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Best brass for necking UP

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Cohiba
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Posted: 10 October 2008 11:53 PM

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I have a 338 federal but federal has not and will not sell 338 brass.

so i can either buy ammo and shoot it, read expensive. or i can reform 308 brass. Expanding the neck of the case will cause the neck walls to become thinner. This will decrease the useful life of case, and it will also decrease neck tension. Worse, the expansion can cause the neck walls to stretch non-uniformly, causing uneven neck wall thickness. This will contribute to bullet runout and decrease accuracy.

So whats the best brass to use for this? i dont want to have to turn the necks.

miestro_jerry
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Posted: 11 October 2008 06:00 AM

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I am not sure of which case can be expanded to become 338 Federal, that isn't that hard to figure out, but my question not knowing you is: do have experience in necking up brass and fire forming?

I remember an article some where that they took .308 (7.62 NATO) brass and ran the case thru the sizing die and got 338 Federal.

But it can be that simple or it can be complex, the easiest way is to take 308 brass, anneal the case properly, then a little neck lube on the inside of the neck, mica or possibly talcum powder will work for lube.

I would load a light cast bullet in this with mild to medium load and fire form the case. Lee has a mold for the 338 Bullet: C338-220-1R 338, currently I think the Lee Sizer is a customer order item, about $35.00 for it.

After going through this process then load up to what ever potential you what to shoot.

Hope this helps,

Jerry

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miestro_jerry
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Posted: 11 October 2008 06:04 AM

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I forgot to mention, measure the brass then trim to the correct length after neck expanding and fire forming, which is 2.005"

Jerry

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Rockydog
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Posted: 11 October 2008 06:10 AM

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Cohiba, You might be able to reform .358 brass down without turning. I've made 7X30 Waters out of 30-30 with no problem. That's .308 down to .280, difference =.028. You are looking at .358 down to .338 difference =.020.

Your other option might be to neck 8mm Mauser up. The mauser case has much more taper but is longer than the 338 federal to the base of the neck and overall. You'd end up setting the shoulder way back and fireforming to blow out the case, then trimming the neck way back. You might as well neck turn if you are going to go through all of that.

So your best bet is probably using the 308 and necking up. You might want to consider necking up in two stages. First to 8mm and then to 338. Just get an 8mm expander ball to put in your 338 die or a universal decapping die. Lube is probably the key point to keeping them true. People have necked .308 down over the years to .223,.243,.264,.277,.280 and up to 8mm,.358, and .375 without too much concern. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried .400 too. I think you'll be satisfied with neck grip etc. RD

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miestro_jerry
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Posted: 11 October 2008 06:37 AM

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If you want to see how versatile the 308 case is, just load a 308 Winchester round in a 30-06 rifle, you get a very straight walled case. To use for what I don't know, but it happened once to me. Now I check every round before loading.

Here are some links that explains the .308 to .338 cartridge conversion.

http://gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satellite/IMO_GA/Story_C/.338+Federal

http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/akforum/akshooting/65080.htm

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=33297

I prefer to neck up, than down, but you just have to anneal the brass, use the right forming dies, trim to length, fire form if necessary, then load for "bear" and go shoot the rifle after all of this work.

Hope this helps,

Jerry

Jerry

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Cohiba
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Posted: 11 October 2008 10:52 AM

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I have a set of RCBS FL dies and i got a tapered expander. I have shot the 308 FC expanded and the Hornady TAP match black expanded without any problems so far. neither has streched enough to give up 2.005 so trimmming hasnt been an issue yet.

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Posted: 11 October 2008 08:31 PM

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I neck 270 up to 30/06 all the time. None of the problems you list.

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72coupe
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Posted: 12 October 2008 12:59 AM

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I appologize for not answering your question. I like the kind you pick up at the range for projects like this. Namely free.

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Charley
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Posted: 12 October 2008 03:28 AM

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I can't really see the problem. I regularly expand .30/06 to .338/06. With new brass, I've never had a need to anneal, turn case necks, or anything else. Even fireforming is no more than loading and firing. Same case, same shoulder angle, same headspace dimension, just a bigger hole in the neck. Why would .338 Federal have any different relationship to .308 than a .338/06 have to a .30/06?

If it makes a difference, I use WW brass for all my .338.

I guess I've converted so many cartridge cases to other stuff that it just seems pretty routine.

Last edited on 12 October 2008 03:30 AM by Charley

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Posted: 12 October 2008 02:16 PM

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Charley,

I mentioned all of thise things, because some one will suddenly have these problems, so I gave the solutions for just in case, I turn 5.56 in to 7TCU by neck expansion and once in a while split a neck.

Jerry

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Cohiba
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Posted: 12 October 2008 05:50 PM

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I can tell you that expanding federal nickle brass doenst work. I split 3 in a row then ran a winchester nickle with no problem then ran a Hornady TAP black brass with no problem then another FC and it split.

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH FC NICKEL!!! :shameon:

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Posted: 12 October 2008 11:14 PM

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i would prefer necking 358 down, but if i had a bunch of cheap 308 i wouldnt pass on using them.

Last edited on 12 October 2008 11:15 PM by wheezengeezer

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Charley
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Posted: 13 October 2008 01:15 PM

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If I have a choice, I'd rather neck up than down. I don't like turning case necks, and by going up, I don't have to worry about excessive neck thickness.

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wheezengeezer
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Posted: 13 October 2008 03:11 PM

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Charley wrote: If I have a choice, I'd rather neck up than down. I don't like turning case necks, and by going up, I don't have to worry about excessive neck thickness.
true in many situations.but necking down .019 will not require neck turning or reaming.i also prefer necking down when there is little visible difference.someone may chamber in error in a firearm that matches the headstamp.

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