How good's the 310?

[Ramslammer]

G'Day All
Here in Australia we don't have much experiance with the 310 tool and I was wondering how good they are?
Juddy

[HeavyMetal]

It depends on what your loading.

I've had a 310 and realized it only neck sized cases. If your loading big black powder rounds, with little or no neck tension, these are great, if your loading 44 mag and want to make sure each case goes in the gun maybe not so great.

These tools really shine when your away from home and want to be sure you have ammo for a hunt. I can't imagine loading more than 20 or 30 rounds on a hunt simply because of the logistics of carrying powder, primers and bullets.

They were never ment to replace a press, although many have done just that, and as long as your willing to live with the limitations a 310 can provide good ammo.

So yes they are quality tools but no you won't want to make a 1000 rounds with one some Sunday afternoon!

[floodgate]

Ramslammer:

Good enough that back in the '40's and '50's at least (according to Phil Sharpe and others) some ballistic labs used them routinely for test loadings. Slow, to be sure, but if you can get by with neck sizing only, they work just fine - and faster and safer than the Lee Loaders. Besides, they're CUTE!

Floodgate

[Le Loup Solitaire]

They've been around a long time and were made in most popular calibers. They only neck size and are slow in producing a lot of ammo. But you can put the whole deal into a good size coat pocket and it goes anywhere. A lot of guys learned how to handload with them and produced perfectly good ammo. They were also nicknamed "the nutcracker" (and would probably serve as one, as well). The Lyman corporation still manufacturers and sells them including dies for only a few of the calibers, but nothing on the scale of what used to be. A gentleman in Arizona, named Randy Davis...at WWW.The310Shop.com mailing address P.O. Box 835 48 S. 10 th Street, Tombstone AZ 85638 ....maintains and sells a wide inventory of 310 tools and replacement parts for 310s including sets/calibers that are no longer produced, handles, dies, accessories and all sorts of related stuff. I managed to save the original ones that I started out with a long time ago and have a set for each caliber I load for. I still use them quite a bit. To answer your question...they are good. If you use them often you also get to develop a very respected handshake that you will be remembered for.

[gcf]

I used a small one recently to size about 125 45-270-SAA's down from .453" to .452".

Worked OK, but the alignment angle of the punch, left a little to be desired. Would it work in a pinch, to load limited amounts of ammo? I suspect so.

[floodgate]

gcf:

Was that a modern 310, with the special, separate screw-in bullet sizing die and plunger; or was it one of the older nickeled tools with the built-in sizing hole in the handle and a swinging plunger pinned on the opposite handle. Those WERE pretty sloppy as to alignment, but worked in a pinch (so to speak...).

Floodgate

[gcf]

gcf:

Was that a modern 310, with the special, separate screw-in bullet sizing die and plunger; or was it one of the older nickeled tools with the built-in sizing hole in the handle and a swinging plunger pinned on the opposite handle. Those WERE pretty sloppy as to alignment, but worked in a pinch (so to speak...).

Floodgate

Floodgate -

Worked in a pinch... Whoo Hooo! Believe it or not, that was entirely unintentional!

New style, I think. On loan from a pal that could not bear my whining about .001" oversized bullets. I've been looking around for a decent used sizer, but no luck yet. Gent was good enough to loan me his 310, & hand lubing the bullets aside, it is a pretty nice little unit.

Black coating, & possible aluminum construction, w/ a nice hinge. The punch was concave to fit a round nose - for base first sizing. Ended up sizing nose first anyway, as it allowed for more of a straight angle on the punch.

A mist of Dillon case lube on the bullets before sizing was helpful, as well.

Got to thinking after, that assuming I was using this tool correctly, the large (rifle cartridge) size tool, might actually work better - for bullet sizing, at least.

[beagle]

If you don't shoot a lot and you're on a limited budget or you don't have the space, a 310 tool works pretty good. I fed a 1903 Springfield for a while and a .38 Special M & P when I was younger. It made pretty good ammo especially when my limited budget limited my shooting to almost nothing considering store bought ammo.

The bullet sizing operation worked pretty well and last yeat, I went back and did a few .38s with the hand tool just for old time's sake.

Is it perfect...No. It's better than nothing and you can turn out enough ammo for hunting or light varmint shooting and the occasional box of pistol ammo for an afternoon's plinking./beagle

[Bent Ramrod]

With the way the 310 sets cost anymore, the main advantage they provide is portability. The design was frozen in an era when the extent of one's personal property was often limited by what one could carry on a horse, or his own back. I like to use mine as a nostalgic exercise, or when I reload one shell over and over at the range.

A box of 50 rounds, from fired shells to fully loaded ammo, is a reasonable evening's work.

The ammunition made by the tools is good, as long as you are not feeding an autoloader and don't insist on an endless series of top loadings in the same batch of shells. In the latter situation, the cases will eventually be difficult or impossible to chamber until they are full-length sized again. For that, of course, you need the Ideal drive-in and-out FLS die to fully maintain the flavor of the good old days.

