New to .308 reloading, simple question for ya....

[bullpen7979]

Feel a bit remedial here that I'm not seeing my way clear on this one.

Have the Lee ultimate die set which was working great with the JHP BT Hornady amax slugs. The .308 slugs slipped just fine into the newly fully resized brass cases. I notice that the dies do not flare the mouth of the case, which is fine for .308 jacketed, but a little less fine for the .311 sized powder coated bullets. When attempting to use a dummy round as a depth gauge for determining proper setback from the lands, seating and subsequently pulling the slugs, the case mouth is shearing off the powder coating, and was stuck in the bbl such that I had to use my 22 cleaning rod to poke it out. They are GC design slugs, but there wasnt even a gc crimped on when this happened? Should I be flaring the case mouth? Sizing smaller?

Just got a sampler from one of the fine board members here, and many were sized to .311. How might one go about seating the slugs without shaving off the lube/powder coat? Bell case mouth? How? With what? Run them down closer to .309?

Looking to go sling some today, but I wasn't sure on this one.

Forgive the newb question, but ya can't be too careful about these things.

Many thanks CB'ers

[FredBuddy]

Yes, you need to flare the case mouth some, but also the neck needs to be expanded some to prevent unwanted sizing of the boolit. Lee has a very useful universal flaring kit, and NOE has a compatible to the Lee kit expander. Both very reasonably priced.

Read on -- I learned all I know right here!

[bullpen7979]

Does the Lyman "M" die do essentially the same thing? Which between the LEE / NOE / Lyman is preferred?

[WebMonkey]

I replaced the Lee expanding rod with a 303 British rod. This opens the case enough for my cast loads.
Good luck

[Jniedbalski]

U can order from lee a new de capping rod/ expanded. For 303 British or 7.62x54R . It is .003 bigger than the standard 308 rod. The 308 de capping rod is made for fmj or jacketed bullets for proper tension with fmjs or jacketed bullets at .0308 diameter. If you use cast that are .310 .312 u need the bigger decapper. I just loaded some 308 today at .313 and they shaved led then I switched to the 303 decapper and was a lot better. You can even order from lee custom size decappers in any size you want or need. No need to buy a differnt die .my 7.62x39 die came with a .308 de capping rod. Why lee does that I don't know but I ordered the correct rod for it also I thank it was 3.50 or 4$ each

[Jniedbalski]

You can also load non sized brass for a bolt gun.Just use the lee universal decapper put in a new primer and load a cast boolit. After shooting with fmjs or jacketed bullets the case mouth is usually big enuf to press in a .310 or .311 cast bullet with out shaving .

[runfiverun]

I do like web monkey and push the neck larger.

the jacketed expander ball is probably .306 you need something closer to 309.
to put a little flair on the case mouth just bump it against your 8 mauser expander ball.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Does the Lyman "M" die do essentially the same thing? Which between the LEE / NOE / Lyman is preferred?
I prefer the Lee w/NOE insert, mostly because NOE has a large selection of sizes.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Lee expander with NOE insert, Lyman 'M' Die - .30 is .3065 then step up, Lyman 'M' .303 or .31 is .3095 and step up, other caliber expanders can be used carefully, 303 British expander will probably give .309 but a step or flare does help. Lee expander die gives a flare for most anything. 8mm and some others will work for just the flare. A neck chamfer also helps. Do you have your micrometer or dial calipers yet? There is some brass spring back from sizing and expansion. Varies by case make, number of reloadings, annealing. I use the Lee with NOE inserts in .308 or .309 for most .308 cast loading. Used the Lyman .31 'M' die before the NOE inserts were available for .310 and .311 bullets.

[quilbilly]

I use the conical end of an old knife sharpening steel I bought at a garage sale for 50 cents to flare the case mouths of my 308's. Works great and it doesn't take much pressure to do much flaring. The flaring isn't even visible. I also use that old steel to flare the mouths of my other 30's, 338, 7mm's, 25, and 6mm for CB's.

[rintinglen]

I use a Lyman M die or a Lee universal expander. I use the 31M Lyman for virtually all of my 30 cal, and the Lee for the rest. If the NOE had been available 25 years ago, I'd be using them.

[cainttype]

...Have the Lee ultimate die set which was working great with the JHP BT Hornady amax slugs. The .308 slugs slipped just fine into the newly fully resized brass cases. I notice that the dies do not flare the mouth of the case, which is fine for .308 jacketed, but a little less fine for the .311 sized powder coated bullets. When attempting to use a dummy round as a depth gauge for determining proper setback from the lands, seating and subsequently pulling the slugs, the case mouth is shearing off the powder coating, and was stuck in the bbl such that I had to use my 22 cleaning rod to poke it out. They are GC design slugs, but there wasnt even a gc crimped on when this happened? Should I be flaring the case mouth? Sizing smaller?...


Is your .311 measurement before or after powder coating (.311 might be too big)?
Do you have a decent inside neck chamfer on your prepped casing? If not, start there.

1) If seating your projectile doesn't shave the powder coating... Make sure you are not crimping. Pushing your cast deeper while it is crimped will shave it (contact at the mouth of the throat or rifling origin during chambering causing set-back)... Back off the seating die until the mouth is not crimped.
2) Are you sure the scraping is being caused by your case neck?... The throat might be shaving the cast if you are using too large a diameter. It would also explain some serious "sticking" issues, like what you describe... Do a pound cast to determine your throat's dimensions, and size for a slip-fit.

If you don't want to do a pound cast but have a variety of sizers available you could reduce your sized diameters in .0001" increments until the shaving/sticking is eliminated.

Larger diameter expanders will help reduce the chances of sizing your cast down as it is being seated into your charged casing. The 2-step expanders like the Lyman M-die and NOE's plugs (used in a LEE Universal X-pander die body) are popular with many... not so popular with others.
Expander buttons intended for jacketed are often smaller than desirable for the softer cast projectiles, often measuring -.0004" (or more) of final diameter, and can reduce your cast's diameter during seating.. Many cast shooters prefer changing to a sizer button closer to .002"... Doesn't really have anything to do with your current issues, but good to keep in mind.

[Yodogsandman]

I use the Lyman "M" dies, 30 or 31 cal depending on the boolit size. I also use the Lee universal expander die with the NOE 2-step insert for the .314" or .315" (7.62x51).

[popper]

NOE expander (309) and size boolits to 310, not 311. You didn't say what boolit so if a bore rider you're scraping in the throat. Your Lee plug is probably 307 which is fine for the BT jacketed, not cast.

[robg]

Use Lee's expander die does the job a treat in my 223and308 .

[longbow]

I found that the brass was resizing my boolts when I seated them in the resized case necks. Annealing helped some but in the end I went to a larger neck expander to suit my 0.316" boolits in my .303 Lee Enfields. I inside neck size to 0.313" so about 0.003" neck tension. Made a noticeable difference in accuracy.

I use the Lee Universal Case Expanding Die to flare my case necks.

[Bama]

Above posts are correct but there is one additional thing to check which is the significant chamfering of the inside of the case neck. I had always chamfered and seldom had any problems with lead or then PC scraping off with the standard dies. After joining this group I started expanding for a .002" to .003" neck tension and groups tightened and consistency improved significantly. The NOE plugs fit a Lee universal and work great.