Lyman 310 cartridge adapter ring?

Just how needed is the adapter ring when using the 310? The reason I ask is that I am planning to load for my .30BR project using the 310 and most of a set of .308 Win dies. I cannot find the ring, if I ever had one for '06/ .308 sized cases.

I am pretty tempted to just go ahead without the adapter, or finally learn how to use the hobby lathe in the barn to make one.

The 6mm BR cases go into the MR die with enough left sticking out that I think it will work, although I may have to use a small set of handles.

Robert

May be a moot question. I just found a #2 insert in the small set of handles I have. A .45 ACP case will almost go in, a bit of rust cleanup and I may be okay.

Thanks for looking anyway,

R

I’ve made a couple adapter rings, for loading .22 RF and .22 Extra Long CF on homemade dies in the 310 tool. They are needed because there is often more or less of a gap when the 310 dies are properly set in the handles. Without the guiding influence of the adapter, the shells can go in crooked, misaligning the loads or even damaging the cases if you happen to have the Charles Atlas “Mighty Grip.”

With the 310 Shop apparently out of biz and Lyman reportedly no longer “supporting” the tong tools, learning how to make the little adaptor rings on your lathe is a valuable skill. You don’t necessarily even need to thread them, as long as they’re a good drop-in fit in the handles and the cutouts for the retaining screw and the extractor hook are in the right places. Handy if your lathe has the Quick-Change gearbox that misses the oddball threads that Lyman/Ideal stuck to from the beginning.

No beef against Lyman or the 310 Shop, either. The former stuck it out in an exponentially diminishing market for 3/4 of a century, and the latter tried to make up the difference for over two decades. I could get an office full of perfectly usable computer printers/scanners/copiers for free from friends, the only problem being that my computer doesn’t run the software discs and the manufacturers no longer “support” those models after ten years or so. More perfectly good stuff off to the landfill, with the billionaires that run the companies chiding me that my own lifestyle is “unsustainable.” O Tempora, O Mores!

Good point on not needing to thread them, I'm not 100% sure I have the gears to make 30 TPI threads.

As noted I found a #2 adapter. With the .308 MR die screwed in to touch the adapter ring, my cases are just a bit short. It may work like that for neck sizing, or I may have to shorten the die by about a thread.

The project rifle is coming together, slowly but surely. At least this way I can wait to order custom dies until I decide if it is worthwhile or not.

Robert

Robert,
I believe if you go back and check the old Ideal/Lyman listings for adaptor rings by caliber, you will find that they list that same #2 adaptor ring for both the 45 and the 30-06/308 family of cases. You’ve solved your own problem which is good… the pirates on flea bay are asking $20-25 for those rings!
Froggie

Wow. I'm glad I found the one I did. I quit using fleabay when they started requiring you to use paypal to pay for every purchase.

The very last thing I bought from there was an engine (400 Ford) to rebuild for my truck. Since I had to pick it up in person, I asked if cash was okay. Fine with the seller and I was happy.

I wish I had gotten into 310 stuff before I retired, I can remember walking past boxes of dies and stuff for $5 each at the gun shows in northern NV. Now I want some of it and they are nowhere to be found.

I have rings for the .38 Special (came in the box of dies), the aforementioned #2, and one for .45-70. The .22 Hornet doesn't need one, I have a steel caliber specific handle for it; but the second set of Hornet dies does not have the ring.

Robert

If you have one of the small Chinese 7x what ever lathes, you can go here, https://littlemachineshop.com/refere...ange_gears.php and that will give you the gear train you need to cut 30 tpi. While many look at those little lathes as kind of toys and such. The actually can be very good little lathes. Not overly powerful or fast to remove a lot of material but they can be very accurate and if you go slowly and are careful they will work well.
Sam

My lathe is an old Craftsman 6x18? that I think was made by Dunlop IIRC.

I have visited that website before, but lost interest (couldn't think of a real project) before I even plugged the lathe in.

I do need to make a few M-die plugs though, that should be easier than trying to learn to single point 30 TPI threads for the first project.

Robert

Robert,

I think that 6” Craftsman lathe is a rebadged Atlas. Does it have a quick change gear box or do you actually have to switch gears in the train to change thread pitch? What is the size of the hole through the head? I believe the little Atlas/Craftsman only accepts about 3/4” or less stock all the way through the headstock if you have a long bar of stock you’re working on… too small for most barrels, although I’ve seen good pistol work done on one working between centers. Regardless, given its size, it’s still a useful little lathe.

With the right gearing, cutting that 30 tpi thread of Ideal Lyman parts should be easy to accomplish.

Froggie

Generating a 30 TPI can be done on almost any change gear lathe. What you have to do is convert the TPI into a linear feed then go to the thread chart for that machine and and match a gear ratio.
In the case of a Logan 820 the stud gear is 16, the idler gear is 72 and the screw gear is 60.
Often you can figure in-between ratios and if your linear feed is within .001 or .002 that will be close enough

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Green Frog

Robert,

I think that 6” Craftsman lathe is a rebadged Atlas. Does it have a quick change gear box or do you actually have to switch gears in the train to change thread pitch? What is the size of the hole through the head? I believe the little Atlas/Craftsman only accepts about 3/4” or less stock all the way through the headstock if you have a long bar of stock you’re working on… too small for most barrels, although I’ve seen good pistol work done on one working between centers. Regardless, given its size, it’s still a useful little lathe.

With the right gearing, cutting that 30 tpi thread of Ideal Lyman parts should be easy to accomplish.

Froggie

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I wish it was an Atlas, this one is the smaller lighter duty cousin with no hole through the headstock. The tailstock is a 0 or 00 Morse taper, really small.

No good for rifle barrel work.

On the plus side, it only cost me a hundred dollars, and it came with a few gears. It has been a year or two since I looked at everything which is the reason I'm not sure I can put together the right gear train to cut 30 TPI.

I do have both a three and a four jaw chuck for it though.

I'll figure it out one day.

Robert

Check on the Vintagemachinery web site. They have collected a library of the old instruction manuals and parts lists for obsolete machinery. If your Dunlop came with change gears (an extra stack not installed on the machine), there should be a gear chart for feeds and threads that will tell you which gears to put where. Check and see if you have a threading dial on the lathe apron. If there’s one there, it should have threading capability even if the extra gears are missing.

If they are, it’s time to watch eBay until they show up. I didn’t have to wait long to get a set for my Dalton Six, and I’m sure the Dunlop was a lot more popular with hobby machinists. You can file the slot for the extractor hook and use an end mill in a drill press for the retainer screw seat.

I don’t know how anyone can be in the “anteeks binness” without a lathe, anymore. As mentioned above, the boxes of loose 310 stuff that used to go for a coupla bucks per are not so common any more. Even when they were, probably 75% of what I’d find was for .30-30, .30-06 and .38 Special. Finding anything more exotic made for a red-letter day of scrounging.

The only other option would be to join those poor spirits who are always posting “I need XYZ done. Anyone know a master mechanic who is close by, doesn’t charge an arm and a leg, isn’t backed up for a year and a half, and doesn’t mind me calling every day to ask, ‘Is it done yet?’” queries on the web sites.