Giraud trimmer?

[dragon7]

Without going into too much detail, my groups using a Giraud trimmer are as good if not better than several of the other types of trimmers I've used in the past. Trimming is the most tedious of case prep chores but now with the Giraud it's almost fun.

[westcoastr]

I love my giraud, and have never seen evidence of CASE overall length either varying much or impacting accuracy. I did worry at one time and did a few studies as i had brass with bent rims from an aggressive semi-auto extraction. Maybe others have?

[problemchild]

You must FL size brass going into any auto rifle like an ar10 or m1a.

To me the fancy pants 600 dollar trimmer is good small batches for bench shooting at 1k but if you have an auto rifle the Dillon is the way to go. I can resize and trim 1000 rds in an hour and not get carpel tunnel doing it.

Whe using a trimmer that indexes off the should, headstamps are not as important as sizing all your brass in one big batch, without removing and replacing your die. But, if you are using a trimmer which indexes off the inside of the case head, sorting brass is very important since, different brass will have different case head thicknesses.

If you are at the point where you are seperating brass by guns, I'd assume that you would also be sorting by headstamp too. Also, if you are going to use brass which has been fireformed to a particular chamber, you will only neck size it. Once you FL size it, it's no longer fireformed.

[xrMike]

Anyway, there are basically three ways to index brass for sizing and everyone has their own opinion to which is best. The three index points are the shoulder (Gracey, Giraud, PH, etc), The inside of the case head (K&M and I think Lee are two examples)...

I use the Lee trimming tools currently (want to move up to the Giraud though... ) and it has a pilot shaft/rod "thingy" that indexes off the outside of the case head, through the flash hole.

You get a very consistent case length, but it's time-consuming, even when you use the shell holder that mounts to a power drill. And their deburring/chamfering tool is a tiny little thing that also works well enough, but is hard on the hands. Good enough for now, but... yeah, someday a Giraud.

[Gunsrruss]

Giraud

There's really nothing else to say If you don't have one then you haven't lived. For she is a wonderful life changing machine worthy of your dollars Only true reloaders would understand. Anyone who has slaved over the trimmer of what ever brand, knows. to turn vast amounts of brass over so quickly is a wonder
Honestly gentleman start saving your nickle and dimes now. In two years you will have the Giraud

[bubbapug1]

A giraud is great, so is a dillon. I have a gracy...its fine but the blades are cheap steel. I bought some giraud carbides for it and it helped out,

Just make sure your sizing die is set correctly and than the trimmer will nail each case to the same length. The die needs to really be "cammed over" dead center to insure the shoulder length is right. You may not understand why yet, but when you load up 100 rounds and don't set the shoulder back far enough...and your gun won't go into battery...you'll see the light...brightly I may add.

Shouldered cases headspace off of the shoulder, not the the base of the cartridge, or the wall like a 9mm or 45 acp. The shoulder needs to be set properly during sizing, especially if shot out of the gun with a "looses" chamber, such as a full auto M16 or some other forgiving chamber.

Buy a Dillon headspace gauge. Check some brass you just shot...see how the base is not flush with the gauge...that signifies the shell has elongated and the shoulder needs to be set back towards the base.

5.56 is not too god awful to resize, but I have done so with 1000 cases of 50 bmg shot out of a loosely headspaced M2HB (Ma Duece) and its a chore.