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The last time I had a meeting in Phoenix I stopped by the Bass Pro in Mesa, AZ so see what I could find. Since they had no brass, bullets, powder or primers for anything I shoot, it was slim pickings, indeed. But they did have a Hornady Cam-Lock case trimmer at a nice price, and it looked to be a quality piece of equipment, one my bench lacks. I grabbed it and headed home after my meetings were done, looking forward to trying it out on some recently fired .243 and .30-30 cases I had lying about.
Whoops! All - well, most - of my stuff is RCBS, and none of my shellholders will work with this machine, nice as it is. The locking mechanism of the case trimmer relies upon a rod that slides through the primer hole in the center of the shellholder to contact the base of the case to be trimmed. A quick rotation of the assembly about 1/4 turn loosens and locks the case in place for accurate trimming. Unfortunately, RCBS shellholders have smaller holes in the center than the ones sold by Hornady. I was unable to get the rod through the holes in my RCBS shellholders.
It's taken a couple of months to get a full set of replacement shellholders of the 'right' brand to be able to use my no longer new case trimmer - Cabelas had the last two of the set I need, and they're due on Thursday - since these items appear to be as hard to find as primers. But I've almost got a working unit now, and I'm looking forward to using it next weekend.
So, just a word to the wise: If you see this case trimmer and think that it would feel right at home on your bench, take a look around the store first, and grab as many as you can of the shellholders you'll need in the Hornady brand. You can't count on your existing holders to work once you get it home. Other than that little detail, this looks to be a well made, quality machine that I'll probably enjoy using for decades, assuming I live that long.
Whoops! All - well, most - of my stuff is RCBS, and none of my shellholders will work with this machine, nice as it is. The locking mechanism of the case trimmer relies upon a rod that slides through the primer hole in the center of the shellholder to contact the base of the case to be trimmed. A quick rotation of the assembly about 1/4 turn loosens and locks the case in place for accurate trimming. Unfortunately, RCBS shellholders have smaller holes in the center than the ones sold by Hornady. I was unable to get the rod through the holes in my RCBS shellholders.
It's taken a couple of months to get a full set of replacement shellholders of the 'right' brand to be able to use my no longer new case trimmer - Cabelas had the last two of the set I need, and they're due on Thursday - since these items appear to be as hard to find as primers. But I've almost got a working unit now, and I'm looking forward to using it next weekend.
So, just a word to the wise: If you see this case trimmer and think that it would feel right at home on your bench, take a look around the store first, and grab as many as you can of the shellholders you'll need in the Hornady brand. You can't count on your existing holders to work once you get it home. Other than that little detail, this looks to be a well made, quality machine that I'll probably enjoy using for decades, assuming I live that long.