Hello everyone! First thread, first post. Been lurking around for a few months.

Help a beginner jump into the deep end of rifle cartridge reloading!!!!

I recently inherited (asked for) my late grandpa's reloading supplies because I have a Bushmaster LR-308 that I want to reload for, as well as a 7mm Mag hunting rifle. Below is the set up I am working with. I have been reading like a fiend trying to learn everything I need to know to get started this weekend. I will be looking to buy a Brass Tumbler, Digital Scale, and supplies for loading the 308 cartridge for the LR-308.

RCBS Rock Chucker Single Stage Press
RCBS Powder measure
RCBS Case Trimmer with burring tool
RCBS (I think) Balance Scale
RCBS Powder Trickler
Dial Calipers
Kinetic bullet puller
Hornaday Manual 3rd ed.

Dies:
7mm Mag
264 Win Mag
300 Win Mag (Seater only right now installed in the press, sizer missing)
243
30-06
Bullet puller with unknown collet
stuck case remover



NOW: For the questions.

1. What is the best way to set up the sizing die for headspace, or whatever I need to set up the sizing die to? Can someone illustrate an easy method?
2. Is a case gage required for headspace sizing and do I need to size to headspace for Bolt or Gas Guns? Are Calipers enough?
3. Is neck tension something I need to worry about for the LR-308 when sizing with standard dies?
4. What stage of oxidation on old cases requires them to be discarded or cannot fire in a bolt gun if already loaded? (Photos to come)

Thank you in advance.

Do I just set the die to touch the ram and leave it there, or is there more adjustment that needs doing?

For most dies, initial set up is to put the ram all the way to the top, tighten the die till it touches the ram, then lower the ram and turn the die down another 1/8th of a turn and lock it down.

That will size the case fully with the cam over of the ram.  A case gauge is a good idea, but not absolutely necessary. Get one if you can afford it.  

Once you make some functional ammo, and get the process down, then worry about bumping the shoulder the minimum required for functionality. That will require a headspace comparator and a set of calipers which you should have before you start loading anyways.

Neck tension should be good unless your sizing button is too large. Seat a bullet in an empty resized unprimed case and try to push it into the case against your bench. If it slides into the case, you may have neck tension issues.

corrosion of the case is an issue. You can DRY tumble loaded rounds to clean them up a bit. If they are too far gone, just disassemble them and scrap the cases.

Welcome to the hobby. Keep reading and asking questions!

I would suggest the Hornady Headspace Gauge Set also. It mounts on your calipers. It just measures your fired brass and compares that measurement to your sized brass shoulders. It will measure most calibers. Most recommended to size the fired shoulders back .002" to .004" maximum. I would also recommend buying the latest Hornady Manual the 10th, and other bullet company manuals such as Sierra if you shoot Sierra bullets, Nosler if you're shooting Nosler bullets. Lyman's 50th is another good manual.  Cases that are pitted or corroded should be scrapped but just stained or aged are good to go. I recommend a very close case inspection inside and out for signs of case stretching, especially with the 7MM Magnum.

The last post about case stretching is important.

 A heavy paper clip or pick type tool that fits into the case that your scratch across the inside of the case .

A wire works as well. You want a sharp end bent to a 90 deg. that you are looking for a spot that is thin. Usually the lower end of the case.  

When I started loading 7 mag, was before the hornady tool .

I made a line on top of sizing die as a reference with a sharpie.
Screwed in the die to touch the shell holder with the ram raised.
Backed it of a half turn.
Put a case in your clean rifles chamber and slowy close the bolt.  See how it feels, does it close, tight or loose. If tight.
Lube the case and run it into the die a hold it there for a couple seconds.
Pull it out and drop it into the clean chamber of my rifle.
Slowly close the bolt and see if it closes easier.    
It likely wont and you will need to turn the die in a quarter turn.  
Use another case doing the same as before. And keep doing this until you feel the bolt closing with no binding.
Do another case and see what it feels like. When you get it right to where this is good you turn the die in a 1/8 to 1/4 turn for reliable chambering.
That is pushing the shoulder back and the base of the case with your die just enough to chamber .
With the hornady tool you get a number that you can size to as seen above in dryflash's picture.
 With these methods you are not over sizing , you are keeping the stretching after firing to a minimum for longer case life.  And the rounds loaded will be custom to your chamber and may not fit another chamber .
 
  Hope this gives you some help, wall of text I know.  But even with the hornady tool it is best to check the cases for chamber fit before loading a bunch of rounds and find they dont fit .

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will begin with simple sizing by touching the die. Then I will move to head space sizing. I may be able to size the 7mm by feel as described above, but with the LR-308 a gage will probably be necessary. I will put that on the list.

