Tips for a guy thinking about Giraud

M

MJY65

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Dec 4, 2011
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Minnesota
#1
I've been using RCBS case trimmers for many years, but am finally at the stage of considering an upgrade. My current set up is one Trim Pro with 3-way cutter for each caliber I load. I like being able to just grab a pre-set trimmer without having to adjust between calibers. If I'm reading it correctly, the Giraud offers this feature by using different case holders and separate cutter heads for each caliber you load. Is that correct? Does the length repeat consistently when removing and replacing the tools?

My other complaint with the RCBS is the way the pilot scores a ring inside each case neck. By the looks of the Giraud, it doesn't actually make contact, except at the edge, so I'm guessing this is eliminated.

Looks like I'll need to spend about $800-$900 to get set up for 6 cartridges, so I just want to make sure I'm thinking this through. Any tips or advice are appreciated, including shortcomings of the Giraud that you might have run into.
 
#3
If you do volume, the Giraud is the way to go and yes...it indexes off of the case shoulder, not the base, so your cases need to be sized consistently in order to get uniform trimmed case lengths.

You need differing cutting heads by 'caliber' and you need different case holders by 'cartridge'.

So if you load the 220 Swift, 223 Remington and 22-250, that's one (as I understand it) .22 size cutter and three case holders.

For me, I do 223/22-250, x39/.308 Win/30'06, 7RM and 338LM, so even doing only the blasting stuff, 223 and 308, I'd need two cutters and two shell holders.

I'm happy with my Lyman Universal and drill adapter bar and yes, I get a slight 'buffing' of the inner neck wall from my pilots, but it's mostly just taking the tarnish off, IMO.

If I won the lotto, I'd have a Giraud here next month and a Ken Light annealing machine, with all of the trimmings, but they would be an investment that would only save me a little time, here and there, as I don't process huge batches of ammo in one sitting.

I'd rather put the money into components for a time down the road, but that's just me.

Chris
 
#5
MJY65 said:
I'm not a particularly high volume shooter either. At this point, I was more concerned with the pilot scratches inside the neck. Maybe they aren't a big deal.
Click to expand...

You can turn those pilots down. I didn't have a .338" pilot, for my 338LM, so I took the 44 Mag pilot that I don't use, chucked it in a drill and turned it on a sharpening stone. It worked fine after 15 minutes of fiddling. If you want to take yours down a thousandth, or two, it shouldn't be too hard.

Chris
 
#6
Find a friend to go in on it with. I buy and sell a lot if shooting stuff. I regretted selling my giraud and ordered a new one shortly after. I may only use it a few times a year but I couldn't/wouldn't reload without it now
 
#7
ChrisGarrett said:
You can turn those pilots down. I didn't have a .338" pilot, for my 338LM, so I took the 44 Mag pilot that I don't use, chucked it in a drill and turned it on a sharpening stone. It worked fine after 15 minutes of fiddling. If you want to take yours down a thousandth, or two, it shouldn't be too hard.

Chris
Click to expand...

Did you turn down the three way cutter head or a standard? I think the three way pilot might be a little tricky due to the cutting edges.
 
#8
ChrisGarrett said:
If you do volume, the Giraud is the way to go and yes...it indexes off of the case shoulder, not the base, so your cases need to be sized consistently in order to get uniform trimmed case lengths.

...If I won the lotto, I'd have a Giraud here next month and a Ken Light annealing machine, ...Chris
Click to expand...

I can see why you would be impressed with the Ken Light annealing machine. It LOOKS impressive; however, I'll tell you why I went with the Giraud annealing machine. As impressive as the Ken Light looks, it is far from automatic. You must feed it cases one at a time into each slot. Yes, you can load up 15 or 20 cases, but then it is one at a time from then on. The Giraud will hold several hundred cases at one time. While you cannot walk away from it while it is running, you can sit back with an adult beverage and watch it run, or do something else in the immediate vicinity. It doesn't look like there is much of a price break though with the Giraud currently running at $450 and the Ken Light at $475. In fact, the price is close enough that I imagine there is a bit of competitive pressure going on there. God Bless Capitalism, lol.

Sorry for the thread hijack; but, I'll blame it on my ADHD.
 
