Anybody use one of these? Do they work?

I am a big fan of the Lee case trimmer and have the various Shell holders and case length gauges for the calibers I reload...The only down side is that its a bit slow and fiddly when doing 100 plus cases at a time...

I 've seen a few people mention the Zip Trimmer and was wondering how well it worked and whether it lasted ok? I'd probably go for the three jaw chuck for it...

Regards

Pete

I "played" with one a few years ago.....IMO it was a toy!

I've never used the zip trim thing. I put the caseholder in my cordless drill. It's very, very fast and gives great results. After I pull out the case trimmer pilot I hit it with the deburring tool. Each case might take ten seconds to trim and deburr if I'm slow.

They work OK, especially for the money. I got one and the 3-jaw chuck. Makes pretty quick work of brass prep. I don't care for Lee's chamfer tool, I use my old RCBS tool.

Hey Pete

Used one for years (not the same one though). Have one on reserve and as soon as the one I'm using breaks I start using the one in reserve and order another one from Midway. They are usually good for about a thousand cases and then the coil spring breaks and it is impossible to fix it and get it reassembled correctly (those itty-bitty anti-reverse free-floating pieces of plastic). They're cheap enough.

I find they are much more convenient than using the drill cause the Zip Trim is stationary and that makes it much easier (IMO). I mounted the Zip Trim on a piece of 2x4 and clamp it in my bench vise. I posted some pictures in this thread.

I use the Lee trimmers, but I chuck the cutter and caselength guage in my 1/2 " drillmotor and turn it on. I hold the case and holder up to the spinning cutter. Don't have to stop the motor to change cases. Much faster.

Lyle

The Lee Zip Trim is one of the few disappointments I have gotten from Lee.

It is a workable concept that hasn't bee refined.

Kudude

Thanks gents,

As with most things from Lee, its seems it a case of "love it or loath it"

At the moment I clean, trim and chamfer my cases pretty much as Woods does, but with the Lee locking stud/shellholder in the chuck of an electric drill...

For various reasons this seems a bit "over kill" and I was thinking along the lines of Woods set up as shown in his pics..

I've tried drills, (electric & cordless) and cordless screwdrivers and while they work, I like the idea of a small, neat bench mounted set up....

As Lee sell the 3 jaw chuck and a spindle for attaching to a drill, I might see if i can source a small motor and mount on a plank...

Maybe one of those cheap Chinese generic copies of a dremel might be a good starting point?

Regards,

Pete

The Zip Trim is a good little tool. Its intended market is the casual reloader who occasionally loads a box or two of ammo.

It would be silly for such a loader to get a Gracy or even a Wilson case trimmer and it would be silly for someone who shoots hundreds of rounds a month to get the Zip Trim.

As always, know what you need and purchase that.

I do it like Boltman but use a drill press instead this works pretty good as you trim and ream at the same time . Still a pain to do 1000

If anybody has not seen the Zip trimmer, theres a good video on YouTube:

Lee Zip Trimmer In Action

I already have a drill press in my shed, but have never tried it for trimming...

That might be the way to go for bulk case prep and get a Zip Trimmer for smaller batches...

quote:

already have a drill press in my shed, but have never tried it for trimming...That might be the way to go for bulk case prep

It is, sorta. Use the lowest possible speed and don't put a lot of pressure on the down feed or the tip of the length gage will wear a hole in the face of the lock stud.

Actually, I hand feed my cases and just use the DP to hold and turn the cutter.

If you have a drill press, you may want to look at the Forster tool and the Possum Hollow (Sinclair) trimmers. You may assess one or the other as being more convenient for your needs. Neither chamfers the case mouth during the trimming operation.

A caveat concerning the Possum Hollow tool: it indexes off of the shoulder datum like the the Gracey and Giraud machines. That is, any shoulder-height variations introduced in the process of full-length sizing will be reflected in the overall lengths of the cases. Also, the drill press should be capable of 150-250 RPM.

The Forster set-up, like most trimming devices, gives uniform OAL of the cases. Variances in the sizing process will be reflected inversely in the lengths of the necks.

IIRC, (and someone please correct me if I am wrong here; I have not used the Lee equipment) the Lee trimmer gives a uniform case length, but there is no opportunity to adjust the case trim length.

Just listing options and differentiating among them. Food for thought.

Winchester 69,

I don't shoot bench rest or chase the last .25MOA from my rifles, so I don't think I need adjustable trimmers, as the Lee system seems to work ok...

Rather I'm just trying to make the trimming/case prep process a bit less laborious...

Jim,

I tried the drill press last night and it was a big improvement..I fixed the Lee locking stud and shell holder in the chuck, and offered the various tools up to each cartridge by hand...

I suspect the Lee 3 jaw chuck will make the process even more user friendly..

Regards,

Pete

quote:

I fixed the Lee locking stud and shell holder in the chuck, and offered the various tools up to each cartridge by hand...

That will work for sure. I chuck the cutter in drill and expoxied my lock studs into a golf ball handle so I can feed the cases to the cutter more conviently. (golf balls also make good file handles, I knew them little things had to be good for something! )

quote:

That will work for sure. I chuck the cutter in drill and expoxied my lock studs into a golf ball handle so I can feed the cases to the cutter more conviently. (golf balls also make good file handles, I knew them little things had to be good for something!

Jim C., thanks for the ideas. Found golfballs also make for handy targets. Beyond that I'm not sure they have any use and don't understand why there's even a market for them, new or found.

One good thing about the Zip Trim is it makes a great platform for holding the case while you take different prep steps.



I neck turn for 2 different guns and it holds the case ridgid while I use the hand turner.