....has to be the worse part of reloading. I hate it. But I have started buying the Lee trimmers that are caliber specific. A collet fits in the drill and there is a cutter and a shaft that goes into the case. I must admit its a lot faster than my Forrester trimmer and doesn't wear my arm out cranking the handle. I tried taking the handle off but Godzilla must have tightened the screw cause it ain't coming out. The Lee trimmer does cut consistent length cases and its easy to use. Over the past few years I have the trimmers of several different cartridges. The Forrester doesn't see much use anymore. Another nice thing about the Lee is they aren't expensive either. I know there are probably better and more costly but this works well for me.

i jumped on the lee quick trim system real early on when they announced it. i have one for almost every caliber i own. just like you.. i find trimming and case mouth cleaning to be the biggest "ugh... do i have to?" part of reloading. especially on calibers i shoot in volume.

its not so bad trimming 50 cases on a hunting only caliber to replenish a hunting load stash... but loading up 1000 300 BO subs... or a batch of 1000+ 223 plinkers.... ugh is about the politest term i can come up with lol!

like you said, its not the fanciest, but it does a good job as long as you dont spin the cutter bit too fast. if you use a super high RPM driver to spin it, your adjustment bushing will lose its adjustment setting and your cases will end up a few thou shorter than you wanted. i tried using my bosch impactor... but 3000 RPM and you lose the trim adjustment setting after like 2 or 3 cases. no thank you!

drop back to about 1400-1600 RPM with a drill/driver tool and its like butter!



helpful tip if you havent already - for thin necked cases like 223, etc - take the ball bearing out of the spring assembly (under the cap) and replace it with a airsoft BB. it'll only actuate the center spring extra and take some tension off the outer spring. i find you get a nicer chamfer/deburr with it set that way.

for thicker necked casings (308, 30-06, etc) i put the factory ball bearing back in there and let it have at it.

not my trick, just something i found online early on from the 300blk forum from a member using it there as part of his "making 300bo from 223" process video he posted online.

HTH

I'm a Quick Trim fan. I like the fact that I can trim 20P, 223, and 6x45 with the same body, same with all my cats on the 204 case. I keep four of the bodies in a old turret press I have, so literally no set up. Much like my Wilson and C&H trimmers but so much easier to use.

When I quit turning necks I sold my Forster case trimmer and use the lee exclusively. Find it much easier to trim after each firing than to measure and trim as needed with the trimmer and chamfer tool mounted in wooden handle.

After sizing, I trim, chamfer and wipe case lube off without shutting down the drill.



Regards,
hps

I bought a bag of wooden balls that are about 1 1/4 dia. Then drilled a hole the same size as the sizing stem handle. Basically the same idea as hm. After sizing they went into the tumbler. When I pull them out I'll chamfer inside and out and they will be ready to load.

Cordless drill mounted spinning trimmers are pretty fast. Not perfect (because they index off the shoulder) but it's plenty good enough.

World's Finest Trimmers are great. A bit expensive. Version 2 accepts multiple pilots for multiple calibers. Even wildcats, I sent fired cases and got a 6DTI pilot. But changing out the pilots for different calibers and resetting the cutting depth is kind of a pain.

World's Cheapest Trimmer is caliber specific and costs $25. Set it and forget it. Works great.

Here's a pretty fair review of both the WFT & WCT in the same video.

You can rip through a big pile of brass in no time.

Here's what I came up with about a decade ago. This is way faster than the factory powered trim pro. When you push the lever on top it pulls the drill into the gutter spike which presses the trigger. Let up and the spring pushes it back. I can trim any caliber I have and any that I could ever get without buying anything else unless it's a really odd shell holder.

I agree trimming sucks. I used a Wilson trimmer for years and got tired of the mess and lack of speed. I then purchased a Giraud which trims, chamfers and deburs all in one step. It was expensive but it's the best money ever spent.

Two years ago I bought some 414 magnum brass. I don’t own a 414 mag, only 41 mag. My plan was to make longer shotshells for the 41 mag.

I found I had to trim so much for proper fit, the project wasn’t worth the effort. I chucked up a cordless screwdriver system & shortened the 100 cases to 41 mag length. It would be comparable to taking 357 down to 38 length. Prior to this I often trimmed by hand.

For me the WFT 2 with changeable inserts was a game changer. Like you mentioned the initial cost is a little higher but I have inserts for everything I load for from 17 Hornet to 338 Lap Imp and I can not only zip through trimming a few hundred cases in just a few minutes but they all come out uniform and trimmed to the same length. Couldn't imagine using any other kind of trimmer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZGkWUtKz4k

I saw the above video and set my RCBS case prep center to trim with the Lee trimmers.

That's pretty slick. I have the Lyman case prep center and the Lee trimmer works with it. Not as fast as my drill but it works. The only con with the Lee is you have to deprime first. Not a big deal really. Usually I resize and deprime then tumble my cases, then do the trimming. I like the Lee trimmer and it cuts pretty uniform length cases. Good enough for me anyway.

get an accurate measurement of your rifles chambers and you might not be doing near as much trimming.

unless of course, you just enjoy trimming cases.

^^^^ I haven't trimmed any in a long time... Most of my rifles and brass, the cases will be worn out before ever needing trimmed.

- DAA

Trust me, I don't trim unless necessary but got a new barrel coming and just wanted to start out fresh....without buying all new brass.