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swiftone
10-15-2014, 5:36 PM
answered

maxx03
10-15-2014, 6:09 PM
Full length resize the first time, after that you can choose to keep full length resizing or to extend brass life neck size only. Your rifle will form the brass to it's chamber dimensions and you will only need to neck size unless you're using the ammo in multiple rifles ,if so you will need to full length size each time. You will need to check case length and trim when needed.
You can choose to load them on your Dillon or for more precise ammo, single stage.
You can make some quality ammo with those powder you have on hand. I have used those powders with good results. Good luck.

krwada
10-15-2014, 7:37 PM
Here is a few observations.

1. Full length sizing is like a reset button for your rifle cases. FL sizing is really the only way to reset your cases to SAAMI specifications.
2. It is not what you like in terms of powder. It is all about what your rifle likes.
3. For .308, 150 grain and 168 grain bullet weights are very good places to start
4. You should always trim your cases especially after FL sizing them. At the very least, trimming will square up the necks and give better accuracy.

Now ... If you want to squeeze the best performance out of your loads then there is a whole ton of stuff you need to watch out for...

1. Use only a single head stamp brass
2. Neck sizing
3. Neck turning
4. Primer pocket chamfer and deburring
5. Primer pocket uniforming
6. Testing and fixing projectile runout
7. Using better quality components, (bullets and brass)
8. Using better quality primers
9. Annealing brass
10. Making sure your rifle is up to the task of shooting one-hole groups.
11. Trickling the charges to +/- 0.1 grain
12. Sorting brass
13. Sorting bullets

These are just some of the things that need to be done ... it does all add up.

LynnJr
10-15-2014, 9:24 PM
My questions:
This is the first time I have reloaded for a bolt action rifle.

When your loading for a bolt gun you only need 0.001 - 0.002 of shoulder bump.

Is it important to full length resize?

No

How about trimming?

Trimming is done so all of your brass is of the same length. If your brass needs constant trimming you are bumping the shoulder too much and adversely affecting case life.

What is neck sizing and is it something I should look into?

Neck sizing is exactly what it sounds like in that you are only sizing down the neck and letting the rest of the case fireform itself to your chamber. This aids accuracy because the case stretches less the closer it fits your chamber and you don't scrub velocity while the case expands because it already has a tolerance fit. On a factory rifle with a loose chamber the loaded round sits in the bottom of the chamber at the 6 O'clock position and the bullet is not starting out aligned to the bore. When you fire the rifle the brass expands in all directions filling up the chamber and getting the brass off the bottom of the chamber.
It is a small improvement buit the straighter we start the bullet down the bore the better the gun will shoot all else being equal.

Should I attempt this on my Dillon or go old school and use my rock chucker?

Use your RockChucker. A progressive press has no purpose in accuracy.

To throw powder I have a RCBS chargemaster (I bought that to develop loads for my Mk12 Mod 1 AR clone)

The Chargemaster will work just fine.

And lastly...I have these powders available:

Varget
4895
TAC
BL(c)2

I have never used Tac but the other 3 all work well in the 308 case.

Fjold
10-16-2014, 7:49 AM
The important thing to remember is that the fired cases from your rifle fit your chamber. The more you resize and dick with the case when reloading, the worse the fit will be.

Set your sizing die to just barely touch the fired case.

huckberry668
10-16-2014, 10:09 AM
All good points above except the bit about progressive not being good for accuracy. It can be true if you use full progressive with mix head-stamps, stick powder and no brass prep.

I use my 550Bs to speed up my brass prep. My sizing and seating dies are floated.The run-out of my progressively loaded ammo are in the .001" to .002" range.

I use my 550B for all my loads including 1,000 yard loads this way,

After the bottle neck brass are tumbled cleaned and lubed, they go on the progressive for:
1. Deprime and size (then tumble to remove lube and shine). Brass prep work has to be done separately anyway.
2. If ball powder is used, then I load them progressive.
3. If stick power is used, I prime the cases on 550B (way faster than hand priming and seats the primer deeper/firmer).
4. Then charge the cases using RCBS Charge Master.
5. While the charges are being dispensed, I seat charged cases on the 550B.

As good as it is, I don't even use my Forster CoAx single stage anymore. The accuracy from both presses showed no difference. Except I save at least 50% of time doing it on the progressive. And my match ammo are all .5MOA capable.

I bought the CoAx and sold the Rock Chucker because RC didn't give me the accuracy and consistency I wanted. CoAx floats the dies and the dies won't come loose and back out to ruin sizing. I had a batch of 223 brass sized too long to chamber because the die backed out after a few thousand cases. The CoAx shell holder holds the cases with more contact surface and allows it to self-center so it sizes straight. I can never get consistent low run-out from the RC but never had a problem from CoAx and my floated 550B.