Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Case Trimmers

I keep moving closer to one of those........

Tried a bunch and finally bit the bullet and got a Giraud.

Rather good investment.

I am pretty fond of my Wilson.

Started with the Lyman accu-trim.
18 year old kid, no money it was cheap, used press she'll holders.
Total junk. Untrimmed cases were as consistent as trimmed.

Bought a used Forested. Had to add college and pilots one at
a time. (Its expensive to be poor sometimes)
Great tool, well made. Not a single issue in over 30 years.

Acquired a Lyman Universal in a deal.
Ok, not quite as consistent as Forrester, not as well machined.
Works ok, universal shell holders is overblown.
Forrester has one collet that does all my '06 and magnum
cases. I think the 223 also. Had to buy one for the Sweede.

My neighbor has a Redding.
It's Redding, what more to say.
If I had to acquire all new reloading equipment,
And wasn't too $ conscience, it would all be Redding.

I use the Lee Quick Trim. Sometimes a little tricky to get set exactly correct but once done, works good on my RCBS press. Just remember to keep the brass shavings off the shell holder.

My only regret is that I didn't purchase sooner.

David

I paid $130 for mine,now the unit they sell without the trimmer cost about that much.But when you add up the cost of each tool,you have over a hundred dollars right there.I used to hate doing case prep in separate steps.Now I can do four steps each time I pick up a case and I'm done.

This, plus there's just too much length variation with it as well due to the inconsistency of the chuck unless you re-adjust every case to be sure it's lock up correctly.

I use a Forster, with a drill attached................not super fast, but fast enough for most use unless I have a huge amount of 223 brass, then nothing is really fast enough..

MM

That's what I used to do as well, but then went to the Lee cutter/pilot set in a drill press that I mentioned above. It's way way faster than a drill on my Forster trimmer, and more accurate as well. For about a $12 investment, it's worth a try. (Assuming you have a drill press, every man needs a drill press even if it's just a small cheap one.)

Yeah, I have a drill press & a bunch of the Lee trimmers as well; I'll give it a try. Thanks.

MM

I use WCT trimmer on a high speed drill. It’s cheap ($23.50 on eBay) and I figured to pick it up until I can afford better. Fast forward a couple years and I am still using it because it actually does pretty well (within 0.001”) and it’s fast.

The Little Crow WFT is definitely fast but one thing to keep in mind is that it indexes off the case shoulder, not the case head. If you are processing brass that wasn't all fired in the same chamber you will see variance in finished length.

I bought my Giruad when I was shooting High power, and was extremely glad I had it when I started shooting Pdogs.

I use a L.E. Wilson. Nitride coated cutter. Consistent and easy to use. Only drawback is you have to buy a case holder for each caliber.

I'm a high volume user, so I went with a Giraud.

http://giraudtool.com/giraud-power-trimmer.html

Expensive, obviously, but insanely fast. It trims to length and chamfers inside and outside in one operation. I'm not exaggerating when I say it takes 2-3 SECONDS to trim a case. I did a run of 5,000 .223 cases a few months ago. Took me 5 hours with smoke breaks.

I've owned and used a few different trimmers. The Lyman was not very consistent. The finished length varied with the RCBS and Forster that used collets depending on how tight you tightened the collet. The Lee case gauge type worked ok but the cutters dull quickly. The shell holders can loosen and let the case get out much too often too.

I've settled on the Wilson and the Giraud. The Wilson has all of the bells and whistles that Sinclair offers. I find it to be no slower than any other hand powered lathe style trimmer once you get used to it. The Giraud is set up in the calibers that I load in volume. I can trim 223's at a sustained rate of 16 per minute and maintain less than .001 in length. Both are rather pricey!