.223 Case Preparation - RCBS Case Prep Center

[sleach629]

Thank you Liberty4Ever for posting. I'm not a machinist so I apologize for the potentially ignorant comment, but I ordered the parts noted from Midway, who later said that the Hornaday cutters won’t fit the RCBS machine. Do the parts need to be rethreaded and is that what you’re referring to in your Modified Cutter comments?

[Liberty4Ever]

@sleach629 It's been a couple of years since I bought the Hornady primer pocket tools, but they had a male 8-32 thread that threads into the RCBS Case Prep Center. It wasn't made to work with the RCBS, but it does. Ironically, the RCBS Trim Pro tools apparently do not work with the RCBS Case Prep Center. The modifications for the Lee cutter are a completely different issue.

Unless something has changed, any tool with a male 8-32 threaded end should work in the RCBS Case Prep Center.

[TheTeamkiller46]

I got a bmount dutch rifle 1877 moddel, make 37 gage?

[pmalveda02]

That's a great modification right there bro. Thanks for sharing!

[dfkappy]

I'm curious... after doing this, is the neck's mouth a little... raggedy? I've been using a Lee Zip Trimmer to do this... it goes a bit slower, but you get to hit the end of the case with some steel wool, which really neatens up the neck a bit.

[Liberty4Ever]

@dfkappy With a sharp cutter and the correct amount of force, there should be no chatter and the cut should be smooth. I have a Zip Trim and I like it, for a budget tool. I use ScotchBrite cleaning pads to polish the cases as the ZIP Trim spins them... even .50 BMG!

[shortthrow50]

why you wasting time putting the shell in the shell holder? maybe you need a new cutter and thats why you need to put so much force. I hold the shell in my hfingers and trim the case. much faster than messin around with that screw driver and tool

[Liberty4Ever]

@shortthrow50 If you had paid attention to the video, you would have heard me explain that the Lee cutter indexes on the case lock stud. That's why I "waste time putting the shell in the shell holder." If I didn't, the cutter would continue cutting and my brass would be way too short.

You are correct about one thing. The cutter should be much sharper. This cutter was very worn hardened steel. I'd like to make a cutter with carbide inserts that works with the Lee case length gauge.

[Shazee083]

All this kit i can get it less then 29.99 even that green fixture you have i can get it cheaper and lighter with Aluminum without and added tool infect there is an alternative of finding all these tools long as you know the size

[Spearfisher1970]

@Shazee083 without stating exactly what you mean, and where to get them, your post is a waste, sir. Thanks oh-so-much for the help. You could have gone as far as to create a vid just like this one as a reply, but instead you wrote that?

[smaj100]

Liberty, First thanks for all the information you have shared in emails and in your videos. I wanted to ask as I am starting to reload 223 en mass. I noticed I have several hundred rnds of fiocchi brass, the flash hole is not centered in the primer pocket. Could this be a problem? I'm loading plinking ammo and target practice, nothing fancy. Could this provide unusual or uneven powder ignition?

[Liberty4Ever]

@smaj100 The biggest problem you could have with non-centered flash holes is the decapping pin could miss the hole when trying to push out the used primer. If that happens, it'll push the decapping pin up in the collet, or the decapping pin will scoot sideways into the flash hole and it could break. For very accurate bench rest shooting, the flash holes should be uniform and deburred.

[retynos1]

Hello everyone kindly can you help me I would buy a knife to cut the shells as in the video. Where can I buy this tool? thanks

[Liberty4Ever]

@retynos1 The video description below the video provides sources for all products and explains how to modify the Lee cutter to work with the RCBS Case Prep Center.

[TravAkira]

Great vid! And COOL adaptations. 

[gasitman]

Does RCBS make a case trimmer to fit onto this, or do you have to make your own like you did?

[Liberty4Ever]

@gasitman RCBS akes a couple of case trimmer cutters for their RCBS Cas Trimmer but none that fit the RCBS Case Prep Center. I think they want you to trim on one machine and do the rest of the job on the RCBS Case Prep Center. I like doing everything at once.

