RCBS Trim Pro-2 Manual Case Trimmer Kit, Precision Trimming Kit for Reloading, Multi color

Skill level and experience: Amateur ReloaderThis is a great piece of equipment. I have to give it 5 stars even with the problem of .223 Remington and 5.56mm NATO brass not fitting over the .22 caliber pilot as described below under cons, along with the reason this problem occurred and it's fix. I caused this problem and I am an amateur with no expectations that the learning process will be completely painless.It cost me about $102 with the pilots and once you are accustomed to it, you can work pretty fast. I have been shooting many years, but only reloading for about a month. My greatest gain in speed came when I realized I did not have to line the cases up perfectly in the spring loaded shell holder; just stick it in there reasonably straight and move the pilot up to the case mouth and then touch the release handle with one or two fingers and the pilot will slip right in aiding in the alignment. Occasionally I have to touch the handle twice after the initial load and/or give the case a slight rotation while it is released.I am checking every tenth case and so far it holds the settings perfectly. Just lube it a little now and then and it is very easy to work. I have probably trimmed about 3,000 5.56mm NATO cases now which I have accumulated over the last few years. I am feeding my AR 15 much cheaper now.Con number one and this has been the hardest one. The case mouths of the .223 and 5.56mm cases stopped slipping over the pilot and my case trimming came to a screeching halt... problem now fixed; read on if it has happened to you.I just finished a hard lesson in it's use and while it is fresh on my mind here is the story; hope it helps someone.This really has more to do with the resizing/decapping dies. Yesterday, I found myself unable to trim almost ALL of the brass I tried to do. The problem was that the pilot would not enter the mouth on about 90% of the cases, which coincidentally happened to be my own new American Eagle 5.56 rounds which I had just fired and collected for the first time reload.As an amateur my first thought was this must have something to do with American Eagles brass and out came the quantity 500 (once fired) 5.56 x 45mm NATO brass cases I just purchased. After trying a large number of these I was really puzzled to be having the same problem. The dial caliper and visual inspection showed no variation in the size of the pilot (yes I am one of those amateurs who checks everything and writes down lessons learned).Ok, out came my own now thrice fired ammo which has been trimmed on this same Trimmer pro each time. The problem seemed maybe a little less pronounced, but definitely not an acceptable work flow.Hold these thoughts while I digress to the _real_ reason for this frustrating educational endeavor.I will not bore you with the details of the tests I performed trying to figure this out; here is the reason and solution. Like most people who use the .223 loading dies I have had _many_ stuck cases and tried several youtube fixes.The first problem with freeing stuck cases is that the decap pin can't be screwed out through the top and the stuck case prevents it's removal through the bottom. I first tried liberal coating with wd40 and vise grips and then the vice. No banana. Over to the bench, drilled out the cap hole and used a small butane torch to heat the case and tried a new bolt extractor. No banana. I drilled with a bigger bit till the case spun and out came the case, but the die was damaged by the bit.Back to youtube. I watched a couple of videos where the die was inserted in a vise and the Expander Decapping Pin _was_ removed through the top by simply grasping it with needle nose pliers and striking the pliers with a hammer. Hold this thought too; I did this several times to free stuck cases.**Now it was a simple matter to drill the primer hole with a 7/32" bit, tap the hole with a 1/4" tap with 20 gauge threads and using a socket for a spacer and threading a 1/4 bolt with 20 gauge threads (and a couple of washers between it and the socket) into the brass till the case comes out.This has worked every time, but there is one more step to avoid the trimming dilemma which got me writing this in the first place. Remember the 2nd thought on hold?**Sure enough, my decapper pin collet was now undersized and was no longer opening the case mouth enough to fit over the trimmer pilot. I installed my spare Expander Decapping Pin assembly and ran all the troublesome cases back through the sizing die (easy the second time) and now every one of them slipped right over the pilot and trimmed with ease.***BOTTOM LINE: Stick with the 1/4" tapping/threading fix above and I still knock out the decapper pin as it is the only workable method I have found. HOWEVER, keep a supply of decapper pin collets if you can get them or the whole Expander Decapping Pin as I am doing and __change it every time a stuck case must be removed__. The part of the collet that expands the case mouth will certainly get smaller by knocking it out through the top of the die. I might add I now carefully lube the inside of the neck before moving to the trimmer.I still knock the expander pin out though the top because it is by far the easiest method I have tried and it always works; none of the other methods worked at all.The life of an amateur reloader is not always easy, but I guess the price of experience never is easy. Great equipment and definitely recommended.=======The 2nd con I have encountered and it isn't really important to me concerns 9mm Luger cases. I am something of a perfectionist by nature and I really wanted to trim my 9mm cases (despite many folks telling me it isn't necessary). I admit most of the ones I have checked are acceptable and give me no problems either expanding or crimping. It's just that being an amateur at this I want to eliminate all possible variables from reloading while checking accuracy at various shooting distances.The problem is that the .35 caliber pilot which everyone says is the correct one will not enter the case mouth of the 9mm brass. Not even close. If you approach the problem mathematically, the ratio of 9 mm to the 25.4 mm in one inch yields 0.354330708661 which it seems might sneak over the pilot, but I tried many cases and it will not. The digital caliper verifies there is too much pilot diameter to enter the case.I may revisit this 9mm case trimming problem some time in the future. For now, my .45 ACP rounds and 5.56mm rounds are already better than most factory ammo that I have used and I may even eventually save some money. The real goal is to achieve perfect match of ammo to firearms.Well made, easy to learn to operate and consistent results even for an amateur. Recommended.

