anyone use a dillon RT1200 trimmer?

[lethal93ta]

I want to get a power trimmer so I dont have to hand trim all my brass, I seen the dillon 1200 and it look like i could really crank them out with that since I could mount that on my press in a second hole. so I could size/decap in one station then trim them in the next. looks nice but I was just wondering if anyone has one and how well it works, its over 200 bucks new and the dies are 40 bucks each, Id like to get a good trimmer then I might start to prep brass for people if I can cut my time down.

[billt]

http://www.giraudtool.com/prod02.htm

I looked at the Dillon, but went with one of these, and I'm glad I did. The Giraud beats the Dillon hands down. The problem with the Dillon is that like most all case trimmers, it leaves a large burr on both the inside as well as the outside of the case mouth which requires you to remove it with another time consuming step. Add it all up and it's not that fast. On the other hand the Giraud trims the case to length and puts a nice chamfer on both the inside and outside of the case at the same time. It works like an electric pencil sharpener. Here is a video of it in action. Setting up to minimize wasted motion, you can easily do 20 cases a minute. I trimmed 2,350 .223 cases in under 3 hours start to finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGYLmHvKVd0

Another thing with the Dillon is you have to resize to trim. This requires you to purchase more sizing dies that you already have. With the Giraud you simply buy the holder. They aren't cheap, but believe me, once you spend the money you'll be glad you did. Doug is a great guy and very dependable to deal with. It's a quality tool that will last a lifetime. Bill T.

[ALS]

I am so glad you posted that. I have been looking at buying the Dillon and the points you made plus having to buy a vacuum cleaner to attach to the tool increased the cost to the point I was ready to say forget about it.
I'll just hand trim my .223's if I have to go through all that work and expense.
The Giraud case trimmer is a far better deal time and money wise.

[billt]

I really like good, well engineered, well made tools, and this is one of the best I've come across. For me case trimming is about the most thankless job in reloading. This tool makes it pure pleasure. It's so effortless my wife has taken over the duties. A few things I didn't mention is the unit can be used in the horizontal or vertical position, whichever is the most convenient. Also the cutting unit is contained in a nice, clear Lexan housing. When you are done it simply slides open and you can vacuum up all the chips at once, and not have to deal with vacuum hoses and noise for hours on end. High Power Competition shooters swear by this trimmer. Bill T.

[lethal93ta]

see for me I run all my brass through a sizing/decaping die first then size them to length, I have a hornady LNL that I just load them into and keep pulling the handle so if Id get the dillon I could put that in a diffrent station after my sizing die and have them sized to length doring the same time I normally just FL size and decap.

[billt]

For me I always resize and deprime first in my single stage. I then trim to length, and after that I tumble and polish. This removes all of the case lube, cleans the primer pockets, and leaves them cleaner than new. The last step is to run them through the Dillon minus the sizing die, and box 'em up. They all come out looking like this. Bill T.

[lethal93ta]

I tumble mine, lube with one shot, resize/deprime in the LNL. I just leave all the other dies out and no powder feeder, I just feed them in and let them drop out into the bin, then I swage them if needed, trim to length, debur inside and out on a RCBS prep station. then tumble again to get the lube off them. so if id get the dillon 1200 I could trim when I resize the brass at the same time.