Reddit mentions of LEE PRECISION 90275 Case Trimmer Cutter, Ball Grip

>Seating Die:


Seating dies push the bullet down into the case and for pistol cases remove the belling done by the expanding die. Many seating dies can optionally apply a crimp, though some people dislike this because the bullet is still being pushed downward as the crimp is applied. Some seating dies come with multiple or reversible seating stems, this allow you to seat different profiled bullets(FMJ/Ball, Spitzer, VLD, etc) bullets without damaging them. 




>Crimp Die:


Crimping dies push the case mouth into the jacket/lead of the bullet. This helps secure the bullet from ‘walking’ out of the case under recoil. There are taper crimps, often used in semi-auto oriented rounds that start from the base of the bullet and slowly narrow as it moves upwards towards the bullet and roll crimps which fold the very edge of the case mouth inwards. Roll crimps are often used on revolver cartridges like 44mag or 38spl and rifle rounds. Taper crimps are used on things like 9mm. 



>Factory Crimp Die:


A Factory Crimp Die or FCD is kind of like a fail safe. If a bullet is slightly too large or that particular round didn’t get seated far enough a FCD will correct the mistake. It doesn’t make an unsafe round(say from a bad powder charge) safe to shoot, but it will help make sure all your rounds chamber. Since many people don’t like to seat and crimp on the same step, they use their FCD as their only crimp die. 




>Powder Check Die:


A powder check die has a small free floating ram in the middle that drops into the case. It provides an easy way to spot check powder levels based on how high it raises. Some powder check dies will lock the press when they detect an over/under charge. In practice the low powder volume and wide case can make powder check dies unreliable for pistol loads. If you do use a powder check die you shouldn’t let it lull you into a sense of false security, you should still be visually checking your charges. 





>Powder Throwers:


This isn’t a “die” so much, but many do fit directly onto your press. They dispense or ‘throw’ a specific charge of powder every time they are activated. Do to the nature of how they work how accurate they are depends on the type of powder you are using. Flake powders and long extruded powders measure with much more variation than ball or short stick powders. Throwers come in three flavors; Case activated, manual, and press activated. Press activated throwers dispense powder anytime the press ram is moved up. This is fine for a single stage press, but on a progressive press it is just a big mess waiting to happen. A manual powder thrower has a small handle you actuate anytime you want to dispense powder. These are great, as long as you don’t forget to pull the lever for every case. Case activated throwers only dispense powder when a case goes into them. These are great, especially on progressive presses. 




>Bullet Feeding Die:


Bullet feeding dies place a bullet into the belled/charged case. With a bullet feed die you don’t need to manually place a bullet for each round. While the dies themselves are 20-40 dollars they won’t always save you time without an automatic bullet feeder hopper which can cost several hundred dollars. Only useful on progressive presses.




>Case Feed:


Again this isn’t technically a die, but it attaches to your progressive press and places a new case into your shell plate automatically. These are specific to your press and usually cost several hundred dollars.


Many powder throwers can be given a PTX add on that will expand as well as charge the case. On a progressive or turret press this saves you a spot on your press and on a single stage it saves you from having to do a separate belling step. 





Shell Plates


Most die sets come with a shell holder of a matching caliber to keep the brass in the press. However if you are buying your dies piecemeal you’ll need to get a shell holder set. Progressive presses use “shell plates” which hold multiple rounds at a time. These can be proprietary and will need to be purchased separate from your dies. 




Lee shell holder set $27.99




Hornady LnL AP shell plate 9mm $24.64





Case Trimmer


When a round is fired the case is under such extreme pressure that the brass actually acts like a plastic. It expands outwards in all directions until the chamber stops it. In front of the round however there is nothing to stop the brass from flowing. Because of this the brass grows in length. After a few firings the brass may be too long to fit in the chamber of a gun again. To combat this after sizing your brass(which further alters its dimensions) you measure it. If it is too long you need to cut some of that excess off with a case trimmer until it is the proper size again. This is primarily only a concern for rifle brass.




