Giraud power trimmer questions

[03psd]

Considering purchasing a Giraud power trimmer but have a few questions. First and foremost I know the quality of the product, that’s not in question. My questions are about these ease and cost to change different calibers. Also if it’s worth the sizable investment for lower quantities. I have a wildcat that requires significant trimming of cases after forming so that’s my primary interest but I also reload a couple other common calibers but total less then 1500 cases per year total. Thoughts?

 

[spife7980]

I love mine. It used to take me an hour to do 50 cases by hand. Now I can do 100 in less than 10 minutes. I have a cutting blade for each caliber and then a case holder for each cartridge. Putting a lock ring on makes return to the previous setting a breeze. Not sure on the wildcat ease as it needs to be ordered as a blank and then your smith can ream it with whatever reamer your chamber was cut with. So that assumes you still have access to the reamer. Its the best trimmer in the world. It’s also really expensive for 1500 a year. But with the ease of it maybe you’ll end up shooting more.

 

[branson1369]

I have had one for 5 years one of the best investments I have made for reloading

 

[Milo 2.5]

I love mine. It used to take me an hour to do 50 cases by hand. Now I can do 100 in less than 10 minutes. I have a cutting blade for each caliber and then a case holder for each cartridge. Putting a lock ring on makes return to the previous setting a breeze. Not sure on the wildcat ease as it needs to be ordered as a blank and then your smith can ream it with whatever reamer your chamber was cut with. So that assumes you still have access to the reamer. Its the best trimmer in the world. It’s also really expensive for 1500 a year. But with the ease of it maybe you’ll end up shooting more.

I'm with spife, I fought buying one for 5 yrs, even replaced my RCBS electric a couple yrs ago. There are some tools that are just frivolous buys, this is not one of them.

 

[Dtarget]

Cartridge changes are super easy if you use clamping lock rings.

Caliber changes take another few minutes but are easy as long as you buy extra cutter holders for each caliber.

Money well spent.

 

[Midwestside]

I too have been looking to buy one of these for years, but I am unclear about the "add-on costs" for each cartridge listed at the bottom of the website.
(And it may be beneficial to this discussion/thread):
1) Is it roughly $35 extra per "cartridge" (less any replacement blades) for the "case holder"?
2) Is there any multiple cartridge compatibility, given that this system references off of the shoulder(ie between 7mm-08 with 308 Win) or is every case holder totally unique?

 

[spife7980]

I too have been looking to buy one of these for years, but I am unclear about the "add-on costs" for each cartridge listed at the bottom of the website.
(And it may be beneficial to this discussion/thread):
1) Is it roughly $35 extra per "cartridge" (less any replacement blades) for the "case holder"?
Yes, it is 35 for a new cartridge.
If you want the quick change cutter blade thats 45.
So if you already have a 308 and want to add a 300 savage all you would need is the $35 holder because they are the same 30 caliber.
If you already have a 308 and wanted to go to 6.5 creedmoor then you would want to get the $35 cartridge holder and then a $45 cutting blade as 6.5 is different than 30. Thats if you want the quick change. If you are doing them in batches of 1k of 2 at a time then maybe the time spent to readjust the cutter isnt a big deal since youll get a significant amount of work done between each change. I always do 50-100 of one and then 50-100 of another so that is a lot of time switching and setting it up. It is sort of finicky to set up perfectly which is why I like a cutter for each caliber I would do.

2) Is there any multiple cartridge compatibility, given that this system references off of the shoulder(ie between 7mm-08 with 308 Win) or is every case holder totally unique?
I believe that you can use the 308 holder for a 7-08 but obviously the cutter blade arrangement is different between 30 & 7 cals so the cutter would need to be swapped or readjusted. I think you might even be able to use ot for 260 but you would be better off going straight to the source and asking Giraud himself.

I put some answers above in red but read this as well http://www.accuracy-tech.com/giraud-case-trimmer/

 

[canezach]

I'm with Spife on this. What used to take an hour to trim, chamfer, and deburr by hand takes mere minutes now. I might replace my dies, or press, or even my annealing machine, but the Giraud will always have a spot on my bench. The initial cost outlay is high, but if you can afford it, you won't regret it. Personally, I value my time more than money, so something that is essentially a multi-tasking tool that frees me to do other things is money well spent.

Edit: I meant to add that you'll want to buy one cutter blade for each caliber you're reloading and case holders for each, meaning a cutter blade set up for 6mm Dasher will also trim 6 BR, 243, etc, since they're all 6mm, but you need the case holders for each. Swapping calibers is easy for the case holder and only slightly more time consuming for the cutter blade. Set your case holder to the desired depth for trim length, add on a Hornady Sure-Loc die ring or something similar, and you can "return to zero" every time you swap.

 

[Sharpshooter3]

Like others have said the up front cost is some what high. But when you sit down with a icecream bucket of brass to trim and it only takes you a hour or so, instead of all day then you think to yourself it was totally worth the money! Caliber changes are fairly fast and easy but it is nice to have a cutter blade set for each cal. that way you don't have to fiddle with moving the blade and getting it set just right again for the chamfer and deburr. The blades do seem to last quite awhile and are well made. I bought mine about 2 years ago just for .223 and have sense bought a case holder for everything I shoot, it just dose a really nice job and makes life easier. Plus I have kids now so my time is more valuable than what it used to be.

 

[parshal]

Without question, the Giraud saves me more time than any other reloading tool.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

I don't have a Giraud bench-top model, but I do have a Tri-Way trimmer. It cost right at $100 new. As far as I'm concerned, it paid for itself, in time alone, the first night I had it. It literally took a three or four day job and turned it into about three hours. Like someone else mentioned, it is one of the best tools on the bench. It trims a .223 casing perfectly every 6-7 seconds, and that's not getting in a hurry. One day I'm going have a Giraud bench-top trimmer, and I won't regret the cost at all.

 

[towerofpower93]

Love mine.

Use it for every caliber I have they make a case holder for, and even asked them for some custom stuff they couldn't do, unfortunately.

 

[parshal]

... even asked them for some custom stuff they couldn't do, unfortunately.

They sell case holder blanks. I bought one for the 6.5 SS and just ran the reamer in to make the holder.