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I finally got the barrel from Douglas and bought from Midway a Lee "squeeze reloading kit" to use for impromptu necking of the used 7mmBr brass I had. I since got some new 7mmBr hulls from Midway as well. I did my initial opening of the necks on a four hole Lee turret press which I would otherwise use for pistol rounds intended for serious plnking or home defense rounds. This was under less than optimal conditions and I can't recall what sort of lube I used - maybe WD 40.
The Lee squeeze press is a nice piece of die casting in some kinda aluminum alloy. All sections are basically flat and square and while i think some slipover round handles would be useful at least you can force the ahndles together by leaning on a desk or even kneeling on it if necessary in worst cases.
With proper lube and adjustment it is possible to neck a 7mm to .338 with almost one fell swoop. I did crack some necks but who knows how many reloads the used rounds went through? The dies have to be "snuck up on" as there are one or two allen screws and a nut to tighten on these dies. The decapper expander has one set of issues to adjust and lock and the seater has other problems. Expect the usual learning curve. Actually I would have no objection to haveing two hand presses with each having one die. The justification is the reloader can then watch TV, swill beer, and still do simple operations like neck expansion. That should be followed by trimming which I didn't do.
I seated some spire point Hornady rounds in 225 and 250 gr sizes. The exposed lead tip can take a bit of damage and may likely have some anyway as obatined from someone's leftover stock. This can be corrected by a dull coarse file. I seated those in my decapped used expanded cases but found the fit of the square base a bit iffy at first. But in a seating die there is no great problem. However there is a good bit of careful sneaking up on the correct depth - easy to determine if your round has the locking cannelure. One round nicely folded in and the other is over it but not tipped in.
I noticed the neck seemed to tightly grip the bullet and fold over and around the bottom. The neck shows a bit of polish around the top where we expect contact with the dies but also at the bottom of the seated bullet. This lower bright ring gives the impression the neck is a bit constricted below the base of the bullet - which is not impossible as there might be a teensy amount of compression downwards of the neck - in fact I folded a few of these beasties striaght down into the hull.
I need a proper case trimmer though I am inclined to look at a motorized type or one which is either hand pulled on a cord or perhaps run by a separate forizontal or vertical power source. On the other hand a Harbor Freight cheapo 7" lathe at $395 or less might be worthwhile as the cost isn't that much worse than the finest trimmers - meaning perhaps 3.5 to 4 times as much and with plenty of other capabilities as well for simple work.
With boat tail bullets insertion should be easier and a case chamfer tool would aid as well. I will order 7mmBr dies for sizing and will follow w/ necking, trimming, chamering, etc.
I expect to go to lead rounds though this is a costly up front effort which requires a certain amount of labor - much beyond just ordering a box of jacketed commercial projectiles. SSK feels a 250gr is minimal for this version and a 300 is ideal weight. As this is an odd round and caliber I may as well go with tradition except for perhaps using lead rounds. I have no dedicated shooting purpose or target type. This will be a target round of sorts for any ranges I can find in the Chicago area and shooting will likely be 300 yds and less. I will try borderline subsonic shooting though suppressors aren't legal in Illinois. I might mount iron sights first.
The barrel is a near duplicate of the Savage 26" fluted stainless steel - I got one in .308 on the internet for $45. New. Mine Douglas is 22" and in unfluted chome moly. Their usual 6 grooves plus counterbored muzzle. Nice and shiny smooth inside compared to commercial barrels. Mine is XX grade which is guaranteed to be more or less straight to what is it - .0001"? Anyway this is better than I can do with any shooting skills I will be able to develop. My mind is still back in military training techniques of the sixties with iron sights.
The stock on order is a Richards microfit with traditional Sierra form w/ cheek piece, wide forend as in varmint style, wider channel and some kinda buttpad. This is solid walnut. I will likely add a bipod and sling swivels using either as required.
I tried feeding some rounds into the chamber but as this was a loose action I couldn't do it as I wasn't sure what was keeping things from closing. After some adjustments I decided I needed a stock - my plastic Savage stock wouldn't clear the barrel so I sawed the channel down on a table saw. Then I finished it with a saber saw on the other side. I was going to cut the forend off completely to use the stock as a toolholder but didn't do it as I need the grip at that point. With the unbolted action I was able to close on a round but feeding was a problem as this is a long action with a short round. The bolt when lightly pushed forward hung up a bit on the edge of the plastic follower. This can be cured with some filing. Actually a smart closing of the bolt would do just as well. However the short round tends to fly out of the receiver. A longer 300 gr lead round might be a bit less inclined to do that. The solution is a shorter follower and spring with a stuffer block in the rear of the magazine. I just saw this somewhere but will try some Savage sites for the parts and just improvise until it fits.
The existing rifle and barrel work well as regards balance but as the thing isn't properly bolted I don't exactly do the manual of arms with it. I expect to spend most of the year trying to properly form and load jacketed rounds and getting the sighted action properly mounted in a soundly finished and accessorized stock.
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