hardhearing

[hardhearing]

looking for classic lee loader in 7mm08

 

[TJ Kackowski]

You may be looking for a needle in a hay stack. Have you considered a standard press and die set up?

 

[Wolfhound]

Being not very familiar with the 7mm-08 I did a web search. I learned a few things that I'm sure a lot of reloaders already know. Apparently the 7mm-08 Remington and .243 Winchester are both based on the 308 cartridge. Interesting....

 

[natdscott]

.22-08 = ".22-243 Middlestead"

6mm-08 = ".243 Winchester"

6.5mm-08 SHOULD just have been left alone as that, but big green grabbed it, so now it is the ".260 Remington"

7mm-08 = "7mm-08 Remington"

...and that brings us to the parent, .308 Winchester.

You'll see the same name convention with a lot of other wildcats (even though some have been standardized and adopted by SAAMI). .30-378, 6mm-06, 6.5x284... basically, anytime a brand-new casing comes out, the first thing wildcatters do is start shucking it through sizing dies to make it something else entirely, much of which usually ends up duplicating something else that already exists.


-Nate

 

[Wolfhound]

.22-08 = ".22-243 Middlestead"

6mm-08 = ".243 Winchester"

6.5mm-08 SHOULD just have been left alone as that, but big green grabbed it, so now it is the ".260 Remington"

7mm-08 = "7mm-08 Remington"

...and that brings us to the parent, .308 Winchester.

You'll see the same name convention with a lot of other wildcats (even though some have been standardized and adopted by SAAMI). .30-378, 6mm-06, 6.5x284... basically, anytime a brand-new casing comes out, the first thing wildcatters do is start shucking it through sizing dies to make it something else entirely, much of which usually ends up duplicating something else that already exists.


-Nate

Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing it. I have never played around with making wildcat cartridges before.

 

[55fairlane]

Ok, I will bite....how do get brass for this case? Dies to reform? Fire form? Or have something custom made?

Aaron

 

[Wolfhound]

Ok, I will bite....how do get brass for this case? Dies to reform? Fire form? Or have something custom made?

Aaron

Looks like Midway USA sells 7mm-08 brass, dies and loaded ammunition. I would guess you could run 308 brass through a 7mm-08 sizing die to convert it to 7mm-08 but just buying the brass from Midway would be easier and safer. I have no experience with this but I have converted 30-06 to 8mm Mauser, 7.7 Jap and 7.65mm Argentine with no issues (surplus rifles are my cup of tea). Some annealing of the brass is recommended. YMMV

I am sure someone who works with wildcat cartridges could explain things better.

 

[bstewrat3]

Lee never made the Lee Classic Loader in 7-08.

 

[bstewrat3]

If you want to pay a lot more you can use Sinclair or Wilson dies and acquire the the other accessories needed for decapping, priming and powder measuring.

 

[hardhearing]

Lee made the classic loader up to 1993 then quit. I'm looking for one

 

[natdscott]

Looks like Midway USA sells 7mm-08 brass, dies and loaded ammunition. I would guess you could run 308 brass through a 7mm-08 sizing die to convert it to 7mm-08 but just buying the brass from Midway would be easier and safer. I have no experience with this but I have converted 30-06 to 8mm Mauser, 7.7 Jap and 7.65mm Argentine with no issues (surplus rifles are my cup of tea). Some annealing of the brass is recommended. YMMV

I am sure someone who works with wildcat cartridges could explain things better.

Yeah, 7-08 is a fairly common cartridge. It actually has a very successful career in Highpower Silhouette. In the deer woods, it is a very effective anchor in any of the medium-weight 7', though it is not intended for--nor does it well accommodate--the long heavy projectiles now available for LR and ELR shooting.

7-08, like any of the rest, can be formed FROM any of the rest. That being said, it is VERY much preferred to neck UP existing brass than to neck down. Necking down .308 has the nasty side-effect of causing neck thickening...you went from maybe an unloaded casing neck ID/OD of ~0.305"/0.329"down to a new ID of ~0.281"...but NOW, your walls are 0.017" thick instead of where they were.

