Reloading 308 and already making mistakes.....Question regarding shoulder

[Lrdchaos]

I bought a set of Forster dies of a member on this forum. I sized 100 once fired brass yesterday everything seemed to go well. I went to trim the brass this morning and the necks would not fit over the pilot on my trimmer. I called Forster and we measured the pilot and the expander ball. The pilot was .307 and the expander was .291 which he says would have to be a custom expander ball. So I ordered the standard expander for a 308.

Now for the questions....I didn't realize that this was a national match die, it was never presented that way in the thread, if it was I must have overlooked it. The Forster rep said the NM dies set the shoulder back 3 thousands, what affect will this have on my rifle? He said it is designed for rifles with tighter chambers, Will it still work in my 308? I would assume that once the new expander ball gets here all I have to do is resize the brass again and open the neck correct?


Thanks

 

[Victor N TN]

Did the seller include an instruction sheet with the dies?

Without knowing the length of your chamber and the length the die is set for it's difficult to say. BUT... I would recommend getting a Hornady / Stoney Point shoulder length gauge and a cheap set of dial calipers if you don't already have a set. You can get one of the cheaper sets from Midway or any number of other sources for less than $30. I think Midway also carries the case length gauge. I might be using the wrong name. But it attaches to the dial calipers and checks the length from the case head to the shoulder. It has an adapter that attaches to the calipers with a "thumb screw". The part of the gauge that actually goes over the case and has the contour of the case shoulder attaches to that. Then measure a case FIRED FROM THE RIFLE YOU ARE GOING TO LOAD FOR. Measuring brass fired in another rifle doesn't work.

Hopefully this is enough to get you started in the right direction.

Good luck.

 

[griff383]

This is what he is talking about:

Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Reloading :: Metallic Reloading :: Tools & Gauges :: Lock-N-Load Gauges-Formerly Stoney Point :: Headspace Gauges :: Headspace Gauge Kits

 

[Lrdchaos]

I talked to forster they said everything was still within saami specs. I may have to wait until I get the rifle to do anything more with the brass.

 

[InfScout1/69]

If you are using the bushing dies I had the same issue... You just have to use the correct bushing size