Case trimmers can be free hand, manual, and motorized. Free hand allows you to remove brass, but requires you to check with a case gauge often to ovoid over trimming. Manual trimmers allow you to set a certain length to cut to and do all rounds to that length rotating a small lever by hand. Motorized trimmers allow you to set a length and very quickly trim a large amount of cases. Some manual trimmers can have drills attached to make them faster. Not all motorized trimmers can handle multiple calibers.




Lee Zip Trim $21.99 and Lee Cutting Ball $9.99



Lyman Universal Trimmer $82.99



World’s Finest Trimmer .223 $75.95





Chamfer/Deburr tools




Chamfering removes a bit of metal from the inside lip of the case so that bullets seat more smoothly. Deburring is removing a small amount from the outside edge of the case mouth to help remove any burrs or flakes caused by chamfering. You don’t need to do either on pistol rounds as the case is belled wide enough to accept the bullet without it. 


You can also chamfer primer pockets. This will make seating easier and in the case of crimped primer pockets it is required. 


Again, there are manual and motorized options available. Motorized is worth it for anything above small batches.




Lee Chamfer Tool $3.99




Lyman Case Prep Multi Tool $22.99




Hornady Case Prep Trio $99.99




Bullet Puller


In the process of setting up your dies you’re going to make some dummy rounds. No primer, no powder, just case a bullet to dial in your case bell, seating depth, and crimp. You can just throw these rounds away. . . or you can get a bullet puller and recover your components. There are kinetic bullet pullers that work well with heavier bullets(125gr+ in my experience) and collet bullets that attach to your press. 




Frankfort Arsenal Kinetic Bullet Puller $17.76




Hornady Cam-lock Bullet Puller $31.56






If you aren't doing much volume the lee trimmer is the best budget minded one you can get.

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-Cutter-Lock-Stud/dp/B000NOQIOU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417303995&sr=8-1&keywords=lee+trimmer

8 bucks and then each caliber is 8 bucks or less

you don't need to trim 9mm

I've had to trim .357 because I had a bunch of different range pick up and they varied greatly, wouldn't seat on the cannelure right.

I reload for my ar15's, so buying the WFT for .223 was a lot easier than all the blisters the lee trimmer would cause.

They also have this thing, it would be a lot more comfortable.

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-Cutter-Ball-Grip/dp/B00162PVJQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1417303995&sr=8-3&keywords=lee+trimmer

Opinions will vary wildly, but if you're going to start and really aren't sure if you'll stick with it, get a quality single stage press. Scour Craigslist and keep an eye out for deals on Amazon. If you don't stick with it a quality single stage will be easiest to get most of your money back on. If you like it, a quality single stage will always come in handy when you make special pet loads for accuracy, even if you upgrade to a progressive some day.

If you're fairly certain you're going to stick with it, and plan to load for bulk, a turret/progressive press hybrid like the Lee Classic Turret press where you can take the indexing rod out and use it as a single stage if need be might be a good middle of the road choice. Opinions on progressive presses vary and usually generate a lot of discussion, but for your current situation it's a great way to check off a lot of boxes, and it runs only slightly more than Lee's single stage.

As far as cheapest route without buying crap, not everything that's cheap is crap, but there are a few plces where not skimping gets you way more value. Because of this, you are much better off getting stuff separately to get better value. Buy the dies from whoever you want, .223 and 5.56 are the same set, and quality level is up to you. For most plinking purposes Lee is just fine, but if you're loading for a bolt action the Hornady or Redding dies can get you more accuracy for a lot more (relatively speaking) money. Then buy a good digital scale, a good chamfer and deburring tool (not that shitty Lee abomination. Seriously, fuck that thing. Your hands will thank you), a cutter (plus associated gauge and shell holder for a drill), a powder funnel, a puller for when you dick it up, and a nice set of calipers and you're off to a solid start for under $350.