Looking into buying one but cannot decide if it's worth the investment vs just using a pro trim or some other station. I know I've spoken to a friend who uses it and said it was the best investment for reloading he ever made. Wanted to see if anyone else here uses one and what your opinions were.
How's it do for when you use it? I hear it does +/- .001 and it's amazing, but I kinda like to ask
locals and get feedback as well. What caliber do you trim? I was entertaining 22-250, 308 and 223.
I've had mine for 6-7 +- years now. It's the Shizzle for sure.
I trim at the minimum,
17 Hornet and other 17 wildcats
22 Hornet
218 Bee and other Bee wildcats
221 Fireball and wildcats
243
7 and 8 mm mauser
300 sav
308
30-06
30-40
300 win and short Mags also
7.62 X 54R
338 win
And a host of other offbeat cartridge's..
After I used it a few times, I can't imagine going back and using my manual or power RCBS trimmer and the time it took to trim 500 to 1000 + cases.
Thanks 17, that seems to be the general consensus of everyone I've gotten to talk to that actually owns one. Looking like that will be the new big investment for me this weekend. I was just hoping they weren't all hype and people actually felt the way random "feedback and reviews" actually said. That's comforting to know for sure!
I would answer with depending on how many different family's of cartridge's you trim will answer the question.
If you only trimmed say 223 and 308 yes I would buy the little crow.
If I was trimming more that a few different family's of cartridge's I would look at the Giraud.
We are volume Shooters my son and I, that also helps in what machines I purchase.
For myself, I just like stand alone machines, when the kid and I are both loading together we can multi task easier with separate machines.
And I have never heard anyone say anything bad about the little crow trimmers.
If I only needed one or two, that's what I would buy.
Night and day difference in speed and comfort. I can process 4x the brass and it doesn't rub my fingers raw from the torque of the little crow starting up. It cost a chunk of change with it and all the caliber changes...but to me it is worth it's weight in gold. I hate processing rife brass as it is and this make the process go much smoother
The differences that I saw between the trimmers are this,
Giraud Chamfers & Deburrs, the Dillon Doesn’t
I think the Giraud is the more precise tool. It also chamfers and deburrs both the inner and outer edges of the case mouth.
The Dillon trimmer does not chamfer and deburr. In actuality, the Dillon’ cutting blade is mounted at a slight angle (I believe 4 degrees) so that the outer edge has a bevel – which means little or burrs on the outer edge. You most likely will have burrs on the inside of the case. I have read that some guys use a sizer die after trimming that is set up high just to let the expander cleanup the inside of the case mouth.
Now I could be wrong about the Dillon, its been a few years since I have looked at the specs. But above is what I found when I was getting ready to buy.
And I will also say, at least the small Dillon looks just like a small laminate trimmer, that runs at a high rpm and is Loud.. Earplug loud.
I have one and it is well worth the investment if you reload in any kind of bulk. Mine has paid for itself in time-saved multiple times over. I also have a Dillon, but I found it difficult to keep adjusted. Plus the Dillion does not chamfer like the Giraud does. So that was a huge benefit. I initially jumped to the Giraud from a Lee Zip trim. Holy cow.
Well, it sounds to me like it's a no brainer then to go with the Giraud. Side question to my topic, do you guys also SS tumble your brass or more traditional with the dry media?
I have and use my giraud all the time. love it. I do 243, 223, and 308. it saves so much time doing it all in one step. If you really try you can do so many cases an hour it's not even funny. great investment.