Reloading questions

[tayhot]

I shoot a 300 RUM and want to start reloading for this cartridge. I have some reloading knowledge but more is needed. Here are my questions...

I have a ton of once fired 300 RUM case that were fired from my rifle. What do I need to do in order to properly/accuratly resize the case? FL size, neck size, etc. Are the competition dies that much better? If so which one should I get? I understand that the comp dies can be set to add more tension around the neck (making it a tighter squeeze for bullet), is that neccesarry and if so how much tighter? Thats all for now

Your help is appreciated

 

[Kevin Thomas]

Tayhot,

You'll need a set of dies (full length is prefereable, but let the debate start now ), but the ability you mention about varying neck tension will call for one of the bushing type dies, such as the Forster or Redding Type-S. given a variety of properly sized bushings, these allow you to control the amount of neck tension. You don't mention what sort of use these rounds will be put to, but I assume we're talking about hunting ammo? For this, you may want to try a conventional seating die and see if there's any run out issues. If so, then you may want to spend the extra bucks for a competition seating die. They may produce straighter ammunition, but it's not a guarantee, and convetional dies can do a good job if they're used/set up correctly. Given the springback involved in brass, you really can't get too much more than about .002" or .003" neck tension. Besides, anything much more than this is probably just excessive working of the brass.

Hope this helps.

 

[tayhot]

Thanks Kevin. What is the definition of run out? These will be used for hunting

 

[MTBULLET]

I have quite a bit of 300 rum loading "stuff". Just re bbld my last one to 300 WM.
hornady comp. fl set, rcbs neck die, forster body die, etc. and several hundred new rem brass. will sell reasonably.

 

[Kevin Thomas]

Tayhot,

run out is a situation where the axis of the bullet/cartridge is not in line with the axis of the bore. In other words, it's slightly off center. There's a number of gages that can show this up, and it's an issue for competitive ammo. for a straight hunting round, I don't know that it'd be the highest priority for me, though. Ammo that's safe, chambers freely and extracts reliably is a lot more important. Besides, as I said, you cna load ammunition plenty straight using conventional dies if they're set up correctly.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I shoot a 300 RUM and want to start reloading for this cartridge. I have some reloading knowledge but more is needed. Here are my questions...

I have a ton of once fired 300 RUM case that were fired from my rifle. What do I need to do in order to properly/accuratly resize the case? FL size, neck size, etc. Are the competition dies that much better? If so which one should I get? I understand that the comp dies can be set to add more tension around the neck (making it a tighter squeeze for bullet), is that neccesarry and if so how much tighter? Thats all for now

Your help is appreciated

The most accurate to way to reload your cases is to neck size, and only bump the shoulder once the brass becomes hard to chamber, which may be 4-5 firings or more. You only want to bump the shoulder .002" from the fired dimension, anymore will be giving too much headspace.
In addition to the die set, you will also need a measuring device to measure base/shoulder length of your fired brass so that you can size them correctly to the right dimensions. I use, and recommend, the RCBS Precision Mic. It's user friendly and measures accurately to within .001". They are available for the RUM cartridges.

The best setup is:
A 3 die set that contains a FL die, Neck die and Seater die.

Now, you have the option of buying a Neck die of the bushing type (recommended!), a body die (recommended!) and a competition seating die with a micrometer style adjustment for depth. This may not be necessary, a normal Seater die can work just as well if you have the correct measuring devices.

I would recommend a Redding Type 'S' Match Neck die set, this is what I use for my competition 300WM rifle.

If you are just making up rounds for hunting, a Redding Type 'S' Bushing die set, with the addition of a body die, would be ideal for this purpose.
There is nothing wrong with a standard 3 die set, but with the bushing die you can get very consistent neck tension, which should run from .0015"-.002", anything more is not necessary, even in a hunting rifle!

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