How good's the 310?

[Doug Bowser]

I bought my first Ideal tong tool 51 years ago. It was for the .45-70 ctg.. The bullet mould was for the 405 gr carbibe bullet.

In 1966, I bought a Lyman 310 Reloading Kit in .270 WCF. It had a single cavity bullet mould, .280" bulle sizer, a small lead pot, a dipper and gas checks. I loaded a lot of ammo with that rig, before I bought an RCBS press. As a matter of fact I still have the tools. I also bought dies for the .303, .300 Savage, .38 Special, .30-06 and .30-30.

At the time I bought these tools, I was living in a mobile home and did not have the room for a reloading setup.

I do believe a Lee hand press would be a better option.

[Paul Tummers]

It is my range tool for developing loads;A wooden box containing the powder bottle, a box of primers, my 310 tool with dies,calipers,a powder trickler, bullets and a powder dispenser and the small Dillon electronic scale is all I need.
I start with home loaded ammo and take a 50 sized and primed cases to the range just in case I want to try something different on the spot.
I like the tools, bought several from Randy Davis, great guy!!

[hydraulic]

I worked for the Forest Service in Wyoming, summers, for many years, and carried a 310 in .222 with 500 bullets, primers, a can of AA2200 and a dipper in a cigar box. Saturdays, on the way into Sheridan to buy groceries, I'd stop and shoot 100 rds. at prarie dogs and the rest of the week I sat out by the campfire in the evening and loaded shells. I still use a 310 set for .30-06 and load for both my M1 and my 03A3. Shells fit in both rifles, but I have to use Lee 200 gr. bullets for the M1 and 311413 in the 03A3. I have one of the older ideal #4 tools with the bullet mould in .38-40 that I use for my 1898 single action.

[MtGun44]

I learned with a friend loading with a Lee loader. I didn't have a good
bench and knew the noise of hammering would never work out in our
TINY house (~400 sq ft, Mom and 3 kids) so I saved up for a Lyman 310
to feed my NEW 1895 Mauser in 7x57 - I was about 17. Worked great.

That was 40 years ago, I still have it and it works great.

Buy the Lee hand case trimmer, a Lee inside/outside chamfering tool
and either a scoop (works really well if you will run the scoop ONE pass
through a significant sized container of powder and strike off with a
business card or similar) or a good scale. I used a scale and the scoops,
depending on what I was shooting. All the necessary stuff except for
the scale will fit in the original box - about 2x2x9 inches. The Lee scoop
set is a good deal.

Quiet and kinda theraputic to sit down and process a can of cases through
each of the dies.

Bill

[akraven]

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

That is a favorite article of mine. He used it for a 357 magnum Model 27. He found a surplus army bag that fit all of it.
akraven

[StrawHat]

I have a couple of the 310 tools and dies for my 405 and 45-70.

A great set up for loading a few shells at a time but if I had to try to reload for one of my 38s when I was in competition, I believe I would have quit.

I have progressive loaders and single stage presses available to me but I still grab the 310 for those two rifle cartridges.

Sometimes slowing down is not such a bad thing.

[Green Frog]

I shoot mostly breech seated anymore when shooting at schuetzen matches, so it actually seems "high tech" when I get out my 310 tool and dies to load "fixed ammo" in .32-40 for a Ram Bash or whatever. Sometimes when I decide at the last minute to go to a shoot, I have to do some loading at the match. That gets me some funny looks, don'cha know! I've never felt disabled, only slow using my 310 tools.

Froggie

[mousegun]

First reloading outfit was a 310 Tong Tool for a .357 Blackhawk -- later a .44Mag SBH -- while in the USAF in '65 - '68. It worked, but there are limitations.

First, the 310 is not an "inline" press. It'll cock the case a bit and make bullet seating and cartridge chambering problematical. Rotating the case 180 degrees and resizing will iron out some of the offset, but not all. If this isn't done, bullet seating will cause a "hump" on one side of the cast making cartridge insertion hard.

Second, stiff loads are not a good idea since neck sizing won't take the head diameter down and sooner than later the case just won't fit the gun anymore.

Third, the bullet sizing die has a shoulder rather than a taper which shaves the bullet rather than sizing it. Honing it down inside with a rod and emery cloth helps.

The rim hook snaps against the case and makes ugly dings. No big deal, but noticeable.

The collet screw is the exact color of dirt.

Other than that, the 310 is a neat field loader. Not as good as the Lee Loader, but serviceable. And it doesn't need a hammer.

[Green Frog]

Mousegun, although the 310 is truly not an inline press, the problem you mention is rather easily overcome by using the proper handles and adjusting the dies properly. Then, when you insert the bullet into the slightly belled case mouth and put the whole thing into the seating die, the slight angle of pressure when the handles are closed becomes less of a problem. I have found this to be the case up through .45-70 cartridges, so I assume it will work with smaller/shorter ones as well.

