Frankford Arsenal Case Trim & Prep System - Case Trimming Accessories & System

Summary: Works great! Don't be anxious because of a few folks who are bagging on the debur tools. Go ahead and buy it if you are sick of holding a drill and switching off to hand tools for every case. After looking around at multiple tools and owning hand tools and a Lyman E-ZEE trim, I decided to go with this prep system. The other contender was the Hornady case prep center at over double the price and you still had to chuck a case in a shell holder before you could trim. I also considered the worlds finest trimmer, but at over $70 a pop I didn't feel like buying one for each caliber I was working with. With this prep center, you get the ability to setup for A LOT (I won't say all because I haven't tested them all) of bottle neck cartridges. I know the new versions of the worlds finest trimmer are able to be changed out for caliber now too though. So here's the other thing that makes this a bit nicer in my opinion. The case trimmer has a collet set that you can adjust to each case. This does a majority of the holding so the case does not spin. This allows you to avoid a lot of the hand pain associated with trying to keep the case from spinning in some other cutters (I know, I know...work on your hand strength wimp. RESPONSE: Sorry, too busy reloading and having fun shooting to be bothered with that ; ). As for quality and speed, I think it's great for what you are paying. The debur and chamfer tools ran smoothly and did not chatter in any of the 223 cases I was working with. I did about 400 cases over 2 nights working 1.5 hours the first night and 1 hour the second. That puts me at about 22 seconds per case. Keep in mind I was not only trimming and deburring but also checking for military crimps and sorting. Had this not been the case it would have been a bit faster. The machine runs fairly quiet and chugged right along. I'll be curious to see how it holds up after a few hundred hours of use. As for trimming accuracy, I set my case length to 1.750" (Rem 223). I saw variation between 1.750" and 1.748". I'm sure that's an issue for some competition shooters, but for anyone interested in large volume reloading for general use rounds it will work any day. Just make sure to follow directions when setting up and pay attention to which collet and ring you are supposed to use. Conclusion....buy it. You won't be sorry. I plan on using it to prep 223, 308, 30-06, 300 AAC and 243 initially.

I love to reload but I hate case prep. I read the reviews on all the Case Prep Centers on the market from all the big names. Most of them probably do a fair job. The reviews made it sound like the Franklin Arsenal did them all the best but there weren't many reviews. I reload on a Dillon Press because of the quality. Dillon isn't the cheapest by far but it is considered the best by many including me. So what is a Dillon guy doing with a Franklin Arsenal Prep Center? I didn't switch to Dillon because of the name. Don't let the Franklin Arsenal name turn you away. I have a Franklin Arsenal Tumbler that was a good price and has gone strong for years so I wasn't afraid to give this a try. Especially since it's through Amazon! I'm sure glad I did and I believe you will be also. I have used 5 different case trimmers and the best by far was the World's Finest Trimmer until this came along. This is a huge improvement for several important reasons. a) You don't have to chuck it in a drill and put the drill in a mount to keep it steady. b) It turns at a correct slower rpm so brass is better contained and the noise level is more comfortable. It doesn't remove as much metal as other tools do in a fast drill so your cases should last longer. c) You can stand it on end and let gravity help you. Very important when doing hundreds of cases. d) And the most important and best difference is you can trim, chamfer and deburr with a single grip on the case. Pick up the case and do all three operations and never change your grip. Yeah, this saves time! e) I can do three operations in about five seconds per case. If you are agile with good eyes you might shave a second or two off this time. f) It also cleans the primer pocket in a second but you do have to flip the case over g) It trims almost any cartridge without spending more bucks on additional tools h) It only takes a few seconds to set up and adjust i) It comes with all of the cutting tools. If it holds up for the long haul it will be the best reloading investment since I went Dillon Blue. I wear a rubber palmed cotton glove. I like to be above the trimmer to make it easier. As with most trimmers, you can close your eyes and feel when each step is completed. The only way it could be easier would be for someone else to do it for you. Any volunteers? Case prep is still the longest and hardest part of reloading but it just got a whole lot better and faster. I hope this review helps you.

This thing is AWESOME. Works great, consistent and makes the whole prep process so much smoother. Anyone saying its inconsistent i guarantee you doesnt measure their shoulder length on their cases. Its physically near impossible to have different cut lengths if your shoulders are consistent. I love it

Let me start by saying, for the reviewers that write one star reviews because they are missing something, STOP IT...thats not the purpose of reviewing and these are assembled by humans, and humans can tend to make mistakes... I almost questioned whether to buy this because of the reviews about runout on the shafts, the difficulty of consistency of having brass fired from different guns, ect...they me tell you...DONT LISTEN TO THEM! This product is awesome for what is for, rapid case trimming for brass...if you are a match shooter or think you are a match shooter...use a hand trimmer...this is not meant for exact tolerances...that being said, I was pleasantly surprised that after 500 cases of .223, fired from various rifles, and checking randomly I was wishing .0002 in tolerance...totally good enough for my purposes. I have owned a RCBS trimmer since I got my first reloader 20 years ago...I have never trimmed my brass! I always would start it and after about 10 I had better things to do...and never had any real problems...I decided to check this batch of 1000 and found some of them were pretty long! and 95% were over a little...I dug out the hand trimmer, attached a drill and after 10 was done with this process... Looking around I didn't want to spend $500 on a trimmer (correction...wife wouldn't allow me to spend $500 on a trimmer!) and I came across this...having just purchased the FA Tumbler (awesome BTW over vibration and ultrasonic) I decided to make this purchase...and I don't regret it... As many have said, trimming cases is worse than watching paint dry, however I don't see any other product out there that can make you more efficient than this, I didn't have a grip issue...its really easy to use and set up, I was up and running out of the box in 10 min! It is about as loud as my can opener in the kitchen so my wife allows me to do this in the house (thank god since I live in Phoenix and its about 120 degrees in the garage!). Other negative reviews I have read: Inconstant length - If you read the manual (I know...heaven forbid) it states to turn the case a quarter of turn clockwise after it stops cutting FOR AN EVEN CUT...I did and it works, I always hear it snip a little more when I turn it. The tool heads are junk - Working fine for me...you are cutting brass, which is like hot butter in the metal world...doesn't take much to cut it Runout on the tool heads - And? So what...your holding the casing in your HAND, its not a stationary lathe...the case will move with the small amount of runout and what micrometer it will be off my crimp die takes care of when I put them in the press... As another review said...JUST BUY IT and you will be happy!

