Yesterday I detailed the time-saving and simply awesome Little Crow Gunworks World’s Finest Trimmer 2, a must-have for anyone looking to load more than ten rounds an hour. This time we’ll be taking an in-depth look at another Little Crow Gunworks innovation: the Precision Prep Tool.
The PPT is essentially a hand-operated prep station that onboards the tools you need for case preparation. That may not sound terribly exciting, but it is. That’s because this one tool can take the place of as many as six. Still not excited? What if I told you that you could trim, chamfer, clean primer pockets, and ream primer crimps without ever putting the brass down?
The beauty of the PPT is that it’s so deceptively simple. It’s one of those things that you can’t believe you didn’t think of yourself once you get your hands on it. I’ve been reloading since I was fourteen years old and I wish I had this tool since day one.
The real benefit of this tool comes with military brass. You can get away with most things with commercial brass, but military stuff is a different animal. If you have buckets of 5.56mm, 7.62mm, or even .30-06, you need this tool. After sizing and trimming, you have two options: waste hours of your life and time, time that you could be spending with your family or watching meme videos, or you could make the sensible decision and use a PPT.
I was able to fully process 250 pieces of military .30-06 brass from start to finish using a Little Crow Gunworks WFT2 trimmer and PPT in about an hour and a half. That’s amazing speed considering that included the whole shebang: trimming, chamfering, deburring, removing the primer crimp, and cleaning the pocket.
The tool heads mount easily in 8-32 threaded holes and can be swapped out easily. In fact, most standard 8-32 tools can mount on it to include brushes and swabs. The tool works by simply inserting your desired tool into the case and ‘crankin’ it. The motion allows the tool to rotate and cut, much like an old-timey hand drill. It may seem a bit awkward, but it is fast and effective.
I mentioned in my WFT2 article that the cut is smooth and doesn’t really require deburring. I don’t wanted to be called a liar, so I’ll go into further depth on this point. Military brass is often thicker and heavier than commercial brass, which means that there will sometimes be a thicker neck surface and thus a sharper edge that needs breaking. The edge left by the WFT2 is very clean and the PPT makes it so that you only have to spend a second taking it down.
Removing the crimp from a primer pocket is something that many people shy away from. There are many good products out there that allow this crimp to be removed, but nothing in my experience is as fast and easy as the attachment for the PPT. It cuts a smooth angle without digging too far into the primer pocket.
I’ve known many reloaders who remove the crimp with a case mouth tool, but the angle is often too extreme and the primer isn’t left with enough support in the case head. If you remove too much material from the primer pocket, you will have serious issues with both primer flow and setback.
The primer pocket should be square. If it has an angle on it, the material of the primer, especially when using hot handloads, can flow into the gap areas and flatten out against the bolt face. This is also something than that can lead to pierced and detached primers, which are a great way to either jam or destroy your rifle. Luckily, the PPT’s angle won’t let that happen.
I find that I’ve become a bit selective about my reloading supplies these days. I’ve gotten to a point in life where I need to spend more time at the range and less time at home reloading. Being a freelance writer is fun and rewarding, but doing tasks like case prep eat into my profit and range time.
Every minute that I’m on the bench is a minute I could be shooting, writing or daydrinking. I have found that I am at no loss for time or profit when using products from Little Crow Gunworks.
The Precision Prep Tool is very reasonably priced at $29.95 and an additional $21.95 for a six-piece tool set. You can process pretty much any brass you want and the attachment set comes with both small and large primer tools. The cost is minimal considering the time you’ll save.
Ratings (out of five stars):
Ease of use: * * * * *
The PPT is very intuitive, compact, and fast. It takes seconds to change out tools and you save a great deal of hand fatigue.
Precision: * * * * *
The thing had better be precise if it’s called the Precision Prep Tool. I compared my results to other tools I have on hand and I found that it not only generated better results, but it did so with less fuss than anything else I’d been using.
Value: * * * * *
At about $50 shipped with the set of tool heads is the same as a handful of trips to the coffee shop. The amount of time you save using it will cover that small cost in no time.
Handling: * * * * *
If you can turn you hand in a simple cranking motion, you can use this tool. It works best with a light touch for best results.
Overall Rating: * * * * *
As an experienced precision reloader, this tool has become an essential part of my day. It comes in a variety of colors that look cool as well. It has all the speed of a motorized prep station with much greater precision. This is a five-star product all the way.
Are those 6.5 Creedmoor cases pictured?
No. The 6.5 Creedmoor cases trim themselves.
Spend the extra money and get a motor driven one. They’re well worth the investment. This seems handy for small batches or minor work though.
Giraud Trimmer is where its at. Once you get one, you will never accept anything else.
Cool looking thing but it doesn’t make me mad enough to comment.
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