case trimmer

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b_w.

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I want to get into reloading and am slowly going to acquire everything over a few months time. I have already purchased a tumbler and have begun cleaning my collection of 223 brass.

The next purchase is going to be a case trimmer. After reading almost every thread I could find I have decided to get a power trimmer. I have narrowed it down to either the Gracey or Giraud trimmers. The Gracey is $280 + shipping and the Giraud is $425 + shipping. Case trimming sounds like a major pain so I just want to do it right once.

All the inf0 says the Giraud is the best so if money was no issue I would get that no question. Problem is it is almost as much as the Dillon 550b I am going to pick up soon at $487.

Is there any reason I would regret getting the Gracey trimmer instead of the Giraud? Is it that much better to justify the greater cost?
 
IMO, the Giraud trimmer is a more polished and refined machine - think of it like a Gracey mk 111. It's a more robust design as well.
Is it worth the extra coin? Only you can be the judge of that.
 
There is a world of difference between the two. Looking at the upgrades Giraud offers for the Gracey gives you a hint of the headaches some have with it (especially the blade).

I looked at my friend's Gracey before buying my Giraud. I was not impressed. The motor was coupled to the drive shaft with a piece of hose. It looked like it was made in a garage with hand tools. The Giraud looks like a real product.

The shell holder also makes a huge difference. In the Giraud, your case is fully seated in the holder before being pushed into to blade. This gives a cut that is better centered, especially if the neck is thin, has been sized and the case fired in a tight chamber. If you don't put it in straight in the Gracey, there can be play and you can insert the case on an angle and get a crooked, non-concentric chamfer.

If you want to use it for a tight boltgun, request that Giraud uses a match reamer or send him your own reamer and he will make a shell holder with virtually no play. Then it will make realy nice concentric chamfers.
 
choices

I went with the Hornady case prep center, you may want to have a look at it, P&D in Edmonton sells them for $400.00 and change. FS
 
I picked up the phone and it was shipped 2 days later. I figure if they are good enough for the US Army and National Guard Marksmanship Units they are good enough for me. It is a fair bit of cash but I am trying to speed up my reloading so I can spend more time shooting.
 
Unless you are shooting a semi auto, consider neck sizing and thus avoiding trimming.

Hot .223 loads can grow .0050" per full length resize.
Hot .223 loads can grow .0001" per neck size.
 
b_w. said:
Going to be shooting ar's
Click to expand...
In that case, unless you're shooting custom-barrelled precision ARs, you could speed things up with on-press trimming.

Dillon 1200B. Size / trim in one step. Deburr in your tumbler afterwards. Fits on your upcoming 550B.

If your volume is relatively low... save yourself a ton of money and do the lee trimming system. Chuck the case holder in your portable drill and it's easy as pie.
 
acrashb said:
If your volume is relatively low... save yourself a ton of money and do the lee trimming system. Chuck the case holder in your portable drill and it's easy as pie.
Click to expand...

I wasn't a fan of the Lee system because after some use it looked like the cutting blade started to cut the bottom of the 223 length gauge, leading to a change in brass trim length. I recommend the Forster lathe-style trimmer for a low-volume setup.
 
acrashb said:
In that case, unless you're shooting custom-barrelled precision ARs, you could speed things up with on-press trimming.

Dillon 1200B. Size / trim in one step. Deburr in your tumbler afterwards. Fits on your upcoming 550B.

If your volume is relatively low... save yourself a ton of money and do the lee trimming system. Chuck the case holder in your portable drill and it's easy as pie.
Click to expand...

A shooter doesn't need to be shooting custom guns to have their ammunition benefit from the best trimmer out there...
Considering the cost of even most general ball ammo, the Giraud is an excellent purchase that will pay for itself in no time - despite the cost.
Besides, on press trimming is ass...;)
 
My Giraud trimmer showed up in the mail tuesday and it seems to be worth every penny. Fast, accurate and did I mention it's fast. I am kicking myself for waiting this long.
 
agent_mango said:
I wasn't a fan of the Lee system because after some use it looked like the cutting blade started to cut the bottom of the 223 length gauge, leading to a change in brass trim length. I recommend the Forster lathe-style trimmer for a low-volume setup.
Click to expand...

Right....and once you start shooting non standard chamberings, wildcats and anything smaller than 22 cal you have order case lenght gauges custom made by Lee......and wait months for them to arrive. Took me about two weeks to get someone from Lee on the phone to take my order last time .

No more lee trimmers for this guy.
 
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