- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
resizing 307 win to 303 Savage. Broke and older Lyman Tmag and a Lee Challenger.................Nuts, what fun. pics of the damage.
Well, er, I, um Broke two presses today
- Thread starter Violator22
- Start date
Pathfinder
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Northeast Ontario
Well...Have you fixed it with duct tape yet ?
Thank you for the picture of that Lee Press, Reminds me of why I went with Redding.
Thank you for the picture of that Lee Press, Reminds me of why I went with Redding.
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
I'm looking to go old school, Hollywood single stage. I'll fix the Lyman, but the Lee may find its way to the trash. If i don't get the hollywood, i'll get a rock chucker. les
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
I have done 100 cases once already, and the cases have lasted thru 10 reloadings. I kept 20 and gave 80 away. Works much better than the 30-40 to 303. Les
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
No it isn't, it is the best case for it, you just have to do more work before you use it. I did this up for my web page Savage Lever Actions of North America
Resizing 307 Win to 303 Savage
This has been a warm topic as of late, with Bertrams and Norma going for at least a $1 a piece. People have been asking what is the best case to resize from. After plenty or reading of various reloading manuals, and some talking with a few others that resize. I have come to the conclusion that the 307 Winchester is the best candidate.
The reason I have come to this descision is due to the case size and the case head, people have suggested using the 220 Swift brass, but that won’t work either. Case is right for resizing but the case head is the same size as a 250 Savage case head, which means you will get quite a few problems of the case not extracting properly(know this from personal experience) 250 will not always extract using a 303 Savage bolt, had an H that had been converted to 250 and it was not very good on positive extraction. You could use the 30-30 in a pinch but it is pretty much a 1 shot affair, the cases tend to split. John Barness (Mule Deer) uses the 30-40 Krag brass, but in my eyes the case is too thin, but just my opinion, John has been at this a bit longer than I have.
The first thing you need to do is get your 307 cases, I recommend Winchester brass from Midway, as they are really reasonable on cost, I think 30.00 for 100 pieces. Get yourself your 303 Dies, Lees are good, I am using redding dies now, I use my Lee resizing die just to resize the Winchester cases now. Once you have your brass and your dies you can go ahead and get started. Mind you there is some work involved, but when you are finished I think you will be satisfied. If you have an O press this may go a bit easier.
Second is to Lube all of your cases, then run them thru the sizing die, do it in three steps. Go down about 1/3 of the way on the case then lube again, go down another 1/3 of the way then lube again, finally run the case down home. You will notice that your cases look like very small belted mag cases when you are done, this will be taken care of in the next step.
Step1
Step 2
Step 3
Once all of your brass is resized you will need to remove the belt from the case, I suggest a strong drill a junk, a handful of 30 cal bullets and a good file. I lightly seat the bullet in to at least 10 cases. Place the bullet end into the chuck on the drill and remove the belt with the file. You need to bring it down to .440. Do this with all 100.
Trimming
Before trimming and After
Finally you need to trim them down to spec in case length. Helps if you have a power case trimmer, trust me on this one. You need to trim it back to 2.05. When you are finished, put those used bullets back to use, put the bullets into 10 cartridges at a time and ensure they cycle thru your action. I didn’t got to the range and had 4 out of the 100 that would chamber. I am on my 3 reload for the 1st 20 I did. Haven’t had any problems. Someone suggested annealing the case where you know the shoulder is going to be, I don’t but it may make life a bit easier.
Finished Product
Resizing 307 Win to 303 Savage
This has been a warm topic as of late, with Bertrams and Norma going for at least a $1 a piece. People have been asking what is the best case to resize from. After plenty or reading of various reloading manuals, and some talking with a few others that resize. I have come to the conclusion that the 307 Winchester is the best candidate.
The reason I have come to this descision is due to the case size and the case head, people have suggested using the 220 Swift brass, but that won’t work either. Case is right for resizing but the case head is the same size as a 250 Savage case head, which means you will get quite a few problems of the case not extracting properly(know this from personal experience) 250 will not always extract using a 303 Savage bolt, had an H that had been converted to 250 and it was not very good on positive extraction. You could use the 30-30 in a pinch but it is pretty much a 1 shot affair, the cases tend to split. John Barness (Mule Deer) uses the 30-40 Krag brass, but in my eyes the case is too thin, but just my opinion, John has been at this a bit longer than I have.
The first thing you need to do is get your 307 cases, I recommend Winchester brass from Midway, as they are really reasonable on cost, I think 30.00 for 100 pieces. Get yourself your 303 Dies, Lees are good, I am using redding dies now, I use my Lee resizing die just to resize the Winchester cases now. Once you have your brass and your dies you can go ahead and get started. Mind you there is some work involved, but when you are finished I think you will be satisfied. If you have an O press this may go a bit easier.
