[scrat]

Can your case trimmer beat this. look how fast a case is trimmed, de burred, chamfered and polished. Can your case trimmer do this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW0VCej_nz8


gotta love you tube.


thanks mr robert lee or is it richard

[Stinger]

I can do it by hand at about the same speed. Not sustainably, but I bet that guy can't either.

[Walkalong]

Not sustainably

Yup.

[layusn1]

Why not just check the little lee shell holder/trimmer/length gage tool into your drill and go to town? Works really well for me and I can pull the trigger on the drill with very little fatigue. I was wondering about those zip trimmers though.

[Numinous]

Hand powered trimmers? Man, you guys need to get out more :neener:

Check this out for speed trimming:

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

Trims and deburrs in one step. If I want to polish ammo I dump it in a tumbler for an hour.

[scrat]

uhhh i cant see the video or proof

[layusn1]

Yeah but check out the price compared to $5. I certainly dont reload enough to justify that kind of cost. Wish I could though.

[Numinous]

uhhh i cant see the video or proof


Thats because no one can afford one to make it! :P

I've been eyeing one up myself for a couple years now but I just don't shoot enough/have enough disposable income to justify it.

Someday...

EDIT:

I found this video of a Giraud trimming a 50BMG case. Quite a bit faster than the zip trim.

http://www.daplane.com/50bmg/video/giraudtrimmer.mpg

[mrkubota]

Here's my Giraud trimmer cutting 1/10" of a .50bmg case for conversion to .510DTC. A 'normal' trim is only a second or two..

Trimming, deburring and chamfering are done at the same time.
(right-click, save as...)

http://www.daplane.com/50bmg/video/GiraudTrimmer.mpg

[scrat]

thats fast as hellllllllllllll



but i bet its about 300 times too much.

[Surat]

Wow, like a pencil sharpner for brass. . . but too dang much $$$ for me. Maybe after I win the Powerball. . .

[crux]

Giraud will set you back $365 plus shipping. Best money I ever spent in reloading. I spent time reloading now, not trimming cases!

[3rdpig]

Buy sized and trimmed cases and an RCBS X die and you'll never trim another case.

Or just use range pick up brass with your X die and only size them once.

[taliv]

i also own a giraud and love it. i've trimmed thousands of cases this year. I've trimmed enough cases that the little see-through plexiglass enclosure was 3/4 full of brass shavings, emptied, and now back up to around 1/4 full.

it's pricey, but i'd recommend it for anyone who shoots a lot

[Matt-man]

Here's a video of the Giraud doing some 'normal' trimming. Note that the duration is only 15 seconds and he easily has enough time to trim three cases.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v47/Pthfndr/?action=view&current=GiraudTrimmer.flv

[fatelk]

That Giraud trimmer is quick! I'd never heard of them before. I don't load anywhere near enough to justify the expense, though.

I just chuck my Lee trimmer in my cordless drill and it goes quick enough for me, quicker and easier than the pull-cord thing in the first video.

[carnaby]

I just chuck my Lee shell holder in a drill like layusn1. I get about 3x the speed of the guy with the zip trim.

[BigJakeJ1s]

I've heard of some guys chucking the Lee cutter and gauge into a drill press, and just holding the brass down on the table with a leather glove. The pilot stops against the table, stopping cutting at the correct length. No messing with chucking and unchucking the brass.

Andy

[Khornet]

I use it in .223 and .30-'06. Spent a day trimming, deburring, de-crimping 550 rds of '06, then ran 'em through the X-die. Done. Haven't had to trim since. Lots cheaper than $365, but I'm not a real high-volume shooter.

[P0832177]

Buy sized and trimmed cases and an RCBS X die and you'll never trim another case.

Or just use range pick up brass with your X die and only size them once.
The proper use of the X-Die has you trimming the brass to less then min length, ie in 223 your supposed to trim to 1.740" vs the min trim length of 1.750"

[michael_aos]

Giraud rocks.

Mine's trimmed thousands .223 and 260 Remington brass.

They really are "worth it".

Mike

[byf43]

That's the first time that I've seen or heard of the Giraud!! Nice.


For my .223, I use the Lyman Drill Press adapter and have the trimmer chucked into the heavy duty Jacobson chuck.
My drill press has an upgrade on the 'stop' and is extremely accurate.

This drill press does not get used for anything but trimming brass.

I will have to look at the Giraud. That's really nice.

How long does the cutter head last, and what's involved in changing it????

[scrat]

I've heard of some guys chucking the Lee cutter and gauge into a drill press, and just holding the brass down on the table with a leather glove. The pilot stops against the table, stopping cutting at the correct length. No messing with chucking and unchucking the brass.

