THOR, I read your other post on reloading for the x54r. A safe COL is 3". I looked through both my Lyman, Hornady, and Hodgdon manuals and can find no reference for IMR 4320 with a .311" diameter bullet. Sounds like you're going to have to do some experimenting, or the feller that told you he uses that load can give you a "safe" starting load and you work your way up from there. I think you ought to have waited to buy a loading manual before taking word of mouth on a powder and actually researched the manual and decided on an established recommended powder with data.
Now then, the next item is the die set. I think you picked the Lee die set. If that's correct, you may have to buy a different "button". This is the part that gets the neck the correct diameter. It's a long rod with the decapping pin to punch out the old primer. The included one with the Lee die set is for .308". Says on Midway's website... supposedly the .308" is more "popular" in the Mosins which sounds like a load of crap. RCBS uses .311" buttons in their x54r die set. So, what you can do is go on Lee's website, and buy the button for the .303 British. It is part # SE2358 -
http://leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/parts.cgi?1272266646.5390=90547 You don't necessarily have to, but forcing the .311" bullet and opening the case mouth/neck 0.003" can be a bit of work.
So, you're probably going to want to do that. Anyway, I'm not sure if you finally got your manual in, but definitely take a good look at it. On your brass, if you can't find any, you're just going to have to settle with your Sellier & Bellot stuff. .311" bullets, primers (CCI 200, Winchester WLP, etc.). Case tumblers are nice, not required, but nice. You're going to want some sizing lube. There are a plethora of them out there, but if you want something cheap and simple... mink oil. That's right, the stuff you put on your hunting boots to waterproof them. Otherwise, Imperial Size Wax by Redding is good stuff. No matter what you use, you're going to want to use some sort of lube or you'll get a stuck case up in the die and it can be a pain in the butt to get out. Do not put lube on the shoulder of the case or it'll get deformed... not a big deal, but when you shoot that round, it will fire form to its original correct shape, but you're working the brass and weakening it. For the press, a simple cast O-frame by Lee is good. I bought one of those SmartReloader cast-iron O-frame presses and I think it's worth every bit of the $30 I spent on it. It does have some slop, but would you expect close tolerance fit and finish for $30? IMR 4350 might have been a better pick on powder. You can get the Lee Auto Prime and buy the individual shell holder specifically for it. It's a handheld priming tool. I bought one and used it a bit but any more, I'm using the Lee Ram Prime tool. It utilizes your reloading press and primes them one at a time manually, but I like that it seats the primer better than having to squeeze that darn handle on the Auto Prime tool.
For case trimming, you can buy a hand lathe type and spend a lot on it, the collets to hold the case, and the pilots... however, I spend a couple dollars for the Lee Case-Length gage deals and like them a lot. You can chuck the holder in a drill, lock your case into it, and then with the gage screwed into the trimmer piece, you just put it in the case mouth and it will stop trimming when the pin on the gage hits the shell holder. The cases must be de-primed before doing this operation. Search for the Lee case length gages on youtube and you can find videos of people using them. So simple and cheap.
I think I've included some information of use to you... you'll read it in your loading manual. Read it and re-read it until you know what's going on.
From MidwayUSA's website on the Lee Pacesetter 7.62x54r 3-die set...
Note from the Manufacturer:
•Lee Precision includes the expander appropriate for a .308 diameter bullet. Nearly everyone that reloads the 7.62x54 /7.62x53 uses the .308 diameter bullet. The availability and selection of .308 bullets are far greater than .311. In military issue ammo they used a .309 to .311 diameter bullet. The smaller expander is included as standard issue as it is usable for .308 as well as .310 diameter bullets if the larger expander was installed it would not be usable with smaller .308 diameter bullets. The limited amount of load data that is available usually is worked up using .308 diameter bullets.
