NF1E

Really, not going to get into a pissing contest. Not worth it. Whatta Hobby!

After 60 years of loading and 100s of thousands of rnds I am not particularly worried. Plenty through AR types without a problem. I will agree, for the generic loader that just crams and jambs crimping might help. For most serious loaders just turning down the expander ball will negate the crimping by presenting a decent neck tension. Never used a bump stock so I can't comment on that but I can imagine dumping ammo might be fun for some. By the way, the OP was asking a very simple question about 7.62x51 and I believe he got the answer needed. Whatta Hobby!

Nope, I completely remove the de-capping unit from the die and hand de-prime. Normally would use a bushing die to the least working of the brass. Then I use a tapered carbide expander to set my neck tension at .003. With the expanding taking place from the top , strongest point, there is less chance of changing the brass headspace than by pulling a darn expander up through the case neck and moving what you have just taken the time to make right with your sizing die. Whatta Hobby!

Those are simply faux kits made by my friend Hawk from USGI parts. The connect to the stock and just appear like the real deal. Best way , in my opinion, to fill the cut out in a USGI M-14 stock. Whatta Hobby!

The OP was concerned that the 2.00 might be too short. My intent was to assure him that indeed 2.00 is just fine to use. I might add that crimping is not necessary for .308. I run between 5 and 10K of reloads annually through my M-14s and FALs for the last 30 years and never use a crimp with bottle neck cartridges. Whatta Hobby!

I use an RCBS X die for my generic loaded .308 brass and trim to 1.99. 2.00 would be fine for any loading. Whatta Hobby!

Kiln arrived via semi at 3pm so I had to take the fork lift down to the lake 1/2 mile away to retrieve it. Wife couldn't wait to start unpacking our new toy. Whatta Hobby!

Waiting on a freight delivery of another 45 amp glass kiln for the studio today. Sooooo, taking advantage of the time to prime a bunch of brass. A few hundred consisting of weighed and neck tension set to .003. About half .308 Lapua priming with 210Ms and the other half MEN berdan .308 using Tula KV-7..62Ns. Whatta Hobby!

Got an extra 500 cnt box on the shelf so it's time to load a hundred .308s and have some fun on the range. Load today is Sierra's suggested accuracy load of 43.9 gn of IMR-8208 XBR. Loading in Lapua cases with 210M primers. Whatta Hobby!

Not really, they are all semi auto M14 type rifles, not USGI M14s.

45 deg with light rain out so it time for some loading. Today's choice is .308 fb bullets over 43.5 gn of Varget in Lapua and MEN berdan brass which I use interchangeably for accuracy loadings. Brass has been sized with an RCBS sb xdie with the internal primer punch and expander ball removed, wet tumbled with ss pins and dawn, dried in Frankford Arsenal case dryer, trimmed with Giraud trimmer, neck tension set to .002 with Sinclair carbide tapered mandrel. Berdan primed with Tula primers and boxer primed with 210Ms. Brass prep and priming finished up earlier. Waiting for the RCBS Matchmaster to warm up so it can be calibrated. Whatta Hobby!

Finished up segregating into .1 gn bags today. Majority of the brass is within .5 gn centered at 94. gn Whatta Hobby!

Finished up the last of them a few minutes ago and weight sorted to 1 gn for now. Weight on Starline was all between 93 and 95 so pretty good to start. Whatta Hobby!

Opened a new 1K bag of Starline .223 brass. Initial prep includes de-burring and unitizing the flash holes, run a tapered carbide neck mandrel for a .003 tension, trim and mouth prep with a Giraud trimmer, weight sort and bag for 1 gn or closer segregation. Whatta Hobby!

Shot this 3 - 9 today in the 1/4" 10 dot 100 yd challenge. Rifle is a Savage 110 .223 with NF scope. Ammo is handloaded Berger 55 gn varminter over 20 gn of IMR-4198 in starline brass set of with 205m primers. Set a .003 neck tension and a 2.26 COAL. Whatta Hobby!

Trimming .223 this morning. Did 500 cases at 1 sec per case. This Giraud powered case trimmer also takes care of the mouth prep at the same time. Whatta Hobby!

Annealing a batch of .223 brass today using my Giraud annealer. Takes about 5 seconds per case to get er done the way I like it. Whatta Hobby!

Shot a 2-7 this morning. Getting in some practice before we open up the new challenge. Max spread is just under .4 for 10 rnds. Whatta Hobby!

Shot a 3-5 on our 100 yd 1/4" 10 dot challenge today. Max spread was a .4 with 8 rnds inside a .25. Load 73 gn Berger's in Starline brass over 23 gn of Varget set off with BR-4s. Rifles current configuration Savage 110 in .223 with Jard 3 oz trigger in an ORYX chassis with a Night Force Competition 15-55x52 scope. Whatta Hobby!

Shot a 3-5 on our 100 yd 1/4" 10 dot challenge today. Max spread was .4 with 8 shots withing a .25. 1 click more of elevation should have brought the score to a 4-8. Maybe next time. Rifle used is a Savage 110 in an ORYX with a Jard 3 0z trigger and a Criterian 26" 1-8 SS varmint profile barrel. Scope is a Night Force Competition 15-55x52. Load is 73 gn Bergers in Starline brass over 23 gn of Varget set off with BR-4s. Whatta Hobby!

Yep, and enjoying every dang minute of it. Whatta Hobby!

Just came in from the range. Shot this with my most recent .223 load. SD of 8.8 is good for me. Black center dot is 1/2". Range is 100 yds. Whatta Hobby!

Raw target data. 5 rnd groups are 1 moa below and slightly left of 1/4" poa. Whatta Hobby!

60 rounds of testing complete for the day. Barrel really likes a jump of .010 off the lands with 22 gn of IMR-8208 pushing a 73 gn Berger target bullet in a Starline case. Running right around 2650 fps and 10 shots in a 1/4 moa group at 100 yds. Whatta Hobby!

Middle of the night the light came on. I was adding to the jamb, and not the jump with the way I set this test batch up. the 1.99 was touching the lands so all the following should be less in minus .010 increments. Made the correction this morning so we are ready to go with. Set the micrometer die up with the 1.99 as the zero and moved the dial to the minus side by .010 for each progressive 10 rnd group. Should be a fun test. Made up fouling rounds that are a .050 jump. Whatta Hobby!