First attempt at necking down 308 to 7mm08

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Originally Posted by RimfireNZ

Damn it, I was in a rush so no didn't chamfer it. There's part of the problem. I was doing half a dozen other things after coming back from the range and dropping a bullet in was an afterthought. And no the seating die isn't set too low on this one.

When you actually site a projectile in the necked down 308 brass, then do the same with the 7mm08 round you can really see that the round isn't gonna fit in the necked down 308. It needs trimming on the inside. I'll measure it up tomorrow when I'm back over there.

My house is too small so my reloading room is at my folks in town.

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Unless you are not using your expander in the FL die you will always need to outside turn if things are tight. 243 7-08 308 all going to form internally to the expander used not the die. Something looks proper fucked up with your cases. What's dies?

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Originally Posted by kiwijames

Unless you are not using your expander in the FL die you will always need to outside turn if things are tight. 243 7-08 308 all going to form internally to the expander used not the die. Something looks proper fucked up with your cases. What's dies?

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Just the basic Lee ones for 7mm08. I took out the decapping pin and I assume that's the expander? I can't actually resize the cases with that in. It doesn't get all the way in.

Take it out, put them through the fl die, then they measure up at least externally, but not internally.

Let me get some proper measurements for you guys tomorrow. Maybe that'll give you some more idea of what's going on.


This shouldn't be this hard, but i've only done factory ammo reloading before for a few calibers. That's easy cos you only need two dies and once it's set up, that's it :P

There is your problem:)
Fl die sizes down undersize then decapping rod/expander pulls it back up to size on out stroke.
Your die must have adjustment for the rod?
Set it down until it only just removes primer. It shouldn't bottom out in case.

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Also make sure necks are well lubed inside or expander can pull shoulder forward giving you lack of headspace issues all over again.

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the expander rod/decapping pin will cause issues if set to high or to low, It does need to be there to size the inside of the case.

If set to low it will bottom out inside the case

If set to high it will jam the die as its trying to size and expand the neck at the same time...

The lee die expander is higher then others... it needs to be set so the pin just pops the primer. This can be set by loosening the nut that locks the pin then sitting the shell holder up to the die and looking in the slot the case slides in the pin should be just longer than the gap (sits just longer than the gap so the pin is in the hole of the shell holder) there are measurements on the instructions but if you do it that way it works with any die setup :)

Success!

I re adjusted my die and deprived pin, made sure to use enough lube, resized the round, chamfered it then whacked a projectile in. It measures up the same as a loaded 7mm08.

Having the de priming pin back in correctly managed to keep the neck thinner. In any caseit appeared to work. Now I just have to figure out if it is safe to fire :x_x: it chambers just fine.
Empty 308, 308 resized or 7mm08 (and loaded with a 140g Sierra game king) and a real 7mm08 with the same projectile,
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...2F8C111E92.jpg

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...2FA03C54F2.jpg

It looks good and chambers so should be a go. well done you seemed to have worked hard for this result.

Sweet. Just check the loaded rounds neck diameter is less than sami spec max. It should be.
Start at min book loads and work up. Extra neck tension and possiblely less case volume mean you may reach max before you used to.

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Originally Posted by Toby

It looks good and chambers so should be a go. well done you seemed to have worked hard for this result.

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That's only because I'm a muppet Toby :P I should have managed this much earlier.

Next skill to add to the reloading toolkit, annealing brass.

Hi,

Guy called ammosmith on youtube has a great series on changing such things. He is doing a 30-06 to a 308 but should be very similar. NB Pretty sure he commented that lake city has a heavier wall than most others.

This is the series,

Cartridge Conversion Part 1 - YouTube

Advanced Cartridge Conversion Part 1 - YouTube

Fire Forming Part 1 - YouTube

Anealing brass,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgD5D...9MKRUv7RjJB1XA

Cheers for those Steven. I'll have a watch.

I've managed to borrow a mates neck turner so I'm going to make sure the neck is uniform and the correct thickness with that.

I'm going to have to come back to trialing this later as I got a little carried away on the weekend with the 7mm08 and put about 60-80 rounds through it which dented my hunting stash a little bit.

Glad you got it sorted. May I point out that you got hung up on a issue that wasnt really ever a problem, this is very common among every new reloader... We all get fixated on things that dont exsist but we live and learn. Dont worry about neck thickness, its one of those tiny variables that beechrest shooters play with, as long as the cases chamber and you are loading to book max loads you will be fine.