New reloader questions 338LM

[tropicallrg]

Hey, so this is my very first post. my name is rob, I am from virginia. bloombergs newest playground. so here is the deal, I have purchased a 338 LM rifle, and reloading seems like my only option. I've been looking on here all day and I cant seem to find the answer or a true explanation to the questions I have. I bought pretty much a whole reloading set up.


I got myself some Redding Competition Dies. I still need to purchase the bushing for the neck die.

The question I have is. will that particular set get me through reloading used brass? I am seeing I will have to expand the mouth of the case after round is fired. From what I have gathered the bushing sizes the neck for seating by closing it not opening it. Do both operations need to be done? Also, is a crimp die something that would be necessary?

Also attached below is some of the tooling I've picked up in the last few weeks. I dont currently have everything but I'm still working on it.

sorry for all the lack of knowledge, I'm trying to understand. I just dont know which way is up currently. this is a lot of info to take in at once.

 

[rjacobs]

Geebus you picked a HELL of a round to START your reloading journey with. Most people start with 9mm then venture into 223 then venture further...

I dont load 338LM so I wont venture into answering your questions...

 

[MBanning]

You don't really expand the case mouth unless you are loading straight wall handgun cartridges or sometimes with soft lead bullets.

What some people do is size the neck a bit small then open it back up to the appropriate size for the desired neck tension with an expander mandrel. This is often a bit more precise and consistent than using just a bushing and/or expander ball in the sizing die.

To be honest I think you should just order a bushing that gives you .002" neck tension with the brass you are using. That will get you started and you can always add the extra step of an expander mandrel later. 338 LM is pretty easy to load for, they mostly tend to shoot well. Take your time, be careful and pay attention. You will learn a lot.

 

[skipjack]

My recommendation is read a reloading book. If possible have someone you know show you. You do not need a crimping die for a bolt action. Buy a few reloading manuals. And pay attention.

 

[tropicallrg]

You don't really expand the case mouth unless you are loading straight wall handgun cartridges or sometimes with soft lead bullets.

What some people do is size the neck a bit small then open it back up to the appropriate size for the desired neck tension with an expander mandrel. This is often a bit more precise and consistent than using just a bushing and/or expander ball in the sizing die.

To be honest I think you should just order a bushing that gives you .002" neck tension with the brass you are using. That will get you started and you can always add the extra step of an expander mandrel later. 338 LM is pretty easy to load for, they mostly tend to shoot well. Take your time, be careful and pay attention. You will learn a lot.

from what I understand this die does not have the ball in it. only the bushing which I have to get separately. I was planning on grabbing the 0.364" and 0.365" I believe. I read they were the most common and I bought some factory loaded ammo just to get my hands on something and get some measurements to get a little comfortable with this. every single one was 0.3660" or 0.3665"

 

[tropicallrg]

My recommendation is read a reloading book. If possible have someone you know show you. You do not need a crimping die for a bolt action. Buy a few reloading manuals. And pay attention.

I will start looking for a book that leans more toward what I'm trying to do. book seems to be the consensus across the board. I just hate reading I get more from watching and hands on.

 

[tropicallrg]

I chose to reload more out of necessity, but if it becomes more of a hobby than a chore I may reload for my .308 as well.

 

[RegionRat]

In addition to getting some of the reloading books, I would strongly recommend you try to get with a mentor for the first few sessions.

While it is certainly possible to find your way by reading and watching videos without the benefit of having learned this by watching or participating in person, you will climb the learning curve much faster with a good mentor.

The ABCs of Reloading is generally available used for a few dollars.
The Sierra Manual is good to own in paper form for the tutorial and for the load data.
The Zediker books are also good once you get past the basics.

The place to start a rookie, is generally with a forgiving straight wall pistol cartridge, followed by a common inexpensive bottleneck like a 308 or 223. Then once you have those mastered you can tackle more advanced topics like belted magnums or big expensive boomer rounds.

Welcome to the affliction and good luck.

 

[tropicallrg]

In addition to getting some of the reloading books, I would strongly recommend you try to get with a mentor for the first few sessions.

While it is certainly possible to find your way by reading and watching videos without the benefit of having learned this by watching or participating in person, you will climb the learning curve much faster with a good mentor.

The ABCs of Reloading is generally available used for a few dollars.
The Sierra Manual is good to own in paper form for the tutorial and for the load data.
The Zediker books are also good once you get past the basics.

The place to start a rookie, is generally with a forgiving straight wall pistol cartridge, followed by a common inexpensive bottleneck like a 308 or 223. Then once you have those mastered you can tackle more advanced topics like belted magnums or big expensive boomer rounds.

Welcome to the affliction and good luck.

