I guess the title says it all. My cases are ready to go for powder and bullets now.

Will load 3 powder weights tommorrow, and I guess I'll load the rest of the cases when I deside on the weight I want to use sooner then later.

Mind you I say sooner then later but in 23 days I'm out of the country for about 12 weeks (2 and a half months) so I really need to push into my time table to go to the range to atleast find out what shoots the best in my rifle.

Dimitri

Don't get in that much of a rush. It does take a bit of time to work up a real good load. There are so many bullet, powder, primer and case combinations that if you get in to big of a rush you will miss something. At your age you have plenty of time to get it right. For that matter so do I...

Going back to Greece?

I know I got plenty of time Bushy. I don't mean to seem to be in a rush.

I got 900 primers (less the ones I've used up) and enough powder for 450 rounds of 308 ammunition already so I figured I'd make something good with the components I have then next year worry about experimenting or maybe even loading different calibers.

And yes I'll be in Greece to pack up and ship the contents of the family home to here.

Dimitri

Do a real good documentation on the factory rounds so you have a good comparison for the hand loads...

Enjoy Greese again as I know you will. Don't eat too much (the Greeks love to eat) and have a greek beer for me while yer at it. I sure had a lot of fun the time (one month) I spent on Crete...

I'll have a beer for you.

I'll load the test rounds tommorrow, today I spent most of my time playing with the 101st case that came yesterday. I ordered 100 but there was 101 which was perfect cause one had a crack on the neck due to the mail system. So I cut it down, modified it, and now I got this case.

Except I am getting .005" per side spring back when using a drilled block of hardwood to shrink it to size. And I know what your thinking, use a smaller drill to cancel out the spring back but all I am getting then is using the case as a broach as the case just is shaving the wood instead of actually conforming to it. Only trying to size down the first 3/8" to hold the bullet to boot!

Basically its a 308 case cut down to 1.57" and I have been attempting to size it to fit a .400 blank I had laying around but so far no dice as per the above comment.

Was to be a 40 caliber, but as of now the best I can do is make it fit a 41 caliber round like the 41 Mag and 41 AE. Rather have it at 40 caliber though as it allows one to use different makers cases as depending on the thickness of the case wall at that point all types of brass may not want to fit a 41 caliber, but shrinking it down to 40 caliber would allow one to be sure their brass will work.

Dimitri

Do you have any other dies you could start it with? I've succesfully necked .376 steyr to 35 by using carbide .357 pistol dies to size the neck only.

Interesting Idea FN user. Thanks but I don't have any dies other then the set for the 308 Win that I got.

Dimitri

Hey 'Mitri....as Bushy says mate...take your time....do it once and do it properly mate. Having said that...I know exactly how ya feel...new toys...have to play with them...I was, and still am, exactly the same mate.

Enjoy your time in Greece mate and go easy on the dirty water (Ouzo). I don't envy you the job of the pack up mate...been there, done that, too many times when I was in the Army. Its a big job. The last couple of moves I did were 38 cubic metres of bits and pieces.

Also...
Να είστε ευγενής με τα νέα ενιαία επιλέξιμα ελληνικά κορίτσια.

Cheers, Vince

Dimitri wrote:

Except I am getting .005" per side spring back when using a drilled block of hardwood to shrink it to size. And I know what your thinking, use a smaller drill to cancel out the spring back but all I am getting then is using the case as a broach as the case just is shaving the wood instead of actually conforming to it. Only trying to size down the first 3/8" to hold the bullet to boot! Basically its a 308 case cut down to 1.57" and I have been attempting to size it to fit a .400 blank I had laying around but so far no dice as per the above comment. Was to be a 40 caliber, but as of now the best I can do is make it fit a 41 caliber round like the 41 Mag and 41 AE. Rather have it at 40 caliber though as it allows one to use different makers cases as depending on the thickness of the case wall at that point all types of brass may not want to fit a 41 caliber, but shrinking it down to 40 caliber would allow one to be sure their brass will work. Dimitri

Have a look at the wall thickness of your case as opposed to the thickness of the neck of the average case. I think you will find that there is quite a bit of difference mate. Remember, a case gets thicker the more towards the base you go.

You may need to do a little neck reaming.

Cheers, Vince

Brass when it’s made goes through the annealing processes many times!!!
The softness/hardness factor changes as you go from one end to the other. This could help explain the amount of spring-back your seeing.
If you were to start using that case chances are 1 or 2 firings and you’ll have a split case unless you do some annealing to it.

Vince wrote:

Να είστε ευγενής με τα νέα ενιαία επιλέξιμα ελληνικά κορίτσια.

I hate to say it but I can't read Greek (I used a translator) first time I went to Greece it took 3-4 days to get a hang of reading Greek again as I have not done it since I was about 11 years old.

But its ok, I know what you were saying, and believe me I don't plan on bringing a wife home with me. Which seems to be what most Greek guys I know go to Greece for at about this age for a while. No way no how, even if I get offered a HUGE dowry.

Vince wrote:

You may need to do a little neck reaming.

Yes but I didn't want to do that for a couple of reasons, one a reamer sized for the application may cost alot of money, and two I wanted to keep the case intact to be able to run the pressures into the 60,000 PSI range like a rifle caliber instead of a pistol caliber.

chambered221,

You have a very good point, I think I may pick up a propane tank for my torch and try it out. It may just work.

Dimitri

So I loaded the first 10 rounds, took 45 minutes to weight the charges, and about 10 minutes to set up the seating die, load all the 168gr SMK's and then use a Lee Factory Crimp Die on them:



Total time was a hour including the tear down and clean up after the rounds were loaded.

Dimitri