Second is to Lube all of your cases, then run them thru the sizing die, do it in three steps. Go down about 1/3 of the way on the case then lube again, go down another 1/3 of the way then lube again, finally run the case down home. You will notice that your cases look like very small belted mag cases when you are done, this will be taken care of in the next step.
Step1
Step 2
Step 3
Once all of your brass is resized you will need to remove the belt from the case, I suggest a strong drill a junk, a handful of 30 cal bullets and a good file. I lightly seat the bullet in to at least 10 cases. Place the bullet end into the chuck on the drill and remove the belt with the file. You need to bring it down to .440. Do this with all 100.
Trimming
Before trimming and After
Finally you need to trim them down to spec in case length. Helps if you have a power case trimmer, trust me on this one. You need to trim it back to 2.05. When you are finished, put those used bullets back to use, put the bullets into 10 cartridges at a time and ensure they cycle thru your action. I didn’t got to the range and had 4 out of the 100 that would chamber. I am on my 3 reload for the 1st 20 I did. Haven’t had any problems. Someone suggested annealing the case where you know the shoulder is going to be, I don’t but it may make life a bit easier.
Finished Product
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Very gutzy move
Violator,
Why would you attempt to move that much brass, that far, with a Lee ( cast white metal) or with a Lyman (single leverage). I don't think the warranty on these presses anticipated this type of use.
You need a real press like a Rockchucker, or big Redding to do that... with lots of leverage good lube.
Well I guess you can buy a real press now.
NormB
Violator,
Why would you attempt to move that much brass, that far, with a Lee ( cast white metal) or with a Lyman (single leverage). I don't think the warranty on these presses anticipated this type of use.
You need a real press like a Rockchucker, or big Redding to do that... with lots of leverage good lube.
Well I guess you can buy a real press now.
NormB
The parts for the LEE are $3 for each ( you might need 2)=$6 plus shipping from Lee Precision. Lyman probably has an inexpensive part also. Hard to blame the press when you break 2 different brands. It might be an indication of a flaw in the execution of your process. Maybe not in the end product, just how you get there. Certain presses work great for case forming and bullet swaging and others reload ammo well.
What kind of case lube are you using? If you are not already using it, I would suggest Imperial Sizing Wax. I use it to make 219Wasp brass from 30-30 and 375 winchester brass. Works really well for moving large amounts of brass, IMHO.
Interesting. I note that the rim thickness (headspace control) of the .303, .30-40 and .307 are so close that no adjustment would be required. The .303 and .307 rims diameters are so close that no alteration is needed; the .30-40 would have to be turned down. In the head area above the rim, the .30-40 requires a reduction of .015, the .307 a reduction of .028, almost twice as much. No wonder presses designed for reloading failed! You mention that you feel that .30-40 cases are too thin. To what area of the case are you referring?
Have you ever sectioned a casehead of a formed .307? Wonder what the web area looks like with that much reduction.
Hawk223 - annealing would not be an option. To make a difference in the heavy forming, it would be the head area that would have to be annealed, and that is really not a good idea.
Have you ever sectioned a casehead of a formed .307? Wonder what the web area looks like with that much reduction.
Hawk223 - annealing would not be an option. To make a difference in the heavy forming, it would be the head area that would have to be annealed, and that is really not a good idea.
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
I cut both the 307 and the 3040 in half tiriaq. the 307 even when it is resized and some brass is shaved off has a thicker web than even a factory 303 Sav case. They water grains when done is within .4 grains of a Winchester 303 Sav case, so i'm not losing much. I was using standard lyman lube, gonna switch to lanolin. I also was having problems with the 30-40 splitting in the main body, got frustrated, so i figured the 307 would be best, the 220 was not an option as it has the same case head as a 250 or 30-06, too small, asking for problems with extraction. Les
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- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
Well, Lee is gonna send me a steel replacment for the Aluminum part that broke, my Lyman on the other hjand will make a good boat nchor, as lyman doesn't have any of the bolts for the Turret anymore. So I guess i need to get a new turret. Dammit!
So I guess i need to get a new turret. Dammit!You may be able to get a high grade bolt from an industrial supply house, if Lyman cannot supply. What threads and length do you need? I do have an assortment of industrial grade bolts in my odds and ends collection (about 40 lbs worth), and might have something that would work for you.
From the photo, looks to be about a 5/8-18, but let me know, and I will see what I have.
From the photo, looks to be about a 5/8-18, but let me know, and I will see what I have.
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