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Observations on the Lee Quick Trim System

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If you would like an easy way to quickly trim up 25 or 50 cases, the Quick Trim system is good for that. It's inexpensive and it works. That said, I thought I would pass along a few suggestions. I wasn't a fan initially because I had problems with case length consistency. I found after using it for a while that the cases were different lengths. That is not what you want from a trimmer.

Setting the amount of brass to be removed is easy using the adjusting ring, and putting everything onto the press takes less than a minute. I put the company video at the bottom, if you are unfamiliar with this tool.

I would not trim hundreds or thousands of cases in one sitting using the crank, but attached to a power tool, it will work fine, if you keep the tool clean.

This is the big thing with the Quick Trim!! I'll repeat:Keep it clean!


Pic from Lee Precision

Once I figured it out, my opinion of it improved. The learning curve would have been shorter had the instructions been better. Specifically, it doesn't make much mention of the need to keep the tool clean, or where to look to keep the brass shavings from adversely affecting the tool's performance.

It's a trimmer, so naturally shavings and tiny bits of brass build up in and around the cutting blade, die body and parts of the press. That said, the instructions only tell you should

"...make a habit of swiping your fingers across the top of the shell holder to remove any brass shavings."

and

"Extended trimming sessions can cause brass shavings to bind the chamfer blades. If this happens, simply cycle the blades by pushing them against a block of wood..."

Bits of brass fall through the die and onto the black plastic tray and shell holder. If you look at the top drawing, you can see the inside of the die body, and where the case and cutter blades sit.

Here's the black plastic tray. You can see the shavings that came off one case. If you look closely, you can also see brass on the shell holder. You want to get that off too, so a brush would be better than wiping your finger across the shell holder.



Brass also accumulates around the cutter blade and black chamfer blades. It needs to be cleaned off with a rag or a brush. My suggestion would be to clean the blade and cutter body every 20 to 25 trims. This picture show the build up after four or five cases. The chamfer blades will not work properly if shavings are jammed into the slots where the blades sit. They will not sit properly onto the case mouth and will fail to chamfer the brass.



There are two other places to check.

The first is the top of the die, where you insert the trimmer.There is a ledge where the shavings collect, which can prevent the trimmer blade from removing the correct amount of brass from the case mouth, if there is too much build up. It also can jam inside the chamfer blade slot.



The second spot is the top of the trimmer body. You can see that they can accumulate around the knurled spacer in the picture above. Again, the cutter body may not fully seat inside the die, so keep it clean!

Once I cleaned the inside of the die and kept the area around the knurled space clean, trim length became consistent.



This picture below shows two piles of shavings.On the left, shavings removed from the die body where the cutter body and blades sit. On the right, the black plastic tray.