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Giraud Trimmer alternative case holders?

Sniper338

Are there any alternatives to the giraud trimmer case holders to save money? OR is someone making an upgraded version? I heard something about this...

I need to buy like 15 case holders and 15 cutter heads... (I set it all up, scribe the caliber in the parts, and leave em be.. too much of a PITA to reset the cutter heads each time)
 
You can buy the blanks and cut them with your chamber reamer?

I heard of some guys 3d printing them too, if you're into that kind of thing. Not sure how good the fit would be.

If it were me and I needed $1,200 of Giraud parts once, I'd probably sell the Giraud on the forums and go buy a Henderson Precision trimmer.
 
I'm not sure why you need 15 cutter heads, once you set it, for say 6mm, you're good for all 6mm"s. And like Mike mentioned buy the blanks and cut them with your reamer. If you treat your gunsmith right he'll take care of you.

I only plan on using my Giraud in the cases I shot a lot, no reason for using it on hunting rifles, I bought it to save time. The few shots from hunting rifles each year can be done on my old rcbs
 
As mentioned, cutter heads are for each bullet diameter. 6mm, 6.5mm, 308.

Case holders are shareable too, the shoulder is the index point. So, 6mm Creedmoor will work just fine is a 6.5 Creedmoor holder. They both have a 30 degree shoulder.

260 can use a 308 holder, they both have a 20 degree shoulder.

You just need to buy the case holder for the largest neck diameter, a 6.5 Creed won’t fit in a 6 Creed holder.
 
I feel your pain. I buy the shellholder and cutter head for large volume and use a Wilson for small volume jobs.

Another option is the Frankford Arsenal trimmer on Amazon for $73. Can cut everything as provided. Just need a separate operation to chamfer/debur.
 
This is one of the things keeping me from taking the plunge on the Giraud; I shoot so many different rounds and in fairly high volume. I'm still considering it at this point, though.
 
The Giraud shell holders are designed for a specific cartridge. The cutter heads may work sufficiently well within a variety of cartridges of a given caliber; i.e. bullet diameter. However even with a single cartridge, there can be a sufficiently wide range of case neck wall thickness between different brands of brass that an optimal inside/outside trim/chamfer may require resetting the cutter blade. If you primarily just want to knock off the inside corner of the case mouth a bit to facilitate seating bullets, you can probably get away with using a wider range of brass types/brands without resetting the blade. That would largely depend on the intended use. If you're after the best possible inside/outside chamfer the Giraud can deliver, which is ridiculously good when properly adjusted, case neck wall thickness may need to be taken into account.

OP - have you spoken with Doug Giraud? In your situation, he would be the first person I would talk with. Perhaps he can work something out with you. Alternatively, acquiring a few at a time wouldn't be as painful if you don't absolutely need to prep all 15 types of brass immediately.
 
Ah. That cuts down cutter heads. I had it in my mind to set up for each cartridge.

I dont like the Hinderson. I watched reviews and F class johns review. Multiple multiple things I dont like about it.
 
Ned Ludd said:
The Giraud shell holders are designed for a specific cartridge. The cutter heads may work sufficiently well within a variety of cartridges of a given caliber; i.e. bullet diameter. However even with a single cartridge, there can be a sufficiently wide range of case neck wall thickness between different brands of brass that an optimal inside/outside trim/chamfer may require resetting the cutter blade. If you primarily just want to knock off the inside corner of the case mouth a bit to facilitate seating bullets, you can probably get away with using a wider range of brass types/brands without resetting the blade. That would largely depend on the intended use. If you're after the best possible inside/outside chamfer the Giraud can deliver, which is ridiculously good when properly adjusted, case neck wall thickness may need to be taken into account.

OP - have you spoken with Doug Giraud? In your situation, he would be the first person I would talk with. Perhaps he can work something out with you. Alternatively, acquiring a few at a time wouldn't be as painful if you don't absolutely need to prep all 15 types of brass immediately.
Click to expand...
Neck wall thickness and the difference in the cut was my reason for multiple cutters
 
rijndael said:
FWIW: My shell holder sharing notion came from Doug. I was going to buy the 6.5 and the 6, and he suggested I just get the 6.5. I already had a 6mm cutter head setup.
Click to expand...
It sounds as though some cartridges may work with the same holder. I had to buy both .308 Win and .30-06 shell-holder separately, so apparently it doesn't always work with different cartridges of the same caliber. From your experience, it is probably wise to find out from Doug prior to purchase which are compatible so as not to buy redundant items. My experiences with him have always extremely positive, and he has been very helpful.
 
Sniper338 said:
Neck wall thickness and the difference in the cut was my reason for multiple cutters
Click to expand...
FWIW - I have managed to obtain settings using two different cutter heads ( .223 Rem and .308 Win) that have worked acceptably with two different brands of brass for each one that clearly have different neck wall thicknesses. The inside/outside chamfer cut on each brand of brass is visibly different, but is "good enough" for my purposes. In my specific circumstance, the difference is perhaps more noticeable on the outside chamfer, which I am less concerned about. Nonetheless, this may be a good way to minimize the total number of items you need to purchase for all the different cartridges. As rijndael noted, perhaps a call to Doug may help you pare down the list a bit.
 
You'll have to help me wrap my head around neck wall thickness, for instance, aren't all 6mm cases the same inside diameter? Wouldn't simply changing the depth you allow your case to sit into the cutter be sufficient? I'm not sure equal chamfer on the inside and outside are a big deal as long as it's chamfered and consistent. Just my thought process.

I understand the concept behind of sharing holders that headspace the same but not sure I'd go that route, I like the idea of the neck being supported as close to the cutter as possible. For example a 30BR holder and using a 6BR case, what do you think
 
Cases index off the shoulder with the Giraud trimmer. As long as the neck dimensions and shoulder angles were the same, one case holder could work for multiple cartridges. It might even work with a different shoulder angle, as long as the neck dimensions were the same, I'm not really sure.

Let's hypothesize the cutter blade is perfectly set up to cut a nice inside neck chamfer and just barely knock the outside corner. If you then switch to some brass that has basically the same neck ID, but happens to have neck walls that are half a thou. to .001" thinner, the chamfer on the outside corner would be that much less shallow (per side). Or it could go the other way and one could end up with markedly deep inside and outside chamfers.
 
gunnermhr said:
You'll have to help me wrap my head around neck wall thickness, for instance, aren't all 6mm cases the same inside diameter? Wouldn't simply changing the depth you allow your case to sit into the cutter be sufficient? I'm not sure equal chamfer on the inside and outside are a big deal as long as it's chamfered and consistent. Just my thought process.

I understand the concept behind of sharing holders that headspace the same but not sure I'd go that route, I like the idea of the neck being supported as close to the cutter as possible. For example a 30BR holder and using a 6BR case, what do you think
Click to expand...
Thats the concept im wondering myself with this post.

Just throwing numbers, but some necks are say 16 thou, other 11 thou thick... 5 thou difference... would there be any difference in cutter head settings? I donno... doesnt sound like enough to fool with so far... most of my necks are within 3 thou thickesess anyways.

I want a case holder for each to support the brass. I dont need a crooked neck from a piece that wobbles a bit. I want it to index off the shoulder correctly.
 
Ned Ludd said:
As long as the neck dimensions and shoulder angles were the same, one case holder could work for multiple cartridges.
Click to expand...

You also have to watch the diameter at the body-shoulder junction.

6XC and 6 Creed share the same 30 degree shoulder, but the 6XC is .455" at the shoulder and 6 Creed is .462". The 6 Creedmoor won't squeeze in to the 6XC shell holder. I tried. It will work the other way though.
 
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