Powder compactor die

[catgunguy]

I read some where about a die for compacting powder in cases with out needing a three foot long drop tube.
I can only find info for working with black powder on searches I have done but I need it for smokeless such as Varget in a 308 Win case. Please help.
Thank you.

[OuchHot!]

I am not an expert but I would be uncomfortable compressing varget more than what you can do with a drop tube and vibration.....hold the case against a vibrating brass tumbler or something while pouring. I have compressed smokeless but only mildly. The powder compression die that I have used with BP will make a solid cake.

[MT Chambers]

Powder compression dies or die stems are meant for straight wall Bp cartridges, a short drop tube and/or vibrating is all that is recommended for the new fangled smokeless loads.

[Tom Myers]

I just ran some down-and-dirty calculations, using QuickLoad, and an empty 308 Win case could probably hold about 60+ grains of Varget powder. If you compressed that powder enough to seat a 150 grain Hornady bullet and touched it off, the max pressure would reach 132,622 psi. The SAAMI listed Max pressure is listed as 60,191 psi.

Filling the case to the base of the bullet would take about 46 grains. That would generate around 50,692 psi

48.5 grains would need to be compressd about 5.6%. You could probably do that with the bullet, a drop tube or vibrating. This would generate a max pressure of 59,740 psi. (real close to max pressure)

If it were me, I would think real hard about compressing any more than that. And I would absolutely start low and sneak up on it in real small increments.