SERVED_USMC Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Price wise, the Giraud is almost double the dillon. But the Dillon can be mounted on the press. Im not partial to either one, but want the best of the 2 options. When it comes to ease of use, setting trim length and overall quality, what does everyone prefer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwsnowbum Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I have a Giraud that I am very happy with. But I use it for more than just trimming blasting ammo so I wouldn't ever get rid of it. For quality, I'd say it would be really hard to beat. I have never tried the Dillon, so I really can't comment on it. I will say I have over 20,000 pieces of 5.56 I need to start processing, so I am half way looking into getting a Dillon trimmer just to help speed that up but continue to use the Giraud for everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I had good luck with my Dillon Trimmer on bulk .223. The Giraud is slower but it does a really beautiful job. I may let the Dillon go if I quit reloading for my gas guns - but I will never part with my Giraud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SERVED_USMC Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 I had good luck with my Dillon Trimmer on bulk .223. The Giraud is slower but it does a really beautiful job. I may let the Dillon go if I quit reloading for my gas guns - but I will never part with my Giraud. Do you think having the Dillon mounted to the press is enough of a convenience to recommend it over the Geraud? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill M Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I can't compare the two, but the Giraud is top notch. I use it for my 223 bulk ammo as well as precision rifle. I can get the case guide use a lock ring and it stays, making caliber changes a breeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKT1106 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I had a 1200 trimmer. It was very good. I used it for .223 trimming only. Downsides are you need to hook up a vacuum to it to suck out the shavings and really need to run it on a dedicated toolhead as well as have a non-gfci circuit to run it. I ran a Lee sizer die in station one on my 550 with the trimmer on station 3 and would do 200 at a time and then let the motor cool down as it did get a little warm. I can't comment on the Giraud, but hope to be able to one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I had good luck with my Dillon Trimmer on bulk .223. The Giraud is slower but it does a really beautiful job. I may let the Dillon go if I quit reloading for my gas guns - but I will never part with my Giraud. Do you think having the Dillon mounted to the press is enough of a convenience to recommend it over the Geraud? IMO they are really aimed at two different markets.... TO ME the Dillon is king for bulk , fast and nasty and the Giraud is more for real precision reloading... I have both and will keep both until I am to ancient to do 3 gun anymore.... When it is time for the walker I will let the Dillon go and still keep the Geraud.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlepig Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 IMO they are really aimed at two different markets.... TO ME the Dillon is king for bulk , fast and nasty and the Giraud is more for real precision reloading... I have both and will keep both until I am to ancient to do 3 gun anymore.... When it is time for the walker I will let the Dillon go and still keep the Geraud.... This says it. To me it is an apples to oranges comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Hunter Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Giraud ROCKS!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmysterious Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Giraud ROCKS!!!! This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SERVED_USMC Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 What type of vacuum does the need to he hooked up to to keep brass from going everywhere? From an adjustment standpoint, which one offers the most user friendly adjustments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in CT Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 I have also considered this question but since my max range for rounds will be 200 yards, and I like to shoot a lot I went with the Dillon. I agree with the information posted above, 2 tools for different uses. Dillon Pros; fast, press mounted, cost Cons; noise. Here is a link to a RT1200 being set up on a Hornady. Just so happens that is what I am doing as well. He talks about the vacumm set up (he had to cut a connector from an unused nozzle attachment). With my case feeder I think I will be able to get some high volume from the set up with minimal hands on the brass (still planning on swaging and chamfer) I am looking to trim 2,000 pieces of brass all at once then pack the trimmer away until I go through at least half of those rounds. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SERVED_USMC Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 I have also considered this question but since my max range for rounds will be 200 yards, and I like to shoot a lot I went with the Dillon. I agree with the information posted above, 2 tools for different uses. Dillon Pros; fast, press mounted, cost Cons; noise. Here is a link to a RT1200 being set up on a Hornady. Just so happens that is what I am doing as well. He talks about the vacumm set up (he had to cut a connector from an unused nozzle attachment). With my case feeder I think I will be able to get some high volume from the set up with minimal hands on the brass (still planning on swaging and chamfer) I am looking to trim 2,000 pieces of brass all at once then pack the trimmer away until I go through at least half of those rounds. Mike Thanks for the link. As of now it looks like the Dillon will be the way to go. If I were loading for a bolt gun, I could see myself going with the Giraud. At this point, my main focus will be .223 for 3 gun. Meaning 55gr in volume and about 1k on hand of 69gr for long range (around here this will last me a while). I think volume is key as of now. There seem to be a lot of options out there for dies, but Im not sure if the Dillon carbides are the best way. Im interested in the RCBS lube die,and will do some research on that. For what Im going to be doing. I think the dillon will be the most economical and quickest way to do what Im looking to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjb45 Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I faced this same dilemma two years ago. I invested in the Dillon. I was a little impatient with the entire process. I would have gone crazy if I had gone the Giruard route. I process thousand of rounds in a very short time. It took a while to set up it just the way I wanted it. But it rocks. They key for me was thousands at one time. This is where the economy of scale for speed and convenience benefited my approach. The life lesson I learned from this was to buy Scharch processed brass and forget about processing my own. I would rather just have completely processed brass to reload. For me, it is not worth the initial investment, hassle of cleaning, depriming, sizing, trimming, swaging, cleaning and reloading. , Too much set up time, to many cleanings, it was no joy for me. Just a hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SERVED_USMC Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 I faced this same dilemma two years ago. I invested in the Dillon. I was a little impatient with the entire process. I would have gone crazy if I had gone the Giruard route. I process thousand of rounds in a very short time. It took a while to set up it just the way I wanted it. But it rocks. They key for me was thousands at one time. This is where the economy of scale for speed and convenience benefited my approach. The life lesson I learned from this was to buy Scharch processed brass and forget about processing my own. I would rather just have completely processed brass to reload. For me, it is not worth the initial investment, hassle of cleaning, depriming, sizing, trimming, swaging, cleaning and reloading. , Too much set up time, to many cleanings, it was no joy for me. Just a hassle. Do you know what the cost difference is when doing it this way, as compared to doing it yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coleman Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Dillon RT1200 for me, I was looking at both last year and went with the dillon for several reasons. 1. one less step in prepping rifle brass. 2. My hands cramp up after awhile and trying to spin brass in a Giruard it would take me forever. 3. Dont have to touch a greasy case on my 650. I bought a 20' vacumm hose from Mcmaster carr and put the vacumm in the other room. I can process over 1k of 223 an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assaulter Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 No complaints with my giraud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishingFool Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) My Forster trimmer lasted 200 pieces. My hands cramped up too much. Dillon all the way for bulk. Rcbs case prep to chamfer if needed. Sent using Tapatalk Edited March 30, 2012 by FishingFool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmc_md Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I had both. I just sold my Dillon. I looked at it like this. Trimming with the dillon takes zero time because you're doing it while you resize. However, you then have to chamfer and deburr afterwards, so you have to do two more steps. With the giraud, you trim, chamfer, and deburr in one step. So to resize and trim with the dillon is three steps, while to do it with the giraud is only two. This assumes you chamfer and deburr which I do. Some do not. Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rstimpfling Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I love my Dillon 1200. I have a rather unique setup for processing my .223 brass. I use a Dillon 650 press for all of my progressive reloading. I put a FL SB sizing/decapping die in station 1. The 1200 goes in station 3. Station 4 has a neck sizing die with an expander/decapper with the decapping pin removed. This takes care of the inside chamfer. I use an RCBS .223 sizing die in staion 5 to do the outside deburring. It also allows me to spot check that my trimmer is correctly adjusted. So no additional steps. With every pull of the handle I get a fully trimmed, chamfered, and deburred case. It is good enough for bulk case prep. I have a manual trimmer I use for precision case work. The Dillon 1200 does make some noise. It does get very warm too. I created a muffler of sorts, for my vacuum, out of some old rigid duct I had laying around and some lightweight foam. It seems to do the trick. I am still trying to figure out how to cool the 1200 for extended brass processing sessions. I am in the process of modifying a primer seater for my 650 to swag the primer pockets as I process the brass. Not sure how well it will work, but it is worth a try. Robert Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fried Chicken Blowout Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I wear ear muffs when doing the same with my Dillon 1200 and full size shop vac. It's super loud in a basement. The Dillon is on my Hornady Lock N Load and works awesome. I do a goofy setup as well. In station 1 I have a RSBS sizing die that's backed out far enough it's just punching out the primer. I had a decap only die there before but had issues with the cases not centering well so I switch to this set up, empty station 2 station 3 is the 1200 station 4 is empty and station 5 is another RCBS match sizing die. That's backed out as well so it's just hitting the neck expander. This makes sure that the 1200 didn't over squeeze the neck. I've had no issues and have done close to 50k rounds this way. I really don't get any burrs from the 1200 and I still have not flipped the cutting bit. Not sure when I need to do that. I've totally had to rebuild the Hornady press already but they just keep sending the parts. I also use the Dillon Powder Check on the Hornady press with great results. Had to drill a hole in the top of the press to make it work. It would have been smarter to just start with a Dillon 650 but I'm in too deep to switch now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fried Chicken Blowout Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Oh and I'm not sure what the issue is with heat that people are posting about. Sure it gets hot. That motor is something. I will run it non-stop for 2 hours without an issue. I normally will sit down and do a run of 1600 cases at a time and never turn it off. The motor is something you could run a fridg compressor with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowrider Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 To echo what everyone else said, if you are doing bulk the Dillon is the cat's meow. On my 650 w/casefeeder I can do 800 an hour while I'm asleep. If you really want to crank it up you can get 1200 an hour quite easily. I don't even set it up unless I have at least 3K to do. It's harder to keep lubed cases in the case feeder than to get them trimmed. My setup is a bit different: Station 1: RCBS decapping die Station 3: Trimmer That's it. I then run them in fresh walnut (soon to be replaced by the stainless wet method) for about an hour to deburr and remove lube. Then I load normally with a FL sizing die backed off about a quarter turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbletap_ed Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I am in the market for a trimmer and am confused, do the cases have to chamfer and deburred with the Dillon trimmer? My plan is to run the cases through my normal routine on my 550 after trimming where station one is a Dillon carbide sizing die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I am in the market for a trimmer and am confused, do the cases have to chamfer and deburred with the Dillon trimmer? You do not have to chamfer or debur with the Dillon. It runs at ludicrous speed and does not leave any fuzz as long as your blade is in good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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