Do any of you have experience with or own either of these case trimmers. Being a lazy bum, I really hate the effort of case mouth prep (trimming, chamfering and deburring) and would love to get something that reduces the effort enough to do it every time. For bolt guns (including BR and F-class) I use a Wilson/Sinclair micrometer trimmer, K&M VLD tapered reamer with stop, and a Don Nielson case lathe http://www.benchrest.com/nielson/ (http://www.benchrest.com/nielson/) and a little 0000 steel wool to outside deburr, but that takes forever to prep service rifle quantities.
That being said, the Gracey http://www.matchprep.com/trimmer.htm (http://www.matchprep.com/trimmer.htm) is the older standard, less $$$ but I hear has wear issues.
The Giraud http://www.giraudtool.com/index.htm (http://www.giraudtool.com/index.htm) appears to be a higher quality device, but I have heard that it's floating case carrier has runout issues.
Have any of you used either of these products? If so what were the pros/cons of each device.
Gracey also makes a neck shaver http://www.matchprep.com/shaver.htm (http://www.matchprep.com/shaver.htm) (this makes the accuracy nut in me shiver with anticipation) that looks interesting to uniform the necks a little to improve consistency of bullet tension. They say this is a 5 second process (only done once on first load) This last one might just be a carryover of my Benchrest neuroses, but some of the brass I've measured neck thickness is VERY uneven (several thousandths), and I don't see how it would shot well at all. Maybe that is my "anything more than 1/2 MOA is boring" attitude and irrelevant in a service rifle.
Cheers
In this game, quantity trumps quality, and you'll find a Forester trimmer (drill press type) will give you the quatity you need, while retaining acceptable quality.
And, yeah, I'm an ex-BR guy myself. IBS Hunter and Heavy Varmint mostly, occasionally Light Varmint or Varmint for score. Mostly shot a .30 IHMSA or .219 Donaldson Wasp (what can I say, I actually knew and was friends with Harvey himself).
Hello Bill; I have a gracy trimmer that I bought new from gracy. Am I happy with how it performs. No, but for me it is better than the a file and die method. The .50 BMG taxes it to its limit, I took the motor off and now use a power drill running 1450 rpm, Factory motor had no guts. To do again I would buy the more expenseive giraud unit as it has a stronger motor and is better engineered in the transfer of power to the cutter. Do it once right and you won`t pay TWICE for a better machine. The only factory ammo I buy is .22 it may work ok for 556 or 762 but I use a Dilon trimmer in a 550 after sizing stage , works FAST, for those, a rcbs brand trimmer for all others. Good Luck and AS allways, keep them in the black. :) J.Papineau
Thanks
The Giraud it is then. I like the easily changed calibers and less setup tool.
What prompted this is trimming/chamfering/deburring 400 308 cases with the Wilson/Sinclair trimmer and looking at the daunting pile of 800 more.
Thanks