Once I get up and running I may ask about some of these old cases. I know there are plenty that need to be culled. Some loaded cases will need to be disassembled for parts, but if there are some that are borderline I will post some pics.

Also, once the brass is no longer viable for reload, should I save it or just trash it. I don't shoot hundreds of rounds a month, so it may not be worth keeping for me.

Update: Went shopping this weekend and came back with most everything on my list. I picked up the Die Set for 308, some new Winchester brass, and a box of 150 gr. FMJ bullets to get me started with 308. I already have some IMR 4895 with the rest of the equipment. I also got the brass tumbler and digital scale.

To start off slow I used the new Winchester 308 brass and the new 150gr. bullets to learn how to seat to the proper depth. After a few tries I figured out I needed to start way out and bring the die in gradually to not overshoot my target OAL. Loaded 20x of the 150gr FMJ, then 6x of a 180gr soft point and 4x of a 165gr. Hornady BTSP for future accuracy testing for hunting. I have a small stock of 308 hunting bullets originally used for reloading 300 Win Mag, which I do not own. So these will do nicely for Hog Hunting rounds in the 308!

The next day I wanted to start re-sizing and trimming, so I set up the sizing die for the 7 Mag and went to work. All I did this round was a full length size all the way to the belt. I did 32 cases that I had cleaned with the new tumbler and a after dinner I trimmed them all to 2.495 +/- a few thousandths. Trimming was a longer process, but for 32 cases, not too bad. Now I have 32 sized, primed, and trimmed cases ready for loading this week with a few different weight bullets for load workup on the 7 Mag.

Question: How critical is the trim length? The case length for 7 Mag is 2.500", so I targeted 2.490-2.495 with a few being a little longer or shorter. Is this acceptable, and how critical should I be of the Case Length, or the COAL after seating the bullet for that matter?

Quick pick of my mobile bench as it sits.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s571/BladeCommander/8314E5BA-386D-4730-B6C5-82DC5583A92A_zpskymahx2a.jpg

If your trim length is between the min-max trim length they are safe to fire but the accuracy may not be what the gun is capable of.   So fire them and try to be more consistent the next go around.

 Like dryflash is saying,  the 7 mag can be hard on brass when it is sized down so much.  

 Even with the method I explained the calipers and a tool to measure the shoulder gives a number to go by.

 Hopefully you checked the sized cases after sizing to see if the fit your chamber.

Make a line on the die and back off the die and see how much sizing it takes to make a case fit the chamber .  

Then you can see how much you were sizing more than needed.   But then thats where the tool comes in handy.

 I like to have a case fully in the sizing die ,upstroke,  when I lock the die ring.

 I like to always function test the brass after sizing to insure they fit.  Much time has been wasted not doing this.  A personal experience.

 Sounds like your putting the pieces together and on your way.  You have a good start ,  hopefully your range isn't to far away for you to get to test your loads.   Good luck.

Like Dryflash said, consistency is the key to accuracy. The closer you can make one the same as another the better your accuracy will be. Start by trying different charges from low to higher. With a round as big as 7mm Mag go in 1 grain increments. You probably won't see any difference in POI with less of a change.

After you find a load that groups well try different seating depths to try to get it better.

Since I've never heard of a semi-auto in 7mm Mag I assume they will be fired in a bolt gun. You should try neck-sizing the cases. That will increase accuracy and case life. Depending on how hot the load is you may get 3 firings by neck-sizing before having to full length resize. But save that for after you get more experience.

With the cases that are corroded, try some 0000 steel wool to remove it then you can see how bad it really is. If the case is pitted, pull them apart to save the components, dump the powder on the lawn, it's likely to be contaminated anyway and it's fairly cheap, why take a chance? Regarding your question about what to do with un-useable brass: remember you're in a reloading forum and most of us don't like to see material that can be recycled into new stuff being thrown in the trash never to be seen again . I recycle what I can but the choice is yours, of course.

ETA: You have a nice set-up to start out with. Good equipment goes a long way in the beginning and you'll always have a need for a single stage press after you move to a progressive.

Went back to read your concerns of OAL.

 When you seat a bullet and you measure it for oal. Then measure another one and it is not exact the same length.

It is because many times bullets are not the same from the ogive or where the seating die pushes the bullet in forward to the tip of the bullet.
Think of the lead tipped bullets being kinda rough

But the seating die is pushing them in the same where the bullet is going to be engaging the rifling.

So over all length has to be more to fit your magazine between the slight difference you would get measuring the base to tip of bullet.  

  So what i'm saying is dont chase the measurement of oal ,  base to ogive where your die touches the bullet is telling you more how far the bullet has to go to touch the rifling.

