Best Powered Case Trimmer.

[USMCM16A2]

Guys,


Like most reloaders, the most tedious part of reloading is case prep, I am looking for the least expensive way to power trim my cases. One that looks particulary economical is the Possum hollow system. I already have a RCBS case trimmer, is there an adapter made?. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, USMCM16A2

[jandmtv]

If you do not want to invest in a Giraud trimmer, then at least buy a Gracey, and buy a Giraud blade for the Gracey, thats what I have, and it works great!

[sorensen440]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0002961210557a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=rcbs+trimmer&sort=all&Go.y=0&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

[USN CHIEF]

Hands down to the Giraud Trimmer. That thing is so freaking amazing. I have only had mine for a few days already and do not regret spending all that money on a trimmer. Great piece of machine that does a great job and very simple to use.

[Gnzrme]

what prevents you from over trimming the case on the giraud and is the dillon power trimmer as nice.

[All Nav]

I use the Possum Hollow Kwik trimmer with my cheapie cordless drill, and it does a great job. I managed to trim about 1K pieces of LC .223 in a few nights after work. Another advantage is the the PH power adapter will take either the Lyman or Forster chamfer/deburr tool, so once you have your brass trimmed, you can keep going with power.

[rksimple]

Giraud is best, Gracey is good. I have a Gracey and it does what I need it to.

[CSACANNONEER]

It really depends on what you want it to do! I have a Giraud and it is the best for SOME applications! I also have a K&M trimmer in 50BMG and it is a great trimmer that is extremely consistant, less expensive (one caliber only) and very compact and portable. Then, I have a CH4D as well as a Lyman trimmer too. These trimmers are great for trimming straight walled cartridges (Graceys and Girauds can't do that) and, I also use these trimmers to trim cartridges for calibers that I don't shoot a lot of. You really need to analize your needs and weigh the cost factors, set up & operating time factors as well as the compatability factors (a Giraud or a Gracey can not trim everything!) before you spend a lot of cash.

[Gnzrme]

ok....

How do you stop the trimmer from overtrimming in a giraud or gracey...

[CSACANNONEER]

ok....

How do you stop the trimmer from overtrimming in a giraud or gracey...

The shoulder of the case hits the shoulder of the bushing. Once the bushing is properly adjusted for the batch of brass that was all sized with to the same headspacing, there is no way to overtrim. You need a seperate bushing for each caliber you want to trim and staight walled and slightly tapered calibers (30 carbine, .45-70 etc.) are not possible to trim on a Giraud.

[Gnzrme]

thanks for the answer....whats the difference in the Giraud and the Dillon?, Also, it looks like the giraud website is down because it will not open....

[USN CHIEF]

Don't know what the difference between the Dillon and the the Giraud are but here is the link to the Giraud Website.

http://www.giraudtool.com/prod02.htm

[bohoki]

me being a tremendous cheapskate ive used the lee trimmer that costs about $10 for the cutter and shellholder/length gauge .

how does the guraund debur the out and inside?

i'm so sick of the casings comming loose from the shellholder on the leei'm thinking about reversing the power and chucking the cutter in a drill and holding the case and caseholder

[Pthfndr]

me being a tremendous cheapskate ive used the lee trimmer that costs about $10 for the cutter and shellholder/length gauge .

how does the guraund debur the out and inside?

i'm so sick of the casings comming loose from the shellholder on the leei'm thinking about reversing the power and chucking the cutter in a drill and holding the case and caseholder

The cutting bit is made to cut inside and outside. It's adjustable in it's holder.

[Kiba]

Being that I shoot a lot of semi-autos in both .223 and .308 my Giraud was some of the best money I've ever spent on reloading gear. It turned an annoying and tedious task into a very quick and much less tedious task. A few friends who told me I was stupid for spending that much money on a trimmer went out and bought their own after I let them try mine. :)

Trimming and inside & outside chamfering in 1 step is awesome and if your brass batch is nice and uniform the Giraud is usually accurate within +/- .001.

[bohoki]

it looks abit like some home project i wonder if you could buy one without the motor and provide your own?

i'd love to try one hooked to a gas rc airplane engine

judging by that tremendous capacitor on the side it must be a high speed motor

anybody know the rpm?

[Bruce3]

don't know about the rpm but the Giraud is amazing! i gave up with the Lee case trimmer after doing 500rnd of .223, i think i got about 1500 cases trimmed chamfered a deburred with my Giraud in about 3 hours which is FAST in terms of case prep! i too was hesitant on dropping 4 bills on a trimmer but now i have it its worth every penny!

[Full Clip]

Wow -- I thought I was fancy with my RCBS Pro. :kest:

[CSACANNONEER]

Wow -- I thought I was fancy with my RCBS Pro. :kest:

When you're in my neck of the woods, I'll show you why the Giraud is so awesome! I'll also demo my K&M and CH4D trimmers as well.

