Loading M1a 308 on a Dillon 650

Status
Not open for further replies.

Texas1880

Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2018
Messages
57
does anyone reload for their M1a on their Dillon 650?
My plan is to get the national match dies from Forster, and set up a tool head dedicated for the M1a only. I’m planning on buying a couple thousand sized, trimmed, annealed and deprimed 308 lake city cases from txbrass to start with. So no sizing die on the tool head to start with, just powder, seat and crimp(Dillon crimp). Gonna use the classic setup of Sierra match king 168s, with H4895.


Then...as far as the future, when I start running out of cases,
I’ll likely be wet tumbling, then sizing and depreiming, on a separate tool head, then using a giraud trimmer to start with, or maybe my le Wilson until I get tired of that.

Primer pocket uniforming? Necessary?

Is the Dillon trimming power tool easier to use than the giraud?

Is annealing worth it?

Or talk me out of buying processed and annealed brass, and tell me to do it myself.
 
I started my reloading journey with a 650 and the first ammo I made was for my M1A

I bought the standard Dillon .308 dies and they were perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, I’m still using the Dillon sizing die for my precision bolt gun rounds so I’d say the Forster my be overkill for M1A rounds. I did get a Redding comp micrometer seating die. That was a worthwhile upgrade.

Regarding your plan to buy preped brass, I wouldn’t. I’d get once fired and prep it myself.

I have dedicated tool heads for each caliber I load for plus a tool head for size and decapping.

I use a WFT to trim my brass. I have no experience with the Giraud or the Dillon trimmer but I’m a fan of a powerd timmer to reduce the drudgery of case prep.

I don’t bother with uniforming primer pockets but I do deburr flash holes

I have an Annealeez and anneal after every firing but I’m doing this primarily for my custom bolt action for the consistency of neck tension related benifits to precision. If I didn’t have the equipment I wouldn’t bother with it.

My favorite M1A load is 155g AMAX, 38.7g of H4895, LC Brass, CCI primers and 2.820 OAL. They run around 2,550 FPS

I can load these in full progressive mode, crank out quantity and still keep 5 shot groups below 1 MOA
 
I started my reloading journey with a 650 and the first ammo I made was for my M1A

I bought the standard Dillon .308 dies and they were perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, I’m still using the Dillon sizing die for my precision bolt gun rounds so I’d say the Forster my be overkill for M1A rounds. I did get a Redding comp micrometer seating die. That was a worthwhile upgrade.

Regarding your plan to buy preped brass, I wouldn’t. I’d get once fired and prep it myself.

I have dedicated tool heads for each caliber I load for plus a tool head for size and decapping.

I use a WFT to trim my brass. I have no experience with the Giraud or the Dillon trimmer but I’m a fan of a powerd timmer to reduce the drudgery of case prep.

I don’t bother with uniforming primer pockets but I do deburr flash holes

I have an Annealeez and anneal after every firing but I’m doing this primarily for my custom bolt action for the consistency of neck tension related benifits to precision. If I didn’t have the equipment I wouldn’t bother with it.

My favorite M1A load is 155g AMAX, 38.7g of H4895, LC Brass, CCI primers and 2.820 OAL. They run around 2,550 FPS

I can load these in full progressive mode, crank out quantity and still keep 5 shot groups below 1 MOA
This is great info, thanks.

One thing, though, I’m guessing you never had a problem with headspace using the Dillon dies? So many warnings about headspace, and how it’s important, and the Forster national match dies just set the shoulder back .003, etc. but I’ve also heard and Dillon says that their die is smal base and is perfectly suited to the needs of the M1a. So you just ran the die down to the shell plate with a little camover and all good?
 
This is great info, thanks.

One thing, though, I’m guessing you never had a problem with headspace using the Dillon dies? So many warnings about headspace, and how it’s important, and the Forster national match dies just set the shoulder back .003, etc. but I’ve also heard and Dillon says that their die is smal base and is perfectly suited to the needs of the M1a. So you just ran the die down to the shell plate with a little camover and all good?

I’ve had no problem achieving a consistent .002 shoulder set back with the standard Dillon die. I don’t belive the Dillon die is a small base die but if you were told it was I won’t argue. It works well for 3 different .308 rifles and I’ve resized over 10k rounds with it.
 
I would personally check every sized case with a wilson gauge to make sure it was sized to the lower step. Other than that I don't see any problem with your plan.
 
I loaded a couple thousand on a Dillon 550 with Dillon dies and no issues in an M1a supermatch with air gauged Douglas barrel.
My best groups ran 5/8" in LC Match brass with 168gr SMKs and 39gr of 4895. I only trimmed with a Forster manual trimmer because that's what I had.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top