Froggie

[Catshooter]

I agree Green Frog, they work fine with proper adjustment.


Cat

[Paul B]

There are times when I prefer to "time travel" to a less hectic time. That's when a bunch of Lyman #311291 boolits that I cast, lubed and sized get loading into a couple of boxes of good old 30-30 brass. A few slow leisurely hours of pure reloading fun. The loads shoot good too and take deer down nicely.
Sometimes, I shoot my cast boolits in competition with a few shooting buddies with the low man buying lunch. my friends are shooting condom bullets and I, my cast loaded up with tender loving care and a Lyman 310 tool.
I have two #311291 molds, one a single cavity and the orher a "two holer". Plinkin' loads come from the two holer but the "match" grade bullets from the single cavity.
Paul B.

[TAWILDCATT]

You youngsters like to play.when I started reloading there were no 310s.my first tools were a Win 32/20 tong tool and mold.and a win 73 that went with them.then I got the Modern Bond tong tool which had ajustable dies.and made 45 acp 9mm and 8 mm mauser.I had a commander and luger and a WW1 mauser.I still have the win tools but not the 73. and I still have the M-B tools and dies.
remember one thing the depresion was still on and no one had alot of money.
besides few shot more than they needed to. to see someone shoot 500 rds at one time would give them a heart attack.

[TAWILDCATT]

deleted

[mousegun]

Mousegun, although the 310 is truly not an inline press, the problem you mention is rather easily overcome by using the proper handles and adjusting the dies properly. Then, when you insert the bullet into the slightly belled case mouth and put the whole thing into the seating die, the slight angle of pressure when the handles are closed becomes less of a problem. I have found this to be the case up through .45-70 cartridges, so I assume it will work with smaller/shorter ones as well.

Froggie

I only loaded .357/.38 and .44Mag/Spl (a thousand rounds or so over two and half years) so I can't account for 310 tool performance on longer cartridges. Only reporting what I found on those two numbers.

Since that time I've used Lee Loaders, the Lee Hand Press and sundry other tools for field loading including a drilled out pair of gas pliers. I like the 310, which is why I still have it, but would only use it if something more convenient or appropriate were not available.

[Hang Fire]

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

The wife has a Lee hand press and will use nothing else. (I have a couple of Dillions) For me, the Lee hand press really shines when working up loads on the tail gate for testing when out shooting.

For the price, it makes a great light weight portable loader, with the Lee bullet sizing dies, would make it even more versatile.

[Racer X]

I had one when I was 14 years old. I used to load 38 and 357 for my Security Six. A neighbor had a press and casting setup. I would full-length size on his press and use Lee scoops and the 310 at home to finish.

Never wanted for bullets either. I would ride my bike to gas stations nearby and collect free wheel weights. Had all of the Lyman 358429s I needed.

[Gerry N.]

A few months ago I found a .300 Savage 310 kit on CL for $10. With a little patience and ingenuity seasoned liberally with blessed ignorance, I can now load .300 Sav. (If I ever get one) .30-40 Krag, .308 Win., 30'06 and .30-30 win. I figured that all out before I read that you were supposed to have dies for each caliber.

The kit, a canister of Unique a few trays of primers and a Lee C309-130R mold along with a British Army issue lead ladle and a tube of mule snot now live in a plastic tray under the seat of the dinette in my camper. Now I can hunt, fish, camp, cast and load until H#ll freezes over and never go into town. That's what the 310 tool is good for.

Gerry N.

[trooperdan]

Gerry, glad you mention the multi-caliber use of the 310 dies, since it only neck sizes, you can often use a sizing dir for several calibers in the same "family".. $10 was a heck of a deal, just what IS "CL"?

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I still use my 310 for my 45-70 Roller. It is real handy at the range when I want to try some new loads / Boolit combination. I regularly shoot off cross sticks at 100-300 yards and if I can hold my wobbles bowling pins at 200 yards with my hair front post are tough but I hit-em.
So yes.. a 310 tool will load ammo as well as I can shoot.
God Bless you.

[Gerry N.]

Gerry, glad you mention the multi-caliber use of the 310 dies, since it only neck sizes, you can often use a sizing dir for several calibers in the same "family".. $10 was a heck of a deal, just what IS "CL"?

Sorry about that, CL is craisgslist.

I go there every day looking for things I had no idea I couldn't live without. Yesterday I got a pretty good 3.5 HP Eska outboard the seller couldn't start. Paid $25 . Took it home, pulled the plug, separated the anode from the electrode by .018" and fired it right up. Someone had gapped the plug by dropping it on the ground. I buy a lot of components and toys with money I make off craigslist that way. I'll put that motor up for $150 and sell it within a week. I have to pay off the shiny new .45/70 Handi Rifle I have on layaway.

Gerry N.