Starting 308 Reloading - Advice & Feedback

[Raralith]

I just jailed my first bolt action, a Remington 700 in 308 Winchester, and I want to hand load; I currently reload 40 S&W and 223 on a Lee turret. I've accumulated projectiles, powders, primers, brass, but I don't have the die set and am somewhat confused in regards to the collet neck sizing die. Since I want to stick with Lee, it looks like I want the "Lee Deluxe 3-Die Set 308 Winchester." Are the steps correct below?
1. Inspect brass and sort by head stamp
2. Clean dirty brass with walnut media
3. Lube brass
4. Full length sizing die on press
5. Collet neck sizing die on press?
6. Polish and remove lube with corn media, check flashholes
7. Review brass OAL, trim those that are needed
8. On trimmed brass, chamfer and deburr
9. Prime, powder, and seat bullet
As far as I can tell, the collet die makes the neck uniform which I want for the bolt action. Do I do this after the full length sizing die?

As for powders, I was able to get 2 pounds of Reloading 15 and Varget. Both seem extremely popular, but I'm not sure what to use first. Any advice? Other bits of information that would be useful to pass onto someone new to 308 reloading? Thanks again for your time.

[SmokeWagon]

My understanding is you only need to FL size the first time and then once you do all the other steps excluding the neck sizing. fire your ammo in your gun. This will fire form it to your rifles chamber from then on you should only have to neck size from then on. That is my understanding of the Lee deluxe set of rifle dies. The only time you will need to FL size that brass is if the ammo is fired in a different rifle.

[ar15barrels]

My understanding is you only need to FL size the first time and then once you do all the other steps excluding the neck sizing. fire your ammo in your gun. This will fire form it to your rifles chamber from then on you should only have to neck size from then on. That is my understanding of the Lee deluxe set of rifle dies. The only time you will need to FL size that brass is if the ammo is fired in a different rifle.

Full length sizing every time just enough for the a,mo to reliably fit into the gun is the best route.
Neck-sized brass will grow in dimension after 1-2 firings and will no longer fit into the chamber without forcing the bolt closed.
Full length sizing to the proper length ensures ammo will always fit, even when the gun gets dirty.

I have seen many bolt lugs galled when running cases that have to be crammed into the chamber amd the bolt lugs are not kept well lubed...

[SmokeWagon]

Full length sizing every time just enough for the a,mo to reliably fit into the gun is the best route.
Neck-sized brass will grow in dimension after 1-2 firings and will no longer fit into the chamber without forcing the bolt closed.
Full length sizing to the proper length ensures ammo will always fit, even when the gun gets dirty.

I have seen many bolt lugs galled when running cases that have to be crammed into the chamber amd the bolt lugs are not kept well lubed...

Thanks for the info Randall, I am new to reloading and I get different viewpoints from many people and it can get a bit convoluted. Just reading Lee's description of the difference between their Deluxe and Pacesetter Rifle die sets is one source for my info and I guess misinformation. Both have FL dies and seating dies while the deluxe has the neck sizer and the pacesetter the FC die in lieu of the neck die. The pacesetter set is advertized for use with semi's while the deluxe for bolt action and the same rifle. Seems a bit redundant to me to full length size a case and then follow that up with just neck sizing it. I don't quite see how the case can continue to stretch if it's fired only from the same gun as it will form to that chamber, hence why Lee states that as long as you use the same gun you should only have to neck size and trim. Oh well I'm still learning........

[Raralith]

Ahh, OK. This is a hunting rifle so I will be full length sizing, but I'll save a few once fired brass for neck sizing only and try the collet for long distance bench rest shooting. Either way though, the full length sizing doesn't have a depriming pin since the collet does so I need to run them back to back on those that need a full length sizing.

[Kevin S]

Your Lee FL die didn't come with a depriming pin? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I've bought a lot of Lee rifle dies, and both the FL and collet die should come with one.

[Raralith]

You are right, I wasn't looking at the picture close enough as the FL sizing does have a depriving pin.