A Pistol Reloader wants to get into Rifle

[Spammy_H]

Hi all,

I've been reloading pistol for several years now, in several calibers (.45, .40, .380), and am pretty competent at it (I still have all of my fingers and guns ). I want to start reloading for .30-.30 Win, and 5.56.

I realize that rifle is different than pistol. What do I need to concern myself with other than:

• Case Trimming / case length
• Case mouth deburring
• shorter case life
• Trickling powder to full charge

Am I missing anything?

Thanks.

[JaydenH]

case lubing.
I use carbide pistol dies, so I don't lube my pistol cases.

[1st Cav]

SB dies for semi auto rifles, and lever, case has to be full length. On calibers for my bolt rifles I only neck size, after full length die and firing. Helps the brass from being stretched and less trimming. Take your time, inspect your brass, throw a few rds., I clean my primer holes, case lube your brass.

[fredj338]

It depends on what you are loading for. Semiautos & most lever guns will need full length sizing with lubed cases. Only Dillon makes carbide rifle dies & they are only for certain calibers & very exspensive. They still require lube. Bolt guns can be neck sized or partial FL sized for best accuracy & longeest case life. Even constant trimming can be eliminated using the RCBS X die.

[Spammy_H]

My .30-.30 is for a Marlin 336a (lever action), and the 5.56/.223 is for a Sig 516 (gas-piston operated AR).

I have RCBS small base dies for the 5.56/.223, and RCBS 2 die set with a Lee FCD for the .30-.30.

[FullMetalJacket]

Originally Posted by Spammy_H

Hi all,

I've been reloading pistol for several years now, in several calibers (.45, .40, .380), and am pretty competent at it (I still have all of my fingers and guns ). I want to start reloading for .30-.30 Win, and 5.56.

I realize that rifle is different than pistol. What do I need to concern myself with other than:

• Case Trimming / case length
• Case mouth deburring
• shorter case life
• Trickling powder to full charge

Am I missing anything?

Thanks.

That pretty much covers it. The biggest difference with rifle vs pistol is all of the case prep involved. With straight-walled pistol cartridges you just clean the brass then start loading them on your press. With my rifle brass( I reload .223, 300 Blackout and .30-06 to name a few) I go through the following steps just to prep the brass:
-tumble brass to clean
-lube brass and run through sizing-decapping die
-tumble brass again to remove case lube
-measure case length with calipers and separate into piles that need and don't need trimming
-trim cases that need trimming
-chamfer/deburr trimmed cases

[1st Cav]

FullMetalJacket, covered it, keep it simple. I use a Single stag press for my bolt rifles Dillon for pistol and black rifles. Load a box full head to the range and check your work out. Sounds like you shouldn't have any problems. What I like best about reloading is I have fire formed brass for my rifle

[Spammy_H]

Everyone - thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. Let me go over my routine once more to make sure I'm not missing anything:

For 30-30 in lever action:
*decap dirty brass with decapping only die
*clean brass in ultrasonic cleaner
*lube & full length resize brass
*measure, trim & chamfer/deburr (as necessary)
*prime brass
*throw powder charges
*seat bullet w/o crimp
*roll crimp in Lee FCD die

For 5.56/.223 same as above, but omit FCD die and taper crimp with seating/crimp die.

Follow Up Questions:

*Can I just wipe excess lube from the cases after the resize, or do I need to clean them again?

*how necessary is it to "trickle up" my powder charges? I'm using a Lyman 55 powder measure, Hornady LeverRevolution powder, and either the HORNADY .308 160 GR FTX (30-30) or BERRYS .30-30 150 GR RS bullets.

[FullMetalJacket]

Originally Posted by Spammy_H

Everyone - thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. Let me go over my routine once more to make sure I'm not missing anything:

For 30-30 in lever action:
*decap dirty brass with decapping only die
*clean brass in ultrasonic cleaner
*lube & full length resize brass
*measure, trim & chamfer/deburr (as necessary)
*prime brass
*throw powder charges
*seat bullet w/o crimp
*roll crimp in Lee FCD die

For 5.56/.223 same as above, but omit FCD die and taper crimp with seating/crimp die.

Follow Up Questions:

*Can I just wipe excess lube from the cases after the resize, or do I need to clean them again?

*how necessary is it to "trickle up" my powder charges? I'm using a Lyman 55 powder measure, Hornady LeverRevolution powder, and either the HORNADY .308 160 GR FTX (30-30) or BERRYS .30-30 150 GR RS bullets.

How you clean the brass after lubing depends on how you lubed the cases and the number of cases that you need to clean. I tend to prep at least a few hundred cases at a time so I use Frankford arsenal spray lube and dump the brass into a cardboard box. While shaking the box I spray the lube over all the brass at once. This only takes a few seconds vs. using a roller pad or a paste lube taking a longtime longer. It is faster for me to just dump the cases back in the tumbler for 10-15 minutes than to wipe them all off one at a time. If you use a spray lube that may get inside of the case, just make sure it says it is powder safe.
Trimming is the worst part of case prep in my opinion. Anything that you can do to speed up the trimming process is a worthwhile investment. I used possum hollow trimmers chucked into a power drill in the past, which works pretty well. Recently I purchased the Lyman universal case trimmer with a power drill adapter and I really like it so far and it doesn't leave the blisters on my fingers that the possum hollow setup did. The king of trimmers is the Giraud, but it is about $450 and you have to buy adapters for each caliber you reload for.
I don't do any "trickling up" of powder charges. I just adjust my Lee or Hornady powder charger (depending if I'm using my single stage or progressive press) as needed and verify the charge on a scale then start loading. I usually reconfirm the powder charge once every 40 cases or so to make sure it is still spot on.

[fredj338]

You do NOT need to crimp for either, but it may be desireable for the lever gun to have a mild crimp. Cleaning case lube can be as easy as roling in an old towel if you use something like Hornady OneShot.
If you go ball powders, you can throw 0.1gr accurate powder charges. I load my 223 & 308 for gas guns on a progressive using ball powders.