Works as described

Item was as described.

I read many reviews on various trimmers before settling on the Trim Pro-2. The instruction manual is small but really that is because it is easy to use. I like the universal shell holder, my hand loader has the same style, they are quick and eliminate the need to replace the shell holder for every caliber. Plus the kit comes with all the necessary pilots.Once I got it, I read through the directions and found that it need to be mounted down to be most effective. I chose to mount mine down to a small piece of 3/4" board that I had laying around, I did the same with my powder dispenser also. I use clamps to hold the board in place at the edge of my work bench, this way I don't have the trimmer or powder dispenser taking up work bench space when I am not using them. Next I pulled out a few .223 cases to test out the trimmer. I found it easy to set for the length, and only took a couple of tries to dial it in to the proper length. I put the shell in and loosened the main nut and slid the trimmer shaft in until it touched the shell. Next I took out the shell and put a few turns on the fine adjustment nut. I set the lock and trimmed a shell, it came out a little long, so I adjusted further until it was dead on. I ran ten more shells through and every one came out spot on. Can't complain about this trimmer, I now keep one trimmed shell to use as my set up gauge and I am ready to roll. My next purchase is the three way cutting head to eliminate steps.

Positives:The Trim Pro-2 kit works as described. Product seems well made, and I expect it to last a long time. (An occasional drop of oil on the shaft will help this.)The spring loaded universal shell holder works well and makes operation relatively fast.Adjustments are quick and accurate via hex screws.The 'kit' includes the necessary pilots to support all major calibers.Minor negatives:Allen wrench is not included. Having a dedicated hex allen wrench with a slot to attach to the base would be very nice, and negligible cost to implement.The manual trimmer does take its toll on the arm after 50 to 100 rounds. The handle comes off the shaft relatively easily and the shaft can be connected to a cordless drill (if the drill chuck opens wide enough). There are several youtube videos of this. That said, I tried that approach and did not like it as a) the drill chuck scratches up the shaft, and b) the drill motor will put torque on the shaft (causing extra friction/more wear). I decided to get around by screwing a 10-32 machine screw with some nuts on it into the shaft (where the handle normally goes). I rotate the shaft via a 3/8" socket connected to my cordless drill motor through a universal joint.Not specific to the Trim Pro 2, but shaving do go all over. Be prepared to vacuum and watch out for brass splinters.

This brass case trimmer is perfect!Saves a lot of time. Is easy to set up for for quick and efficient trimming.this has definitely cut down reloading time!Once set up, pop the brass casing in, turn the handle with light pressure, the collars (pre set depth) stop you from over trimming, then pop casing out, and knew one in. just as fast as reading this review.This is not complicated to set up at all. once you have the proper depth set, save that brass case for future set up. as usual, RCBS has made a fantastic product.

Not the most expensive case trimmer, not the cheapest case trimmer but works just fine. Very quick set up time, bit of a learning curve on my part but over all works as intended. I would like to see a larger, flatter base as I had to mount this to a piece of wood with screws then "C" clamp it down to my bench because I want the ability to move trimmer if I need more room. Solid tool from RCBS.