JSeavers

I also wrap gun parts on the Oregomian pages, but it is not as thick as it used to be.

A local gun shop has OOO buckshot shells in .410, 2 1/2 in shells for the Judge. They have three round balls, and I wouldn't want to be standing in front of that.

It was on the FalFiles marketplace

A friend wants me to load some 270 Win in both 130 gr and 150 gr sp. Anybody know what factory load specs are? I plan on using Federal 210 primers. Any suggestion on powder s would be appreciated.

I have seen good LC brass that has been for sale for quite a while for $65 per K and it's not selling.

Well, I finished my 2,965+ trims on .308 and the die worked fine. I was surprised how some of the cases (one in a hundred or so) had a little more resistance going up into the die. I suspect the neck walls were thicker, since they all were sized using the same expander ball. This was TW 68 headstamped cases. The LC cases I trimmed felt like they were very inconsistent in neck wall thickness. Now on to cleaning and loading.

I got my die back yesterday, and had to take it back to the machinist this morning for a small modification. I picked it up this afternoon, set it up this evening, and tried it out. It functioned fine but left scratches on the necks, so I took out my dremel and sandpaper spool and polished it up. Now it only makes a slight mark on the surface that you can rub out with a cloth. It works fine. The case has only a slight resistance when it enters the die, and that might be because the cases still have a heavy coating of lanolin. That resistance might be the reason the case doesn't spin, or the case holder is holding it, keeping it from spinning. Either way, the case does not spin and I'm happy with the die. I have no idea what it cost me yet. I guess I will find out at the end of the month. It might be easier to find a shop to grind out .005 from the die ID. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Jim

I have tried pushing the RCBS expander ball back down in the brass (.308) but I don't like the way it feels-way too rough and hard on the brass. I'll look for a smooth carbide expander ball.

Jared, I think modifying your approach for a 650 might work if I could find a ball that would fit down a hard neck. A nicely polished, gently tapered one might work. I have never seen a carbide one-is that what they are like???

I appreciate all the replies, including those slightly off topic. I learn a little from each. My last visit with the machinist's boss was: he could drill the die to about .002 less than my spec size, or ream to about .002 over the spec I gave him. I opted to go with the drill size(we're only using tool steel(?) here), and polish it up. If that didn't work, we would try reaming. The size we are shooting for is the neck od as the brass comes out of the RCBS .308 fl sizing die. The Dillon trim die reduces the od by .005; maybe I can live with -.002. I like the idea of a Dillon expander ball as an extra step. I have some Hornady Match brass that has really hard necks so a smooth ball and maybe lube would be in order. (This brass is already primed btw.) I had a friend prep the brass on a 1050, and he did it really cheap. And I got what I paid for.

I ran into a problem similar to this. I was reloading 300 Win Mag and over the years had cases that I resized sometimes not want to chamber in my rifles. I wasn't using a gauge. I was using RCBS dies and had 2 #4 shell holders. I finally decided to see if the shell holder was the problem. I measured them and they varied by about .003". The cases that did not chamber sized with one shell holder did chamber if sized in the same dies using the other one. If this is a new shell holder you might check it out.

Machinist went on vacation, now I need to wait a week until he gets back.

I went to see him on Wednesday, he still hadn't started on it. But maybe I moved it up a little on his list. I'll see him again tomorrow...

Well, let's see- per round: (today's prices) brass .10- .13 primer .03- .04 bullet .16+ powder varies, but figure about .17 That puts you at about 49 cents +/- per For .223 brass .08 primer .03- .04 bullet .09+ powder .08 About .28+ for these. YMMV

I'm having a guy make me a trim die that is only snug on the neck on a representative sample of 7.62 x 51 brass. I want to be able to push the brass into the die with only thumb pressure. And I'm expecting all brass necks to possibly have a different wall thickness, so I don't expect all the brass to be exactly the same. I do expect to be able to work with the compression if the die reduces an occasional piece on occasion. He said it would be a couple of days. I'm still new to this Dillon equipment, and I'm not really trying to reinvent the wheel here, but I still don't see the reason for making a combo die. I can see the reason for a fl die, or a trim die, but the reason for making of a combo die still eludes me. Anyhow, in a few days I'll see if I wasted my money.