Ch4d 101 die set for 308?

[clarks359]

I have been reading the swaging sites and posts on this forum for awhile to learn as much as I could, and finally decieded to take the plunge into the world of swaging. I have a few questions about dies and jackets. I would like to make 308 bullets in the 150-165gr range using my RCBS press. I was wondering if the CH4D 101 dies will do this and what the tips look like without modifiying the dies?
Since I don't have a supply of 5.7 brass I was wondering what else can be used to make jackets for the 308? Thanks in advance for all the help and advice. I have learned alot just from reading the posts here, but have figured there is alot more to find out. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks Larry

[scrapcan]

BT Sniper made soem in your wieght range using the ch 101 series dies. He used 5.7x28 brass.

here is a link to his thread.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=61720

I am sure he will help you with your questions.

[BT Sniper]

Larry,

Well I must say welcome to the hobby of swaging. I have found it to be very rewarding and very frustrating at times too especialy when we are trying to turn these cases into shootable bullets.

The link is good and I imagine a lot of your ?s should be covered there. I am for sure that with the CH .308 die 165 grains will be the heaviest you will be able to make. They do look like great bullets for a 308win or 30-30. Getting the 5.7 case reduced to atleast .307 or .306 first is important! Other possible jackets I am still working on. I have thought about using a 270 resizing die cut in half so as to ruduce a 30-06 neck down to about .300 OD and maybe long enough to use for a jacket but you would still need to figure out how to form the base. If your are really talented copper tubing should work but again we would need to figure out the custom tools and dies.

5.7 brass can be found at less then 9 cents a piece but I imagine .308 bullets can be found for around 15 cents or less too so it is really a labor of love, it also feels pretty good to shoot somthing very few others can.

I have found in this hobby that truely anything is possible. Give it a try, see what works and what doesn't, ask some more ?s if need be there is a lot of good guys here with a lot of good information.

Best of luck,

BT Sniper

[clarks359]

Manleyjt: Thanks for the link to BT Snipers post about 308's from 5.7 brass. I read and reread that post over the past couple of days. The fact that he showed it could be done helped me deciede to learn to swage my own bullets. Once again thanks for the help and info.

BT Sniper: Thanks for the welcome, I plan to have alot of fun learning this new hobby. I have read your post about making 308's from 5.7 brass several times. You say you modified the dies to get a different style of tip on the bullet. I was wondering what the tips looked like before you modified your dies. Have you tried to use tubing for jackets, and what size would you use for this? I don't have acess to maching equipment, so I try to figure how to do things on a shoestring budget. Any and all help is deeply appreciated. Thanks for great information and advice. Larry

[BT Sniper]

No modification to the actuall die was made it was the ejecting pin that forms the type of nose on the bullet. So I make a pin that will form a hollow point, a flat point, or the real tricky one is to bore out the pin at just the right angles to make the spitzer type nose.

With a dremmil tool and some spare bolts alot can be made to alter the outcome of the bullet. I certainly am familiar with shoestring budgets as I order the die bodies by themself (save $40) and make the internial parts.

The pics in the thread all show the bullet as made from the unaltered CH die. It is only the tip of the bullet that I can control as to wether it is flat, hollow, or spitzer.

I have not tried tubing but have had success using cut up brass cartridge cases. Alot of pics of this as well on the board.

Keep at it.

BT

[clarks359]

BT Sniper: Thanks for answering my questions. The die set should be here any day, I can't wait to try it out. I do have acess to bolts and a drill press so maybe I can work on modifying the pin sometime. Once again thanks for all the help.
Larry