Loading .308 150 gr projectiles into LC & FC military brass.

[FloridaAKM]

I have several thousand Lake City & Federal Cartridge once fired cases all processed & primed ready to load. The cases were sized, primer pockets swaged & the brass trimmed to 2.005 & miked to make sure they are correct. After tumbling clean, they were all primed with WLR primers. Powder is 47 grains of W-748, which when settled, fills the cases up to the bottom of the neck.

The projectiles are Hornady 150 gr fmj with cannelure. Now here is where the problem shows up. When seating the bullet into the case, the cannelure is sticking out above the case lip by 0.100 when the round is 2.800 C.O.A.L. I want the case to be crimped in the cannelure, but to do this, the bullet has to be pressed 0.150 deeper into the case causing a compressed load. I'm not sure if that is a safe load.

Prior to having changed projectiles from 147 gr fmj to these Hornady 150 gr fmj, there was no problem; but those projectiles are no longer offered in bulk of 1500 per case. Also, the original loadings were with BL2(c) powder, which has no bearings on the case volume as it was slightly less volume. Any ideas as to how to fix this other than buying projectiles with a cannelure in a different location?

 

[Just Say Moe]

If you are concerned with the load volume, back off in 0.1 grain increments to where its not compressed. You won't notice the few fps velocity loss and still have peace of mind.

 

[The boogalorian]

For the 150gn, Hornady list a COAL of 2.700” and max charge of 46.7gn for Win 748

 

[Straightshooter1]

I have several thousand Lake City & Federal Cartridge once fired cases all processed & primed ready to load. The cases were sized, primer pockets swaged & the brass trimmed to 2.005 & miked to make sure they are correct. After tumbling clean, they were all primed with WLR primers. Powder is 47 grains of W-748, which when settled, fills the cases up to the bottom of the neck.

The projectiles are Hornady 150 gr fmj with cannelure. Now here is where the problem shows up. When seating the bullet into the case, the cannelure is sticking out above the case lip by 0.100 when the round is 2.800 C.O.A.L. I want the case to be crimped in the cannelure, but to do this, the bullet has to be pressed 0.150 deeper into the case causing a compressed load. I'm not sure if that is a safe load.

Prior to having changed projectiles from 147 gr fmj to these Hornady 150 gr fmj, there was no problem; but those projectiles are no longer offered in bulk of 1500 per case. Also, the original loadings were with BL2(c) powder, which has no bearings on the case volume as it was slightly less volume. Any ideas as to how to fix this other than buying projectiles with a cannelure in a different location?

If you're going with a seat depth .150 deeper than the 2.800 COAL, then you're COAL will be ~2.653 and puts your case fill at ~ 99.3%, base on 47 grs of W-748 and the info you've provided. Looking at my QuickLoad app, it's showing that load to be right at SAAMI max. Depending on the state of the powder you have and the temperature you operate in, the pressure could be much more.

As suggested, you might want to back off at least a grain or so and work up.

 

[FloridaAKM]

I took you guys advice & dropped the powder charge to 45.5 & the C.o.a.l. to 2.725 & all looks good. When it cools off a few degrees, I will go test the load on the range.

The older I get, the more confusing things get when the info I have is insufficient to complete the task @ hand. @The boogalorian, thanks for the correct data on my load so that I don't have to go spend another several hundred $$$ on projectiles,

 

[FloridaAKM]

Last week, I found a supply of the bullets made by Armscor I originally loaded with in bulk for my AR-10 in .308. After measuring the cannelure, the original 147 gr bullet cannelure begins @ 0.330 from the base of the bullet & the Hornady begins @ 0.420. This discrepancy is what caused all the problems with my seating.

To change the Hornady, I will need to find a way to add a second cannelure lower on the bullet or just load them deeper in the case & don't worry about it. The increased jump the bullet has to make is a concern to me, maybe unjustified, but still there.

 

[clowdis]

Weigh your cases first. I may be entirely wrong but I think I remember the FC cases being significantly heavier than LC cases. Enough that you might want to change the load between them.

 

[FloridaAKM]

By "change the load", do you mean lower the charge? My last loading were using BL-C (2) powder @ 47 gr. & had zero problems & the chrono graphed @ 2770 to 2884 fps utilizing the 147 gr bullet.

 

[jsn]

I have the Hornady 7th Manual, the load data for the 150gr BT-FMJ is:

308 Win Bolt Gun Win 748 40.3gr to 46.7gr 2.780" Fed 210 Primer

M1A Service Rifle Win 748 39.5gr to 45.2gr Win WLR Primer This was the A-Max bullet but I wouldn't have a problem with using this data for the BT-FMJ at 2.780", starting low and working up as usual. No BL-C (2) data for either.

 

[FloridaAKM]

BL-C (2) has a maz load of 48.0 gr for bolt guns, M1a Service rifle loading is correspondingly lower.

 

[divingin]

Weigh your cases first. I may be entirely wrong but I think I remember the FC cases being significantly heavier than LC cases. Enough that you might want to change the load between them.

In 308? I always found Lake City (at the time, Federal's parent co. was running LC, I think), PMC and any NATO brass (there was one other commercial-looking headstamp - don't remember what it was now) to be heavier than anything else. Federal (FC headstamp) was average, Winchester was on the light side.

 

[Doug Casner]

Work ed for remington and Winchester at L.C. the only headstamp used was the nato headstamp with the LC little nato design and the year of manufacture. I dont know what happened after 94. Case walls are thicker than sporting 308s. I worked in the 7.62 building. Doug