Noobsauce question regarding .308 Win

L

longarm21

Regular
Rating - 100%
41   0   0
Location
Ontario
I keep seeing websites listing this - 30 cal (.308)

IS THIS .308 Win? I am new to reloading and would like to find some Sierra Matchking's but getting confused by terminology.

I always thought .30 cal was 7.62 NATO.

I know that 7.62 NATO is .308 however I want to be 100% sure before buying.
 
Last edited:
if you get a good reloading manual it will tell you what bullet to use for which cartridge

308 win = .308" bullets

223 rem = .224" bullets

its always best to check the book, there are some odd balls, like 7.62x39 Russian , you can use .308'' but most of the older guns are made to shoot .310 or .311 bullets
 
not really .30cal or .308 diameter bullets can be used in 30/30win. 300sav 30/06 300win mag. and others this the diameter of the bullets
 
I guess now I understand why I was so confused. I just ordered my RCBS Supreme Master reloading kit and it has a very detailed book by the looks of it. Just kinda doing a bit of shopping around and research.

I shoot .308 match and as you can imagine, its very FREAKING expensive firing factory all the time. So I have saved all my Federal brass probably about 180 total. How is do you guys find Federal brass?

I also have 40 Nosler and 40 Hornady brass.
 
longarm21 said:
I shoot .308 match and as you can imagine, its very FREAKING expensive firing factory all the time. So I have saved all my Federal brass probably about 180 total. How is do you guys find Federal brass?

I also have 40 Nosler and 40 Hornady brass.
Click to expand...

Federal tends to be softer then most brass, and you can get loose primer pockets after one firing, although I personally haven't seen any. Some of my Federal brass has 3-4 firings before the necks started getting stiff, so I'm going to get them all to that and anneal the lot of them.

The other 2 brands, no experience but they're probably a bit better. Lapua is the best but very expensive, Winchester is not far behind and has the best quality per price IMHO.
 
longarm21 said:
I keep seeing websites listing this - 30 cal (.308)

IS THIS .308 Win? I am new to reloading and would like to find some Sierra Matchking's but getting confused by terminology.

I always thought .30 cal was 7.62 NATO.

I know that 7.62 NATO is .308 however I want to be 100% sure before buying.
Click to expand...

The top of the lands are .300, the rifling is .004 deep and this makes the grooves or outer diameter .308 or .30 cal. in its military jargon.

Below a WWII American M1 (30-06) .30 cal ammo can. (.30 cal)

WWII30calM1Ammocan_zpsfa77b066.jpg
 
longarm21 said:
I guess now I understand why I was so confused. I just ordered my RCBS Supreme Master reloading kit and it has a very detailed book by the looks of it. Just kinda doing a bit of shopping around and research.

I shoot .308 match and as you can imagine, its very FREAKING expensive firing factory all the time. So I have saved all my Federal brass probably about 180 total. How is do you guys find Federal brass?

I also have 40 Nosler and 40 Hornady brass.
Click to expand...

Do yourself a favor and dump that federal brass in the garbage. Its once tim use stuff for the most part. From what I have read nosler brass is a little lighter then most. For shooting comps I would stick with lapua, nosher, winchester. Just weight sort the brass and giver.
 
longarm21 said:
Really I can't get any use out of it?
Click to expand...

You prolly can. I got 2 firings out of the federal 30-06 brass before the primers were pretty loose and the necks were hard. Got a few stuck in dies as well. the lip on the case ripped off like it was made of butter.
Wasnt loading real hot either. 49gr varget with 150gr bullet. Max is listed at 50.5 - 51gr.
 
longarm21 said:
Good to know. How many firings can I get from Nosler brass?
Click to expand...

Never tied it. To spendy for me hunting ammo. I use mainly winchester and get 5+ full power loads out of it. I have 50 remington that I use for very light loads and they should last pretty long. If your shooting matches go with the good stuff. Also life of the brass depends on how you load it and if you neck size or full length.
 
Bite the bullet and buy some Lapua. I am on my 4th barrel on my target rifle and I am still using the same Lapua cases that I statrted out with. However, I started out with 1800 cases and I am down to about 1750 now. The cases I have disgarded have been because of loose primer pockets and about 10 split necks. I do not anneal and I do FL resize every time, but only bump the shoulder back .002".
 
I am using Norma brass in my target rifles and after 15 reloads I discard them...Primer Pocket are fine but I split 2 necks in about 15,000 shots with norma brass.
I don't anneal my brass...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom