I used to reload .308 Win. for a BAR. It was very straight-forward, just like reloading for a bolt action, as long as the cases had been fired in that rifle. I full-length sized them in a regular FL die (not small-base) and had no feeding, chambering, or extraction problems. It worked fine.

One of my hunting buddies had a BAR in 30-06. He said it was a very inaccurate rifle (he was using commercial ammo). He tried some of the reloads I load for my bolt action 30-06 and suddenly he was getting 1" groups at 100 yds. I full length size for his reloads and he has never had a feeding problem with them. He said he felt like he just got a new rifle after shooting my loads.

I had a BAR 30-06 and my friend had one in 270 we did not have any jambs using factory or reloaded ammo. Neither rifle was as accurate as any of my bolt action rifles, but enough accuracy for white tail. If you use new brass or only factory ammo you should not have any feeding problems if you full length size. The only problem will be if you use brass that was fired in another rifle, or hollow points they may have a feeding problem.

A small base sizer die brings the case to minimum standards as far as external SAMMI measurements are concerned. This gives a very slightly looser fit in the chamber. If you have not yet purchased your dies, a RCBS small base set would be a good one to get. If you already have a set of dies -- you can just purchase a small base sizer die only. I have small base sets in .308, 30-06 and 33WM for use in BAR and Remington autoloaders and Remington Pumps. All my sets are RCBS and they have worked well for me over many years.

Dannt Boy
I can give you a 308 reload that I have used for over 30 years. It has shot very good in every 308 rifle from Savage 99's to M1-A's, H&K 91's, Mod 7 Remingtons, Steyr SSG's, as well as custom Sniper rifles. My brother killed a buck deer with this load last weekend.
The Load: 165 Sierra HPBT Gameking, 168 Sierra Matchking, 165 Nosler Partition, 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip, With 39.5gr. of IMR 3031. This load is safe in military brass.
This load has shot good in many different 308's.

The problem with semi autos is they sometimes have feed problems if the cases aren`t sized down enough. Thus the "small base" die.
My Bro-in-law has a BAR in `06 and has no trouble with his useing std dies. Since you already have std 308 dies I would try them first before buying new and see if they are really needed. The other fault in some guns (I don`t believe the BAR is one) is a gas operated rifle needs a certain burn rate powder to keep gas pressure at the proper level at the gas port. This is simply a use 4895, 4064 range burn rate or slower powder to fix deal and shouldn`t be a concern to you.

Yes, Yes, I remember now - a "small base" die set was involved to fix the feeding problem.

I have three other A-bolts - both the .243 and .270 are very accurate (1 MOA) and 300 WM is less consistent (2-1.5" MOA). The 300WM likes heavier bullets 180 and 200 gr.

What is a small base die and what does it do? I don't have any .308 die so should I get a small base die to start with?

Danny Boy

I have/had bars. The one I currently own is a 30-06 with really nice wood. It is not a tack driver but more than accurate for wisconsin whitetail hunting. About the best it does is 1.25" with factory or my reloads. The one I had was 270 with the boss. That gun was unbelievably accurate. Would shoot 3/4" groups with almost anything and that was with a 6x scope (wonder how good it would have been with a fine hair 20x target!!). I never had a jam with either gun and I use regular dies.
Reports from my friends who have bought some of the newer bars are nothing but happiness with accuracy. I also did some reloading for a friend that just got a synthetic remington auto--that gun surprised me by being a solid 1" shooter.
If you want an auto---go for it--I'd say as long as you don't expect it to perform with your best bolt actions you will be happy and it will be plenty good for most any hunting.

When reloading for a automatic rifle or a lever action rifle the way to prevent jams is to use small base dies from RCBS or better yet the RCBS small base X dies if available, depending on caliber.....Small base dies return the case to factory specs...