How do I size a .303 to REALLY fit the boolit?

[cropcirclewalker]

OK, them Brits.

Yes, they call it .303 and yes when I buy the Hornady jacketed versions, (I am a recovering jacketed bullet shooter) they say they are sized at .312.

So I slug my barrells and find that I need a .315 cast boolit (.001 over the groove dia.)

I lapped a .311 sizer die up to .315 and size some Lyman 319247 down to .315 and take a whack at it. 11 grains of 2400 gives me some pretty good groups at 50 yds. (1420 fps. and 3 rounds in a cloverleaf and a flier out to about 1 inch) and I think I will load up some and try them out.

Sorry to be long winded, but here is my question...........

Do they make a die in .303 that will size the cartridge at like .314 and not require that I form the end of the brass to look like a trumpet so that I can insert and seat the boolet sized at .315?

I already only neck size but as far as I know my neck sizer is still at like .312.

Yes, we all know that these old milsurp smellys need a bigger bore.

What do you all do out there?

Should I buy one of those Lee Universal bullet expander dies?

Doesn't it put a lot of strain on a arguable low number of reloads cartridge to do all this sizing.

1) Shoot
2) decap and resize to like .312
3) expand somehow or another to like .316
4) seat and crimp down to like .314
5) repeat until neck split.

So, sorry about all the hemming and hawwing, but do they make a sizing die that will size a .303 to the size that we reallly need when doing cast?

A little help here.

[felix]

What you really need is custom dies. But, that's a 100 smackeroos. Next alternative is to find a machine shop that will soften the dies you have and burnish them out. You probably won't shoot enough to wear the dies out if they are left soft without rehardening. An expander plug will have to be made, and that can possibly be bought cheap enough. Like a "M" plug for a Lyman M die. Before all of this, though, find out the largest diameter boolit you can fit into that gun via a "loaded" cartridge, and that is the size to have the dies conform to. ... felix

[oksmle]

Cropcirclewalker .... The one SMLE I shoot the most, & it holds several records at our local SMLE matches, uses cases that are unsized after firing. The inside diameter of the fired & cleaned case necks on reamed & turned cases measures .316". I polished out a Lee push through seater/sizer die to .316" & size & GC the bullets in it. Then the bullets are lubed in my Lyman 450 with a .318" H&I die which does not touch the bullet. The bullets are hand seated in the unsized cases to the proper depth. The springback of the GC is plenty to hold them in during single loading. If I want to feed through the magazine I put a light "factory" style crimp. These 100 cases are the original cases I fireformed after rebuilding the rifle in 1985. There's no telling how many times they have been fired. I anneal them once a year & haven't yet lost one yet. BTW, I seat the bullets far enough out in the necks so that the final seating is done by the bolt closing.
oksmle

[cropcirclewalker]

So, Mr. Oksmle, you may have hit on something here.

My problem is that I decap with a standard .303 die.

Should I buy a universal decapper die that doesn't resize while it's at it?

How do you decap without resizing down to spex?

[oksmle]

Cropcirclewalker .... I decap by hand using a Lee decapping tool that I believe is for a .30-06. It's so old the numbers are worn away. I use the same decapping tool for the .30-30, 7.62x54R, .308 & several others I load in the same manner. So the only time the case goes into my press is during the seating operation. Remember, the neck wall thickness of all the cases are as identical as I could get them by reaming the insides & then turning the outsides of the necks. Otherwise, with different neck wall thicknesses I probably wouldn't be able to hand seat the bullets without a bit of flare.
oksmle

[versifier]

I have a Lee universal decapper and have found it to be easy to use. I generally use it to process range brass before inspection and sorting.

[Larry Gibson]

OK, them Brits......here is my question...........

Do they make a die in .303 that will size the cartridge at like .314 and not require that I form the end of the brass to look like a trumpet so that I can insert and seat the boolet sized at .315?

So, sorry about all the hemming and hawwing, but do they make a sizing die that will size a .303 to the size that we reallly need when doing cast?

A little help here.

Easiest and best solution is to get a Redding Bushing neck sizer (.303 - #820-056, $66.99 at Midway) and different bushing sizes to custom the neck sizing to just .002-.003 under bullet size. The bushings also don't squeeze the necks undersize and then have an expander size them out again. I use a .337 bushing for .314" bullets in my .303 using R-P brass. A range of .335, .337 and .339 bushings should cover the gamut of case neck thickness and bullets for your .315 bullets.

I actually use a 30-06 Bushing die (#641-574, $43.99 at Midway) that I've shortened slightly so I can size 30-06, .303, 30-40, 7.7 Jap and 7.65 Argie in the same die. Just have to use the appropriate size bushing for them. It is a very versatile way to custom neck size cases to fit the bullet.

Larry Gibson

[Char-Gar]

I have a custom expander plug for my M die. The plug has steps that go from .307 to .317 in .001 increments. I run the plug into the sized case far enough for the gas check to seat in the case. This leaves the inside of the case neck with steps to receive the bullet without the bullet base having to expand the case more than .001 at a time. There is also no left over flair on the case mouth to catch on the seating die and/or needs to be crimped to remove.

The bushing die Larry mentions is a good idea if case life is a big issue as there will be less expanding and contracting of the brass.

To seat the bullets, I use a Vickerman die with a .3125 bullet chamber. For bullets larger than .3125 I use Lyman PA (Precision Alignment) dies that will accept bullets up to .316.

I use this set up for all 30 caliber, regular and fat.

[cropcirclewalker]

Sometimes this site help me to realize that I am about a smart as a bucket of dirt.

This info here is way cool.

I go downstairs, back out the sizing/decapping die a couple of turns, loosen up the nut on top and slide the decapping pin down a little at a time till,

Viola, the cartridge gets deprimed before it even touches the neck sizer. The expander plug goes right in, as it should since the brass has been expanded by firing.

I don't even need lube!

The .315 sized boolit slides firmly into the neck without any trumpet at the end and I screwed the seating die in like a quarter turn for just a scoatch more crimp.

My booger hook is getting all twitchy to try firing off a few of these.

If this works this brass will outlive me.

Seems like if a guy segregates his brass, like I do for my Enfields this system should work for all the rifles. [smilie=p:

[cropcirclewalker]

DARN!

I tried it.

:-D

I have found my cartridge for my Lithgow Smelly.

I shot 5 rounds at 50 yds with my 4x scope.

Load, shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot. Like that.

All 5 rounds into the 10 ring. (1" black bull) Oval shaped group with the 2 most distant holes cc .875"

I guess when this one wears out, I will have to find another one. Piece of brass, that is.:drinks: