I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for trimmers. I have a "lathe" style Lyman and it's kinda slow and clunky so I'm looking to move on. At the very least I want to get a new cutter for it. I'm reloading for 243 and 223 so that's what I'd like to focus on and I may end up expanding to 308 and 30-06 one day. I'm eyeballing the World's Finest Trimmer at the moment. Any alternatives I should be looking at? I'm looking for a good balance between price, accuracy and speed.
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What are you guys doing for trimmers these days?
- Thread starter Disfunctional_Engineer
- Start date
Giraud. For me, no need to go anywhere else. I've owned the Gracey and the Dillon RT 1200. Sold them both for he Giraud.
If money is no object, you can go to the Henderson.
If money is no object, you can go to the Henderson.
I use a Giraud for the cartridges that I shoot the most of and a Wilson with a carbide cutter for the other cartridges. I can maintain a sustained rate of 15-16 cases per minute with my Giraud and hold the tolerance to .001.
You could upgrade your Lyman with a carbide cutter or you can spend about as much as you want.
You could upgrade your Lyman with a carbide cutter or you can spend about as much as you want.
Look at Worlds Cheapest Trimmer - WCT. I use the WFT for high volume but use the WCT for cartridges i do not shoot in high volume.
I was looking at those, if I could dig up the material I would be inclined to turn my own. getting the shoulder right may be fun and would probably require I make a reamer.
I haven't checked Mcmaster Carr yet for materials however.
Glad to see Henderson getting some love. Spent some time with him at SHOT a couple of years ago--was pretty impressed although I do not own one...yet.
the one i was looking at was 5 bills. can you link me up? Maybe I have the wrong trimmer?
Get the tri trimer $105
Get a bench buffer harbor freight $55
Get a shaft coupler $10
Google search girard bench grinder
Lots of threads here on the hide too
Best trimmer available in my opinion and you can trim very fast.
Get a bench buffer harbor freight $55
Get a shaft coupler $10
Google search girard bench grinder
Lots of threads here on the hide too
Best trimmer available in my opinion and you can trim very fast.
Just got the new Lyman case trim express. No experience with Giraud or the others mentioned, but it beats the RCBS case trimmer hands down. Very quick and easy to set up. Came with adapters for all the common calibers I deal with except 6.5 PRC. Very clean cut needs minimal chamfer and debur.
Giraud, Harbor Freight bench grinder, and a simple steel stand that I welded up.
Check out the video I just posted. If you or somebody you know have access to a welder and some scrap steel it's a simple project that works great.
I like that stand A LOT!!!
easy way to make it stand alone and off the bench! Which is what I was looking to do.
It's a gamechanger. In the horizontal orientation on my bench the pegboard backer vibrated like crazy (which is what drove my dogs nuts.)
This way it's quiet, ergonomic, and mobile. Thrilled with how it works.
Trimming is one of those aspects of reloading that I seem to constantly try new tools, never really satisfied long enough to settle in on anything. Here's my trimming evolution since about 2002:
LE Wilson trimmer - simple cheap lathe solution, worked fine when I was only shooting .308WIN and .223REM in small batches
Giraud - now I'm playing with power! Great for volume trimming (trimming 200 cases was easy), it chamfers/deburs in one go too, but changing out cutting heads was a trial-n-error headache until I just spent the money and bought dedicated heads. Sold it when I moved to NZ...thought about buying another but...no.
LCGW World's Finest Trimmer - easy drill-based trimmer with dedicated heads. Set once and forget, but at $70ea it can get expensive if you need to support a bunch of cartridges.
LCGW World's Finest Trimmer 2 - now it's modular so you only need one body and buy cheaper case inserts. But again, changing out can be a bit of trial-n-error getting the distance to the cutting head right each time you swap inserts.
Frankford Arsenal Case Prep Center - got this cheap on a whim. Not even close to comparable with Giraud, but still a handy all-in-one solution. Still a bit of trial-n-error swapping out inserts and getting the lengths right.
Conclusion:
After all these years, I think the Giraud is still the best from my experience, but only if you also buy dedicated cutting heads for each cartridge and set them once. Then changing them out is really easy and there's no trial-n-error adjusting. But for me that was looking like an $800 solution that I wasn't really wanting to re-invest in. So what do I do instead? I use the Frankford Arsenal setup for all of my non-precision stuff like .223REM and .300BLK, where I do a bunch at once, then long gaps between sessions. For the precision stuff like 6.5 flavors, .300NM, .338LM, and some magnum wildcats, I use dedicated WFT1 heads - set once and leave. Just grab the appropriate head, throw it in a hand drill, trim a bunch of brass. No adjusting and screwing up quality brass. And Little Crow Gunworks will make custom trimmer heads for your wildcats.
LE Wilson trimmer - simple cheap lathe solution, worked fine when I was only shooting .308WIN and .223REM in small batches
Giraud - now I'm playing with power! Great for volume trimming (trimming 200 cases was easy), it chamfers/deburs in one go too, but changing out cutting heads was a trial-n-error headache until I just spent the money and bought dedicated heads. Sold it when I moved to NZ...thought about buying another but...no.
LCGW World's Finest Trimmer - easy drill-based trimmer with dedicated heads. Set once and forget, but at $70ea it can get expensive if you need to support a bunch of cartridges.
LCGW World's Finest Trimmer 2 - now it's modular so you only need one body and buy cheaper case inserts. But again, changing out can be a bit of trial-n-error getting the distance to the cutting head right each time you swap inserts.
