 hours ago, willfully armed said:

I used to trim cases with a Lyman trimmer, but I stopped shooting rifle for a period and sold the trimmer to a friend. In it's stead, I use little crow WFT for 308. I've started loading 223 again, and wonder, is the WFT the better option? Or something along the lines of the case prep stations? 

 

 

IMO, it depends on what other tools you have in the toolbox.

 

if you have a Dillon progressive press with a case feeder, then the Dillon Rapid Trimmer 1200 or 1500 might be right for you.  That is especially the situation if you don’t care about inside the case mouth chamfering or outside neck/mouth deburring.  You can let the tumbling of the brass again knock the burrs off (you have to get the case lube off anyway….right?) Plus if you use a Lyman M die in the first station of your second toolhead (load toolhead), that will also knock off any inside burrs and can put a slight flare on the case mouth.

 

When I first started reloading .223 on a 550, I used a Possum Hollow Cutter chucked into a corded drill.

 

Feeding that thing by hand piece by piece was just absolutely mind numbing.  
 

So I bought an RCBS X sizer die.  The decapping rod assembly is actually a mandrel that keeps the case from growing. Of course, if you follow the initial directions you trim your .223 brass down to 1.740”.

 

Now I am using a Redding S die with a neck bushing only….NO decapping rod, so NO expander ball.  IMO, that means the necks or mouth isn’t getting stretched or made longer as it gets pulled over the expander ball.  Which in turn would require trimming.

 

Again, just my opinion, if the brass is under 1.760” after sizing, it does NOT need to be trimmed.

 

So I have one Dillon 650 toolhead set up with the Dillon powder measure at Station #3 or Station #4.  It has the old school Dillon tension springs wrapped around the powder measure to make sure the powder bar returns closed.  Then Station #5 is the bullet seating die.  Station #2 is the Redding S die with neck bushing.  Station # 1 is a universal decapper.  
 

I haven’t reloaded .223 in a while, so now that I think about it, Station #3 is probably just an empty hole …nothing in it. I think I ran into some “real estate” issues where there wasn’t enough space between the powder measure at station #3 and the Redding S die at Station #2.  Station #4 has the Dillon powder measure.  Station #5 is the bullet seating die.

 

With that particular toolhead set up, I can’t actually see the powder level in the case before seating the bullet.  So as an added QC/QA step, I would weigh each completely loaded round to make sure none of them were shorted on a powder charge.

 

I don’t crimp the case mouths with say a separate Lee Factory Crimp Die either.

 

of course, this particular system only works on either twice or more fired Lake City brass because you have to remove the primer crimp after the first firing.  It also works on once fired or more civilian or commercial brass that has no primer crimps.

 

I spray down an old terry cloth bath towel with rubbing alcohol and give the loaded rounds the bowling  ball polishing treatment to get rid of the case lube.

 

Now, if I could just quickly figure out a way to automate the separation of .223 brass that was longer than 1.760'…I’d really be set.

 

I have not shot up enough factory Federal XM193 or XM855  ammo lately to have plenty of the same year headstamped brass to make setting up the 650 with the Dillon RT1500 and the Swage It tool worthwhile.

 

i do have two of the RCBS Trim Pro Power case trimmers.  One is dedicated for .223 and dialed in right at 1.750” long.  I use that for Lapua brass that is going to be shot through a Tikka bolt gun. That’s for prairie dogs and coyotes.  The other Trim Pro is going to be dedicated to .22-250 . RCBS does sell a 3 way cutter for those that will chamfer and debur at the same it trims.

 

 

[dwbethue]

I'm a huge fan of the Tri-Way. Has really shortened my prep time. I went the "cheap route" by powering it with a small Harbor Freight drill press that I turned upside down. I think the drill press cost me $65 with a coupon. Limited to just the one caliber, but that's all I really needed and it saved me ~$400 vs the power trimmer. 

[mmc45414]

5 hours ago, dwbethue said:

I'm a huge fan of the Tri-Way. Has really shortened my prep time. I went the "cheap route" by powering it with a small Harbor Freight drill press that I turned upside down. 

That was a great idea, simply laying the thing on the lid!

I also like the Tri-Way, and I can cheap out as well as the next guy, I bought an $18 drill from WM (I think they are up to $23 now).  The area where a handle can clamp fits a muffler clamp and it worked out great.

 

Also, I have a couple of the WFT versions.  They are simply end mills that cut a flat face on the brass, the TW trims and deburrs very nicely.  However, the TW cannot hog the material down very fast.  Since I already had the WFT in 223 I do a two step rough/finish process, basically trimming them in the WFT and touching them up in the TW.  This is not that fast, but my volumes are not that high, mostly multi-gun just a couple times a month (and they are not so high volume at the clubs I go to, since ammo got expensive).  Another reason I do it this way is it is less time to be holding the case tight enough to not spin.

 

Before I got my TW I borrowed the Power Trimmer and it is a nice unit, but not nearly as powerful as my crappy drill motor, and it could be stalled fairly easily.  I also like the TW (and WFT) being inexpensive enough to have dedicated trimmers, it takes two seconds to swap and once I have one set the way I want I will not need to touch it for an indefinite period of time. 

 

The Dillon setup looks great, but a pretty big additional investment, and my volume is not that high.

[Philip Dedmon]

I have had the Giraud Power Trimmer for several years and have been very pleased with it.

[CocoBolo]

I'm a WTF trimmer for 223, chucked it up in a Harbor Freight cheepOla drill press.  It takes less than an hour to trim a coffee can full of brass, call it 400-500 rounds.  Takes longer to sweep up the mess.  This thread did give me the idea to turn it upside down, to keep the chips out of the case. 

Edited May 17 by CocoBolo