Frankford Arsenal platinum case trimming and prep station

[bowhunter-tw]

First would like to say thanks everybody for answering my various questions the past few weeks as I begin my journey into the world of reloading!

I need to buy a case trimmer now, the manuals seem to be close to the cost of electric trimmers so am considering going the electric route. Anybody use the Frankford arsenal platinum case trimming and prep station or the lyman express trimmer?

[STOMP442]

Look at the Lee case length gauges and trimmers. They are cheap, caliber specific and they can be chucked up in a drill for easy work. The nice thing about them is you don't have to worry about setting anything or a screw slipping and changing your length. Each and every case is trimmed the same every time. 

[bowhunter-tw]

11 minutes ago, STOMP442 said:

Look at the Lee case length gauges and trimmers. They are cheap, caliber specific and they can be chucked up in a drill for easy work. The nice thing about them is you don't have to worry about setting anything or a screw slipping and changing your length. Each and every case is trimmed the same every time. 

Those look pretty handy for an inexpensive solution. Do the length gauges ever wear down or start producing poor results?

[STOMP442]

Used them for years and I have never had an issue. The only time I had a problem was when one rolled off the bench and the tip broke off when it hit the concrete floor. 

[SHOOTER]

I've got the frankford prep station. It's great for trimming and everything else. It's a must have. Worth every penny

[oz31p]

I get pretty anal with my brass (enjoy that mental picture) I use the Lyman trimmer and the Lyman case prep center

[Saguaro]

I have a few Forster case trimmers.  The way it worked out, there were two times where my dad and I bought up someone’s reloading set up when they were getting out of reloading.  We now have four case trimmers and all of the pilots and parts to turn the necks too.  I have one I keep set up only for .270 and I will never change it. I also have the Lyman case prep station.  Brass prep is my favorite part.  I even weight sort the brass.

[bowhunter-tw]

I think I like the idea of having designated tools for my reloading set up, even if it costs a bit more. The lee look great as a cost effective solution but doesnt look to be the most efficient. After watching a video on the frankford, changing the tooling for calibers looks like a pain, but the debur and chamfer tools look convenient. I think I am leaning towards the lyman and getting a separate “prep center”

[fatbastard]

I have several of the Lee case length gauge trimmers. They work well and are cheap. I have had issues with two of them but Lee made right with warranty. I somehow got a cutter with no threads in it, they sent me a new one. I got a 7.62x39 gauge that trimmed too short right out of the package, again they replaced it with minimal effort on my part. These are great until you get into quantities like hundred or more.

I have taken to using the Lee quick trim on most of my straight walled cases. I have the power adapter but have never used it.

I have a WFT 2 from Little Crow and adapters for all of my necked cases. It works well also. I thought it was awesome until I got the Frankford case prep center. It actually works better. You really have to watch for shavings in the WFT that will vary your length. The Frankford seems to clear the shavings better and give more consistent results with less double and triple checking. I was going to get individual WFT's for my more heavily used calibers so I didn't have to fiddle with changing the bushings as often but I canned that plan when I got the Frankford. Having the rest of the tools right there already spinning saves a lot of time too.

I also have a Lyman universal and ordered extra pilots that it didn,t come standard with and the power adapter. All of that still sits new in the box too.