  The term would be how much jump from a loaded round  the bullet takes to engage the rifling.


   Get a fired case that fits the chamber and very slightly bend the neck to hold a bullet so it moves back and forth.

 Insert case in chamber with bullet just in far enough to hold. If you are careful going in and back out you will get repeatable measurements of case base to ogive.

Don't waste time or cut corners. Buy a gauge to measure case sizing. Very inexpensive. Shouldn't start loading without one. Like mentioned the 7MM Mag needs to headspace on the shoulder and not just the belt. You won't get 3 or 4 loadings on new brass until there is a real possibility of a case separating just in front of the belt if you're oversizing the shoulder. I recommend again the Hornady Headspace Gauge Set. You can experiment by chambering cases in your rifle but measuring is best. A case separation is serious with powder, powder gas, bits of brass in your face and between your arms and hands. The belted 7MM Magnum brass concerns me most. When I started loading a 300 Weatherby Mag years ago I saw the results of case stretching. Had no separations but scrapped brass after 3 firings.

Wow, I will need to re-read the replies a few times to absorb all the great information. This first batch was a big help in learning the steps to re-size, prime, trim, and deburr. I have some once fired Hornady brass that I will work on sizing on the shoulder for better consistency and longer case life. This first batch will hopefully give me enough accuracy to at least find an optimum bullet weight, then I can work on powder charge after that. I believe I am understanding the method for headspace sizing. So I will take some once fired brass from my rifle and compare to a factory load measurements. This may help visualize how much expansion I am getting.

Headspace gage is on the list for sure! I will work towards being more consistent with the next sizings. My case trimmer may not give me the ultimate in tight tolerances, but there is always room for improvement.

Thanks everyone.

On a different note, my Powder Measure was not measuring powder, so I loaded the 30 rounds of 308 by hand weighing each charge. This is after I loaded the powder measure with lots of powder and found out it would not feed. Yesterday I took it off the stand to figure out why it wasn't working. Found a candy wrapper stuffed into the exit tube. Could have been one of us grandchildren hiding a candy wrapper. Meddling kids! Now I should have a useable powder measure.

They are often under length.

The tolerance is set to make sure NO round will ever be over putting all the tolerance on the smaller size.

It can be a delicate game especially in semi auto rifles.

Unlike a bolt action that can develop a decent amount of force to close on a round you are relying on the energy stored in a spring to close and lock the action.

Brass life is sacrificed to make sure every cartridge will feed and chamber correctly.

If your 7mm Mag is a bolt action, which it probably is, you can easily use it to adjust your sizing die.

Start with a casing that was fired in THAT rifle. Purposely back you sizing die up and size the case. Chamber the case (or attempt to).

Dies are threaded 14 threads per inch. Use a marker to put a reference line on the die body. Every 1/10 turn you move the die will result in .007" vertical movement.

Adjust the die down until your casings chamber how you want them too as far as effort to close and open the bolt.

My own personal approach for hunting ammo is to size for 100% reliable function. I don't care if it shortens case life a little. I want nice smooth no resistance action when a quick fallow up shot is needed.

You are using a RCBS Rockchucker. Learn what cam over is. If you fallowed the die adjustment posted above (1/8 turn down after contact) you should have gotten cam over.

I suggest you go with full cam over for your autoaders until you become a lot more experienced.

That's an awesome inheritance. There is a very good chance that some day you'll be handing down to some other lucky guy. Hopefully someone you have mentored.

Motor

Noted, Thanks very much. I won't waste time measuring until I get the gauge.


Yes, it is bolt action. Kleinguenther K15 for anyone who is curious.
I will use this method until I get the gauge. I have 18 cases WW Super brass that I want to try out the shoulder sizing on.

Sometimes you can neck only size belted magnum ammo for bolt action rifles. I never used a belted magnum for the sole purpose of target shooting so I've always gone with full length sizing.

Most of the time neck only sized brass chambers with a little resistance which is totally acceptable when you are slow fire target shooting.

If you are able to use neck only sized brass it will extend your brass life tremendously.

You need to use brass that was fired in your rifle to attempt neck only sizing. If you take a casing that was fired in your rifle and re-chamber it that will tell you how the neck only sized brass is going to fit / feel.

Motor

Update from this weekend. Went to Cabela's and picked up a Hornady Headspace gauge kit and a Lg Rifle primer hand reamer. Spent a couple hours on Saturday afternoon learning how to use the headspace gauges and bump sizing a couple boxes of 7mm Mag. Also used my rifle to test fit after sizing the shoulder down 1-3 thousands on average. I had some trouble with used WW Super left overs with unknown # of firings. I inspected the brass and it all looks great, but I could not hold very good tolerances. To be fair, I was trying to size the shoulder of the WW Super that was NOT fire formed in my rifle. So that could have been a key factor in why the shoulder was not bumping back as well.

