Which Die set for F/TR 308?

[Laurie]

Laurie, that's all they are; observations. Anyone can draw their own conclusions from them, including the distinct possibility that I have no clue what I am doing, seeing and reporting.

Happy New Year, by the way.

Ha! Ha! - you're too modest Denys (although I know and understand the feeling well - there are so many ways to skin the home ammunition loading cat).

And a great New Year to you too,

Laurie

 

[TrxR]

I was thinking about going with this redding kit to start with.

http://www.brownells.com/reloading/reloading-dies/rifle-dies/redding-type-s-match-full-length-die-sets-category-i-cartridges-prod37960.aspx?avs|Manufacturer_1=REDDING&avs|Cartridge_1=CTT_308%20Winchester

Which is a Type S bushing full length die and the competition seater. Would this be a good start ? Then possibly buy a competition bushing neck sizer down the road?

Thanks

 

[Steve Blair]

Then possibly buy a competition bushing neck sizer down the road?

Thanks

[br]
Why do you think a neck die is necessary? I full length size all cases and assemble decent ammunition. In fact, I have a Redding .308 Competition neck sizer and bump die set that I will sell for a reasonable offer.

 

[TrxR]

The other question I have is. Is neck turning neccesary when using Lapua brass and Bushing style dies?

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Ha! Ha! - you're too modest Denys (although I know and understand the feeling well - there are so many ways to skin the home ammunition loading cat).

And a great New Year to you too,

Laurie

I'll have you know my modesty is second to none.

I've never liked catfish, so I have never had reason to skin them. But I understand and agree with what you say; there are indeed many ways to perform "home loading" as you call it. I favor the minimalist approach; the less steps in the process the better. Size (and pop primer at the same time using the grommet to hold the decapping pin, not the expander ball,) tumble clean, anneal, prime, load and seat. Every fifth load, trim, chamfer and deburr.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

The other question I have is. Is neck turning neccesary when using Lapua brass and Bushing style dies?

I've never perceived the need to turn necks on Lapua brass for F-TR.

 

[XTR]

I use a body die, a Lee Collet sizer, and a Forster Ultra micrometer seater.

For the last couple of yrs I have not typically run the brass in the body sizer, I neck size only for up to 4 or 5 loadings and have had no problems clambering my bullets. I had a whole lot of brass that had gotten to 5x and gone in the "wait till I get an annealer box", I added a Bench Source annealer last month. Now I have a whole lot of 4-5x brass that has been annealed. I plan to do some testing to see how often I will anneal, it's probably going to be after every second or third reloading. I need to see what the numbers tell me. If I'm annealing I plan to run brass through the body and the collet after annealing so I may be doing more body sizing in the future.



I don't turn necks. I've checked the runout on my bullets and using the Lee die I get most most bullets with 1 to 2 thou runout (or less) with a max noted of 3 thou. For comparison, checking some factory BHA match ammo that I've got here I get 5 to 6 thou on those.


[edit] For the starting shooter: I will say that when I first started shooting F class two things were an immense help in eliminating vertical, using a Lee Collet die and getting my bullets back away from the lands. At less than $30 I really think a Lee Collet sizer is the best dollar value item in your reloading kit. If you are starting out and shooting 1000 yards the wind is going to own you. If you are dropping 15 or 20 points a match spend your $$ on bullets and don't get into the chase for the last .125MOA of vertical or 5 feet of ES in your MVs. Personally I'm now consistently shooting 190+ so I'm looking for the last few points that I can squeeze out that aren't blown wind calls. I won or lost 3 matches last yr on X count. A little tighter is maybe another X or maybe I get that beggar 10 at 2 o'clock that would have been a 9 with 1/4 inch more vertical spread. Two yrs ago I was shooting low to mid 180s and no amount of improvement on bullets was going to improve my scores more than getting trigger time at 1000 yards.

 

[hoverp]

The other question I have is. Is neck turning neccesary when using Lapua brass and Bushing style dies?

Depends on if your chamber is too tight necked for your selected brass neck thickness to give you proper release clearance upon firing. if its too tight then you need to turn your necks. Its not just about concentricity.