$300+ Hornady Case Prep Station, any thoughts?

deepcore · August 24, 2010, 12:44 PM

Saw the Hornady Case Prep Station unit at
my local store.
Is it worth the price?
Alternatives?

dmazur · August 24, 2010, 01:02 PM

The Hornady trimmer provides powered trim, chamfer, debur, neck brush, etc. No more tired fingers from gripping and twisting. All you have to do is hold the case as you move it to the various tools (except for the trim station.) Looks like it works with straight walled or bottleneck cases.

The Giraud trimmer does trim, chamfer and debur all with one step, but provides no other case prep tools. Also, because of its bushing design, it only works with bottleneck cases.

The Giraud and similar "pencil sharpener" trimmers are probably faster, provided all you need to address is case length prep for a progressive press. If you're looking at 5,000 cases, speed may be what you want.

If you're doing all the other case prep steps, and you work on 100 to 200 cases at a time, the Hornady may be more what you want.

sserdlihc · August 24, 2010, 01:09 PM

Kinda pricey IMHO for case prep.

dmazur · August 25, 2010, 06:05 PM

When you said "Alternatives", I assumed you meant powered case prep tools, similar to the Hornady unit.

You can get a lathe-type case trimmer for around $100 or so, and do all the other case prep steps by hand. (Or using a cordless drill) I think you can get a pocket uniformer, case neck brush, and a Wilson-type chamfer/debur tool for around $50. This would be considerably cheaper than the Hornady case prep center.

The cost isn't measured in dollars, it's measured in time. If you are handling thousands of cases a month, you may want to consider some kind of powered case prep tools.

August 24, 2010, 12:44 PM	#1
deepcore Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2010 Posts: 364	$300+ Hornady Case Prep Station, any thoughts? Saw the Hornady Case Prep Station unit at my local store. Is it worth the price? Alternatives?

August 24, 2010, 01:02 PM	#2
dmazur Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2007 Location: Pacific NW Posts: 1,310	The Hornady trimmer provides powered trim, chamfer, debur, neck brush, etc. No more tired fingers from gripping and twisting. All you have to do is hold the case as you move it to the various tools (except for the trim station.) Looks like it works with straight walled or bottleneck cases. The Giraud trimmer does trim, chamfer and debur all with one step, but provides no other case prep tools. Also, because of its bushing design, it only works with bottleneck cases. The Giraud and similar "pencil sharpener" trimmers are probably faster, provided all you need to address is case length prep for a progressive press. If you're looking at 5,000 cases, speed may be what you want. If you're doing all the other case prep steps, and you work on 100 to 200 cases at a time, the Hornady may be more what you want. __________________ .30-06 Springfield: 100 yrs + and still going strong

August 24, 2010, 01:09 PM	#3
sserdlihc Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2008 Location: S.C. Posts: 1,454	Kinda pricey IMHO for case prep. __________________ Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration. Aupleius If someone doesn't like you, that's their problem! Milton Childress

August 25, 2010, 06:05 PM	#4
dmazur Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2007 Location: Pacific NW Posts: 1,310	When you said "Alternatives", I assumed you meant powered case prep tools, similar to the Hornady unit. You can get a lathe-type case trimmer for around $100 or so, and do all the other case prep steps by hand. (Or using a cordless drill) I think you can get a pocket uniformer, case neck brush, and a Wilson-type chamfer/debur tool for around $50. This would be considerably cheaper than the Hornady case prep center. The cost isn't measured in dollars, it's measured in time. If you are handling thousands of cases a month, you may want to consider some kind of powered case prep tools. __________________ .30-06 Springfield: 100 yrs + and still going strong