#9
MJY65 said:
... I like being able to just grab a pre-set trimmer without having to adjust between calibers. If I'm reading it correctly, the Giraud offers this feature by using different case holders and separate cutter heads for each caliber you load. Is that correct? Does the length repeat consistently when removing and replacing the tools?
.
Click to expand...

I've been looking at the Giraud trimmer for a while. I am seriously considering an upgrade from my Dillon RT1200 trimmer. I absolutely hate the idea that the Dillon requires you to separately chamfer the inside and outside of the neck in two extra steps. What burns me even more is their attitude about that. They act like there is zero demand for such a convenience. Hence, I am seriously looking at the Giraud trimmer. http://www.giraudtool.com/

In fact, I spoke to Doug about it when I went out to pick up my spotting scope stand at his shop (superior stand by the way); however, if I understand the literature correctly (I did not ask him about adjustments because I was only shooting one caliber at the time and was not actively shopping for a new trimmer,) there is still some necessary adjustment when going from one caliber to another. It is minimized by getting separate cutters and brass holders, but remember, we are talking thousandths of an inch. It should not take a lot of adjustment, but there will probably still be SOME. If you are bouncing back and forth from one caliber to another, I would guess that you should have dedicated trimmers for each caliber. He will be selling the idea that the cutter can be used for any caliber from .17 to .50-- just depends on how much convenience you want when changing calibers. Then again, I don't own one yet so I might be mistaken.
 
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#10
You only need one cutter head. I would add a few blades to my order(each has 3 sides) I'm still on the second cutting blade of the original so they last a long time but better to have...
The cutter heads are a cinch to adjust while still attached to the machine.
 
#11
What Chris said (except the wait time on the trimmers and annealers is now 12 weeks).

I've got 2 of them (1 for 22 caliber and 1 for 30 cal) that I bought several years ago and these are the way to go for trimming bulk. I bought the 1st one when I had over 5,000 pcs of .223 to trim and decided to "bite the bullet" because my time was more valuable than the cost of the trimmer (good call on my part!). The 30 cal was the same-4,000 pcs of .308 Win and 1,000+ pcs of 300 win mag. I am now using the 30 cal for 300 BLK.

I had intended on ordering an annealer a few weeks ago when the wait time was 6 weeks......I forgot about it and now that time has doubled.

ETA: I too was using the RCBS PowerPro trimmer before getting a Giraud (I actually debated between the Giraud and the RCBS and decided to get the RCBS to save $100.00.....bad choice). You'll be amazed at how much faster the Giraud is and how much energy/time you save with it compared to the RCBS (I'm not badmouthing the RCBS-I still have it along with both of the 3-way cutter heads I bought with it).
 
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#12
When you're staring down 200+ cases that need to get done because you've been procrastinating, you'll be glad you finally bought a Giraud trimmer.
 
#14
For near perfect length consistency, use hornady lock rings rather than the ones that come with it or the forster ones suggested above. The hornady have flats machined in that allow you the cinch them down with a box wrench.
 
#15
19Scout77 said:
For near perfect length consistency, use hornady lock rings rather than the ones that come with it or the forster ones suggested above. The hornady have flats machined in that allow you the cinch them down with a box wrench.
Click to expand...

While I do perfer the Hornady lock rings to the Forsters, it make no difference what so ever on the Giraud, there is only about 3 people on Snipershide that can shoot the difference in .002 trim length, buy which ever one is cheaper, I use Forster lock rings on my Giraud shell holders because I replaced all them on my dies with Sinclair or Hornady lock rings.
 
#17
I don't even bother checking any more, it's always the same, RR the pre set cutter assy, RR the pre set locked in place shell holder, less than 3 minutes including vacuum time and and it's ready to trim chamfer in/out a case every 3-5 seconds
 
#18
You are correct the Giraud only cuts on the inside and out side of the case neck edge, you really don't need the locking rings from forester or rcbs due to the locking nut that is
supplied with the case holders you can also use one cutter and adjust it for your different diameters(.224,.284,.308,)it just takes a little more time, but you make it
up when you start case trimming. This case trimmer will teach you to be very consistent when resizing your brass due to the case holders referencing off the shoulder. Buy 2 of the
case holders that you shoot the most try them and you will be able to learn how to adjust the cutter, them if you want more then get more.I have three cutters for mine .308 and under
.338-.375 and 50bmg .
 
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