RELOADING MATCH AMMO

I often get asked about the process I go through for loading my competition ammunition. I decided to sit down and write out how I load .308 Win using new components.

This is a tool listing for what I use:
Dillon XL 650 http://www.dillonprecision.com/
Dillon RF-100 Primer Filler http://www.dillonprecision.com/
Whidden Floating Die Tool Head x 2 http://www.whiddengunworks.net/
Redding Type S FL Bushing Die http://www.redding-reloading.com/
Redding Competition Seating Die http://www.redding-reloading.com/
K&M Expanding Iron w/window riser http://www.kmshooting.com/
K&M Taper Reamer http://www.kmshooting.com/
RCBS Auto Prime Tool http://www.rcbs.com/
Giraud Case Trimmer http://www.giraudtool.com/
Satern Powder Funnels http://saternmachining.com/
Sinclair Hex Nut http://www.sinclairintl.com/
Imperial Sizing Wax http://www.redding-reloading.com/
Sinclair Polymer Loading Blocks http://www.sinclairintl.com/
Starrett Calipers http://www.starrett.com/
Micrometer Case Gauge http://www.whiddengunworks.net/
Denver Instruments Scale 208 (no longer made)
Prometheus Powder Dispenser (No website)

***I want to start by saying much of the equipment I use is very expensive and not necessarily required for making great match ammunition. I own a lot of it in order to speed up the process of loading. I shoot thousands of rounds a year, and I generally will load 800-1000 at a time. It was taking me forever when I loaded with a single stage press and RCBS Chargemaster. To me the time was worth the money.***

The first step for me is prepping my brass. I always Full Length size, both with new and fired cases. I do my sizing as its own process on a Dillon 650. I have a Whidden Floating Tool Head set up with both an expanding mandrel and a sizing die. The floating dies allow for the die to center on the case and helps decrease run out. Because new brass generally has a lot of neck tension, I will use an expanding mandrel from K&M to open the neck up a little bit so that the sizing die has an easier time. The expanding button on the die would do the same thing, but it takes more force to do it in one process and in my experience gives less neck run out. Because I am using a Dillon with a case feeder and auto indexing, it doesn’t take any more time to do it this way. For this process I put the cases into the loading blocks and run my fingers up and down the case necks with lube on them. I then run my finger across the tops of the cases to deposit a small amount in the neck of the case. It takes a very small amount of imperial sizing wax to do this. I will go many thousands of rounds on a small tin of lube. Ill then dump the blocks out in the case feeder and cycle the cases through the mandrel and die. I use a bushing on the die that gives me about .0015 neck tension, and I set the shoulder to be .001 shorter than the chamber (normally new brass doesn’t have to be set back and it only sizes the neck). I check the shoulder set back by using a micrometer case gauge like the one from Whidden Gunworks. I like the polymer blocks from Sinclair because as they get dirty or stick from spray lube, I can throw them in the sink or dishwasher and clean them back up (don’t tell my wife I do that).

Once the brass is sized, I trim using a Giraud Case Trimmer. Then I follow up with a K&M Neck reamer. While the Giraud has a 3 way cutter, I like to use the K&M tool to re-cut the chamfer in the neck; this gives it a very gradual taper and allows me to feel the consistency of seating the round a little better.

I prime using a RCBS Auto Priming Tool and the Dillon RF-100 Primer Filler to fill the tubes. This gives me the speed I want, as well as allowing me still to feel how tight the primer pockets are and feel when the primer bottoms out. If the pockets feel loose, I will set that round aside to load for practice. I’ll throw the brass with loose pockets in the recycle bin after the next firing. I do not uniform primer pockets or ream/chamfer flash holes. I mostly use Lapua brass, but even with other brands I don’t worry about it. I also don’t weight sort brass. While these extra steps may improve accuracy a small amount, I’m not going to worry all that extra work for a possible decrease of a couple thousandths of an inch.

Now that the brass is prepped, I am going to swap tool heads in the Dillon for one with a seating die in the second to last hole. In the open space 2 before the seating die I place a Satern funnel. Because these are made caliber specific, it will stay on the neck of the cartridge when the ram is ran to the top. The powder funnel also self centers when the ram is dropped, so it will go onto the next case as the press indexes and I run the ram up again.

I use a Prometheus Powder Dispenser, but an RCBS Chargemaster works well. I’ve tested about all of automatic dispensers and the RCBS is my favorite, followed by the Lyman DPS 6. When I do small batches of ammo, I still use the RCBS. When setting the Prometheus, I use a Denver instruments scale to check the weights.

My powder charging and bullet seating setup runs like this – I cycle the powder dispenser to start the trickle. Prepped and primed brass goes in the case feeder and I cycle the press until I have a case below the powder funnel. I ram up and the funnel centers and lifts with the case. I take the powder from the dispenser (which restarts the trickle) and dump it into the funnel. As I ram down, I take a bullet and once I can verify that I see powder in the case, place it on top. This prevents powder from getting tossed out when the press indexes. I’ll have to cycle it 2 times while dumping powder and placing bullets to get the first round to the seating die. After I have seated the bullet on my first round, I verify the length with a Sinclair Hex Comparator and Starrett dial calipers. The Sinclair Comparator measures off the ogive so it isn’t affected by inconsistent bullet tips. While I am seating, I feel for inconsistencies in the amount of pressure needed to seat the bullet. If it feels different, it goes into the practice pile.

After the ammo is loaded, it goes into boxes with labels that have date, caliber, bullet, seating depth, powder (including lot number), powder weight, primer, brass (including times fired). If I am loading and it will sit for a long time before being shot, I will seat the bullet long and set back before the match. This lets me adjust for any throat erosion and it breaks any cold welding that may have happened between the brass and the bullet.

I’m not going to say this is the only or best way to load. For me it is the best way I have found to load large amounts of ammo and maintain accuracy needed to win national championships.