Hey ya'll would you spend the extra almost hundred bucks and get the RCBS trim mate case prep center or spend the $20 bucks on the Lyman case prep multi tool? Thanks for your input.


If your going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill

No, and no.

If you reload more than once a year, just spend the money on the good stuff:
http://giraudtool.com/prod02.htm.

Here's my thread on the Giraud: http://waguns.org/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=2058.

And if you have primer crimps to remove: http://waguns.org/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=2196.

I know it's traumatizing to think about spending that much money on the reloading equipment, but you WILL appreciate it. I trimmed about 500 pieces of .308 brass last night, and it was a minor inconvenience rather than the body-hurting experience that it would have been on my RCBS Trim Pro.

Every time I use my Giraud trimmer and my Super Swage, I am grateful that I spent the money.

moved to reloading

Boy that is a bit pricey. But probably worth the consideration.

I started with a manual trimmer and god damn it is a tedious and horrible process. I now use a worlds finest trimmer that gets chucked into a drill and a Lyman case prep center. Saves a bunch of time and you can combine a few steps.

Lyman trimmer with the drill attachment. Very quick, not a lot of money. I also have an RCBS prep station to chamfer and debur. Love my Dillon 600 for those days when I don't want to run out to Littlerock and process brass on our 1050. That has a swager built into it, but it is also a fair chunk of change. It all depnds on how you value time vs. money.

All depends on how much you shoot, how much brass you have, and how much money you want to spend.

The biggest thing to remember is that if you shoot say 500 rounds of 308 a year (talking bolt gun here) then it could take a good 4-5 shootings before needing to trim. Least thats about what i get on my 308. So thats only needing to trim once every 4 or 5 years. Assuming you fire each piece of brass once a year.

Even my 223 and 300blk (both out of an AR) take 3-4 reloads before needing to be trimmed. So if you again have 1k of brass you can rotate through it will be awhile before needing to trim.

Just trying to make ya think. how much do you shoot the rounds you reload. How much brass do you have as well? Then if you keep a god track of your brass so they are all fired once before reloading a second time will help. Then when you do start getting brass close to needing ot be trimmed you can just do small batches when you have time. Trim 50 or 100 one night, then a few nights later. Do that while still having rounds to shoot and not being in a rush to do it is a bonus!

As for me....i have a rcbs trimmer that i use for my "odd" calibers i dont shoot much (30-06, 45-70, ect). I have a WFT for 223 and 300blk (the two i shoot the most by far). My other rifle caliber....308....i have enough brass that i havent had to trim as of yet.

But i do plan to pick up a giraud cause well...it is nice ot have :) But not needed either unless you shoot thousands of rounds a year IMO

How do you know whether it needs to be trimmed or not? Do you measure each one?

With the Giraud, it's just as fast to trim the piece of brass as it is to measure it . . . and then you have consistent brass, every time, no question about it.

Yeah, this is all subjective and it's a judgment call for everyone to make. But, "buy once cry once" is a lesson that I think we've all learned, and I think it's really easy to "go cheap" on reloading equipment but blow cash on stuff that gets us excited like the guns themselves. I think it's worth it to take a step back, spend some of that money on the reloading equipment and make your life just a little bit easier.

I just picked up a three way RCBS trim head, it cost 50 bucks and you can interchange pilots for different calibers for 8 bucks. The reviews look very promising. I have not tried it yet, but will write back when I do.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/145038 ... uctFinding

Let me know how you like it, been thinking about getting one until I can afford a Giraud

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

I have two of the RCBS 3-way cutters. I like them . . . anything that takes the chamfering/deburring out of the equation is a good thing.

That said . . . $50 is a big chunk of the cost of a Giraud. See where this comment is headed?

Yep, but there's no way I can swing the cost of the Giraud right now. The RCBS may be doable though.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

Let me know how you like it, been thinking about getting one until I can afford a Giraud

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk[/quote]

What caliber? You are welcome to mine for a bit. I won't be able to get to it for a while.

.223 is mainly what I would want one for. Been trimming them on an old RCBS trimmer then using a hand tool to chamfer and deburr.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

That giraud seems the way to go! But that's a fair chunk of change to throw down...