Lee .308 die question
I recently bought a Winchester 88 in .308, and I need to get a die set. I have a Lee Turret press, and have had good luck for the most part with Lee dies. I would like to know which Lee .308 Winchester die set would be the best one. They list both 2 & 3 die sets.
I intend to use the rifle for hunting and varmint control, and maybe some target practice, but nothing serious. I've loaded a lot of pistol rounds, but this is my first venture into rifle reloading. Are their any other rifle specific tools I need besides a case trimmer to start with?
Thanks, Joe
I intend to use the rifle for hunting and varmint control, and maybe some target practice, but nothing serious. I've loaded a lot of pistol rounds, but this is my first venture into rifle reloading. Are their any other rifle specific tools I need besides a case trimmer to start with?
Thanks, Joe
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I'm just getting things collected my self. Have been reloading shotshells for a while, but I am a newbie to metalic.
As far as die sets go, I made the mistake of buying the Lee Deluxe Die Set(YELLOW BOX) for my 7mm rem mag. It has a neck sizing die, full length die, and seating die. I say the mistake was because i'll never use the full length die. All my brass started out as factory ammo fired in my gun. So, since the brass is formed to my chamber I use the neck sizer and seating die. Full lenght die just collecting dust. I should have bought a crimp die unstead of the full lenght size die.
Tools, equipment I bought so far: Auto Prime & shellholders, powder measure, trimmer, chamfer tools, Imperial wax, primer pocket cleaning tools, had micrometers and calipers, had a scale, and other assorted small tools for this and that.
Hope that helps a little[;)]
quote:Originally posted by Bubba Jr.
I recently bought a Winchester 88 in .308, and I need to get a die set. I have a Lee Turret press, and have had good luck for the most part with Lee dies. I would like to know which Lee .308 Winchester die set would be the best one. They list both 2 & 3 die sets.
I intend to use the rifle for hunting and varmint control, and maybe some target practice, but nothing serious. I've loaded a lot of pistol rounds, but this is my first venture into rifle reloading. Are their any other rifle specific tools I need besides a case trimmer to start with?
Thanks, Joe0 -
with the m-88 I'd get a 'small base die' set (rcbs), full lenght sixer + the small base. with a m-88 you don't have a lot of 'cam' power either in or out. 0 -
With the '88 use a full length die set at least.
Like Mike said, there is not much camming power with the lever.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dcs shooters
With the '88 use a full length die set at least.
Like Mike said, there is not much camming power with the lever.
In reference to "cam", are you talking about chambering and extraction and the mechanical force required to accomplish that task? I know, that's a lot of typing to say the same thing.[:D]0 -
Yup, that's what they mean. Try a standard FL die set first (the two-die set is just fine) and if you find that your rifle needs small base dies to chamber a round without effort, you'll have to upgrade the sizer. But that's unlikely: most factory chambers are pretty generous, especially in guns with little camming force.
You won't need a neck die for that gun because you almost certainly will have to FL size, though. If you want to try, get a Lee Collett Sizer. They are less expensive than others and work very well indeed. But prepare to have your neck-sizing experiment turn out poorly.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Rocky Raab
Yup, that's what they mean. Try a standard FL die set first (the two-die set is just fine) and if you find that your rifle needs small base dies to chamber a round without effort, you'll have to upgrade the sizer. But that's unlikely: most factory chambers are pretty generous, especially in guns with little camming force.
You won't need a neck die for that gun because you almost certainly will have to FL size, though. If you want to try, get a Lee Collett Sizer. They are less expensive than others and work very well indeed. But prepare to have your neck-sizing experiment turn out poorly.
Does the FL die size the neck too?0 -
Absolutely. A Full-Length die returns the fired brass to nominal SAAMI dimensions, from case mouth to the point where the shellholder meets the die. That's usually at about the internal web area. It also bumps the shoulder back to nominal headspace dimension.
"Nominal" is a key word. There are tolerances in the design specifications for both ammo and chamber (and dies). It's possible to have ammunition at the high end of the allowable range and a chamber at the small end. The ammo is still supposed to fit that combo, but it might be snug. If the rifle has little camming power, it might be incompatible with that specific case. A given die is again supposed to return any and all brass to the original specs, but if it is on the large end of its range, it might not.
That's a long-winded way of saying that a normal FL die set ought to be just fine for your gun - but that anything CAN happen. In 50+ years of reloading, I've only had one die that would not return ammo to a size that would fit a given gun. And even that die made ammo that would fit another gun (from the same maker!) just fine. It was an instance of a very tightly chambered gun and a normal die.0 -
OK, Thanks Rocky, I appreciate your help. 0 -
It's my job - and I LOVE my job! 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bambambam
I'm just getting things collected my self. Have been reloading shotshells for a while, but I am a newbie to metalic.
As far as die sets go, I made the mistake of buying the Lee Deluxe Die Set(YELLOW BOX) for my 7mm rem mag. It has a neck sizing die, full length die, and seating die. I say the mistake was because i'll never use the full length die. All my brass started out as factory ammo fired in my gun. So, since the brass is formed to my chamber I use the neck sizer and seating die. Full lenght die just collecting dust. I should have bought a crimp die unstead of the full lenght size die.
At some point you will use the F/L die to bump the shoulder back. As your round count climbs on the brass the shoulder or base expansion will eventually reach a point where chambering will become hard. It usually takes 4-6 firings but it will happen. At that point you will F/L size the brass to bump the shoulder back a couple thousandths and also reduce the base a bit so they will chamber again.
I have a 6br that I shoot a lot, using the same 40 pieces of brass. I was using a Redding S die on the necks only and just had to F/L size them because chambering was getting stiff. They have been fired 6 times each.0 -
That there might explain why I have one piece of brass out of a 40 piece batch I shoot is chambering tight. Thanks for the insight[;)] just goes to show you always have something to learn.
quote:Originally posted by bpost
quote:Originally posted by bambambam
I'm just getting things collected my self. Have been reloading shotshells for a while, but I am a newbie to metalic.
As far as die sets go, I made the mistake of buying the Lee Deluxe Die Set(YELLOW BOX) for my 7mm rem mag. It has a neck sizing die, full length die, and seating die. I say the mistake was because i'll never use the full length die. All my brass started out as factory ammo fired in my gun. So, since the brass is formed to my chamber I use the neck sizer and seating die. Full lenght die just collecting dust. I should have bought a crimp die unstead of the full lenght size die.
At some point you will use the F/L die to bump the shoulder back. As your round count climbs on the brass the shoulder or base expansion will eventually reach a point where chambering will become hard. It usually takes 4-6 firings but it will happen. At that point you will F/L size the brass to bump the shoulder back a couple thousandths and also reduce the base a bit so they will chamber again.
I have a 6br that I shoot a lot, using the same 40 pieces of brass. I was using a Redding S die on the necks only and just had to F/L size them because chambering was getting stiff. They have been fired 6 times each.0
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