newbie questions

[kaboom]

hello guys,

just picked up a second hand rcbs reloading kit and set myself up for .308 win to feed my howa 1500 varmint, been looking and thinking about this dark path for a while went to get some ammo from the gun shop and came away the kit.

after an initial problem with the Full-Length re-sizing die -Decapper I have de primed my cases and full length resized , my hand case trimmer was tightened to much and trimmed the first few to below 1.950 ish so not going to use these

my first newbie question is max and min case length have seen 2.005 min 2.015 max do the cases have to all be exactly the same length or as long as they are within the max and min length ? most of my resize cases are between 2.009 to 2.013 will these be ok to use as is and move on to primers ( after pocket clean case and neck clean )


extra info i have smk 168 gr heads ( howa loved these ) and Hodgdon - BL-C(2) powder these are just for target plinkin.

thanks guys

[2DOGS SOULY]

the length of case will be safe but if you want consistency sort them in to batches of equal length . there are some great you tube videos that will take you through every step. take your time and double check every thing

[loiner1965]

as above......its not critical but try and be consistant as you can....my 308 loves 175gn vlds whilst my 30-06 likes 168 smk lol

[kaboom]

thanks so the closer the better ( as i can by hand ) is best and im double checking everything


next question
some of my cases are crimped the primers came out ok and have seen you can chamfer the primer hole to fit the new primer in ( using the de-burring tool ) ok to do or a no no ? ( all the brass is once fired by me from the howa )

[loiner1965]

post a pic of primer hole.....
is the brass GGG military or did you prime the cases before you fired them in your howa ? if so just de cap and re prime etc

[kaboom]

ggg nato rounds ex countryman derby

first time of firing them

[loiner1965]

ggg nato rounds ex countryman derby

first time of firing them

if i understand this correctly you havent fired them yet as you need to remove the ring crimp first.
i tried with the rcbs swage die in my orange crusher press and thought i did it ok until i reprimed them and some needed more work as the primer was hard to seat....if you remove the crimp with a drill and the new primer goes in easily then you are laughing.....
i ditched mine but i think others have been more successful

[kaboom]

that's it brought new rounds from shop fired and saved the brass this is what I'm trimming ( and ppu and ggg match cases ) so it the crimp I'm wanting to remove seen on the tube of you a guy using a drill and the de burring tool so this will ( should ) work great

thanks guys

just finished trimming 50 cases got all but one to 2.010 so quite happy with that will take the top of the crimp out then re prime tomorrow

[loiner1965]

make sure primer doesnt go in too easily and it as to sit slightly deeper than flush

[kaboom]

going to be using the press to put the primers in so i should feel the resistance .

will keep you all informed on the slow progress lol

thanks again

[kaboom]

50 cases primed nice tight fit and all set just below the base.

next question.....

setting the bullet seating die 308 finished length is 2.800 max, but I have seen you can use a ready made round to set the die but the factory ammo my howa liked is the ggg match which is 2.788 and the nato ggg cheap stuff is 2.792 ( grouped like a shotgun at 100 )


so which is the best length to set it at ? I have seen you can use the rifle put the bullet in the case loose and chamber it so it just hits the lans and grooves but would like to keep it simple to start with


as always guys all help and advise received with thanks

[DedIdick]

Untill you gain more experience I would set the coal to what the book says. I use some set for my magazines and others just off the lands for single loading. When you get more experience then you can get the seating gear & proper oal measuring kit.

[kaboom]

So set them to 2.800

[DedIdick]

Just a thought, (because of what I've seen before), make sure you DO NOT over crimp the bullet when seating; the case neck tension itself should be sufficient to hold the bullet firmly. I have seen some novices set the crimp so tight that they've raised the pressures to dangerous level,

[kaboom]

dumb question the neck crimp die is the small one of the 3 ( have a lee set ) not really looked at it and not even going to crimp them, made and empty case with head and it holds its nicely only going to be single loaded bench rest