Depending on how far you sized down from parent casing, and the original thickness of the neck walls, the thickening forces the enterprising handloader to turn the necks back down to normal thickness such that there is adequate clearance in the chamber of the rifle. NOT turning overly thickened necks down can be disastrous, as inadequate clearance for the neck to expand outward and release the bullet creates more of a grenade than a rifle cartridge.

So anyway, it would be best to size UP .243 brass with two mandrels to get you to 7mm, instead of .308 down.

Lee never made the Lee Classic Loader in 7-08.

I think if you call Lee, you will find a different answer. The 7-08 Classic Loader is a thing.

Lee made the classic loader up to 1993 then quit. I'm looking for one

All of the above aside, I wish you luck here. You'll need it. But hey, you have some really good options for plan B and C.

Plan B) If you just HAVE to have a Lee Classic loader for this round, then buy a .243 Winchester set, send it to Lee with a nice letter and a blank check, and let them ream it out to 7mm-08 Remington for you. If you're nice, I bet they even send it back with a relabeled box.

Plan C) This is way on easier than Plan B. Just call LE Wilson in Oregon, and get them to send you a hand die set in 7-08. I grant you, it's not quite the same, because Wilson's dies only neck size, but other than that, you'd be right at home with them in only a few minutes of observation and thought.

Hope that helps.

-Nate

 

[hardhearing]

I like your plan b. I have emailed and asked about the 7mm08. Did not asked this question

 

[natdscott]

If you would, let us know how it turns out.

The more I look at them, the more it seems like it might be a good idea to have a few sets around.

-Nate

 

[Mgderf]

Yeah, 7-08 is a fairly common cartridge. It actually has a very successful career in Highpower Silhouette. In the deer woods, it is a very effective anchor in any of the medium-weight 7', though it is not intended for--nor does it well accommodate--the long heavy projectiles now available for LR and ELR shooting.

7-08, like any of the rest, can be formed FROM any of the rest. That being said, it is VERY much preferred to neck UP existing brass than to neck down. Necking down .308 has the nasty side-effect of causing neck thickening...you went from maybe an unloaded casing neck ID/OD of ~0.305"/0.329"down to a new ID of ~0.281"...but NOW, your walls are 0.017" thick instead of where they were.

Depending on how far you sized down from parent casing, and the original thickness of the neck walls, the thickening forces the enterprising handloader to turn the necks back down to normal thickness such that there is adequate clearance in the chamber of the rifle. NOT turning overly thickened necks down can be disastrous, as inadequate clearance for the neck to expand outward and release the bullet creates more of a grenade than a rifle cartridge.

So anyway, it would be best to size UP .243 brass with two mandrels to get you to 7mm, instead of .308 down.



I think if you call Lee, you will find a different answer. The 7-08 Classic Loader is a thing.



All of the above aside, I wish you luck here. You'll need it. But hey, you have some really good options for plan B and C.

Plan B) If you just HAVE to have a Lee Classic loader for this round, then buy a .243 Winchester set, send it to Lee with a nice letter and a blank check, and let them ream it out to 7mm-08 Remington for you. If you're nice, I bet they even send it back with a relabeled box.

Plan C) This is way on easier than Plan B. Just call LE Wilson in Oregon, and get them to send you a hand die set in 7-08. I grant you, it's not quite the same, because Wilson's dies only neck size, but other than that, you'd be right at home with them in only a few minutes of observation and thought.

Hope that helps.

-Nate

I don't plan to do any wildcatting anytime soon, but I found this post extremely informative and interesting.
I am fascinated by all of the different dynamics involved in the handloading process in general.
The nuanced aspects of creating your own cartridges is astounding to me.
Still, fascinating.

Thank you for your insight.

 

[hardhearing]

My communication skills need to be horned. No luck with lee. How do you contact le Wilson

 

[1911ly]

L.E. Wilson Inc. Wilson Tools and Gages

 

[bstewrat3]

If you are just wanting an inexpensive way to load serviceable rounds the Lee Pacesetter die sets are a good option, they come with the powder dipper like the Lee Loader and you just add a press with priming capability and you are ready to go.