Andy

I dont think thats possible unless you have a 1/2 drive drill. i have the lee lock coller guage and cutter. the cutter is to big to put in a drill unless its a drill big enough to hold 1/2 inch or more. same time you need the lock coller in place to hold the shell as the guage has a small pilot that goes through the flash hole in the shell. with out the lock coller the pilot will go right through the flash hole cutting too much of the brass. you have to put the lock coller in the drill as it is also made for a drill. however the zip trim is still faster as you can mount the zip trim. when using a drill its kinda hard to use on hand to grab the drill one hand to hold down the drill and one hand to feed the bullet. unless you use the drill very slowly. which i have also done. only benefit is if you have a drill press or a drill press that can be mounted side ways. but after a while you will still find the zip trim faster. Now the way you mentioned just placing the shell on a bench. unless the bench has a small piece of steel that can be used for the backing i think the cases can be in consistant. i think a drill press would be the way to go but id still be concerned about the flash hole.

[P0832177]

The Giraud blades are three sided, and I have yet to move to a different position, and I have had mine for 5 years. They are carbide. The blade is held in place by a set screw on the cutter head.
All the rigging in the world will not change the simple fact if you want speed and consistency then get the Giraud. I can trim 800 plus an hour. It comes out trimmed, deburred, and chamferred!

[DWARREN123]

Low tech but good.

[45crittergitter]

My RCBS power trimmer is faster and easier than that Lee thingy. Deburrs at the same time.

[milanuk]

Started out w/ a Wilson case trimmer w/ all the Sinclair goodies, including stand, clamp, and Starrett micrometer for fine tuning the cut. Absolute perfection, but a little slow and still had to chamfer/debur separately.

Read Glen Zediker's book 'Handloading for Competition: Making the Target Bigger' (primary focus is on NRA Highpower Rifle) and got introduced to the Gracey case trimmer. I found one used for $150 locally and jumped on it. It worked well enough for what it was, but setting the chamfer/debur was a bit finicky, plus the piece of hose for a coupler and no on/off switch (turned it on by plugging it in) and the oil-filled bronze bushings instead of bearings seemed a bit primitive to me (considering they sell for $225 or so new at the time). It was not uncommon to see shooters w/ *two* machines... one for .308 & one for .223. Tearing down and re-setting up the Gracey for different calibers is a PITA for most people, and usually results in a few trashed cases each time. I'm sure there are some folks that can do it by eyeball and get it perfect every time, but there ain't many.

Through the Highpower rifle community online I found out about Doug Giraud's stuff. Where as Doyle Gracey is a shooter and a Marine, Doug Giraud is a shooter and an engineer, and had been building upgrade kits for the Gracey for a while... one piece carbide cutters instead of the PITA two-piece HSS cutters, higher speed motors for less chatter and smoother cuts, re-wire kits for on/off switches, etc. and finally he just started building a machine built from the ground up to take the good of the Gracey and make it better. Kind of like Volquartsen upgrades for a Ruger 10/22!

So now the Giraud has sealed ball bearings, instead of oil-filled bushings. Cogged belt drive instead of a chunk of hose attached w/ hose clamps. A better chip shield, and is capable of working properly either horizontally or vertically. Vibration dampening feet. The ability to replace the entire cutter head w/o distubing the blade settings, which allows the user to have one cutter head seat for .223, one for 6mm, one for .308... or multiple ones for a given caliber (i.e. two .223) but w/ different chamfer angles if one would want such a thing. Finally, the Giraud unit now offers the ability to mount a small end-mill cutter in the machine and you can get caliber specific (i.e. .224, .243, .264, .308) inserts for meplat uniforming... which beats the hell out of sitting there w/ one of those little twisty thingys doing each bullet by hand the 'old' way.

Yes, they are expensive. One Giraud costs over 50% more than a Gracey. IMHO, it's worth it. One Giraud set up for two calibers costs about the same as the two Gracey setup mentioned earlier, and is still worth it. Add a third caliber... and the Giraud leaves everything else in the dirt. When trimming .223 Rem brass for my AR's it's not hard to get going literally two handed... one hand is reaching for a new case while the other is holding one in the trimmer... fairly easy to do 500 cases/ hour or more.

Is there a down side? Sure. You have to F/L size the cases first, or have Doug make you a custom shell holder.

Is it expensive? Yep. Is it worth it? For me, yes. For others, maybe not. I got by for a number of years w/ the Wilson trimmer, which isn't cheap in and of itself (but I'm kind of a picky SOB about some things, and it did what I wanted). I could see someone getting by just fine w/ any of the Lee tools for a long time. I just think when you reach a certain point where time spent reloading is time *not* spent doing something else... like dry firing, other hobbies, time w/ the family, or even shooting, then the Giraud unit starts to become worth the $$$.

YMMV,

Monte

[-terry]

I made a trimmer out of a pencil sharpener and a three-jaw chuck. Seems to work OK and the sharpener was free.