I will look those books up on amazon and see if I can get some copies. I have a friend who reloads but he out of town for work,maybe I can help him out loading his stuff, I haveno desire to reload any pistol ammo doesn't seem worth it to me, currently.

 

[RegionRat]

Loading those straightwall pistol cartridges is not a requirement. It is intended to allow a new loader to gain experience and feel for working with brass and with fewer initial constraints.

Many of the skills are the same, but the bottleneck rifle rounds have many more requirements. Learning them all at the same time is possible, but be prepared for more mistakes and waste as a result.

Start with many small batches and cycles. You will know when you are ready for bigger batches.

 

[tropicallrg]

Loading those straightwall pistol cartridges is not a requirement. It is intended to allow a new loader to gain experience and feel for working with brass and with fewer initial constraints.

Many of the skills are the same, but the bottleneck rifle rounds have many more requirements. Learning them all at the same time is possible, but be prepared for more mistakes and waste as a result.

Start with many small batches and cycles. You will know when you are ready for bigger batches.

gotcha. I see what you mean now. yeah that was the plan rather mess up a few than the whole lot of them.

 

[ShootnFool8]

Bought same press, and same dies, you did. When I started reloading .338 lm, myself. You will need a full length reloading die, eventually. Not hard to reload. A few trial, and errors. You will get thru.

 

[tropicallrg]

may I ask what the difference between a full length and having a body die and a neck die is?

 

[Huskydriver]

Dude OP I have loaded thousands of rounds of 338LM. Loading 338Lm is 0 different than how I load 308 or 223....0 difference

 

[Huskydriver]

First off...brass springs back as the brass is fired over and over without annealing, it springs back less and less so if your not going to anneal you need a bushing that will size the neck back down to enough tension to hold the bullet e first few firings. Most guys refer to this as .002 neck tension but reality is, you can run more or less with the idea of sizing the least amount you can and still get good results on paper.

With that said, alot of us remove the expanderball from the sizing die, and open the mouth back up with an expander mandrel die to achieve the desired sized neck. Main reason for this is concentricity. Any time you pull something through the neck, chances are it's not going to be perfectly straight but it can be so alot of us don't and use expanders which push the neck open in a seperate operation.

FL sizing dies can be either regular FL dies or bushing dies. They will fully size the brass from neck to web.

A body die doesn't touch the neck. A FL bushing die with the bushing removed can do this too.

A neck die is just the opposite, it won't touch the body but will size the neck.

 

[DIBBS]

As others have suggested....

Buy a reloading manual or two. Take time to read them. a couple times

Get a mentor experienced in reloading. This is priceless and will help you to avoid... mistakes.

maybe reload for a straight walled pistol case to start out... simplicity

Then move up to loading for your 308 generally easy to load for, lots of combinations will work well.

After you can load for the 308 by yourself, then I would move up to loading for the 338 Lapua. It eats a LOT of powder...

It's a rewarding journey, just take your time and dont get in a rush to crank out shells.

 

[ShootnFool8]

From what I found out. Is the stretching of the brass, I guess you can call it. After so many firings, have to resize it with a full length die. I said to myself, why? Then I understood, as I read in many other google searches. Is the brass was getting hard to load in chamber. Learned the hard way. So, now I just use the competition seating die, to seat. I use the full length die with bushing, for sizing.

 

[ZiaHunter]

As Huskydriver mentioned above reloading the 338LM is not different than reloading other bottleneck rifle rounds with the exception of being more costly. I have reloaded many 338LM rounds and use Redding Type S bushing dies for it. Get good brass such as Lapua or Peterson and it will make life much easier. I wouldn't recommend using fired brass from others. The easiest way way to determine bushing size is to seat a bullet in your brass and measure the outside diameter of the neck. Subtract .002 and you will have a good starting point. I generally have a number of different bushing sizes so I can play with neck tension. Retumbo is my goto powder and my rifle likes 91.0 gr being 285 ELD-M Federal 215M primers. works well with 1:10 or faster barrels. Don't screw around with neck sizing because it will only give you headaches. Die setup is important and only want to bump the shoulder .002-.003 otherwise you will overwork the brass and shorten case life. Hopefully you buddy has an annealer and would anneal the brass after a couple of firings.

Make an investment in good tooling such as calipers, comparators neck trimmers etc. It will save you a lot of frustration and permit proper setup of tooling. As mentioned above get a number of reloading manuals as well as reading the sticky posts on precision reloading. If you have specific questions send me a PM. Good luck.

 

[skipjack]

I chose to reload more out of necessity, but if it becomes more of a hobby than a chore I may reload for my .308 as well.

Trust me it can be both at times. Like I love turning wrenches on a muscle car or a Harley. But absolutely hate fixing something that broke on my daily driver. If that makes sense.

 

[Howland]

Depending on the brass brand and lot and the amount of neck tension you want, you might need more bushings.

