Handloading ammunition is a labor of love—either for the love of shooting or the love of crafting ammo. But, when it comes to handloading, there are several undeniable truths. The first is that it takes time, sometimes lots of time. And, even though you can save money, handloading can also become expensive in and of itself. Finally, there will always be aspects of handloading some folks just do not enjoy. The least enjoyable aspect for me is trimming and prepping cartridge cases, because it takes up a lot of time and because it requires additional tools. Hornady has just introduced a new electronic case trimmer/prep tool, and while it might seem expensive, it’ll save time and require less elbow grease.
A basic, manually operated case trimmer will cost between $100 and $200. If you’re only trimming about 100 cases a year, it’s probably all you need. From a time standpoint, with a manual trimmer you can work about 100 cases in half an hour. But after trimming, the case mouth will be flat, so you’ll then need to chamfer and deburr the case mouth. If you also do this manually, counting set up and organization it is going to take you about an hour to trim, chamfer and deburr 100 cases. With Hornady’s new High Speed 3 in 1 Power Case Trimmer, you can do all of that in about 15 minutes. We all have a different idea of what our time is worth, but either way, that’s a tremendous savings.
The Hornady High Speed 3 in 1 Power Case Trimmer is built around a 2,000-rpm motor that runs almost silently. The unit mounts to your loading bench via two screws. You’ll need to drill two holes in the top of your bench, and mounting screws are not included with the case trimmer. This trimmer uses a pilot that fits inside the case mouth just like with a traditional manual trimmer, and numerous pilots are included. To hold the rim end of the case, the trimmer comes with two, interchangeable, multi-size collets that will fit cartridge cases of various calibers.
What sets this trimmer apart from other case trimmers is its ability to chamfer the inside and outside of the neck and deburr the case mouth at the same time it’s being trimmed. This is accomplished with two blades that fit inside the cutter body that the pilot also inserts in. One blade has a recess that chamfers the outside of the case mouth, and the other blade has an extension that takes care of the inside of the case mouth. Each blade fits inside a slot and is held in place by its own lock screw on the cutter body.
Adjustments for trim length are controlled by a macro-adjustment hard stop that the cartridge carriage butts up against, and by a micro-adjustment dial underneath the carriage. Once you have the correct trim length adjusted, both adjustments can be locked in place. Then all you need to do is insert a case, lock it in place by twisting the large, knurled handle and then slide the carriage forward and pull it back. After trimming, you just release the collet lock on the case by turning the handle again, insert a new case and repeat. Once you get proficient with the process you can trim, chamfer and deburr a case in 10 seconds or less.
I mounted the 3 in 1 Trimmer to my bench and set it up to work with some 25 Creedmoor cases that needed prepping. It took me a few moments to get the trimmer adjusted for the correct trim length, but right out of the gate, the unit worked perfectly. Next, I swapped the .25-caliber pilot for a .28-caliber pilot to trim some .284 Win. cases. At first, the trimmer was not working the inside of the case mouth, and I had to adjust one of the cutting heads. This was a bit tedious and took a few attempts, but once I had the adjustment correct, everything worked like a charm. If you’re super specific about how you like your case mouths chamfered, you may have to tweak the adjustment of the cutting heads a bit like I did.
The trimmer has a removable, clear-plastic shield that covers the cutting head to keep brass shavings from escaping and getting in your eyes, and there’s also a small tray you slide in under this shield to catch the trimmings. There is another large tray that attaches under the trimmer to hold trimmed or untrimmed brass. Both let you keep your loading area clean and uncluttered. In addition, the macro adjustment stop has holes for storing—for easy access—the other collet and four case-mouth pilots for the calibers you work with most often. For most handloaders, case prep is done en masse and occurs periodically throughout the year as opposed to every time you sit at the bench.
Hornady’s new High Speed 3 in 1 Power Case Trimmer retails for $500. If you’re doing a lot of competitive shooting and running through a lot of brass, this tool could save you hours of time and would be a practical investment. Time, as they say, is the only thing in this world we cannot make more of, and maximizing it makes sense. Of course, if you’re like me and you hate twisting that handle on a manual trimmer, this cool new tool might be right up your alley.
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