Yet another reloading newbie

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zalex820

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Hello everyone I first want to introduce myself. My name is Alex I currently live in Delaware (moved here from NYC about 4 months ago) and since then started messing around with rifles (semi and bolt)I bought at Ruger scout .308 about a week ago. The very next day while I was buying rounds I had realized that at a $1 a round I was going to go broke very fast (not really)but they sure are expensive. So I was toying around with the idea to start reloading as a hobby and kill 7 birds with one stone as far as price, quality and fun factor. Today I purchased the rcbs rock chucker supreme master reloading kit along with a tumbler and all that good stuff so now I had finished making my first round and just wanted to make sure that my face stays on my face tomorrow when I go to shoot them.I am using PMC bronze brass that I fired today along with Winchester primers (large rifle magnum loads WLRM), Hornady interlock .308 150gr BTSP #3033 (what is BTSP?) and Hodgdon BL-C(2) powder. So first I deprimed, resized and deburred the brass then I tumbled it for about 2 hours, primed it and added 45grs of powder and seated the bullet. My final round measurements came out to 2.740 inches. The big question is did I miss a step or anything like that and are they safe to fire? Sorry for the long post but i'd rather be safe then sorry. Thank you all in advance :)
 
no I did not trim. I didn't pick one up yet but I will tomorrow. From what I understand you don't need to trim every time you load, only after about 4-5 times? true or false?
 
you should be fine. no you do not have to trim your brass unless it is over SAMMI spec length. welcome to reloading:neener:
 
Once fired brass usually result in about 10 to 20% of the brass needing trimming. I don't know why trimming is required. I just measure and if it exceeds max length then I trim.
 
zalex820 said:
Is BTSP a good bullet to use?
Click to expand...
Depends on what you are using them for. Are you target shooting/hunting/etc.? If you are punching paper at 100 yards, they should be fine.

I punch paper at 100 yards/aim for minute of gong out to 400 yards and prefer 168/175 gr BTHP (Boat Tail Hollow Point) over 150 gr FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) for greater accuracy.
 
I guess it kind of depends on the cartridge, load, or something, cause I find that after the first firing, almost all my brass is longer than SAAMI max..

I rather feel that trimming isn't taken seriously enough. When a cartridge exceeds SAAMI max, and depending on the specific chamber, a serious pressure problem can present. The case moth can get pinched in the throat when the brass is over SAAMI max, something that isn't experienced until the cartridge is fired. Thus when the mouth expands to release the bullet, if the bullet is restricted at all beyond just normal neck tension, that small delay is what can cause significant pressure spikes to occur.

As for when to trim brass, it gets trimmed if it exceeds SAAMI max, therefore it is necessary to measure your fired brass after each resizing. But by no means can trimming be assigned a number that identifies when to trim / not to trim. Me personally, I keep all my bottle neck brass trimmed to the same lengths, consistency in all aspects reloading, is what produces consistent results.

GS
 
Welcome to the addiction and THR.

Did you load a complete work up? Number one rule is to start and the minimum charge and work up. If it only shows one number, that's max. Reduce by 10% for a starting charge.

We do this to find the max for our rifles. If could be that the max for the rifle is just around middle of the road.

Google OCW (Optimal Charge Weight) and work up a good proper load.

The bullets you picked are excellent for hunting deer sized game. I love those Interlocks. Great little bullet.
 
Page 66 in that document is the one to use for 308 case specs. It shows case length specs as 2.015" - .020". I suggest they be trimmed to 2.000" then back to that when they reach 2.010".

Your load is OK.

http://www.sniper.cz/Sierra308Win.pdf

You don't need to use that popular Optimum Charge Weight load work up process until you and your stuff can consistently shoot several well known accurate loads no worse than 3/4"at 100 yards. Otherwise, each load will overlap adjacent ones way too much to represent is real value. Besides, the theory OCW is based on is flawed by bad assumptions and easily disproved by simple facts. Good commercial match ammo shoots equally accurate across a wide spread of barrel lengths as well as those with the same lengths having different barrel times and muzzle velocities.
 
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OP,
Your reloading book/manual should also show the max length and the trim-to length in the data section. A good reloading manual should have explained the rifle reloading process and when you measure and trim. I believe your kit brought the Speer reloading manual.
Yes, you may need to trim every so often, but it's not based on a number of firings it's based on how much it stretched during firing.
And just remember - you measure the case after sizing.

Welcome to the hobby and THR.
 
I have a match target rifle and the chamber is tight. If the case is .001 over max length they will not chamber. I measure each case to be reloaded and trim if needed.
 
wow it is incredible to see how amazing the reloading community is, thank you all very much for the awesome information. Sounds to me like resizing is a very important step that I will do everytime from now on. I am using the starting load @45 grs for now and the max being 48grs.
 
Just to be sure terms are used precisely:

Resizing needs to be done every time.

Checking case length needs to be done every time to see is trimming needs to be done.

Trimming only has to be done if it is over spec. Some trim only when over spec. Some trim every time.
 
I notice you mentioned magnum loads. The .308 doesn't
need magnum primers as it is a fairly small case.

Zeke
 
There are a lot of powders / charges that I as well will use a magnum primer. 22-250, .243 win, 6mm Rem, .270 win. just to name a few, in which published data supports the use of a magnum primer with certain powders.

And contrary to that, there are also certain circumstances in which magnum primers aren't necessary in 7 mag and 300 WM, it just depends on the specifics of the load.

And if a magnum primer is producing improved accuracy, then by all means do so.

GS
 
I have a match target rifle and the chamber is tight. If the case is .001 over max length they will not chamber. I measure each case to be reloaded and trim if needed.
Click to expand...
SAAMI specs show there has to be at least .010" clearance between the chambered case mouth and end of the chamber:

http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/308 Winchester.pdf

SAAMI's term for that space at the head of the case to the bolt face is called head clearance. So I can use mouth clearance for that of the front end; makes sense to me, anyway.

Note the following specs:
case length 2.015" -.020"
chamber length 2.025" +.020"

That allows a minimum mouth clearance to the front of the chamber of .010".

When the firing pin smacks the primer, it sizes the case a tiny bit setting the shoulder back a bit and pushing the case neck further into the chamber a small amount. If the case mouth jams into the chamber end, it'll behave just like a case mouth being crimped by a standard seating die set to do so. That pinches the case mouth into the bullet increasing its grip on the bullet (and unbalancing it) which raises pressure and degrades accuracy.

It's easy to measure your .308 Win chamber length by sizing a .30-06 case in a .308 FL die then trimming it back to 2.050" length. Chamber it gently with a stripped bolt then turn off its length in .002" increments until the bolt just closes on it.

Your maximum case length should be .010" less than chamber length.

Some primers labeled "magnum" are no more powerful than standard ones. And some standard primers put out more fire than magnum ones.

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-large-rifle-primer-study.html
 
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Zalex,

Welcome.

Like you, I'm new to reloading as well. Also reloading .308 exclusively (for now).

So far, I've had the best luck using Hornady bullets, Lake City brass and following the Hornady manual.

My best (most accurate) load so far has been 155gn AMAX, LC case, 38.6gn H4895 and WLR primers. Case trimmed each time to 2.005 with an OAL of 2.800

Good luck and lets see some pictures
 
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