[ctguy1955]

Thank You so much for the great idea !! I got a machine shop to make me up

a aluminum bottom holder and now it works great. I tried to make one, but it wobbled to much. Keep up the great work !!!!!!!!

[paraglidermx]

Awesome mod!!U got me thinking!!

[rage801]

you should make those and sell them!!! nice vid

[bloodfarts2010]

GENIUS.

I wasted a cutter trying to drill it. ( dont ask, 5 stiches.....)

I then read on and made a cutter holder to screw into the rcbs case prep.ctr.

Works great!

I'm going to make a bunch of them and sell them( copyright)

Whats your name and I'll name it after you.

BY THE WAY RCBS,

The only reason I bought the RCBS case prep ctr is because of " Liberty4Ever" Now I cant reload with out it...

Great job Liberty.....Thanks for passing on your knowledge to us dumb-asses.....

[ctguy1955]

@bloodfarts2010

RCBS....Like Bloodfarts, I too bought my case prep center because of this video

and you should honor Liberty4EVER with naming a tool after him or something! Mike K

[kilgore1959]

What may I ask did you drill out and tap the cutter with? I tried to drill mine out with a titanium coated drill bit and it would barely mark it...

[Liberty4Ever]

I need to annotate the video. My comments to the right of the video explain what you want to know, but many people never think to read the video comments.

[FUwogs]

doing it fast seems to wear out the brass way to early

[jeffcodog]

Thank you!!! I've been looking all over to get an idea on how to do what you've posted..... I can't thank you enough for doing this.

[1karday]

Any chance to see another video of just that modification? I envision a plastic or aluminum billet driller out on one end and tapped to 8-32 and the other end dirlled out to and interference fit for the Lee cutter? Is that the idea?

[Liberty4Ever]

It's pretty simple. Put a piece of plastic or aluminum stock, maybe 1" round and 1" tall, or maybe a 1" cube, in a vise. Drill an 8-32 tap hole completely through the center. Keep the setup intact and swap to a bit that will make a hole that barely clears the outer diameter of the Lee cutter. Drill down about 3/4". Tap the bottom hole 8-32 and screw in a flat head screw from the top so it bottoms out with 3/8" of threads hanging out the bottom. Epoxy the cutter in place, or use set screws.

[1karday]

@Liberty4Ever

I have fabricated the adapter from a dowell and threaded. I also epoxied the 8-32 screw and the cutter in the adapter. Now I got the Lee Lock stud and it is not a hex head like yours. It is round and intended to be locked in a drill chuck. Any idea where I can get a hex loack stud? Otherwise I will have to hold the case holder in some form of locking pliers.

[Liberty4Ever]

You mean Lee changed the shaft on the Lock Stud from 1/4" hex to a round shaft? That's hard to believe. Are we talking about:

midwayusa(.)com/viewproduct/?p­roductnumber=476992

[1karday]

Excellent video and well narriated. I like the one stop shopping concept for case preps. I wondered if brazing the Lee case cutters to an 8-32 screw is viable. It is too small for me to MIG weld it on there and the drilling seemed a little problematic. If it is too off center then you get a bit of an eliptical rotation. New to this type reloading and went to Gun show for supplies yesterday and they had no primers or powder. Any clue why that is?

[Liberty4Ever]

I've been advising people to make a plastic or aluminum sleeve and press the Lee cutter into that. If you drill the 8-32 tap hole and the diameter that's barely large enough for the cutter in the same setup, they should be coaxial (no wobble).

Gun prices are now good again after the big Obamanation gun scare of 2009. Ammo prices are falling and reloading supplies are becoming less scarce.

[GeneralG1810]

Yeah top bit of kit that, but I gotta know isnt 8/32 the same as 1/4 ad is that just a UNC thread

[Liberty4Ever]

8-32 is a #8 screw with 32 threads per inch. A #8 screw has an outer diameter of .1640".