1x fired Hornady brass was easy to keep within 1-2 thousands under fire formed size. This allowed for easy chambering and surprisingly close tolerances for me. I will save the Hornady brass for "premium" hunting rounds and use the WW Super for load development or shorter range stuff.

I'm using homemade Lanolin lube in a spray bottle 16:1. Seems to glide quite well if I have enough on there. I will go back and double check the used cases for signs of excessive sizing. None of these have been loaded yet, just prepped because I have not gotten to do any shooting with the first batch that were full length sized.

I don't have any cases with distinct (or faint) rings like that. I went back and checked all the old 7mm brass that I sized including the last batch that was FL sized and loaded, and they all looked good. Here is a pic of the WW Super that was just bump sized.

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s571/BladeCommander/7F2954FB-090A-4E72-B0F1-43425164A404_zpsb8ib3yfq.jpg

Thank you for all your help DryFlash, and everyone else who commented with advice. I will keep a close eye on all of the cases that I received with the reloading supplies. The 7mag is strictly hunting rifle, so this supply should last a little while.

I still need to find out which bullet weight the rifle likes, so that will take some testing. But now I have the tools to properly size these cases for maximum brass life and accuracy.

Now that I have the Headspace gauges, should I worry about headspace for 308 brass fired in a SEMI AUTO rifle? Or should I full length size for safety?

What type of brass life should I expect from FL sized 308 in a semi auto LR308? I have bought some once fired brass here on the forums, some LC pre-processed and some Federal unprocessed once fired. Could I headspace size down maybe 4-5 thousands and get a couple more sizings out of that brass?

Can this be done with a FL sizing die? Or is it required to use a dedicated shoulder bumping die, like Forster?

Is this also recommended for new brass? Ie. 5.56 to 300BO conversions?

It can be done with a standard die. You just need a set of gauges and a piece of fired brass in your firearm. Then, use your comparator gauges to create a baseline of your fired cases. Set your dies a little high and size a piece of brass. Check the shoulder for movement. If it does not get bumped the required amount, turn the die down another small turn. Repeat till you get your desired shoulder bump.

Perfect, that is what I will shoot for.

Those headspace gauges will be well worth the investment if I can essentially double the life of my brass. It will pay for itself in no time.

When reloading belted cases use the shoulder for headspace instead of the belt.

For the most part cases are NOT 'designed' for reloading.

They are intended to be a single use sealing device.

That does NOT mean they cannot be reloaded but that you have to be cautious.


We are dealing with extremely high pressures.  While many actions have decent designs for venting gasses away from the shooter when a case fails some are better than others.

A face full of 50,000 PSI , 3,500+ F gas can be very unpleasant.

Wear safety glasses to at least prevent it from directly venting into your eyes.

It is safe and fun but requires a relatively high degree of attention to details.

I was inspecting some Federal 308 Win brass from a once fired lot that I got here on the EE. I noticed some faint bands similar to Dryflash's photo above, but not near as distinct.

Is this the same sign of case head separation? Would these cases pictured below need to be scrapped? I hope the band comes through in the photo, it is not very noticeable.

There may have been one or two more cases with barely noticeable bands that made it through inspection, should I go back and sort those out too?

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s571/BladeCommander/17192CD0-C659-4F8E-ABFC-3401B575D187_zpsg5lea7js.jpg

Those cases look fine, the band is where the case was held by a shell holder and the sizing die couldn't get at, denotes a transition area of sorts

Yep in your pic above they look fine.  You are seeing where the die no longer contacts the case wall. The thinner brass above is Expanded, the web is the thicker brass transition to the case head.  It doesn't stretch as much.  That junction is where you could see a crack develop.  Look inside the case and check that area with a sharpened paper clip.  

Farther up you mentioned sizing not being as uniform as you Desire.  On brass used a few times the brass gets hardened from being worked and
Fired repeatedly. It gets a springyness that resists your sizing effort and pops back.   Case annealing restores the Original workability characteristics.  Annealing also helps avoiding split necks, a common case failure for reloaders.   Before you jump into annealing do your research as doing it wrong and
Softening the whole case makes a catostrophic rupture likely.    You can always Set aside springy cases in a box with a Note with the number of firing cycles on the batch.  Anneal them later when you're ready.

Thanks everyone. I greatly appreciate everyone responding to all my questions. The photos provided are most helpful in visualizing what is going on with my cases and gauges. I will probably keep those separate to start my 2x fired lot just to keep everything consistent. Glad to know that those cases are still useful.