Worlds finest trimmer

[Hartebreak]

Ever since I started making my own .300 brass out of .223 I have been looking for something better than my Lyman manual trimmer. I looked around online and ran across the "WFT" or Worlds Finest Trimmer from Little Crow Gunworks. I paid $70.00 for it and got it in the mail this afternoon. After running 50 rounds thru it I am completely sold on this thing. It is lightning fast and gets the brass very close +- .001. As I stated I have only ran 50 rounds thru it so I don't have any long term feedback, but so far this thing is incredible. For those of you making your own .300 for your Blackouts, this thing is the bee's knees.

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[ma96782]

Sort of like the Possom Hollow tool.

.223 Case Trimming Possum Hollow Kwick - YouTube

The guy in this video should be using eye protection.

All that being said, I use an older Gracey w/ my own drill as a power source.

Gracey Power Brass Trimmer - YouTube

Then, I've also heard good things about the Giraud. But, it's expensive.

Giraud Powered Case Trimmer - YouTube

Aloha, Mark

 

[AMProducts]

A bunch of the guys on the castboolit forum are all ga-ga over the WFT, it looks like a neat thing, however it's one of those rare cases that just seeing pictures of it gives me little idea how it actually works.

I have a gracey trimmer I bought some years ago for doing .223 case prep (this was before I switched to using the dillon RT1200). I still use the gracey for trimming my .308 match ammo.

The few times I've made .300BLK I cut the cases first using one of these:

Bench Top Cut Off Saw

I then put a trimming jig. So I just dropped the case in, flipped the handle and then brought the blade down, flipped the handle, knocked the case out, repeat. I would do this before forming since the cases grow, and then do a final trim using a CH4D RT1200 die for the final trim.

 

[Stevenav]

I see a LOT of engineering problems with this.

It's reliant on the neck for its case trimming guide and that invites a lot of OAL issues since you aren't trimming the case for full length accuracy.

Sure you'll get uniform neck to mouth length... but the body is completely neglected... and the squaring of the mouth assumes that the neck is perfectly square to the rest of the body all the way around.

This is the one I just bought Redding 2400 Match Precision Case Trimmer and I'm looking at getting this next Sinclair Stainless Ultimate Trimmer : SINCLAIR STAINLESS ULTIMATE TRIMMER | Brownells

The wilson (to my eye) looks to be the best in terms of pure engineering and accuracy.

The fact that the body of the round is held in an enclosing cylinder to keep it 100% square on for trimming should result in perfectly square mouths and the quality of the materials (its hard as hell to top engineering stainless steel) looks mighty promising.

I've heard a lot of people make crazy claims for the quality of this or that trimmer... but I always end up seeing some flaw in the engineering of the tool or in the way it's intended to be used.

Since we're taking a risk by reloading to start with I'm all about doing it in whatever way will reduce the risk to my guns and myself the most.

To me, it all starts with the case. Trimming the case is an important part of the safety of the sport. So I'm now so sure that I trust this WFT thing since it's trimming on neck length,not case length.

 

[Hartebreak]

If you have a case that is so out of spec at the shoulder that it causes the trimmer to cut weird then you have bigger issues to worry about than an out of square trim job.

Just ran another 100 rounds thru it. I checked 25 rounds and I have a long of 1.360 and a short of 1.357. So out of 25 rounds I have a +/- of .003. Each round took approx 5 seconds to trim. Ill take .003 between 25 rounds to save 30 or 40 seconds a round over my Lyman trimmer any day.

I see a LOT of engineering problems with this.

It's reliant on the neck for its case trimming guide and that invites a lot of OAL issues since you aren't trimming the case for full length accuracy.

Sure you'll get uniform neck to mouth length... but the body is completely neglected... and the squaring of the mouth assumes that the neck is perfectly square to the rest of the body all the way around.

This is the one I just bought Redding 2400 Match Precision Case Trimmer and I'm looking at getting this next Sinclair Stainless Ultimate Trimmer : SINCLAIR STAINLESS ULTIMATE TRIMMER | Brownells

The wilson (to my eye) looks to be the best in terms of pure engineering and accuracy.

The fact that the body of the round is held in an enclosing cylinder to keep it 100% square on for trimming should result in perfectly square mouths and the quality of the materials (its hard as hell to top engineering stainless steel) looks mighty promising.

I've heard a lot of people make crazy claims for the quality of this or that trimmer... but I always end up seeing some flaw in the engineering of the tool or in the way it's intended to be used.

Since we're taking a risk by reloading to start with I'm all about doing it in whatever way will reduce the risk to my guns and myself the most.

To me, it all starts with the case. Trimming the case is an important part of the safety of the sport. So I'm now so sure that I trust this WFT thing since it's trimming on neck length,not case length.

 

[PotshotJim]

I could see using this WFT trimmer on newly formed brass that's .020" - .040" too long, but I would continue to trim all my 300BLK brass every time I reload it with the Lyman manual case trimmer to 1.358".

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yea, $200 on a "ultimate case trimmer 2000". feh. My $400 primer seater cost twice as much! It's engineered, too!

 

[Stevenav]

I think you miss the point.... or maybe not.

