Speeding up .308 precision loads

[thump_rrr]

Thump_rrr : not because you like shooting that you like reloading and vice versa.
I have hated doing it for pistol for the last 5 years and still do so, it's a means to an end, my way of shooting custom ammo.
Thats why in pistol i went with what was quicker within budget (dillon 650+case feeder+dillon primer filling machine)

Thank you for the links, i will have to look into them and look into annealing eventually
If it was a gas gun for 3gun, this thread wouldn't have started as the 650 would of got it done
This is for a bolt gun, that i have mid term goals of shooting a 12" gong @ 600 to 800M
I don't like doing AND it's worth my time, factory ammo couldn't give me this fireformed ammo, and there's more rounds down range for the same money spent.

My components may not be the best but i wish they will get me there
178gr BTHP hornady match (whats available locally without shipping), varget, winchester primers, once fired sorted FC brass

Jonesyatpl : don't get me wrong i love my 650, i would feed it all pistol ammo (unless i was a bullseye to the 1/4"@25M shooter) and all my auto rifle ammo.
I just can't see this machine reload to the precision what my el cheapo single stage kit just produced.
Just in my 40 ammo, powder is often off by as much as 0.15gr when i take time to compare one by one, and OAL moves up and down even with sorted brass 1F of same lenght.
An IPSC target @ 25M doesn't come close to caring if my bullet impacted 1/8" off from time to time

The reason I say if you hate it quit is because you can spend hundreds if not thousands of hours and dollars reading and picking up tips and tricks on how to become a better reloader.
Most people don't invest that amount of time in a relationship before they bail.
Are you measuring your bullets at the ogive or are you trying to measure overall length.
Sorted brass should have no effect on overall length as long as there are no defects on the base of the brass an the primers are seated below flush.
Not to be an ass but if you are really serious about wanting to shoot PRS why are you starting by shooting the wrong caliber?
Here is an interresting article . It is a little over 1 year old but it will give you some insight if you are going in the right direction.
http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/10/12/best-rifle-caliber/

I may do the PRS in Vermont this year but I'm not taking PRS seriously since my business picks up in the summer months so I would shoot it with my 308.
As a side note I brought my M1A National Match rifle to the last precision rifle clinic at CFB Petawawa this year.
After we finished shooting the competition with my Savage I had a few minutes to shoot 5 round through the M1A which is running Lake City brass processed on my Hornady LnL AP Progressive.
It was previously never shot over 100M.
I set up on the 600M mound and after the initial shot that was 3" off the target the next 4 shots were scored as a 4 a pair of 5's and a V-Bull with open sights.

Best of luck with whatever direction you decide to go.

 

[MartyK2500]

Thank you

The PRS style shooting will be far from serious.
Bringing my 308 to the odd event will be the equivalent of someone bringing a G34 in a standard IPSC class dominated by 2011s

Right now i see 308 as a learning platform, thats got thousands of rounds before the barrel burns
Once it's burned out, my passion or lack of passion for long range shooting/reloading will tell me if i end up with a cool custom bolter in 6.5creedmore, or if i end up with a regular varmint 308 for medium range plinking

 

[thump_rrr]

Thank you

The PRS style shooting will be far from serious.
Bringing my 308 to the odd event will be the equivalent of someone bringing a G34 in a standard IPSC class dominated by 2011s

Right now i see 308 as a learning platform, thats got thousands of rounds before the barrel burns
Once it's burned out, my passion or lack of passion for long range shooting/reloading will tell me if i end up with a cool custom bolter in 6.5creedmore, or if i end up with a regular varmint 308 for medium range plinking

Check out this article.
http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-shootout-260-6.5x47-6.5-creedmoor/
With factory 260 Rem brass available from Lapua it is a no brainer in my opinion. Hornady brass is inferior to Lapua by a large margin.
The factory barrel on my primary rifle is almost done with 4600 rounds down the pipe.
I may just go the 260 Rem. route.

 

[MartyK2500]

Funny thing that was my initial choice of cartridge was 6.5 creedmore
I had been convinced that 308 was the cartridge to learn on and then you'd upgrade to barrel burners if you still liked it

Changing my reload stuff for 6.5 will be easy and cheap as the base tools are in common, scope and chassis can interchange too
For now, since all setup and ready to shoot, sticking with the learn on 308 plan

 

[luckey]

You are absolutely right as I just experienced everything you said in the past two nights while I finally hit the press for 308 the first time. Varget just doesn't meter well and also sticky in dillon which causes spill. Ended up hand charge the powder.
And, my experiment to use only 3 or even just 2 stations(without first sizing/decapping) to keep consistent oal also failed. Looks like whenever there are multiple station at work, there will be 5 a thousandth of an inch difference compared to use each station as single stage, one station at a time. Good thing is if for hunting or precision shoot, I don't have to load that much, so single stage is ok. For plinking, ball powder on progressive.

The problem and bottle neck is powder dispensing. Progressives do not work with extruded powders... certainly not at match ammo accuracy.

I make very accurate 223 practise ammo using ball powder and a progressive. yes, it can work with this type of powder and you can make alot of ammo quite quickly BUT accuracy is limited by the affects of temp on your powder and tuning.

For F class, just not good enough.

Jerry

 

[RonR]

Right now i see 308 as a learning platform, thats got thousands of rounds before the barrel burns
Once it's burned out, my passion or lack of passion for long range shooting/reloading will tell me if i end up with a cool custom bolter in 6.5creedmore, or if i end up with a regular varmint 308 for medium range plinking

That's where I'm at. Different caliber but the story is the same.

Regards
Ronr