Need a case trimmer, RCBS or Lyman?

[Gas]

I like the way the shell goes into the RCBS and that I can put on a 3-way cutting head. However the Lyman gets better reviews. Anyone have one of these?

I really am not interested in any other ones, so if you tell me buy a redding, or a wilson, no thanks.

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[wazzuboy]

I have the Lyman and would not recommend it. I'm getting rid of it because the cases constantly slip out of the holder (probably 1 out of every 5-6 cases). It also doesn't seem to hold a setting very well and I end up with .005 - .01 variance between cases regardless of how careful I am about applying the same pressure and speed. I'm going with a Forster instead.

 

[Izzy]

I like the way the shell goes into the RCBS and that I can put on a 3-way cutting head. However the Lyman gets better reviews. Anyone have one of these?

I really am not interested in any other ones, so if you tell me buy a redding, or a wilson, no thanks.

I have not use a RCBS, but I did have a Lyman for a while & didn't care for it. I ended up buying the lee trimmer & love it.

 

[huntpotter]

I ended up buying the lee trimmer & love it.

Second on the Lee. 100% satisfied. 1/4 hex shank fits into any magnetic bit holder, that goes in my cordless drill. Run out a couple hundred .308 while I'm watching tv. And it's one of the cheapest setups.

Sorry that you might not be interested in this brand, but I thoght I'ld mention it.

 

[Gas]

Are you guys talking about the little $5 thing from Lee?

 

[doug]

I have the RCBS trimmer with the 3 way cutter. It works very well. I think the important question is how many cases per week or month do you plan on doing? The Lee may suffice for a small amount, the RCBS for more, but I do a couple thousand a month and turn to the Giraud trimmer.
The RCBS is a good trimmer, but will you be turning it by hand or attaching a power drill or buying the powered unit? I wouldn't want to turn it by hand if doing a large amount. My RCBS sits idle but I am cautious not to sell it because it is a good back-up.

 

[Jamie6.5]

Are you guys talking about the little $5 thing from Lee?

Yes. Used with a cordless drill they are pretty easy/fast. Some mount them in a drill press.

Me? I have a Lyman power/motorized unit, and love it.

 

[Gunner3456]

Forster

 

[SAR1846]

I use an RCBS powered by a drill. works well enough. Giraud is supposed to be great for competition shooting... if you're sticking with one or two calibers, and shooting a metric ton of each.

 

[tcs#1]

I have an RCBS Power trimmer and the Lyman w' the universal chuck
Both work very well for me

 

[Brandon44647]

I use a RCBS with a cordless drill attached, I've never had an issue with it. Once I got it dialed in for proper cutting length it hasn't moved, that was about 400 rounds ago.......

 

[terrylf72]

Forster

+1
I use a Forster and Love it..

 

[2gr8dgs]

I use a RCBS with a cordless drill attached, I've never had an issue with it. Once I got it dialed in for proper cutting length it hasn't moved, that was about 400 rounds ago.......

that's my set up also. I would say I've done several thousand pieces by now. I'm sure there are better trimmers, but this works well for the amount of reloading I do.

 

[Gas]

I bought the RCBS today, will mount it up tomorrow and try to trim some brass. I need to re-read the instructions, I am a bit confused on the 2 lock nuts it has on it.

 

[elsie]

I bought the RCBS today, will mount it up tomorrow and try to trim some brass. I need to re-read the instructions, I am a bit confused on the 2 lock nuts it has on it.

You mean the 2 rings between the crank handle and the trimmer body? Those are adjustment rings. You loosen the lock screw and move them to the position where they will stop the cutter at the appropriate case length. Then the other 'nut' is a fine adjustment where you can add or subtract small amounts to the trim length.

Not an exact description, but it should give you an idea how they work.


elsie

 

[AMProducts]

I have had pretty much all of the trimmers in my life. The forster is the best for the money if you do a lot of different calibers because you just need the right collet, and most of the collets will do about half a dozen cartridges.

I still have my RCBS trimmer, only because the cam-lock mechanism makes changing cases really easy, but it's a PITA to get more shell holder plates (never seen a gun shop stock these). But I will say +1 on both the forster and the RCBS. I'm sure lyman makes a good product, but I've never used it.

The lee trimmers are ok, but lack the precision I have come to expect. There is a big average variation, and most of the time the trimmer is dull and requires serious deburring of the case mouth to get off the big edge it picks up.

The RCBS trimmer can also accept a case neck-turning attachment which is a must if you are a bench-rest shooter.

If all of the things I've mentioned here make no sense, go buy the lee tool and use it for a while, when you start to need higher precision trimming go to one of the other trimmers. When you need both high precision, and speed start to look at the gracey or the giraud trimmers. I bought the gracey trimmer a few years ago and havn't looked back, I still use it on all my .308 match ammo. Some people complain about variation in the gracey vs the giraud, but I havn't experienced that problem.

If you're doing high volume, the only way to go is the dillon RT1200. There is always some variation in this system, but it doesn't require the deburring of the manual trimmers (both the gracey and the giraud return a nice chamferred edge on the cases) and if you're doing it all on a progressive, every stroke will return a sized and trimmed case.