Frankford Arsenal Case Prep Center - got this cheap on a whim. Not even close to comparable with Giraud, but still a handy all-in-one solution. Still a bit of trial-n-error swapping out inserts and getting the lengths right.
Conclusion:
After all these years, I think the Giraud is still the best from my experience, but only if you also buy dedicated cutting heads for each cartridge and set them once. Then changing them out is really easy and there's no trial-n-error adjusting. But for me that was looking like an $800 solution that I wasn't really wanting to re-invest in. So what do I do instead? I use the Frankford Arsenal setup for all of my non-precision stuff like .223REM and .300BLK, where I do a bunch at once, then long gaps between sessions. For the precision stuff like 6.5 flavors, .300NM, .338LM, and some magnum wildcats, I use dedicated WFT1 heads - set once and leave. Just grab the appropriate head, throw it in a hand drill, trim a bunch of brass. No adjusting and screwing up quality brass. And Little Crow Gunworks will make custom trimmer heads for your wildcats.
That is epic. I have an oil burner motor here that is needing to get used. any impact from turning at 1750 not 3500 rpm?
I was recommended the Giraurd by a friend. Gonna have to save up and think about that down the road for my setup
Giraud as well but as others have stated plan on investing/budgeting in dedicated case holders and cutters to save time. Use the the lock rings on the case holders with a witness mark and the changeovers are quick and repeatable.
I’d like to try a Henderson but with 7 calibers I’m somewhat “invested” and the Giraud is just simply a workhorse.
I’d like to try a Henderson but with 7 calibers I’m somewhat “invested” and the Giraud is just simply a workhorse.
D
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The WCT appears to be a copy of Possum Hollow
hey is the shaft diameter on the giraud 3/8? wanting to order Monday and have a motor from a furnace to adapt.
I use the same Lyman trimmer with their drill adapter axle and carbide bit. It's fast for that style and very consistent. I then use Hornady DuoPrep for chamfering and swaging. It's $50 on Amazon and quick n easy.
Like others have said, go with Giraud or Henderson if you want to really do it right.
I just bought a trim it oi. It’s been fairly frustrating trying to set it up exact the way I want it. I ran out of adjustment trimming my 223 as the carbide cutter winds up hitting the shell holder. I’m debating between the Dillon trimmer but heard their dues oversized the brass plus I already have dies for all the calibers I’m loading. I do like having it set up on a tool head and being ready to trim in a few minutes. I’d like to pony up for the giraud but don’t want to fuck and fiddle every time I change calibers. This is becoming analysis paralysis
D
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Lee 3 jaw Chuck, Lee case length gauge, Lee cutter with ball grip, cordless drill, Lee chamfer tool, Lee primer pocket cleaner. I always ended up using these tools. Of course, I never reload more than 100 rounds. I just hold the drill but this guy wears one glove so the glove is optional.
You don't have to "fiddle and fuck" every time you change calibers if you get dedicated caliber specific cutter heads and you use a locking die ring on the shell holder. Changeover is literally an minute or so. Just the time to unscrew a cutter head and unscrew the case holder and screw in the two different ones.
Is there anyone with a Giraud that would change to a Henderson, or vice versa? At some point I'd like to move to a tri-way trimmer and these two seem to be the ones to beat.
Yeah that’s what I’m really not liking about the trim it and assumed it would be similar. There like 4 different Allen key adjustments to get everything lined up. How March are the cutter heads? Thanks
Not nearly as sexy as some others already mentioned, but I have used the RCBS trim pro power trimmer. They have many 3-way cutters to fit this. I like being able to trim, deburr, and chamfer all at once.
Giraud power trimmer buy once cry once. If youve made it this far into loading your ammo. And plan to load more pony up i do not regret it one bit. When it comes down to it time is money and the amount of time youll save with a giraud is well worth the money to me less than 1/3 the tive vs the trim pro or the hornady case prep and way less manuel labour involved
Yep
Had a Giraud for about 5 years. Switched to the Henderson. Sticking with the Henderson.
A lot of trimmers are fast. A lot of trimmers are consistent. But only 02 trimmers are fast and consistent. Giraud if you like shoulder based measurements. Henderson if you like over all length measurement. Personal preference. Neither are worth it unless your shooting a few hundred or more rounds a month.
Nothing wrong with Giraud or shoulder measurements. I just prefer over all length measurements and the Henderson gives me that. Hope this helps.
you bring up a good point. What are the advantages to shoulder base trimming vs OAL trimming and vice-versa. Thanks
Henderson for ease of adjustment and easy on arthritic hands. Giraud type trimmers where you have to hold the brass and do a little twist at the end can be hard on fingers.
World's Cheapest Trimmer showed up today. Looking at the design it seems like it would be functional for trimming brass however I I'm sort of unsure of precision. The reason I say that is looking at the design it's a tapered cone that would seems as if it would seat on the corner where the shoulder meets the case wall. I could see that introducting slight variance depending on how sharp (or not) the case shoulder is. I would rather see it resting on the "face" of the case shoulder. I will probably sharpie a case and see where it hits. For 25 bucks seems like it'd be worth playing with.
I sent black widow a bunch of money last month and havnt seen a trim it II ... so thats what im doing
LE Wilson Don't know how you can do better. But, I'm not trimming high volumes of brass. If I was I would probably try out a WFT.
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