Giraud Power Trimmer

[Germz]

Contemplating getting one. Its a pretty penny. Who has one that can give me durability and efficiency review. Youtube has yielded some nice reviews but I'd like to hear from owners. Thanks in advance.

[FLIGHT762]

I once owned a Gracey trimmer and a Dillon RT 1200. I sold them both and got a Giraud. Best money spent. I bought it to trim five rifle calibers.

I've been using it for over a year now and have no regrets.

If you use a progressive press, The Dillon is the fastest out there. With the case feeders, you can trim a lot of brass fast. I only load on a single stage press so the Giraud suits me fine. Put a regular die locking ring on the case holder and it takes literally less than two minuted to change calibers. For the life of me, I don't know why Doug doesn't supply locking rings on the case holders. No big deal for me since I have a supply of old die rings that work great.

The nice thing was I bought the Dillon and the Gracey so long ago, they both appreciated in price to a point when I sold them, I gave someone a great deal and didn't lose a dime on my investment. The sale of the Gracey and the Dillon pretty much paid for the Giraud. I did go all out and bought separate cutters in the different calibers.

The only thing I read negative on the net, was according to the writer, Giraud doesn't use the best bearings and at some point they would need to be replaced with better bearings.

[DarkSoul]

I have one as well, and it's been great. I use it mainly for 308, or other match grade rifle calibers since it chamfers both the inside and the outside perfectly.

I also use Dillon trimmers for bulk ammo where I am less worried about super high precision, and Mai l because it would just take longer than I want when loading several thousand rounds of say 5.56

[Germz]

So a dillon trimmer would be better for pumping out plinking rounds? I've been hand trimimng this whole time, and the Giraud got my attention because it trims, deburrs and chamfers in one motion. does the dillon do the same?

[GeoffLinder]

I have several of the Gracey trimmers and neck shavers in several calibers. I have not tried the Giraud but at a bit over $100 more I find it hard to believe that it is any superior. A couple of the Gracey's I have are almost 20 years old and they are still running strong after over 100k trimmings.

I guess you can't go wrong with either, but my nod goes to the Gracey for familiarity and the fact that they have an untarnished track record for me.

[GeoffLinder]

So a dillon trimmer would be better for pumping out plinking rounds? I've been hand trimimng this whole time, and the Giraud got my attention because it trims, deburrs and chamfers in one motion. does the dillon do the same?

The Dillon only trims, it does not chamfer and debur and IMHO it is only a good choice when you want to add it to a progressive system like a Dillon 1050 where you can add it to a station and run it as part of the progressive process. For single stage processing and feeding a 650 or 550 Dillon progressive, I would go with a Gracey or Giraud.

[OldShooter32]

Wilson works if you want precision and don't load 1,000 cases a sitting.

[Spyder]

Best $700 I ever spent.

I've got 8 or 9 calibers for mine. I trimmed 50 pieces of 300WM brass one time by hand and swore I'd never do it again.

I may very well never buy a rifle in a caliber that Giraud doesn't make a caseholder for.

A buddy of mine had one a few years ago that was trimming uneven and making bad bearing sounds. He sent it back and it turned out the cutter holder shaft was slightly bent. It was returned very quickly, with no charge, and has had no problems since.

[Germz]

Yeah, I can't see myself loading more than a couple hundred rounds at a time ever...with my wife and my shooting patterns anyway. I think I'll go with the Giraud and have all three processes handled in one pass.

[GW]

Yeah, I can't see myself loading more than a couple hundred rounds at a time ever...with my wife and my shooting patterns anyway. I think I'll go with the Giraud and have all three processes handled in one pass.

I think you will be quite happy with your choice.

[OpenSightsOnly]

I have a Giraud, worth every penny!

Then I moved on to a Chargemaster 1500

Processing/charging time got better.

[Ahhnother8]

Never seen a used one for sale. What does that tell you?!

[Germz]

Never seen a used one for sale. What does that tell you?!

I have been searching briefly and I've noticed that as well.

[A and O]

Never seen a used one for sale. What does that tell you?!

Tells me all I need to know. The same can be said for the Forster Co-Ax SS Press. I just bought a Dillon 550 and put it where my Co-Ax was located. I have no intention of selling the Co-Ax ever. I will spend the frn's and extend my bench to fit that press back into the work area.

As for the Dillon trimmer only cutting. The motor cuts at 5,000 RPM's and gives such a clean cut that deburring/beveling is not needed even for FB bullets.

I have the Dillon Trimmer. It fills the need for me perfectly.

In addition to the cost of the Dillon trimmer you will have to buy a trim die for each caliber you want to trim. At about 60 bills each that can get very expensive very quickly.

[Raralith]

I'm on the fence about this too, and I'm probably going to get a Giraud. I started with the intention of just doing 223, and not shooting too often. Now I'm spending hours doing 223, 308 and possibly 2 other calibers since all I shoot now are my rifles. The money I spent on the little things (TWFT, et al) add up and could have put me in the Giraud range, but more importantly save me hours of time.