I'm going to start reloading .308 for my vepr, which is a .308 ak variant. This will be my first venture into reloading. I have read as much as I can find about what I should do, and I can talk in a fairly educated manner about reloading at this point. But I still have a few questions, and hopefully someone knows what I should be doing.
For this particular rifle, I have read that it chews up brass a good bit. Because of this, I'm figuring a full length sizing die is a must. Should I also invest in a neck specific sizing die such as a lee collet die? This would allow me to switch back and forth as needed, and if I get a bolt .308, it'll definitely be of use.
I am figuring that since it is a semi automatic and in a relatively big caliber, and not a bolt gun, I should be crimping? The redding 2 piece die set for .308 comes with a seating die that crimps and seats all at once. Would this suffice? And if I want, I should be able to back out the crimping feature so it seats without crimping so it would be good for use in a bolt gun where I don't want to crimp as well, correct? Or should I get a seating only die and a separate roll or taper crimp die (if so, should I go taper or roll)? If I go separate seat and taper, this would increase the amount of steps, and I'm using a single stage press, so this will add significant time.
So what I'm thinking of getting is the redding full length 2 piece die set and possibly add a lee collet die to make the set?
Or the lee 3 piece set, which has a collet, full size sizing, and seating die. I would need to get a crimp die in addition if I went this route as the seating die does jot crimp.
Or something else? There's so many options it's making my head hurt thinking about all of them.
For this particular rifle, I have read that it chews up brass a good bit. Because of this, I'm figuring a full length sizing die is a must. Should I also invest in a neck specific sizing die such as a lee collet die? This would allow me to switch back and forth as needed, and if I get a bolt .308, it'll definitely be of use.
I am figuring that since it is a semi automatic and in a relatively big caliber, and not a bolt gun, I should be crimping? The redding 2 piece die set for .308 comes with a seating die that crimps and seats all at once. Would this suffice? And if I want, I should be able to back out the crimping feature so it seats without crimping so it would be good for use in a bolt gun where I don't want to crimp as well, correct? Or should I get a seating only die and a separate roll or taper crimp die (if so, should I go taper or roll)? If I go separate seat and taper, this would increase the amount of steps, and I'm using a single stage press, so this will add significant time.
So what I'm thinking of getting is the redding full length 2 piece die set and possibly add a lee collet die to make the set?
Or the lee 3 piece set, which has a collet, full size sizing, and seating die. I would need to get a crimp die in addition if I went this route as the seating die does jot crimp.
Or something else? There's so many options it's making my head hurt thinking about all of them.