[Alchemist]

Ramslammer,

As others have said, it's a small scale type tool. I started out with one back in the 70's when I couldn't afford anything else. Got mine as a pkg deal with a S&W M28, holster, primers, powder, bullets, Lee powder scoops and maybe a few other goodies for the staggering sum of $250. My how prices have changed.

The only "problem" I encountered was that brass fired in the S&W wouldn't chamber in my Ruger BH, due to the neck sizing only.

Sadly, I sold it to get other reloading gear once I got my Rockchucker.

It would make a great piece of kit for a walkabout, mate.

Cheers
Alchemist

[floodgate]

Ramrod:

Yeah, it really takes "nostalgia" to justify the effort of loading with the 310. Cost- and practicality-wise, the Lee hand press and a set of their RGB dies has the 310 beat in all other respects. But I still love 'em!

Doug

[Ramslammer]

G'Day All
Thanks for your varied opinions. I was asking as I thought one with a lee dipper of the right size would be the ulimate in compact gear. Don't need it and when we go out wallabying we generally get 100+ so it would be a bit slow. But they just have some strange appeal that I can't explain. Maybe I want to get back to basics, buggered if I know.
Juddy

[gcf]

.... But they just have some strange appeal that I can't explain..... Juddy

Just gettin' older mebbe? As time goes on, I find myself losing interest in firearm things "modern", & eye balling things from a different era.

Sold my custom AR's & FAL's, to pursue bolt action rifles. The bolt actions went down the road for Ruger No.1's, & S&W N Frames. Lately I've been developing an unexplained obsession for a blued 4 5/8" Ruger Bisley, in .45 Colt...

;=]

[Old Ironsights]

Ramslammer:

Good enough that back in the '40's and '50's at least (according to Phil Sharpe and others) some ballistic labs used them routinely for test loadings. Slow, to be sure, but if you can get by with neck sizing only, they work just fine - and faster and safer than the Lee Loaders. Besides, they're CUTE!

Floodgate

Explain please...

[Alchemist]

G'Day All
Thanks for your varied opinions. I was asking as I thought one with a lee dipper of the right size would be the ulimate in compact gear. Don't need it and when we go out wallabying we generally get 100+ so it would be a bit slow. But they just have some strange appeal that I can't explain. Maybe I want to get back to basics, buggered if I know.
Juddy

Years ago, Shooting Times had an article by Skeeter Skelton about just this topic, and a photo in the article showed Skeeter sitting out in the brush with a 310 loading up some handgun ammo (probably .44 specials). All the required items fit in one side of a saddlebag. Can't remember all the details, but the gist was how compact a loading kit could be.

Cheers
Alchemist

[floodgate]

Ramslammer:

If it is my comment about safety you are asking about, it is with respect to the older "whack'em" Lee Loaders, which will occasionally pop a primer when driving them in. I've never heard of anyone actually being hurt when this happens, but it is distracting and hence - to me at least - a safety issue.

They also seem a bit more "fiddly" than the 310, and require a good working surface and mallet; but that may be because I am more used to the tong tools.

YMMV.

floodgate

[Old Ironsights]

Maybe I'm just lucky and haven't ever detonated a primer in my LL.

As for speed: I loaded just under 100 .45-70s, with a dipper, in just over an hour.

Once you get the rhythm down it's no biggie to get near to 2 per min... at least on the bigger cartridges.

Where I have questions about the 310 is in the same realm as the Lee Hand Press:

You have to change out dies between operations rather than making one complete round at a time... which could more easily lead to mischarged loads (if you aren loading to 75%+ density...

Ah well. To each his own. I DO like the old 310s with the built in mould though. THAT is nifty.

[Ramslammer]

G'Day
Floodgate it was not me questioning your statements. gcf I think maybe you are right of late when we head bush I find myself picking up a lever and closing the safe door on all the bolt guns. Strange behavior but it's happening. My favourite at the moment (with no disrespect to the big guy) has been nicknamed The Fist of God or Fog for short, it's a 16" 44mag 1894P and when it hit's a wallaby it's like they have been stuck down by the fist of god.
Juddy

[Old Ironsights]

Yeah, sorry RamS... it were prolly me he was responding to.

But then, I'm a Whackem at heart and Flood is a Squeezem... it's kinda like Sprinkle vs Dunk.

[Rodfac]

Went through college using one in the late 60's. I shot .243 in the rifle, and .38 spl in my blackhawk. Two powders, bullseye and H-380; no measure just a scoop and a dribbler and scale. Got me through and I killed a lot of deer with the loads. I've still got the outfit and have added a half dozen rifle calibers. In .30-06, it will load nearly MOA ammunition for me with jacketed and 2 MOA with cast (Lyman's 311291 GC). Taught my sons to reload with it and they both took one to college. Regards, Rodfac PS: Still the best way to 'feel' a primer seating is with the old 310 tool.