Overall this product is well made and it simply works well and as advertised. This had made me anticipate rifle brass prep rather than dread the agony of it (especially large volume 223). Can easily do a couple per hour at a smooth, un-rushed pace. The unit is barely loud enough to make it hard to hear the TV but not too loud to be uncomfortable. A couple of the rotating shafts do not turn in a pure circular motion, resulting in a slight oval axis pattern. While this might sound bad (it is known & well-reviewed by other users) it only on the primer pocket cleaner and de-burr units, and has no negative outcome on the brass. The cutter assembly is slick and an absolute must for someone who reloads frequently and high volumes. Like most Frankford products, it lacks some refinement but it is stout and should last multiple years. I will buy again if it ever quits on me.

This case prep station is quick once you get it set. That is the down side…getting the case length trimming set is trial and error. The cool measuring ticks you see in the picture are basically useless. Once the trimmer is set the machine saves time. I have used multiple Lee trimmers, I have the hand powered RCBS trimmer (used that for over two decades), the FA drill attachment trimmer, and this one just allows you to prep large amount of cases quickly. It is NOT as consistent as I would like but it’s at least 5 times faster than the hand powered stuff when each task is set apart. I think it is money well spent if you need to save time. The one other downside is the gizmo collects brass shavings across the front of the system. It’s hard to explain but the front face plate collects shavings and it’s a pain to get it clean.

What more can I say! As described on the box and comes with a VLD inside chamfering tool as well! What more could you ask for? ...except a couple brass inside case brushes would be nice. Otherwise has everything you need to prep cases for loading. All neatly packed under the flip up lid on top. Inside is a storage area made for the items. Latch is hard to squeeze so nothing's gonna fall out. I question what kind of koolaid the advertising person was drinking though regarding "High Speed" action. 200 rpm isn't what I'd call high speed and I question whether it actually goes 200 rpm, but I don't have anything to measure it by so we'll have to take their word for it. However, I'd swear if it does 100 rpm I'd be surprised, least mine anyways. Either way it does the job it was designed to do well. Mine runs reasonably quite compared to the users' posted video on the adv page here. About half as loud as his and I'm very pleased with that! There's too much noise pollution as it is and generally noisy things like this machine, to me just indicate low quality engineering and a lack of basic precision. Not the case here! It's not super quiet as in a fine watch, but it won't wake the family either. Makes the process of prepping cases go much faster than doing them by hand one by one. Pleased and very happy to have it on my bench! BTW AMAZON! ...Put it in a blank box so the whole world doesn't see what you're buying and doing! There are still anti gunners out there. IDK, but the whole thing with delivery being held up for a week longer than it should've been, and the odd circumstances as such, I suspect that's what happened to the first one I ordered as it got returned because it was "Damaged In Transit". There's no padding inside the box either, just the machine. Just sayin' !

Exelent

EXCELENTE produto. Extremamente funcional. Vale cada centavo se estiver com MSRP. Se estiver mais caro, vale a pena buscar em outro lugar.

I should have bought one years ago. Quiet enough to run without annoying the neighbours and powerful enough to get the job done. In the UK this US version runs from my UK 110V site transformer with the correct fly lead and RCD that I already had.

Works great and very accurate , make sure to warm it up for a few hours, keep it away from air draft , Had a problem with the first one but Frankoford Arseneal's customer service is amazing and they sent a replacement under a week , and I'm in Canada, definitely recommended.

Super gelaufen. Alles was auf dem Foto war ist im Set enthalten gewesen. Schnelle Lieferung zwar mit 30 Euro Aufpreis aber egal. Das Gerät hat 110 Volt und einen US Stecker. Wenn man aber nicht auf den Kopf gefallen ist kauft man sich einfach einen Umwandler für 40 Euro und spart sich mit dem ganzen Set inkl dem Wandler mindestens 200 Euro im Vergleich zu den Geräten was es hier in D zu kaufen gibt. Die selben Geräte nur mit EU Ausführung kosten hier ca 440 bis 500 Euro. Heute Abend probiere ich aus wie es funktioniert. Wie gesagt alles was auf den Fotos zu sehen ist ist auch im Set.

This makes case trimming and primer pocket reaming a cake walk compared to using a drill like i was doing before. Additionally, I would like to praise Frankford arsenal work not price gouging customers as others have on Amazon. this product has increased in price 23% in 2 years which is fair, compared to some Lee components I have bought that have went up over 60% in a few months.