I know my rifle and keep track of the brass. Trim to 2.005 and each firing it grows .001-.002. I measure one or two pieces after resizing and know where it stands. Once any piece of brass hits over the 2.010 mark it gets 1 more firing and then trim. I only shoot 308 out of one rifle though. 223 I do the same but check a few more pieces. Just a matter of knowing how much the brass grows. I haven't noticed any accuracy loss that I can positively say is due to length of brass. I'll shoot one group at .5 inch then the next is 2 inches lol.

The giruad is great and I'll be getting one. But it's all about getting what suits you best. The wft and rcbs trimmer with three way cutter have worked great for me. The rcbs is great to start with and will still see plenty of use by me even with the giraud. I shoot so little 30/06, 45/70, 458socom (soon for this at least) that the rcbs works perfect and will always have a place on my bench.

It's all about buying what one can afford and fits the needs. Hard to beat the rcbs type trimmers for value and use. Hard to beat the giraud for quality

The Giraud is great, I have one but I would say great on two conditions:
First is quantity. 300 minimum a month every month and this is useful tool. Best if your doing 1,000's a month.
Second, budget considerations. I bought mine several years ago and really had to choke down the expense but its "buy once, cry once". Re-sale value is excellent!

The Giraud indexes from the shoulder of the case, so getting really precise trim lengths going to depend on getting consistent sizing and set back of the shoulders. I'm not sure that is a consideration for most reloaders. The precision shooter is going to slow down and do everything by hand anyway.

Edit to address the OP: I would look at the WFT worlds finest trimmer if I didn't have the Giraud. I've owned and sold the RCBS trim tool.

The WFT is a good trimmer. You should also look at the CTS trimmer if you want a more economical solution. I bought from him when he used to be only on ebay. Now he has his own store.

http://www.ctstrimmer.com/case-trimmers ... immer.html

Like the other trimmers, it indexes from the shoulder, so consistent sizing is your friend. Once it's set up in the drill press, I can size hundreds in a very short period of time.

If I had to do it over again, I would still by the CTS trimmer.

I use the 3-Way cutter on my RCBS Trimmer and love it. I started loving it even more when I changed out the main cutter with a carbide one. Easier to cut with fewer turns per case.


As for the "Case Prep Centers"??? To me they are merely a "gadget". Most of the things they do are best done with dedicated "tools" and other things they do are only done once in the life of the case (removing crimps, uniforming primer pockets, etc).

I found an RCBS case prep station at a garage sale, so it was worth the $50 I paid for it.

At that price it was worth it. At the regular price, not a chance.


BTW: For those who are thinking of buying one, ask yourself why they are selling cheap at garage sales.

And try to remember the last time you saw a used Giraud trimmer for sale.

OK, I'm done. For now.

I rest my case.

The old guy died.

Eh? Who died?

The old guy with the case prep station, it was an estate sale. He didn't sell it out of lack of utility as implied by Deadshot. "BTW: For those who are thinking of buying one, ask yourself why they are selling cheap at garage sales."

Everybody processes brass a little differently. Equipment "needed" is driven by a person's pocketbook, amount of brass needed to process, and the value of their time. There are probably a few other variables out there as well.

I have the Dillon RT1200 trimmer, plus both Lyman and RCBS case trimmers converted to drill power. Toss in a few three way cutter heads and other related tools, and I easily have $500-750 invested in case trimming related accessories. I've had these machines for quite a while, and then I heard of the Giraud trimmer. Sure, I could buy another machine, but I already have a number of machines that effectively do the job. If one breaks, I'll certainly take a look at the Giraud, but until then I don't see a need to buy a machine that duplicates the process of the ones I already own.

For those just starting out in reloading remember this. There are many paths to the same destination. If your processed cases produce wickedly accurate ammo, you did it on the cheap, and your happy with the process, there is no need to try and keep up with the Joneses.