Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Resizing Lapua 308 cases to 7mm-08

I have just purchased some Lapua 308 cases which I am going to neck down for my 7mm-08 custom rifle. The rifle has a 0.315" neck, so I intend to turn the necks on these cases once resized.

I have Redding Type-S match die set in 7mm-08 (type-S neck die, body die, competition seater) with a carbide expander ball. I don't have any 308 dies.

I am interested in which method for resizing the 308 brass down to 7mm-08. It seems to me that I have four options:

1) buy a series of progressively smaller bushings to use in my bushing neck die - the cases are 0.335", so could I use a 325 and then 314 bushing?

2) do a first pass with the body die then use the correct size (314) bushing in my bushing neck die

3) buy a standard 7mm-08 full length sizing die and resize with it (perhaps with the expander ball removed so it doesn't bind on the thicker necks prior to neck turning)

4) buy a 7mm-08 Form and Trim die and resize with that.

The cost of each option is roughly the same so I am mainly interested in advice on which method will result in the best quality finished product.

Thanks in advance,

Jason.

I have run a few 308 cases through my 7mm08 dies with out knowing it and they worked great. miles

When I accidently did the same thing the shoulder collapsed, so YMMV.

Probably the reason I neck UP, not down. If Jason hadn't already purchased the brass, I would have said buy 260 Rem.

Option 3 with a good case lube. I do it all the time.

My 308 Lapua derived 7-08 loaded no-turn diameter is .316".

I one pass form in a Redding bushing die(TiN .313"),no expander ball of course and headspace the false shoulder. Anytime you are going down,the seating die is a very good intermediate step,to reduce diameter...though far from being needed here.

I hate necking up,because you've no headspace control inherent................

Unless you neck one greater, then back down for the pseudo shoulder; do it on each 400 Whelen case and new belted mags.

Take care on going too large.

Big plus on the oft ignored seating die. Most are better and as good as form dies.

I'm no fan of working brass anymore than you gotta. Down is never not easy and always boasts finite headspace control in conjunction.

Up is a last resort.................

Totally agree, especially since the up in this case is a 260, and ain't Lapua....

Turning the necks is also in that last resort category.

I am doing this very thing for my 7-08.
Lapua .308 case, Redding S-bushing die, and a .310 size bushing. Threw the handle on the press and nary an issue. I'm not turning necks BTW.


Nail

Thanks for the advice everyone. Sounds like all I need is a bigger bushing, but I will get a FLS die as well just in case.

I should have mentioned that I am going down the Lapua route because the Winchester and Remington 7mm-08 brass I have tried was very inconsistent and I was getting frustrating fliers. I weighed 150 Win cases and they had a spread of 13 grains, and not just because of a couple of outliers either! By comparison 100 Lapua cases varied by 0.8 gr in weight. Having spent a lot of money and time on putting the rifle together I don't mind spending some time preparing brass to get the best out of it.

You could save a lot of time and trouble by just buying Norma 7mm-08 brass. It is so consistent I could not even sort it into weight categories. It is also VERY consistent on OAL. It is pretty much perfect.

I found the same results as you with Win and Rem brass with Win being slightly better but no where close to Norma.

jason,

I just went through it this weekend. I have the same dies-with a 309 bushing. Like stick said, take off the expander. Graphite lube the necks, and run them through the die. No problem.

The brass is already smaller than the body die...I tried sizing mine, and the die didn't size them at all.

My loaded necks sized out to .314 with both 120 NBT, and 140 AccuBombs in the Lapua brass. (Winchester brass sized to .309 with bullets seated)

Hope this helps...

I agree that Norma could have been another way to go, but it is nearly three times the price of Lapua, and I enjoy my time at the reloading bench.

Yukonal - thanks for those measurements. Very useful.

Just did some experimenting with the equipment I have. The body die did give me a few thou of neck reduction so I ran a Lapua 308 case into it, then into my neck die with my 0.308" bushing (purchased to suit the Win brass). It was a tight fit but it worked ok. Seated a projectile (also very tight unsurprisingly). Resulting outside neck measurement is a few tenths over 0.314". The dummy round would not chamber in my rifle (0.315" neck) but I don't know if that is because of the thickness of the neck or the presence of the false shoulder. Another experiment with a Rem 308 case measured at .3125" with a projectile seated and would chamber, so hopefully it is just the thickness of the neck that is stopping the Lapua from chambering. I will find out when I get my neck turning gear.

I have my neck die set as per the instructions - what can I do to increase the amount of the neck which is sized, and reduce the size of the false shoulder?

I'm not sure about using your neck bushing die that way. Stick runs FL bushing dies IIRC.

For me the simple solution is a plain RCBS FL die, and I just run them in until the false shoulder gives me the kind of chambering I want.

Bobski makes a pretty good point here...

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2358273/Resizing_Brass#Post2358273

I've just run mine through the "type-s" dies, fire form, and good to go. Never had a hiccup, and have seen excellent accuracy with fire forming. But, I also agree with the idea of sizing them down first in a fl die.

Thanks for the link yukonal - I did a search before posting, but missed that one.

I sent an email to the tech line at Redding (more or less as per my OP). Here is their reply:

I replied to the email above to ask if a Type-s FL die would do the job. Redding advised against it. They said that by design, the type S dies leave a small bit (about 10-15%) of the neck near the shoulder unformed.

Thanks again for the advice everyone.