Loaded my first necked rifle rounds today.

[Trey Veston]

.308 Winchester using 165 grain Nosler Ballistic tips and 44 grains of Varget for the first batch, then 150 grain Hornady BTs using the same charge of 44 grains of Varget.

The manual didn't say that these were going to be compressed loads, but maybe my PPU cases have less capacity, because both were when loaded to 2.80 OACL.

Totally forgot to order a new priming tool and tried to use the total garbage Lee hand tool. Took forever having to take the feeder off and just place each primer in the cup manually and juggle it to get it to line up before seating it. Still managed to ruin a couple of primers because they ended up going in sideways. Lee should be ashamed of that train wreck.

 

[AJC1]

PPU is military brass and a little thicker than some 308 commercial brass

 

[horsey300]

.308 Winchester using 165 grain Nosler Ballistic tips and 44 grains of Varget for the first batch, then 150 grain Hornady BTs using the same charge of 44 grains of Varget.

The manual didn't say that these were going to be compressed loads, but maybe my PPU cases have less capacity, because both were when loaded to 2.80 OACL.

Totally forgot to order a new priming tool and tried to use the total garbage Lee hand tool. Took forever having to take the feeder off and just place each primer in the cup manually and juggle it to get it to line up before seating it. Still managed to ruin a couple of primers because they ended up going in sideways. Lee should be ashamed of that train wreck.

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I'll be the first "that guy" any reason why we started 44? Generally, until we're certain of safe limits the recommendation to start low has it's place, as you found, different brass creates different capacities, coal vs chamber throat affects that as well....... I have know idea how much straight wall experience you have but please be very careful........
That being said, once you've established your own safety, congratulations and enjoy this rabbit hole!

 

[forty_caliber]

Good to see you made the leap. .308 especially military brass can be difficult to resize. Checking the brass in a case gauge is critical. I have +/-10% of cases that don't resize properly (even with small base dies) and wind up in the scrap bucket.

Did you check case length? I typically have to trim "new" once fired brass quite a bit.

If you don't have a gauge please check each round in your firearm to make sure it goes into battery.

I've found that the three .308 rifles that I own are happiest with velocities in the 2500fps range and also seem to like heavier bullets in the 165-190 range.

Varget is a great powder choice for this round.

Please keep us in the loop and let us know how things go.

.40

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Which Lee hand primer was 'total garbage' ?

I have one that works beautifully.

 

[lordpaxman]

The manual didn't say that these were going to be compressed loads, but maybe my PPU cases have less capacity, because both were when loaded to 2.80 OACL.

Anytime I find there’s a discrepancy between what I think should be and what the manual says I recheck everything, again.
Your manual says they used Nosler cases and they hold 48.3gr H2O. You could check your PPU cases and see how much they hold, it’d be an easy check, just to be sure. If they are military or thick brass then you may want to back off to the minimum starting charge instead.
It also says at 44gr of Varget there’s a 98% case fill which is close to compressed. I’d check H2O first just to see how much difference there is. They also used a magnum primer. What are yours?

 

[Walkalong]

So, is this the first time you have loaded "bottle necked" rifle brass, or the first time you just neck sized brass?

I bought some once fired .308 LR brass that should only have been fired through a bolt action, but I still had some cases that resisted sizing so much I scrapped them.

 

[Shooterbob]

Do you have a. Beam scale to check that digital?

 

[Scooter22]

Totally forgot to order a new priming tool and tried to use the total garbage Lee hand tool. Took forever having to take the feeder off and just place each primer in the cup manually and juggle it to get it to line up before seating it. Still managed to ruin a couple of primers because they ended up going in sideways. Lee should be ashamed of that train wreck.

Are the primers crimped in PPU brass? If so did you remove the crimp before seating? If you didn't that's your priming problem. I have the old round version that's probably 30 years old. Never had a problem with any size primers in anything I reload. Thats about 15 different cartridges.

 

[FROGO207]

I also have the old Lee round priming tool and might mess up 1 in 1000 at most when installing them. The right size punch and shell holder are needed to work well. That may be your problem.

Now we need a range report!!!

 

[Trey Veston]

Which Lee hand primer was 'total garbage' ?

I have one that works beautifully.

I had an old one that the handle broke on and the new style which came with my press kit a few years ago. The new one is garbage. It worked occasionally with large pistol primers, not at all with anything else.

It's common knowledge that the new style Lee hand priming tools are junk.

 

[Trey Veston]

Do you have a. Beam scale to check that digital?

Yep. All my loads are checked with the digital scale to get them close, then verified on the beam scale. The digital scale usually reads higher than the beam scale.

 

[Trey Veston]

Totally forgot to order a new priming tool and tried to use the total garbage Lee hand tool. Took forever having to take the feeder off and just place each primer in the cup manually and juggle it to get it to line up before seating it. Still managed to ruin a couple of primers because they ended up going in sideways. Lee should be ashamed of that train wreck.

Are the primers crimped in PPU brass? If so did you remove the crimp before seating? If you didn't that's your priming problem. I have the old round version that's probably 30 years old. Never had a problem with any size primers in anything I reload. Thats about 15 different cartridges.

PPU was fresh brass. Checked case length on random samples and they were all very close. Ran all of them through the sizing die then deburred the case mouths.

The problem with the priming tool is that the primers wouldn't go from the loading triangle-shaped tray through the clear plastic chute to anywhere close to the mechanism that presses them into the casing. Doing them one by one and manually placing the primers in, they pressed in perfectly with normal amounts of pressure.

 

[Scooter22]

Gotcha. Thay doesn,t look like it had a crimp anyway. I,ve seen the newer triangle shaped ones but have never heard of problems. I like my old round one along with the Lee hand press. I can process/load rounds on the porch, yard or under the grape vine. Are there any burrs in the chute? I don,t know how old it is but contact Lee. They are usually pretty good on fixes.

 

[AJC1]

Time to splurge and get the rcbs universal hand primer

 

[Obturation]

I've got this one.

I attached it to an old cutting board and I just put the tray of cases on it and I can prime on my lap . the tool is inexpensive but mine has worked very well for me, maybe you got a dud (if it's the same tool). Everyone likes different setups but what you've got should function fine unless something screwed up with it.

 

[rdnktrkr]

Congratulations on your first loads, you will have a big smile on your face when you get to the range.
I also have the older Lee round primer but only have the small primer setup so I use the Lee auto prime on the press for large primers, it is easier to prime using the hand primer. I recently purchased some new Hornady 6.5 grendel brass and found about 10% needed trimming. Loading 308 I would look closely at something to remove primer crimps and you will probably need to trim after the first firing.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Time to splurge and get the rcbs universal hand primer

Funny thing is I like my new Lee hand prime better than my rcbs universal.
It does have a learning curve to get it to work well though. Primers don't feed unless you rock it before each round. I do this while reaching for the next case.