Economic Reloading

[Mike357]

I will be reloading for my rifles shortly now that I have become comfortable churning out 357mag ammo.

I want to reload super accurate ammo for the Remmy 308 VSSF (26" std heavy barrel) and I'll use Lapua brass, and I guess I should stick with the 155gr Scenars. Looking at 600 yd accuracy to begin with. I'm developing a "thing" for Viht powder so please recommend a powder. Although, Varget gets a good write up on 6mmBR.com

Being Scottish, I would prefer to use my 308 powder in my 303 (Jungle Carbine) so what are your opinions please? Or should I junk that idea and use IMR or Reloader?

What make of dies should I buy for the 308 in my Lee press?

[pe4king]

Mike
I dont think you can go far wrong with Vit 140 it is a very versitile powder you will also be able to use it with your 303.
As for dies I would say stick with Lee I have used them for years they are good value for money and you can produce some very accurate ammunition with them some may disagree but they work for me.

[dromia]

Yes VV N140.

Stick with your Lee dies 'till you feel your ammunition could do better.

You might want to consider a Vickerman die for seating the bullet but that depends on the run out you are getting from the Lee.

[ovenpaa]

Viht N140 works well for the .303 and also the .308 with 155 Laps and is readily available, you can use the same primers as well. I also reckon Forester dies are as good as anything you will find and they are sensibly priced as well when you look at the higher end reloading stuff.

I neck size all by .308 in a Redding Match die as I can change the bushings for neck tension however I also have a Lee die permanently set up in an old press for building .308 plinking rounds to NATO spec and it loads a good COAL with very little run out every time.

[ovenpaa]

Wow, two more votes for N140 whilst I was writing my post, it is good predictable stuff.

[Sim G]

Another 140 fan. I used it exclusvely in my .308 and now do so in .223. Strangely enough, it was pants in my 7mm-08......

[Alpha1]

Vit N140 I use it in .303 and also to build 155grain A max in .308 for my steyr ssg p1

[ovenpaa]

One of my favourite loads in .303 is just under 40 grains of N140 behind SMK's and these days I have gone back to using N140 behind 167 Laps for short stuff.

Another one that worked well for me in both .303/308 was Vectan SP9 which is a fine ball so it throws perfectly in a Culver type thrower (We us a Harrell but you can get just as good for a lot less money ) so you can reduce your loading time significantly.

N540 is a great alternative for the .308 with155 Lap's but I would not consider using it with a .303

[Mike357]

Thanks for all the info so far. What about primers? Federal primers shouldn't be used in my Auto prime so are all primers created equal?

[Alpha1]

I use any primers that are available to buy at the time including federal.
I use a auto prime but quite often I will use the priming arm on my press.
But I am sure other people will have there own favourites and reasons for using a particular brand as long as they go bang I am happy.