[ar15barrels]

Hands down to the Giraud Trimmer. That thing is so freaking amazing. I have only had mine for a few days already and do not regret spending all that money on a trimmer.

So now that you have all the toys, do you agree that it was worth it to buy the good stuff?
It just reeks of quality, like a Wilson Combat 45, don't it...

[ar15barrels]

thanks for the answer....whats the difference in the Giraud and the Dillon?, Also, it looks like the giraud website is down because it will not open....

The dillon trim die is basically a full length sizing die without a decapping pin or neck expanding bushing.
There is a cavity on top of the die though instead of a decapping stem.
The motor mounts on top of the die and a carbide cutter hangs down into that cavity.
The case slides up into the sizing die portion of the trim die and sticks out the top where the cutter is cutting off the excess brass.
There are two ports on the side of the die where brass trimmings escape the trimmer and get vacumed off when you attach a vacum.

The dillon trimmer sizes and trims in one operation.
It does NOT chamber or debur though.
I have not found chamfering and deburring to be necessary though as the cut is so clean that it just leaves a square end to the case.

It will be necessary to expand the case neck before seating bullets, but this can be handled in the first station of a progressive press, where a regular sizing die would normally live.


The girard trimmer works more like a pencil sharpener.
You have a cartridge specific adapter (die) that centers the case in the trimmer.
This adapter slides in and out and is spring loaded.
In use, you hold the case with your fingers, insert it into the adapter and rotate half a turn.
The excess brass gets trimmed off by the carbide cutter.
The cutter is shaped like a "V" so it cuts length and also chamfers inside and out.
The adapter is adjustable for trim length and has a positive stop against the case shoulder.
The cutter gets adjusted for different calibers.

The cases need to be sized before you run them through the girard.

[ar15barrels]

it looks abit like some home project i wonder if you could buy one without the motor and provide your own?

You can buy a Gracey without the motor.
Girard basically copied the gracey design, but made some improvements.

[supersonic]

If you buy a Gracey, you'll just end up regretting not buying the best: GIRAUD. PERIOD!:)

[Pthfndr]

Girard basically copied the gracey design, but made some improvements.

That is a pretty misleading statement. The Giraud is no where near a copy. Look at them side by side, look at the components. Giraud has his a patent on his machine. Patents are not normally issued for something that is an "improved copy" unless the "improvements are SUBSTANTIAL.

I'm not looking to start a pissing match. I just wanted to clarify things.

I'm a true believer of the Giraud machine. My shell holder and cutter collection is along the lines of your Dillon collection :)

[rksimple]

Doyle Gracey is a neighbor of mine. He told me about Doug calling him and telling him he was going to make a trimmer based off his design. Improvements were made. How significant? Thats up to you to decide.

The Giraud is the better machine.

[USN CHIEF]

Man, I really don't know how you folks that have been trimming by hand do it. In 3 days I have managed to trim about 5k pieces of brass. Still have many thousands more to go. I love the Giraud Trimmer. Thank you Randall for recommending this machine.

[grywlfbg]

Randall said it best. I LOVE my Giraud.

The only thing I will tell people is that every few hundred rounds I run a Q-Tip w/ some alcohol where the case shoulder contacts the shell holder. I've had lube build up on that over time which holds the case further away from the cutter and leaves the cases long.

Yes, I'm probably over-lubing (I use the Dillon lube) but I don't get any lube dents and never had a stuck case so I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

[CSACANNONEER]

Randall said it best. I LOVE my Giraud.

The only thing I will tell people is that every few hundred rounds I run a Q-Tip w/ some alcohol where the case shoulder contacts the shell holder. I've had lube build up on that over time which holds the case further away from the cutter and leaves the cases long.

Yes, I'm probably over-lubing (I use the Dillon lube) but I don't get any lube dents and never had a stuck case so I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

Yea, I just cleaned my collets last night. I'm glad I noticed the build up before I started trimming a fresh batch.

[ar15barrels]

I tumble the cases to remove lube after sizing and before trimming.
No lube buildup in a Girard trimmer here...

[Pthfndr]

I tumble the cases to remove lube after sizing and before trimming.
No lube buildup in a Girard trimmer here...

Same here.

[mrkubota]

I leave the lube on for trimming my .50 brass.... it cuts A LOT faster than without.

[Toolbox X]

Randall said it best. I LOVE my Giraud.

The only thing I will tell people is that every few hundred rounds I run a Q-Tip w/ some alcohol where the case shoulder contacts the shell holder. I've had lube build up on that over time which holds the case further away from the cutter and leaves the cases long.

Yes, I'm probably over-lubing (I use the Dillon lube) but I don't get any lube dents and never had a stuck case so I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

I clean the Dillon lube off my cases right after I resize/deprime. I use the Giraud to trim and the Dillon Super Swage 600 to swage. Then I reload.