High volume rifle brass trimming

[H1500308]

I have approximately 2500 pieces of 5.56 brass that I've sized and de-primed. The thought of trimming all of these with my lee zip-trim or a cordless drill does not excite me one bit. Anyone have any suggestions for a product that will help cut down on the time to trim all of these cases?

 

[SilentVectorX]

Giraud power trimmer
Gracey power trimmer
Dillon RT1200 press mounted power trimmer
Possum Hollow w/ drill adapter
RCBS Trim Pro w/ 3-way cutter
etc...

 

[Tom488]

I was (and still am, to some extent) in the same boat... however, I just had once-fired, tumbled-clean brass, that still needed decapping, resizing, and trimming.

I looked at the Giraud trimmer (search that on Google), but for $425, all I'd get is a trimmer. I then looked at the Dillon 1200B trimmer, for $277 (including a .223 size/trim die). I went with the Dillon, and mounted it on my progressive press along with a lube/decapping die. Now I can take tumbled brass and fully process it (decap, lube, resize, and trim) as fast as I can feed cases into my press. If you have a casefeeder, then it's even faster.

I then went and bought other trim dies (around $50 each) for my other high-volume calibers (.308 and .30-06), so I can just move the trimmer over to them, and after a few minutes of set-up, I can process those cases as well.

Now, since you already have your brass sized, you just need to trim. However, I still believe the press-mounted trimmer will edge out the Giraud on speed - certainly on price, and I believe with less stress to your thumb (much like 'M1 Thumb', I've heard of several people developing 'Giraud Thumb' after long trimming sessions).

 

[IMtheNRA]

The Giraud trimmer also chamfers and de-burrs the case mouth while trimming it. To me, that is a nice benefit, as trimming/chamfering/de-burring are my least favorite steps in reloading.

 

[41 Mag]

For me it was the RCBS with the 3-way cutter. It made short work of over 2K of brass I processed last fall. Sure was easy on my hands as well.

 

[rodregier]

Wearing a glove when running my Giraud helps with the wear and stress of a long session.

It looks like the RCBS Trim Pro plus the 3-way cutter upgrade is a similar price to the Giraud, but with lower production speed.

 

[amlevin]

Tom488-

You referred to a "lube/decapping die."

I am unfamiliar with this type of die. I know about universal de-priming dies and use one myself but not one that also lubes the case so it can be sized. Can you share more info on this?

I trim all my 5.56mm brass using a universal de-priming die and a Dillon RT-1200 mounted on a separate toolhead for my XL-650 but I spray the cases with a light mist of Dillon Case lube and let them dry before I put them in the case feeder.

Cases get sized and trimmed at the rate of just less than one per second. Went through as many as 3,000 in one hour with my wife keeping the case feeder full.

 

[dbarnhart]

I do not yet own a Giraud but I will. Here's why:

The Giraud not only trims, it chamfers and de-burrs at the same time.

Currently I'm using a Wilson and even with just the hand crank I can do about 300 cases/hour. I have the power adapter but haven't installed it yet. It will be interesting to see what it does to my production rate. But I still need to de-burr.

I looked at the Dillon. I looked long and hard. In the end I passed it up because I'd still need to chamfer and deburr. And I'd have to buy a vac of some sort to suck up the chips.

But for the sake of argument:
$277 Dilon Trimmer
$115 RCBS Trim Mate to chamfer and deburr
-----
$392

I can buy the Giraud for $425 and process cases at least twice as fast because the trimming, de-burring, and chamfering occur in a single operation.

 

[SilentVectorX]

Tom488, you're my hero for having an RT1200. I can't wait to have room in the budget for one.

41 Mag, I too use the 3-way cutter (223 in my case, with the power drill adapter). I love the way it cuts, I think I may be using to much pressure though because most of my cases need to be re-neck sized after trimming. Like I said, probably operator error.

 

[dmazur]

I'm another Giraud supporter. I wanted to do trim, chamfer and debur all at the same time.

I believe the early models were a little tedious for caliber changes because you had to adjust the cutter. Now that the design includes a quick-change cutter, the blade settings remain intact.

Also, if you keep a couple of "untrimmed" cases around to use as a setup tool, you can quickly adjust the new caliber's case holder to a starting position, then use the index marks on the trimmer body and the 0.009" per 45° rotation to quickly establish the correct length. You don't have to overtrim and create cases that are less than the desired trim length.

I also like the "pencil sharpener" design that catches all the chips.

I've only done 500 or so at one sitting, so I haven't noticed any hand fatigue. I may just be remembering the fatigue the lathe-type trimmer and the hand chamfering tool caused...

 

[Tom488]

amlevin: RCBS makes a die called a lube die. There are four different dies, that cover a wide variety of calibers. The die has a universal decapping rod in it, and contains a felt ring. You soak the ring with RCBS case lube (there's a port on the side of the die), and as you run the case up into the die, the felt ring wipes a bit of lube on the case. I find I need to "reload" the lube die after about 200 cases or so... takes just a few seconds to shoot another few drops of case lube into the die.

dbarnhart: The way the Dillon trims the cases, there's no burr left, so no need to deburr. I also have not needed to chamfer any cases - especially loading BT bullets - but even loading flat-base bullets, I've yet to have a seating problem. As for having to buy a vacuum... I guess, but who doesn't have a Shop Vac around the shop?

I can buy the Giraud for $425 and process cases at least twice as fast

No, you can't... because I can decap, resize, and trim with one pull of the press handle.

 

[DANNY-L]

I use the electric rcbs trimmer,and the 3-way cutter is a life saver,and hand saver.

 

[41 Mag]

41 Mag, I too use the 3-way cutter (223 in my case, with the power drill adapter). I love the way it cuts, I think I may be using to much pressure though because most of my cases need to be re-neck sized after trimming. Like I said, probably operator error.

I use the Trim Pro set up on a small metal folding saw horse. It clamps down nice and stays put. I don't worry about how many I can turn out by the second, or even the hour. I like that it trims them all the same and when done, your done. I load up a 3# plastic coffee bucket and work through them one bucket at a time.

The Trim Pro was a gift, so I was happy to get it. It takes care of all I need and more. I also have a Wilson set, a Forster set, and a Lyman set which all get used, but for production the RCBS is the king around here.

 

[helotaxi]

I use a Forster power trimmer. It's essentially a collet base and cutter that works on a drill press. It uses the drill press depth stop to set trim length. Add to that the 3-way cutter and it trims, chamfers and deburrs in one step. It is also less than $125 assuming that you have a drill press. The 3-way can be configured to different calibers with a different pilot and simple adjustment.

 

[dbarnhart]

As a point of reference, with my cordless drill connected to my Wilson trimmer, I can trim 450 cases/hour.