LymanUniversal Case Trimmer with Carbide Cutter and 9 Pilot Multi-Pack

Works very well for me, fast and easy to set up. Very simple and a joy to use.

The trimmer doesn't operate as I thought that it would. It looks as if you push down on the little lever to the left and it puts a death grip on the cartridge. No. There is a nice universal spring fed case holder, holds to about .50 caliber I think, then you push on that lever which really just closes a gate so to speak. The cartridge casings are held securely though. I really expected something more positive or easier to use than my Redding which looks as if it shouldn't work but does, and is easier to adjust for case length. Changing the cutting head was very easy, a small allen wrench I believe, and this package came with both the standard and Carbide cutting heads. As in the RCBS, and Redding, the length adjustment is done at the cutting head end. The Lyman does this by loosening and tightening the two locking rings by the crank. RCBS has a sort of cool spring clamp to hold the cartridge. Redding is all reversed. The cutter is on the left (they offer a Nitride coated cutting head these days) and is adjustable and locked in place by an allen screw. What makes it so different is that there's a pin on the chuck side. You slide that end to the right and a groove in the top catches the pin. Then reverse the direction of the handle and it loosens the chuck that holds the casing. To put in a new one just insert it (there's a sort of stepped arrangement at the back of the chuck which as I said doesn't look like it would work, but it does. Once its tight you push the cartridge towards the cutting head and out of the slot. I get nice results from both but the chuck in the Redding made me nervous and I never believed that it would work, but it always did. Set up time is about the same for both the Redding and Lyman, AND the RCBS. I think that the RCBS uses shell holders, no big deal. I suspect that it might be slightly faster to chuck in a case. All three units are about as fast ounce you get used to them though. As weird as the Redding chuck is it's also fairly fast, but I always worry if I'm getting it in right. The universal shell holder is nice on the Lyman and doesn't make me nervous. This is one case where they are all about as good, but have used different approaches. Hornady's is nice but lighter. Lee's is junk but works as per usual with their gear. Dislike orange except at Halloween, but I had to try it out.

When I finally used this case trimmer I found it was missing a set screw to hold in the 9mm pilot bit- without it it makes a nice paperweight. I have contacted Lyman but no response as of yet. This trimmer does have a universal chuck head that self adjusts to any size case and works pretty well. The carbide cutter is a nice touch and should last a long longer than the steel one that it comes with, but is easily installed. It is a little tricky to set up, I am sure it will be easy once I have all of the set screws installed properly-

Easy to set up and use. Locking chuck fits many cases. Buy the carbide cutting tip as I did and it will last a long time. Unit has four mounting holes (2 at each end) which work great for any type of fastening. I mounted it on a board and then was able to clamp it down on my desk whitout drilling desk and making it portable. If I get alot more brass to size I mite buy the drill attachment shaft. For the price and ease of use you can't go wrong.

Great trimmer, but I would highly recommend getting the power tool adapter. Mounting this unit is almost a must! Note that the small, outer knob is for coarse adjustment and the large, inner knob is for fine adjustment. The instruction manual wasn't very clear about that. Also, DO NOT over tighten the Fine Adjustments set screw.This trimmer can produce very accurate results once you get used to the feel of it. By feel I mean the amount of pressure used to lock the casing in and the resistance felt when turning the crank. Not locking in the casing tight enough and with the same consistency can yield varying trim results.

trimming 223 brass

This trimmer will meet all your basic needs. However, I attempted to use it with the power adapter and blew out the plastic bushing. This thing is solid, but the one plastic part failed (go figure). The carbide cutter work much better than the steel one. One benefit with this set up is that you get both the steel cutter and the carbide cutter.

Sped up my reloading dramatically! I was trimming .223 cases by hand and it took forevvvver. It was taking me around an hour and a half to knock out 30 cases. My brother picked one up and let me try it out. Once the case length was set up, I can knock out around 100 in 15-20 minutes all within .003". I'm sure if I slowed it down just a little I could get more exact case lengths, but that's good enough for me.

This trimmer cuts uniformly all the time. It's always trims consistently.

Excellent case trimmer , easy to set up and use. Complete with all pilotsfor the most popular calibres. I chose the carbide cutter as it should last longer. It has a basic adjustment to size then a fine adjustment wheel , these then lock into place with set screws. The quick chuck works very well , overall very pleased

Good and solid stuff!

Good hand case trimmer. Lots of pilots for different calibre cases. Bought the carbide version as I a fed up of wearing out steel cutters from other case trimmers.

The best equipment money can buy.