Easier ways to process 5.56 brass

I've been doing this shit by hand and am about tired of it. I need something easier. The trimming is what is getting me. I have several thousand cases in need of trimming and doing them one at a time on my cordless drill is getting old real fast.

what are the most economical yet easier ways to trim brass you guys are using? I don't shoot a ton of ammo, but shoot enough that reloading has saved me a ton if money over the years. I don't mind doing everything by hand for my hunting calipers as I don't shoot much of those, but my ars can eat up ammo like crazy and I can never have enough.

If you give them to me, pay me, and pay Jim, I'll run em through his 1050.

Sent from my teepee using smoke signals.

I have a Giraud trimmer, and it'll go through brass like shit through a goose. Trims to length, and chamfers the inside and outside all in one shot. They're not cheap, but I hate doing it the hard way. Being able to do all three operations in a couple of seconds is worth it to me.

I hate to trim a few hundred, then have to chamfer the insides, then the outsides. With arthritic thumbs, that really sucks. So the high upfront cost was worth it to me. And it can be setup to run damn near any tapered rifle cases pretty easily.

WFT seems to work well for me. I want the Giraud really bad, but not bad enough to throw down the cash. Once you get out ahead of it a little bit it is not too bad. I have a couple thousand all done and ready to load, and I only process brass when I feel like it.

RCBS X-die....just trim once

I use the RCBS 3 way trimmer. It was very economical but still requires you trim one at a time. The advantage is that it trims, chamfers, and deburs all in one step.

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Originally Posted by Danimal

WFT seems to work well for me. I want the Giraud really bad, but not bad enough to throw down the cash. Once you get out ahead of it a little bit it is not too bad. I have a couple thousand all done and ready to load, and I only process brass when I feel like it.

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While the giraud looks absolutely awesome, there is no way I'm going to pay that much. I'm way too cheap.

the WFT looks awesome and 223 is really the only thing I load rifle caliber wise that I would want something like this for. The others can be done by hand no problem. with the WFT, do you have issues with the chamfering and deburring? It looks like it does a good job in a couple videos I watched. And the length seemed to be really precise on multiple cases.

I use a WFT on a 1/4 HP motor with a 5/8 shaft. Get a shopsmith/Jacobs chuck for the motor and you're good to go. My setup looks just like this one:

http://s1173.photobucket.com/user/ch...3192f.jpg.html

If I had a bucket load of brass to process I'd just pay Hoser to do it for me.

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Originally Posted by ray1970

If I had a bucket load of brass to process I'd just pay Hoser to do it for me.

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Happens just like that pretty often.

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Originally Posted by Hoser

Happens just like that pretty often.

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I imagine it does. I seldom process more than a couple hundred rounds at a time. But, when the day comes I need to do a bucket or two I will definitely be getting in touch with you.

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Originally Posted by obawon

RCBS X-die....just trim once

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They work.

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Originally Posted by sniper7

While the giraud looks absolutely awesome, there is no way I'm going to pay that much. I'm way too cheap.

.

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Do 2 doz pcs and you'll rethink it. If you have time to search the webz, there are deals out there for used units.
I use a 1050, giraud, or the lathe. Depends who is using what. Nothing like flipping a switch and going to town.

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Originally Posted by scratchy

I use a WFT on a 1/4 HP motor with a 5/8 shaft. Get a shopsmith/Jacobs chuck for the motor and you're good to go. My setup looks just like this one:

http://s1173.photobucket.com/user/ch...3192f.jpg.html

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Looks like a pretty easy set up to me. And I can get a motor cheap or free. I might been build a case over it to keep trimmings from flying and making a mess.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

Do 2 doz pcs and you'll rethink it. If you have time to search the webz, there are deals out there for used units.
I use a 1050, giraud, or the lathe. Depends who is using what. Nothing like flipping a switch and going to town.

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I did about 250 yesterday by hand in my drill using the lee sizing and trimming equipment. Felt like my hands were going to stay locked up forever!

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Originally Posted by sniper7

Looks like a pretty easy set up to me. And I can get a motor cheap or free. I might been build a case over it to keep trimmings from flying and making a mess.

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I've seen it done with a cut out 1 gal milk jug. Does a very nice job of keeping shavings contained. Just cut the top off (you can use a partial cut for a better bucket) and cut a hole in the bottom for the motor shaft.

That's my style right there!

remove the cutter head from your hand trimmer, square it all up in the drill press, set the depth gage, go for it. Take a bit of work on my press to get it all lined up, I say about 15 minutes.

The drill press spins too fast on the slow speed, but it works.

I also then chuck up the chamfer tool, run all the brass through on the inside then start over on the outside.

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...mmingPress.jpg

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Originally Posted by sniper7

Looks like a pretty easy set up to me. And I can get a motor cheap or free. I might been build a case over it to keep trimmings from flying and making a mess.

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That is the main reason that I want to build a motorized setup for it. The shavings go everywhere. I think that I will buy a little belt and pulley setup for it and configure it just like the Giraud. I have too many projects on my plate as of now, but I imagine as I get closer to needing 5.56 prepped it will move up my to-do list quickly.

About once every two years, I pick up 3-5000 pieces of once fired Lake City 5.56mm brass off of a military range. I just go ahead and bite the bullet and sent it off to be processed.......hit some of the competitive high power forums, I personally use Dick Whiting Mountaineer Brass in West Virginia, but there are other guys around that do it. Second reloadings and after, that, I just batch it up and work the Giraud trimmer, which is one of the great inventions of high power shooting.

As a service rifle shooter, I run about 2500 rounds a year........enjoy shooting it more than reloading it...........

I use the Worlds Finest Trimmer from little crow gun works. Love that thing. You have to throw down $60 per caliber, but I only got it for my top two most shot...308 and 223. Have it chucked up and it flies through the brass.

I follow up with the Hornady case prep trio.

Here's two motor/chuck assemblies on ebay for the next 4 days.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jacobs-Drill...item35d25c8545
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leeson-Fan-a...item4ad0b7a18b

It's the setup I use and it works VERY well.