A 1/4" screw is .2500" on the outer diameter, so it's way bigger than an 8-32.

I wish the US had really gone to the metric system when we flirted with it in the 1970s.

[ibscas]

Great video, thank you for sharing! I purchased all the components yesterday and was wondering why not use some JB Weld to put that 8-32 screw on the cutting tool? That would see to eliminate the need to make a sleeve (as well as the tough task of tapping into tool steel). I have to also wonder if the motor in the RCBS station could be upgraded for more RPM in order to shorten the amount of cutting time you need.

[Liberty4Ever]

Use a belt sander with a coarse grit to rough up the bottom of the cutter, clean the parts with alcohol to degrease them and JB weld *might* withstand the torque. If so, that's a great idea. It might be difficult to center a flat head screw on the base of the cutter.

To cut faster, instead of a motor upgrade, I'd like to make a sharp carbide cutter that uses triangular carbide machining inserts, and uses the Lee case length gages to set the cutting depth - essentially a cutter upgrade.

[mvlawn]

Great Vid Thanks for your time. I used your ideal for the cutter and could not drill the cutter so I welded it to a 8/32 screw. It works great!! After resizing my brass some wont slip down on the cutter pin Have you ever had this happen?

[Liberty4Ever]

I've never had a problem with the brass not fitting on the case length gage that attaches to the cutter to set the depth of cut, but it is a tight fit and if the case length gage or the inside of the brass have gunk on them it's difficult as there is an interference fit. A little RemOil to wipe off the case length gage helps speed things along.

I've had a rare problem with the decapping pin on the resizing die getting stuck in undersized flash holes on some imported mil-surp .223 brass.

[Blitzkrieg4590]

About how much money would it take to get everything needed to properly reload .223 cartridges? Kinda thinking about it, I figure it would be a great investment during these times.

[Liberty4Ever]

About $250. For least cost and best accuracy, get a good heavy duty single stage press like the Lee Classic Cast press (about $70).  It needs to be beefy enough to resize rifle brass. You don't need fancy stuff like the RCBS Case Prep Center, but you need to be able to clean and trim brass (Lee Zip Trim and the case length gages and cutter and a chamfer deburr tool), and you need a set of calipers and a $25 eBay digital powder scale (.1 grain resolution). You NEED a reloading book. Read it!

[Blitzkrieg4590]

For a cost as low as that, (I was thinking atleast 500 to 600 dollars), it would take a fool to not start reloading. Thanks.

[Liberty4Ever]

Here's some of my reloading info I made to answer questions like yours:

tacticoolproductsDOTcom/info

[Liberty4Ever]

RCBS makes a case trimmer, and the Case Prep Center that I show in this video. I think the case trimmer might use a different mounting system, but I'm not sure. If you have the RCBS Case Prep Center, you can mount a Lee cutter by adding an 8-32 stud in the center of the bottom. The hardened steel is very difficult to drill and tap. You may want to put the cutter into a sleeve made of aluminum or plastic. Once you have the Lee cutter mounted, you can screw in the Lee trim length gauge.

[asteinel]

i am not familiar with the lee case trimmer, as i have an RCBS. can i buy this cutting component seperately, or would I have to chop off the end of my RCBS trimmer to achieve these results. In other words my trimmer shaft is appox 12 inches in lenght.

[jvoge]

In your description you recommend sleeving the cutter into an aluminum or steel base, and attaching the 8-32 stud to that base. Why not drill a hole in the cutter and epoxy the stud directly into the cutter? What it the drilling or tapping that was problematic on the cutter?

[Liberty4Ever]

The video description explains why a sleeve is better than trying to drill and tap the bottom of the cutter:

"The steel cutter was very hard. I think Lee makes the cutters from a tool steel that they subsequently induction heat treat"

It's very difficult to drill and tap the hard steel. A sleeve is a much better option.

[jvoge]

Sure, I read the description. I was just wondering if you thought drilling a hole into the cutter and glueing the stud would work, rather than tapping threads. I'll probably try it this way first, if it doesn't hold, i can always sleeve it.

