Reloading for a BAR in .308

[oldrodder]

I've only owned one BAR 40 years ago, in .300WM. Back in the day, RCBS made "Ultra Small Base" dies specifically for the Browning. I haven't seen them for years now. Fast forward...... my grandson has a new BAR in .308 Can we reload with Small Base dies?
I can make up a dummy and see if it cycles, but I want to hear of your experiences.

 

[davide montini]

I had a 25-06 bar and I was using Lee dies …and never had a problem with it ….then a shooting buddy of mine had one as well in 308…it was weird he never shot hot reloads but what I think was the problem was he was shooting different brass ..he had a mix of them all commercial and 7.62x51 brass …lake city ..pmc….cbc…and others and every now and then some brass would not chamber ..even though he full length sized it buddy loved to shoot that gun he tried many combinations of bullet and power ..from what I can remember ….great gun stupid accurate weird used all kinds of stuff and it still would shot 7/8” like what the f$5k!!!…..so a friend had I think it was rcbs small base die ran it through the die and bingo chambered and fired
.223?5.56 is the same in semi”s
So won’t hurt to have a small base die on hand to run your brass through
Hope this helps

 

[tigrr]

Lee small base work as well. 270, 243, 300wm. I chamber check each round I make for hunting. The odd one is sticky. A push on the bolt handle usually seats it. I'm talking a few sticky in 3000 rounds.

 

[DGY]

I use Lee as well and don’t have any problems for my bar 30-06 and I load it hot!

 

[kamlooky]

I've only owned one BAR 40 years ago, in .300WM. Back in the day, RCBS made "Ultra Small Base" dies specifically for the Browning. I haven't seen them for years now. Fast forward...... my grandson has a new BAR in .308 Can we reload with Small Base dies?
I can make up a dummy and see if it cycles, but I want to hear of your experiences.

Yes.
Buddy was having problems with his Model 100 in .308win.
I gave him my RCBS SB die.
Works as intended.

 

[Canuck65]

I've only owned one BAR 40 years ago, in .300WM. Back in the day, RCBS made "Ultra Small Base" dies specifically for the Browning. I haven't seen them for years now. Fast forward...... my grandson has a new BAR in .308 Can we reload with Small Base dies?
I can make up a dummy and see if it cycles, but I want to hear of your experiences.

A guy I shoot with has a BLR in 308. It required small base dies.

You can also try sizing, then waiting overnight and sizing again. It springs back, but sometimes a second run through the die after a few hours is enough.

 

[WeakKnee]

An old hunting friend had a BAR in .308 Win, he used Small Base Dies when reloading and I never remember him having a difficulty with it cycling.

Sorting your brass by brand is also worthwhile, fined a type that works well and then stick with it. WK

 

[William Watt]

Yes small base dies work best in Bar rifles.
Also keep the brass very clean no residue on outside as any build up in chamber will cause extraction issues.