My first .308 round ever

[Pauliedad]

Been doing .38 .45 9mm and 223 for awhile and started getting tools and components together for a while now.

Thanks to all of you who answered many questions. I will be ultamately going for precision so I can properly blame myself and not the ammo.

I have a 700 with an XLR chassis that I picked up here and am getting pretty comfortable with it.

I went with the Redding Comp seater die, Dillon on the rest and am using my 650 press almost like a single stage. I found IMR4895 doesnt meter pefectly so I'm checking each drop and have the trickler handy.

I wipe off brass, lube, deprime and resize. Into the tumbler and then check for length, trim if needed, little brush to the primer pocket and back into the case feeder. I think I'll pull the sizing die for the second go around. This makes a good argument for an extra tool head. Check each drop weight, adjust if needed and seat bullet to 2.75. Crimp and admire. Am I missing anything?

For trimming I'm using a Lee hand trimmer for now and a Dillon case guage. My one time fired brass is a tad short so not really had to trim many yet

Using Hornady 165gr BTSP over the IMR4895

Starting load is 35gr.

I'm planning on starting there and thinking I work my way up in .5 gr increments.

Is that a good approach? How many rounds for each weight? 5? 7? 10 too many?

Other question is about determining if brass is crimped or not. Headstamp is CBC and I think it is. Do guys just try to seat a primer, fail, and then swage? My Dillon Super Swage is waiting.... I'm guessing just swaging is not good because you can end up with a loose pocket? Not to mention the time spent if it's not needed.

Thanks again guys for all the help, Paul

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz211/pauliedad/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-01/D0F1D194-E839-4CA1-8509-470ECD44F03D_zpskdxv3voz.jpg

[Pauliedad]

I have a pic in photobucket and can't get it into this post. Any help would be appreciated.

[bsumoba]

go to photobucket, choose your photo and click on "direct" link. then, click on the mountain/sun image icon and paste it here. it will then show.

with regards to your 308 reloading, where did you get the 35gr starting load? hodgdon's website shows start load @ 42.7gr. Are you using military brass? 0.5gr increments is a good start. go in 0.5 increments and load 3 rounds of each increment. load up to maximum powder charge (or a little more if you are comfortable with this), but make sure to look at each fired brass to look for pressures signs. if you see pressure signs, STOP! if you have extra loaded ammo at or beyond this charge weight, mark it and PULL these when you get home.

if your brass looks like it has an indented ring around the primer, chances are it is crimped. i have a method on how to organize my brass so i know whats already been swaged vs what is new brass or brass that needs swaging. during the primer seating process, if it feels tough, i stop immediately, check my process first (sometimes primer could be sideways) and if everything is ok, then i check the brass and swage it if it is crimped.

[Pauliedad]

The 35 gr came out of the Hornady book with that specific bullet. Ill double check my Lee and Lyman books to validate.
Three rounds sounds good.
When I first started I was almost using a magnifying glass to look for pressure signs so I'm good at that drill.
Good info on the pockets. My first go at .223 had some surprise military brass that had me crushing a few primers so i know what that feels like.
The CBC brass has what looks like three little crimps.
I'm almost wondering if reeming those out might be easier.
Ill try again for the photo. Thanks.

[Divernhunter]

Swaging will not loosed primer pockets. Just swage them. They are crimped with those spots. Crimped does not have to be a full circle.
I load 5 for testing.
No need to crimp the bullets

[ptmn]

Congrats on adding 308 to your reloading inventory. I think you will really enjoy the latitude of the 308's capabilities when you load your own ammo. I'm glad your using IMR4895, it's a great match for the 308 and one of my go to powders for it. PM me if you want to try a couple of my load recipes for 308. I load on the low to medium end, so if your looking for max velocities and pressures, I can't help you out there. I look for accuracy over velocity

[Pauliedad]

I thought you had to crimp.
It's a magazine fed bolt. Isn't there a chance of setback sitting in the mag?

[xMAC1x]

I don't crimp my gas loads, they don't have any setback in a 10rd mag.

[Pauliedad]

Oh well,
I've got 33 rounds done ready for testing but they are all crimped.
I'm guessing that will effect most of my accuracy observations.
I wasn't going to chrono this first batch just going for accuracy at this point.

[Rwnielsen]

I could never get past .308 plinking ammo on my 650. They don't work well as a single stage because the shell plate will flex too much and the powder drop is just too inconsistent with rifle powder, at least it is with varget. I wound up trickling each round and seating on a single stage with comp dies. Leaving the sizing die in on your second go round might help balance the load.
Good luck and have fun

[Pauliedad]

Yeah, I'm effectively using it as a single stage. The case feeder is handy for depriming and resizing although. I throw short and trickle the rest. Back into the press under the redding comp die. Been checking as I go and it's 100 percent consistent so far so if there's flex there it's not effecting the seating length.
Agree on the powder drop. It's + or - .3 gr so trickle it is.
I'm ready to pick up a single stage if I must but this is getting it done for now.

Update on the brass. The three little crimps don't effect seating the primer.

Can't wait to go shoot these. Kids are home from school Monday so probably not till Wednesday. A Grafs order showed up today so I should also be able to make up some 155gr Amax loads as well.

Good times

[elemenope]

35 grains seems really light for a .308

Might want to check the Hogdon site for load data. It shows 42.7gr for a 165gr bullet and your powder.

I run 44gr of IMR4320 for a plinking load with 150gr spitzers.

[Pauliedad]

I'll report back after I shoot these on Wednesday. The 35 gr is straight out of the Hornady book.
Maybe its been lawyerfied?

[Pauliedad]

Update,

So I shot the afore mentioned rounds today and it was awesome.
At 100 yards I couldn't really see a difference for accuracy. Most of the groups were pretty similar to above. Those above are the first three at 35gr.
The recoil steadily climbed and as others had pointed out the starting load of 35 grains (fresh out of the Hornady book) was the lowest I saw. Downright a pleasure to shoot.
I imagine at two or three hundred yards the groups might show me something else? Or do I need to go further out to see the difference?
Been doing pistol and .223 for a while now but this was even more satisfying.

[SmokeWagon]

35gr of IMR4895 is mighty light for a 165gr bullet. Here is a direct link to the powder manufactures load data. You will see your Hornady 165gr BTSP listed with IMR4895 with a start load of 42.7gr.

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

I would think those 35gr loads probably would have poor results the further the distance. At 100 yds that is a fantastic group and I would suspect that the hornady manual you are referencing for your load data may be outdated. As to crimping your bullets that is more of a personal choice. I was also taught to crimp all rifle rounds used for semi-auto and tube fed rifles and told it's not needed for bolt actions provided you're getting sufficient neck tension when doing your sizing procedure either full length or neck. I personally like the Lee factory crimp dies but that's just my opinion. Good luck and enjoy the new caliber to your arsenal.