Federal Premium .308 brass reloading

[petemacsydney]

Hi guys,

I can't seem to find an answer on Mr Google.

I'm currently firing factory 308 federal premium 130g tactical at the moment.

I plan to reload them and my question is, is the brass suitable for larger bullets such as 160 or 180 grains, or is that a no-no, given the brass was originally designed for 130 grains?

This is probably a silly question for experienced re-loaders, but I am a noob to re-loading, so would appreciate your thoughts.

Cheers P.

[Chronos]

The cases won't know what bullet you put in them mate just make sure you match the powder and load to the bullet weight you choose.

Chronos

[WWCowboy]

the cases won't know what bullet you put in them mate just make aure you match the powder and load to the bullet weight you choose

X2

[tom604]

Why would you want to go up to 160/180?

Shooting buffalo? 130gr will take out most things up to 200 metres, I've heard that NT mud encrusted boars need more

[SendIt]

No mate.

.308 brass is .308 brass.

The cases are designed to the spec of the cartridge and will accept any suitable projectile.

They don't do thinner or thicker walled cases to accommodate light and heavy pills and varying pressure or anything like that, if that's sort of what you were thinking.

Load 'em up and send 'em out

[Monty]

...given the brass was originally designed for 130 grains?

No, that isn't the case.

As mentioned, the brass is designed to certain specifications as part of being the ".308 Winchester" cartridge.

Just for s**ts and giggles, here are the specs:

Case type Rimless, Bottleneck
Bullet diameter 0.308 in (7.8 mm)
Neck diameter 0.3433 in (8.72 mm)
Shoulder diameter 0.4539 in (11.53 mm)
Base diameter 0.4709 in (11.96 mm)
Rim diameter 0.4728 in (12.01 mm)
Rim thickness 0.0539 in (1.37 mm)
Case length 2.015 (51.18 mm)
Overall length 2.800 (71.12 mm)
Case capacity 56 gr H2O (3.6 cm3)
Maximum pressure (C.I.P.) 60,191 psi (415.00 MPa)
Maximum pressure (SAAMI)

If a case matches those specs (within a reasonable margin of error) it is a .308 Winchester case suitable for all safely tested .308 Winchester loads.

If a manufacturer chose to deviate from those specifications significantly, they could no longer call their product ".308 Winchester" brass.

[Richo]

I sent Federal an email the other day and they told me the use the same brass/cases for all their loads

[petemacsydney]

Brilliant, thanks folks

Tom604, i'm only interested in higher grain loading's for sh*ts and giggles and to understand the difference from personal experience with the heavy pills, but still keen to try none the less. i don't find much NT mud encrusted target paper where i shoot