Trimming Brass

[Guest nicemac]

OK, I hate trimming rifle brass. I have been using a Lee trimmer chucked up in my drill press and it just gets old. I still have to debur and chamfer to cases. It is just a pain. So I think I will get a power trimmer. Most require several steps.

Then I find the Giraud trimmer. One step, two seconds, done. Issue? $425. This thing is an off-the shelf motor from Grainger with a belt driving a cutter on a metal base. Nothing special at all. But by all reports, it works like nothing else. I don't mind paying for a quality piece, but the price on this thing seems really high. Double it's closest competitor.

Why hasn't someone else made one of these things that work well, but is competitively priced?

I want one… I just hate to part with $425 for a dedicated trimmer for one caliber.

What are you guys using?

[Jonnin]

I also use the lee trimmer. I only do a few at a go, trying to trim in bulk is horrid and makes my hands hurt bad. I also hate that larger caliber trimmer sticks dull the blade if you are not really careful with them... the base bites into the blades steel on steel and its over, you almost have to buy one blade for each caliber or be super careful with it. I eventually want a better method for 223 and 9x19->9x18, the rest of it I do not shoot enough to matter, 25 here and there in the 30ish calibers every so often.

[mikegideon]

The hole in your wallet is temporary, but your hatred of case trimming is probably forever. I'm not fond of the process either, and have stumbled on the Giraud before. If I every reach any significant volume in a caliber, I'll pop for the Giraud. To me, it DOES look like it's worth the money. Just has to be worth it to me.

[Guest nicemac]

The hole in your wallet is temporary, but your hatred of case trimming is probably forever.

Love it.

[mikegideon]

What I'm sayin'... if the kids ain't gonna starve, order it up. It's like surgery. The pain subsides a little every day

I'm probably not far behind you.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I also use the lee trimmer. I only do a few at a go, trying to trim in bulk is horrid and makes my hands hurt bad. I also hate that larger caliber trimmer sticks dull the blade if you are not really careful with them... the base bites into the blades steel on steel and its over, you almost have to buy one blade for each caliber or be super careful with it. I eventually want a better method for 223 and 9x19->9x18, the rest of it I do not shoot enough to matter, 25 here and there in the 30ish calibers every so often.

Are you trimming the 9x19 or turning them into 9x18?

I have never trimmed a pistol caliber. I loose them before they need any work b

Dolomite

[dlm37015]

i have a gracey have made 2 after i got mine you are welcome to copy it

[Guest nicemac]

i have a gracey have made 2 after i got mine you are welcome to copy it

Where do you get the holders/ cutters, etc…?

How much does it wind up costing you to make one?

[TM01]

I have been using a Dillon 1200b case trimmer for awhile and I love it. I have only used it on .223 but it works very well. It trims while sizing the case and leaves a very clean edge. I go back and give the cases an inside only chamfer and they are then ready to load. The Giraud trims and chamfers but doesn't size so the amount of time spent working the cases is relatively the same. The Dillon goes for around $300 dollars if memory serves me. Whatever you get will be an improvement over the Lee trimmer. I have one it was my first case trimmer.

[Guest nicemac]

OK, I thought the Dillon die was an additional step to sizing. Looking at the website, I see I was wrong. So do you decap, size and trim in one step? Is that correct? Looks like you have to decap separately from sizing (another step)?

[TM01]

You can run it with or without the decapping pin. So you can actually size, decap and trim all at once. I follow up with an inside chamfer and voila..load them up.

[dlm37015]

Where do you get the holders/ cutters, etc…?

How much does it wind up costing you to make one?

cutters ebay motor ebay i made one for my daughter for about 45.00 all from ebay then just buy the dies from gracey

[Mark A]

Nicemac, I'm a very recent Giraud convert and fan boy. I was using Forster stuff in a drill press but it was kind of a pain and a little dangerous to the fingers. I really like this unit. it is true that it is a bit high but you can really move with it. With the quick caliber changes it is easy to move to a different caliber. Disclaimer here: I only own one caliber set up right now but I exchanged e-mails with lots of folks that do it.

The Gracey kit is pretty nice and with our resident expert offering to show you how to build one that would be a very attractive option. Like most here I value dlm's knowledge and advice a lot.

You seem to be pretty close to me. Please feel free to give me a shout and come see one in action.

Mark

[Caster]

I use the Lee set up too. I use mine in a small benchtop lathe. I'm pretty quick with it and can deburr in the same setup.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I bought the Forster and use a drill press. Good enough for me. I probably should have

looked a bit longer, though.

[dlm37015]

i hate trimming cases thats why i bought a gracey.before that i used a drill press and trim dies .after buying the gracey and seeing how simple it is i feel kinda stupid not thinking of it myself

[Jonnin]

Are you trimming the 9x19 or turning them into 9x18?I have never trimmed a pistol caliber. I loose them before they need any work bDolomite

Trim to make 9x18. I have never had to trim a pistol either, this is to make a hard to find case (everyone shoots steel 9x18, darn them) from an easy to find case. I do this for my 7.65 as well, take a tube cutter to 30-06 then reshape it, trim it. But those last forever -- the darn makarov loses about 5 out of every 50 no matter how I chase them down!

[Dave Shooter]

Nicemac, I'm a very recent Giraud convert and fan boy. I was using Forster stuff in a drill press but it was kind of a pain and a little dangerous to the fingers. I really like this unit. it is true that it is a bit high but you can really move with it. With the quick caliber changes it is easy to move to a different caliber. Disclaimer here: I only own one caliber set up right now but I exchanged e-mails with lots of folks that do it.

The Gracey kit is pretty nice and with our resident expert offering to show you how to build one that would be a very attractive option. Like most here I value dlm's knowledge and advice a lot.

You seem to be pretty close to me. Please feel free to give me a shout and come see one in action.

Mark

I've had Giraud for several years. Mostly for 5.56, but have .308 conversion. Ther conversion is actually pretty quick. It also holds it's adjustment so you don't have to readjust after you switch. Giraud will custom make shellholders if you want something other than standard target calibers.

If anyone is in Clarksville area and wants to see how Giraud works just give me a shout.

[Worriedman]

If you do any high volume bottleneck case reloading, the Giraud is worth every penny. The switch from 5.56 to .308 is simple and quick.

[Hershmeister]

I have a Dillion power trimmer for my 223 - you set it up in position #3 of the toolhead and the resizer/decapping die in position #1. you do have to hold for a second or two at the bottom of the stroke to ensure a complete cut - don't rush through it. Changing the dillon to another caliber is a bit of a pain IMHO because you have to set up the trim die into the trimmer and it takes a few times to get it right. Add to that as you tighten the lock rings to hold everything in place you can bump the setting.

I also use the Lee case trimmers on the 3 Jaw chuck tool. Its a lot faster to move the brass in and out. I'll sit on the patio and trim away. Only bad thing about the Lee setup is the trimming needs a good deburring as its usually a bit rough on the case. I run an RCBS case prep station with the lyman chamfer and deburring tools - which are awesome - much faster than the ones that comes on the RCBS unit.

I load a lot of mil surp rounds, such as 7.5MAS, 7.7Jap, 303 Brit, so the Lee set up works best for me - although I can dream about dropping some coin on the Giraud, I just can't justify it yet.