OzFclass

Hi John I'm not nit picking between one or the other I'm trying to work out which is the most accurate method as I'm new to reloading for this type of accuracy. For many years I just reloaded for hunting and although I've reloaded thousands of rounds a half inch group at 100m was acceptable.

Not so for F Class so I'm trying to gain knowledge from others on their reloading die choices and methods to improve the accuracy of my reloads.

Cheers Tod

Hi Todd, there's a lot of experience that has commented before me , so that why I shied away in commenting! But for what it's worth I've only ever necked sized and it has worked for me. For all of my . 308's I've only ever used Redding type s bush neck dies with a no turn neck and from memory without going out to the shed .335 bush (??) lap brass.

I've always used a Sinclair runout gauge and have kept my rounds under 2 thou run out on the necks!

Currently with my 7-08 Ai I'm just using the common garden veriety Redding 7-08ai neck die and a Lee 7-08 bullet seater , nothing fancy! Attention to detail in run out etc is more important ! There is no competition dies for the 7-08 Ai as I would have normally invested in Redding type s match die set if they made it ! Although a .260 Ai may have done . But watching the low run out on the necks and the performance has both been satisfactory , so all good !

The reason for me to only neck size ( and this going to against what some of the others have said ) is when it's fireformed to that chamber and the chamber is square , it's held perfectly centre to the bore line. Add to that a 10 thou jammed projectile and it's all locked up centre!

Rod's shoulder bump is important as it gives more constant preload pressure on the barrel and action joint which otherwise with temperature variables and shoulder crush cause variation in the transmission of the harmonics.

Keith's reasoning and modifications suggested by Peter with regard to collet dies after body sizing in my experience is superior. The use of neck bushings is however convenient when establishing correct neck tension. Once that is found the collett die can be introduced and modified if necessary (which is a pain unless you have the right equipment) as the brass is worked less for forward flow and results are straighter.

Currently using both setups and found run outs of up to .0035" with bushings and 0-.001" with collet dies. I use the bushings for convenience and any errant one I straighten in a NECO device I modified for club shooting. See picture.

In testing run out with factory ammo during project Punumbra, past .005" run out enlarged groups. But we are much more demanding with group size today given smaller targets. The author Harold Vaughn in Rifle Accuracy Facts was right onto it.

It seems that there might be something about these collet dies, just when I thought I had all the reloading equipment I would ever need.
Only problem is that of the 14 calibres I shoot, only 3 are available in collet dies. Maybe I can get my gunsmith to modify some to suit, surely he doesn't have much on at the moment.

Apart from mine, I don't think he has any high priority work...

I've had good success with running my new lapua brass through my body bump die, and then neck die, and loading as per normal from new, and nowadays i'm also bumping the body every single reload.
by doing so ensured they chambered consistently, giving me confidence in the consistency whilst on the mound shooting.

in the past I've had the occasional tight chambering (or won't chamber) in the middle of a string of shots, then had to pull that shell out, disrupting my 'flow'.
probably more of a personal thing though.
but why have the interruption whilst shooting a string of shots if you don't have to.

AlanF wrote:Apart from mine, I don't think he has any high priority work...

Not sure why I made this post.

Send-it,

I would not suggest you trim for length first up with new brass. Check previous post on "Preparing New Brass". David.

williada wrote:Send-it,

I would not suggest you trim for length first up with new brass. Check previous post on "Preparing New Brass". David.

good point.
i just read that again.
well there ya go,......one more thing i've learnt today.

As usual, OZFCLASS is the place to go for competent information. As I am in the U.S. I spend a lot of time on Accurate Shooter, but it seems all one must do there is fire 5 shots on a competition range and you are an expert! Here you have a body of folks that truly know what they are doing and try to help others with their skills.

I got in the long range shooting through my mate in the Sidney area, Peter, and he turned me on to LEE collett dies. I had changed from 243 WIN to 6BRX and bought a frightfully expensive bushing die and micrometer bullet seater set. Then, I ordered a 6BRX custom collett die set from LEE. I sent them 2 fired cases and two bullets I was using. They returned to me a collett die custom made for the 6BRX as well as a seater die with plunger made for my bullet. I believe it cost about $70. When I added 284 WIN to my collection, I ordered a custom 284WIN collett die set from LEE ( The 284WIN is no longer a standard die for them) and a Redding body die. For the 6BRX, I removed the bushing and expander from the die and use it as a body die. When I wanted to alter the bullet grip, I polished a couple mandrels but then got a collection of custom mandrels from LEE. I believe they are $10 each.

I just replaced my nackered LEE Breechlock Challenger press with a Classic Cast Breechlock press that I will modify for cam-over.
I am a real fan of LEE products. When I started re-loading I bought used kit from ebay including a LEE powder dispenser and LEE powder balance. I stopped using them when I got "better" equipment.
Well, I got tired of the variation of dispensed charges from my #3 powder dispenser and on a lark tried the old LEE dispenser. Very embarrassing! The old, cheap and used LEE was about 2-3 times more consistent than the micrometer #3! I then was tempted to buy one of the new Classic Cast Powder Measures from Lee, but realized there was nothing wrong with the old plastic one!
So, my procedure is very simple now. Since I got my Annie induction annealer, I anneal after each firing and body size and collett neck size (after brushing the inside neck with a nylon brush) and primer pocket clean. Then dispense powder into the pan of an Ohaus TS200 lab balance and trickle to within a granule of powder followed by bullet seating with a K&M force measuring press. The annealing and collett die get the seating force consistent to within +/- 10%.
Now, if only I could shoot better!!