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Recommend a trimmer for .30 carbine and .223


njl

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Is there a single trimmer that will do a good job on both .30 carbine and .223?

Time, ease of use, and cost are all factors to consider.

I have a Giraud Trimmer and use it to trim 308, 30-06 and 50 BMG. I believe it is one of the best, if not the best, rifle brass trimmer available. To change calibers you simply change the holder and blade (very quick and easy). It is not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for. http://www.giraudtool.com/prod02.htm

I hope that is of some help to you.

Take Care,

Mike

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I've read about the Giraud. It can't do .30 carbine. So, to do both, I need to at least buy something else for the carbine. Is there anything almost as nice as the Giraud that can do both?

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A low cost, low tech, non-adjustable alternative is a Lee Zip trim. Unless you are doing hundreds of rounds at a time it is only moderately labor intensive. You are stuck with trimming to the length determined by the non-adjustable pilot. $35 will get you up and running for the 2 calibers.

DOC

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I've read about the Giraud. It can't do .30 carbine. So, to do both, I need to at least buy something else for the carbine. Is there anything almost as nice as the Giraud that can do both?

I would recommend you call Doug Giraud, as I recall he can create a custom shell holder/cutter for other specific calibers (I think you just have to send him a couple of .30 carbine cases). I could be wrong, but it would be worth the call to him. In my opinion, if you are doing rifle brass trimming the Giraud is the way to go.

Take Care,

Mike

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The 30 carbine will be a problem as most of the fast trimmers go off the shoulder, but who trims them anyway, they are in essence a pistol case.

For 223-308 ext. the Giraud is awesome. Much better than my old Gracy, which I sold after buying the Giraud.

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The 30 carbine will be a problem as most of the fast trimmers go off the shoulder, but who trims them anyway, they are in essence a pistol case.

For 223-308 ext. the Giraud is awesome. Much better than my old Gracy, which I sold after buying the Giraud.

Well, I guess I should measure some of my brass. I'd read that they'd need trimming.

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I've read about the Giraud. It can't do .30 carbine. So, to do both, I need to at least buy something else for the carbine. Is there anything almost as nice as the Giraud that can do both?

I would recommend you call Doug Giraud, as I recall he can create a custom shell holder/cutter for other specific calibers (I think you just have to send him a couple of .30 carbine cases). I could be wrong, but it would be worth the call to him. In my opinion, if you are doing rifle brass trimming the Giraud is the way to go.

Take Care,

Mike

I emailed him. The response was that his trimmer can only handle bottleneck cartridges.

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  • 1 year later...

Can we resurrect this thread?

I'm about to do a batch of .30 Carbine, and some of my cases are 15+ years old and may have been reloaded as many as 3-4 times, so I'm worried about case length (and trimming).

Two questions:

1. How long is too long? Or should I just knock them all back to the max?

2. I anticipate eventually getting a RT1200B to do .223 and .308, but how can best do .30 Carbine in the meantime?

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My machine can now do .30 Carbine, if you are willing to spend a few dollars more for the parts needed to grab the case by the rim. I had to use an adaptor to hold the case by the rim, then I can index off the holder. The additional parts make it about $20 more than a standard cartridge conversion.

Thanks,

Doug Giraud

Giraud Tool Company, Inc.

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Doh! I already bought the RCBS powered trimmer. I haven't even gotten around to setting it up (haven't tried doing any rifle reloading yet). The RCBS was quite a bit cheaper than yours...so I guess I'll see how it goes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a forester trimmer that worked with a lot of cases, you just need different collets for different calibers, it was inexpensive and pretty accurate. I use a wilson now and it's the best trimmer I've ever used. They're a little spendy though, but it's easier to change calibers and it's dead on accurate.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I got the Possum Hollow trimmer. It chucks up in a power drill, and indexes off the shoulder of the case. Stick the case in like sharpening a pencil, it'll stop cutting when it is trimmed to correct length. They don't have one for 30 carbine because no shoulder, but I taper crimp those and have not had any length issues with them.

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