Giraud Trimmer - I have filed down my last .50 BMG case!

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I had heard good things on CGN and elsewhere about the Giraud Power Trimmer, so I ordered one as a birthday present to myself, with several case holders and trimmer heads including the big .50 BMG. Within 10 minutes of unboxing the well-packaged and well-built machine, I was trimming .50 BMG cases to exact target length.

Plenty of torque to trim the thick Lake City cases with no hesitation or binding.

I will not miss filing case necks with my RCBS trim die, then deburring and chamfering manually. I have filed down my last .50 BMG case!

Thanks to Doug Giraud for a great product!

Sorry the pic is sideways, but you get the drift...

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Congratulations! I too have heard how good they are, although I'm still using a hand-cranked unit built by Art Minnier years ago. Either way, sure beats filing!

Whats your experience with LC brass? What years do you shoot?...I had a large batch that never really shot well, think it was 97....got rid of it couple years back and having better luck with PMC and IVI Match currently.
 
Thanks. I have only been shooting .50 for 2 years, use both LC 09 and 12 as well as Hornady brass. Pressure signs appear much earlier in the LC brass - to the point where I am treating LC loads as fundamentally different loads from my Hornady brass from a load development perspective. Getting good results with the expensive Hornady 750gr AMAX projectiles and also 647gr pulled surplus bullets after they go through an 0.51 Lee bullet sizing die.

As far as case trimming goes - trimming every firing or every other firing seems to be the norm - the cases are so long that length increases during FL resizing seems to be the norm, though I also bought Giraud's .50 BMG case and bullet comparator, so I will try to minimize shoulder setback to minimize working the brass.

For anyone out there considering the .50 - investing upfront in a trimmer that will "outlast a lifetime" is probably a good idea - could also allow use of the cheaper Lee dies rather than getting the full RCBS Ammomaster pack with the dies - just get the bigger press instead, and use the savings toward the trimmer.

I also bought the inserts for several other calibers, plus additional trimmer heads for the .30 cal-based cases and .223 - changing the cutter head rather than adjusting the blades on a single head seems to be a good strategy and a real time-saver.

If anyone is on the fence about the Giraud...they are amazing!
 
For some reason I thought Giraud could not ship their trimmers to Canada?

Or is that just the annealers because they are automated?
 
I checked with them - Doug is very careful around the ITAR regs and feels that annealers are not exportable as a result. Trimmers seem to be fine - though in an abundance of caution, I requested that the sample trimmed case that is normally included with the installed case holder not be included as it could be seen as a "reloading component". They seemed quite familiar with that request.
 
*MALICE* said:
For some reason I thought Giraud could not ship their trimmers to Canada?

Or is that just the annealers because they are automated?
Click to expand...

I have had the Giraud trimmer for about 3 years and it is by far the best investment I have made in hand loading equipment. No problem shipping to Canada. Doug will not ship his annealer to Canada but Bench Source does. I ordered a Bench Source directly from the company and had it 5 days later.
 
I have has a Giraud power trimmer for about 5 years now. Hands down the best. On average I trim over 20000 50 BMG casing a year and no problems, ever.

To keep trimming to a minimum try the CH4D bushing dies, assuming you are using the brass in just 1 gun. FL sizing pretty much means you will have to trim every firing or if you are lucky every other firing. With the bushing dies I trim every 5th or 6th firing.

Lee, RCBS and Hornady dies work and are ok if you are ok with essentially making factory spec ammo or ammo for an M2, but for true precision reloading I have yet to find any better than the CH4D dies.

I don't use LC brass finding it all over the map in consistency and life span seems very short. IVI Match, Hornady or if you have a CIP chamber spec Lapua is great.
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
I have has a Giraud power trimmer for about 5 years now. Hands down the best. On average I trim over 20000 50 BMG casing a year and no problems, ever.

To keep trimming to a minimum try the CH4D bushing dies, assuming you are using the brass in just 1 gun. FL sizing pretty much means you will have to trim every firing or if you are lucky every other firing. With the bushing dies I trim every 5th or 6th firing.

Lee, RCBS and Hornady dies work and are ok if you are ok with essentially making factory spec ammo or ammo for an M2, but for true precision reloading I have yet to find any better than the CH4D dies.

I don't use LC brass finding it all over the map in consistency and life span seems very short. IVI Match, Hornady or if you have a CIP chamber spec Lapua is great.
Click to expand...

Great advice - thanks!

20,000 .50 BMG rounds is an amazing number! Does the blade get dull? Do you need to replace the cutters annually?

Will look into the CH4D dies - neck sizing would be good.
 
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