With the specific lots of brands I've measured, I got neck thickness of .01525 with FGMM, .01450 with Lapua, .01400 with Peterson & .01475 with Hornady. Different lots can be expected to slightly differ.

That is why I added neck sizing mandrels from 21st Century, to control neck tension even when neck thickness varies lot to lot or within a lot. My rifle seems to like .3350 inside neck diameter.

And Giraud makes a nice comparator for measuring headspace and seating depth to ogive.

Best of luck.

 

[tropicallrg]

Depending on the brass brand and lot and the amount of neck tension you want, you might need more bushings.

With the specific lots of brands I've measured, I got neck thickness of .01525 with FGMM, .01450 with Lapua, .01400 with Peterson & .01475 with Hornady. Different lots can be expected to slightly differ.

That is why I added neck sizing mandrels from 21st Century, to control neck tension even when neck thickness varies lot to lot or within a lot. My rifle seems to like .3350 inside neck diameter.

And Giraud makes a nice comparator for measuring headspace and seating depth to ogive.

Best of luck.

I plan on using lapua brass only. and what I was saying about fired brass I was talking about my personally fired brass. i how ever was considering buying some used to practice sizing and seating with just to not ruin good brass right away. i have most of the tools i need, i believe. i will have to compile a list when I get off of work.


also, you guys are awesome. thank you so much for each and every one of your responses. glad to know I have somewhere to go if I cant seem to find my way out of all this info.

 

[tropicallrg]

I ordered he sierra manual! I listened to advice. haha

 

[cmoore806]

The money savings with reloading has been less of a joke for me when it comes to loading rifle brass. When you can make quality accurate ammo for your rifles then you're comparing your ammo to the most expensive match grade ammo (and making better than even the best factory ammo). You could make a claim that you are saving dollars per round especially with 338 and large caliber rifle.

There is truth in the statement that you haven't really become a reloader until you've bought something you don't need or use. Welcome to the hobby within a hobby.

 

[lash]

I ordered he sierra manual! I listened to advice. haha

You can get started right now with your reading education. In this very sub-forum “Snipers Hide Reloading” there are no less than 9 different threads that are stickies at the top of the page that can walk you through the loading process pretty well. They are lengthy and heavy with pictures and I recommend them.

 

[tropicallrg]

ive compiled a list of what i have and what i need, lets see if im missing anything

press
neck sizing die
body die
full length sizing die
bullet seating die
neck expander die
decapping die
bullet puller die(with collet)
case trimmer
case holder for trimmer
ammo checker
annealler
chamferring tools
primer pocket uniformer, reamer, brush
comparator
comparator shoulder insert
reloading trays
scale
OAL gage
modified case
reloading books
tumbler(media and polish)
powder funnel
die bushings
bottle brushes for necks
bullets
brass



things i know i still need

hand priming tool
primers
powder
extra cases to hold brass and/or loaded ammo
ball mic

 

[Howland]

ive compiled a list of what i have and what i need, lets see if im missing anything

press
neck sizing die
body die
full length sizing die
bullet seating die
neck expander die
decapping die
bullet puller die(with collet)
case trimmer
case holder for trimmer
ammo checker
annealler
chamferring tools
primer pocket uniformer, reamer, brush
comparator
comparator shoulder insert
reloading trays
scale
OAL gage
modified case
reloading books
tumbler(media and polish)
powder funnel
die bushings
bottle brushes for necks
bullets
brass



things i know i still need

hand priming tool
primers
powder
extra cases to hold brass and/or loaded ammo
ball mic

A good set of calipers is an absolute must.

A depriming die is helpful for removing primers before cleaning and sizing. You have to be selective because some won't take the .338 LM case. Frankfort Arsenal makes a nice hand held deprimer. Add a primer pocket cleaning tool if you want to remove the crud that builds up there but I doubt whether the targets can tell the difference.

Some folks who use progressive presses have never seen the inside of their primer pockets unless they bought new brass. They think we're a little bit off. They just might be right.

 

[tropicallrg]

I have a bunch of calipers, digital, dial, and verniers, a bunch if OS Mics. I didnt include that because I didnt get them for this reason, I use them for alot of things. I have the sinclair deprimer, and a Lyman set of primer pocket tools

 

[psychogecko]

I love reloading this round...Saved a lot of money doing it. Everyone is giving some good advice. Reading the books is a excellent start.

 

[tropicallrg]

I'm trying to dial the dies in with some used brass I picked up just for that reason, this seems a bit tricky

 

[Howland]

I'm trying to dial the dies in with some used brass I picked up just for that reason, this seems a bit tricky

Just keep in mind that each 5° turn of the dies sets the shoulder back almost exactly one thousanth of an inch. I mark the press and the die body with a sharpie and use a compass to estimate how much I'm turning.