The no X-Die trimming experiment...

impactco · December 14, 2010, 07:38 PM

We have been reloading about 1,000 rds of .308 a month for our 1919A4 and .308 AR. Needless to say, trimming is an annoyance even though we have a Giraud trimmer. It's setup for .50 BMG and we use it continuously for that caliber. It is preferable not to have to swap blades and setup and there is no budget for a second unit. So what to do?

We tried the X-Dies for awhile but noticed some loss of accuracy that was painfully obvious with the AR. So 6 months ago a decision was made to trim all of our .308 brass to X-die specifications, that is .020" under max length and NOT use the X-Die. We settled on using an RCBS Comp FL die. We do anneal every 5 reloadings. We do not crimp for either gun. We have run some batches of brass through the 1919 up to 10 times to impending case failure and never needed to trim. Some of the AR brass has been fired 12 times before trimming was needed. There has been no noticeable loss of accuracy for the AR at distances from 400 to 600 yards. The 1919 has easily been tapping steel plates at 200-300 yards.

Maybe this is useful info to someone here, maybe not. I thought I would share it anyway.

Time to sell our X-Dies.

www.justshootit.net

mehavey · December 14, 2010, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Some of the AR brass has been fired 12 times before trimming was needed.

Wow !
I sure wish my M1A was that kind to brass.

Steve in PA · December 15, 2010, 01:52 AM

I use the X-die for reloading my M4 (.223/5.56) and M1 Garand (.30/06) with no sign of any accuracy issues.

impactco · December 15, 2010, 11:00 AM

Using the RCBS comp die set our .308 AR would consistently shoot sub .5" groups at 100 yds. When using the X-Die, these groups opened up to .75"+ with no other variables introduced. YMMV.

December 14, 2010, 07:38 PM	#1
impactco Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2008 Posts: 102	The no X-Die trimming experiment... We have been reloading about 1,000 rds of .308 a month for our 1919A4 and .308 AR. Needless to say, trimming is an annoyance even though we have a Giraud trimmer. It's setup for .50 BMG and we use it continuously for that caliber. It is preferable not to have to swap blades and setup and there is no budget for a second unit. So what to do? We tried the X-Dies for awhile but noticed some loss of accuracy that was painfully obvious with the AR. So 6 months ago a decision was made to trim all of our .308 brass to X-die specifications, that is .020" under max length and NOT use the X-Die. We settled on using an RCBS Comp FL die. We do anneal every 5 reloadings. We do not crimp for either gun. We have run some batches of brass through the 1919 up to 10 times to impending case failure and never needed to trim. Some of the AR brass has been fired 12 times before trimming was needed. There has been no noticeable loss of accuracy for the AR at distances from 400 to 600 yards. The 1919 has easily been tapping steel plates at 200-300 yards. Maybe this is useful info to someone here, maybe not. I thought I would share it anyway. Time to sell our X-Dies. www.justshootit.net

December 15, 2010, 01:52 AM	#3
Steve in PA Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 1999 Location: Northeastern PA Posts: 756	I use the X-die for reloading my M4 (.223/5.56) and M1 Garand (.30/06) with no sign of any accuracy issues. __________________ Steve

December 15, 2010, 11:00 AM	#4
impactco Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2008 Posts: 102	Using the RCBS comp die set our .308 AR would consistently shoot sub .5" groups at 100 yds. When using the X-Die, these groups opened up to .75"+ with no other variables introduced. YMMV.