New Quick Trim
Posted: 30 Jun 2013 19:20
Does anyone else have the new case trimmer system yet? I've only used in on a small handful of .223 brass and it worked like a champ. I think it was a bit difficult to setup just right but once I got it just right it worked they way Lee said it should. My one and only issue was not a fault of the trimmer but of my bench and how the trimmer works. Since you have to rotate the handle on the top, I found my bench isn't supported to not move side to side and everything started to rock and roll. I figure once I add a brace or two to lock it up tight this will cease to be an issue. I found the case lengths to all be near spot on with little to no deviation and it trimmed them faster and better than my Forster ever did. Add to that they are chamfered in and out at the same time so no more having to do those steps. You could spend a heck of a lot of money on another brand to get the same results. I'm sure Lee is working on some kind of drill chuck adapter for this new trimmer and I can't wait for that as well.
This is a review I posted elsewhere (sorry about the repetition but it was easier to copy and paste for the pics than do it all over again) and have since bought the .30-30 die that recently came into stock:
My initial thoughts on the latest Lee trimmer:
The trimmer itself comes with two major parts and then you buy the trim die for each cartridge. The die body holds the case with rubber o rings that look pretty easy to replace for cheap when they finally wear out.
The win in this design (besides the price) is that it does a pretty darn good job of cleaning up the edges by chamfering and deburring the edges. This isn't a new idea but IMHO what makes this different is the ease of setup and low cost of trimming everything you reload.
But in the end it comes down to how well does it trim... Well I set this for 1.760" and it seems to have a +/- of .005" with most of mine coming out looking like this after usually half a dozen rotations:
Bottom line - I like it. Typical of Lee products it seems like it wouldn't work as well as it does. I have to assume there will be a chuck adapter to allow a drill to do the turning. The rotation isn't hard but it does demand the bench to be rock solid or you will have a lot of shake, rattle, and roll going on with everything. No, it's not as fast as the WFT but then with the WFT I still have to clean up that sharp edge it leaves or it will shave the bullet during seating. So the WFT is fast but requires handling more than once. Let Lee add that drill chuck adapter and this thing might be a speed machine. Now if only they would hurry up and ship the .30-30 die...
This is a review I posted elsewhere (sorry about the repetition but it was easier to copy and paste for the pics than do it all over again) and have since bought the .30-30 die that recently came into stock:
My initial thoughts on the latest Lee trimmer:
The trimmer itself comes with two major parts and then you buy the trim die for each cartridge. The die body holds the case with rubber o rings that look pretty easy to replace for cheap when they finally wear out.
The win in this design (besides the price) is that it does a pretty darn good job of cleaning up the edges by chamfering and deburring the edges. This isn't a new idea but IMHO what makes this different is the ease of setup and low cost of trimming everything you reload.
But in the end it comes down to how well does it trim... Well I set this for 1.760" and it seems to have a +/- of .005" with most of mine coming out looking like this after usually half a dozen rotations:
Bottom line - I like it. Typical of Lee products it seems like it wouldn't work as well as it does. I have to assume there will be a chuck adapter to allow a drill to do the turning. The rotation isn't hard but it does demand the bench to be rock solid or you will have a lot of shake, rattle, and roll going on with everything. No, it's not as fast as the WFT but then with the WFT I still have to clean up that sharp edge it leaves or it will shave the bullet during seating. So the WFT is fast but requires handling more than once. Let Lee add that drill chuck adapter and this thing might be a speed machine. Now if only they would hurry up and ship the .30-30 die...