My point was that Measuring from neck to mouth alone will fail to accurately measure your case length.

This will mean that some bullets will end up seated deeper in the case or more shallowly. This hurts one of the best aspects of Handloading... the dramatically increased accuracy of handloads over factory loads due to higher quality control standards.

Deeper or more shallow seating can result in vastly different pressures in the case, and more friction on the bullet during the firing process, slowing the round or producing uneven results.

Of course if quantity is what you want, then it sounds like this method is much much faster as far as trimming is concerned and we all want more quantity of rounds after all.

I'd be really interested to hear what sort of grouping you get off the rounds that you make using this trimmer vs rounds made with a case length based trimmer.

Also I'm curious... what sort of changes to you have to make to the trimming arrangement when you switch to a different type of brass? Is there some sort of neck collar for each different type of round or some sort of depth gauge?

 

[Hartebreak]

This is all brass I'm making from once shot LC brass. I cut the brass off at the neck, run it thru the full length sizing die 4 actual cycles. ( press, turn brass 1/4 turn, press, turn a 1/4 turn, press, turn again and final press. Then in run the brass thru the WFT and then a slight debur. It all comes out looking damn near perfect. I guess if I had a giant pile of .300 brass with mixed head stamps then I may see a bit of an issue with consistency,but with all brass being made from same stamp and essentially starting with a new shoulder made from 1 sizing die, I don't see there to be much fluctuation.

 

[Ligito]

This is all brass I'm making from once shot LC brass. I cut the brass off at the neck, run it thru the full length sizing die 4 actual cycles. ( press, turn brass 1/4 turn, press, turn a 1/4 turn, press, turn again and final press. Then in run the brass thru the WFT and then a slight debur. It all comes out looking damn near perfect. I guess if I had a giant pile of .300 brass with mixed head stamps then I may see a bit of an issue with consistency,but with all brass being made from same stamp and essentially starting with a new shoulder made from 1 sizing die, I don't see there to be much fluctuation.

This sounds like a good plan.

I just today, bought the Harbor Fright trimmer for garage tasks of the future.

 

[bellarum]

I use the L.E. Wilson trimmer with great results.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I think you miss the point.... or maybe not.

My point was that Measuring from neck to mouth alone will fail to accurately measure your case length.

This will mean that some bullets will end up seated deeper in the case or more shallowly. This hurts one of the best aspects of Handloading... the dramatically increased accuracy of handloads over factory loads due to higher quality control standards.

Deeper or more shallow seating can result in vastly different pressures in the case, and more friction on the bullet during the firing process, slowing the round or producing uneven results.

Of course if quantity is what you want, then it sounds like this method is much much faster as far as trimming is concerned and we all want more quantity of rounds after all.

I'd be really interested to hear what sort of grouping you get off the rounds that you make using this trimmer vs rounds made with a case length based trimmer.

Also I'm curious... what sort of changes to you have to make to the trimming arrangement when you switch to a different type of brass? Is there some sort of neck collar for each different type of round or some sort of depth gauge?

Personally, I use Lee trimmers and a cordless drill. My Model 600 Remington in .243 will about put them in one hole at 100 yards.

 

[fxdc]

Still loving mine .... From 223 to 308. Thousands done!!!!

 

[svxr8dr]

I'm with fxdc...from 223 to 6.5 Grendel and loving it

 

[Stevenav]

Actually the lee trimmer is what i'm using for my 5.7 x 28 stuff. It's a super finicky round and to be honest I can't think of a better way to actually make sure the trim is more uniform. A rod that makes sure that each case is Precisely the exact same length because the rod won't vary based on the thickness of the shell base or the angle of the neck or the foot of the round.

What do other people think of the lee trimmer. I mean it's cheap as heck. and it freaking busts your fingers... but I am really happy with the cases that I end up with. Anyone have any quality complaints with the lee system?

 

[AMProducts]

I used a zip trim for a long time, the thing I've found is that it's not as uniform as you might otherwise expect, I found that the center mandrel had a tendency to catch on the case mouth, and turn itself deeper (usually cutting off part of the mandrel) and making your cases too short. I also found it tends to require too much case mouth deburring.

I'm willing to spend the money on better tools because they save me time, however there are plenty of people out there who have more time than money and I don't begrudge them for it.

I think when comparing using a drill vs the zip trim, I think the zip-trim does a better job, it's also much easier to use, as it's attached to the bench and it's more difficult to put excessive pressure on it (which is usually what causes the problem I talked about above).

Way back in the day, I had a drill press set up with a lee cutter and lock stud I used for trimming, worked ok, but took too long to deburr all the cases. I like the zip-trim better. But I prefer my gracey trimmer or my dillon RT1200 to anything else.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.But I prefer my gracey trimmer or my dillon RT1200 to anything else..

Har.

R-Powered Snowblower

 

[TRD1911]

[/QUOTE]Then, I've also heard good things about the Giraud. But, it's expensive.

Giraud Powered Case Trimmer - YouTube

Aloha, Mark[/QUOTE]

+1 worth every penny for prepping large amounts of .223 and .308 brass

 

[7SFCW4]

See my four part article here on making 300 BLK on a Dillon XL 650