[Liberty4Ever]

Sorry, I didn't get that you were concerned with tapping and not drilling. Good luck with the drilling! A properly heat treated Lee cutter has an extremely hard surface. I'd recommend using a center drill to peck a starting hole so the small diameter drill you want to use doesn't wander. Use a rigid setup on a drill press or milling machine, a high quality drill bit like a cobalt bit, slow RPM and a lot of pressure. I've done it, but it was a bear.

[stillresist]

Awesome. If you start selling your modified case trimmers for the prep center, I'd buy one!

[cambian3]

Great idea! It sure saves fingers using hand tools. I use a lot of military brass (range brass) and man, this saves the day. Thank you!!!

[roaneagle]

Nice job! Thanks!

[AlanAR15223]

The cutter with the measure gauge. It looks like it is rotating in a counter clockwise direction. It looks like it would be used clock wise when I looked at mine. It seems to cut better clock wise that is maybe the reason you say its slow. Any thoughts? Great set up!

Safe shooting, Alan

[Liberty4Ever]

All five stations on the RCBS Case Prep Center rotate clockwise, as viewed from the driven end on the bottom. From the top, they appear to rotate counter clockwise (think about it for a while), but there are cutting tools in all five stations and they are turning in the proper direction.

Rather than drilling and tapping a hole in the hardened Lee cutter, I now recommend making a plastic or aluminum sleeve with a countersunk 8-32 screw sticking out the bottom and epoxying the cutter in place.

[AlanAR15223]

I'm sorry you are right, when you watch just the cutting edge you get a photo strobe effect like watching a car wheel on film, it looks to be spinnin backwards. If you watch the stem it is rotating properly. After watching most of your videos I should not have questioned your work!

Sorry again.

Safe shooting, Alan

[Liberty4Ever]

Keep questioning! I got the RCBS Case Prep Center down off the shelf and double checked it myself after reading your comment. I thought I was certain that it was cutting properly, but I guess I wasn't too certain to check!

I thought it might have been a stroboscopic artifact of the video, and I started to mention that, but then I saw the top of the cutter appearing to spin CCW when the cutter itself is driven CW and figured that might have been the source of the confusion.

[Okieroper]

Very good. I now have all the parts and will get the cutters drilled and tap.

[KRN762]

Any detailed instructions available? Would like to duplicate your setup. Please advise.

KRN

[kostya121212]

so you are recycling used cases basicly ?

[chills1994]

That is awesome!I finally found some inexpensive .223 projectiles.I have enough once fired commercial brass to make it worthwhile to prep cases in a batch process to be reloaded on a Dillon 550 or 650. I have both.I have been all over the Brian Enos forums trying to figure out the least hassle least time consuming process to reload rifle cases on a progressive press.I also have a source for 1x fired military brass locally, so the Trim Mate with its primer de-crimper cutter would come in handy.

[gnigged68]

You're very well spoken, quite rare for youtube.

[MrTieDye]

Man, that is a great modification for trimming!

[Liberty4Ever]

Thanks.

I'm working on a carbide cutter for the operation that trims the case to length so it'll cut a lot faster. The Lee cutter is made of steel. It started sharp and quickly dulled a bit but then didn't get any duller. It's a bit slower than I'd like now, but it's usable. The RCBS chamfering tools have dulled considerably and are getting to be too slow. I need carbide versions of those for sure.

[gandb21]

Does prepping cases in this way cut down on reloading life for the brass? Compared to say using the reloading dies that dont cut into the case or primer pocket?

[Liberty4Ever]

X-Dies from RCBS claim to push back the brass to avoid the need for trimming after the first time. I've never used them but I've heard they work well, but I think it's more of a convenience and time saving measure, and less of an issue with brass life. It may reduce brass life by work hardening the necks more leading to neck cracks. Anneal the necks for maximum brass life. Most rifle brass is discarded when the case neck cracks.