Can you fire form 358 win brass from 308 brass, or do you need to full length resize with a die?

Getting a 358 win. and need to learn to load for it.

Anybody got a good moose load?

Thanks; John Sloan "Kota"

Kota
I have had NO trouble resizing 308 brass w/ a 358 FL die. One wants to lube the inside of the case neck, Imperial Sizing Die Wax is your friend!!! And then gingerly run the case over the expander ball on its way into the die. Shoot & enjoy.

Ulvejaeger

No moose load but I would think that my elk load will work as well as anything, 250 gr. Hornady RN Interlok's, 41.5gr IMR3031 and CCI 200 primers.

Just run new 308 win brass though a 358 win fl sizing die and load for 358 win. Any 225 or 250 gr bullet out of 358 should tip over a moose. Good powder would be IMR 3031 or win 748 is what I use most. Have fun and good luck.

Only time I've had a problem running the 308 brass through was when I was using military brass. Ends up with a false shoulder. Factory stuff, either new/unfired or 1x fired 308 runs through like a champ.

I used Fed 308 brass, and had no problems at all using RCBS standard dies.

I used 225 PT's for elk, although they are Godawful expensive at ~$1.00/each.

I have finally found some 200 gr AB's, and hope to try them as soon as I find another can of Ramshot TAC.

^^^^

I've got at least a hundred 200gr NABs for my repeater, and as many 225 NABs I'll either load for my single shot, or trade to someone that can use the length.....and some TAC I hope they love. I think expanding some 308 win/fed/rem, will be better than the 1x Hornady 358 brass, that I have. Seems soft.

Since I have dies for a 32 Spl, I often make the jump in 2 steps but have done it in one using the 358 dies with no problems. Lots of lube on the inside and good to go.

No help on the moose load as I hunt mostly deer and bear with mine.

Dale

Thanks for the info guys I appreciate it. Keep it coming, I can use the info.

Thanks; John

If you go with 225 Nosler Partitions, keep checking Nosler Pro shop for seconds. With some patience you will be able to score some partitions half price.

The other bullet worth looking at is the 200tsx, a bit pricier than partition seconds though.

One of my favorite rounds! As others stated, no sweat to neck up 308 brass. Good bullets for moose include 225 NP's, Speer's 220 flat point & 250 spitzer along with 250 the Hornady spire point. All should be readily available. 300 yards and even a touch over is easily doable with those loads.

Use a tapered sizing button. Buy one if you only have a standard button. Standard buttons are made to expand a neck on the way out after sizing. Tapered buttons expand on the way in and again on the way out.

Do the NP seconds perform as they should with respect to grouping and expanson? What makes them seconds?

John

The Seconds shoot like first as far as accuracy. I have only shot deer with them so I can't say 100% that thier terminal performance is unchanged. Personally I wouldn't have an issue using them on a paid for out of state hunt. If I did have an issue then I would buy one box of firsts to use for the final zero check and the hunt.

Seems no one answered the first part of your question and the answer is yes, though I don't see much of reason for doing it that way.

Do the Spire points perform better out to longer ranges? I'm thinking 300 yds will be about the max for me. I'll be shooting them out of a BLR with a 20 inch barrel.

We like to see how close we can call the moose in, that is the rush for us. We usually bow hunt, and the ranges are usually a few yards to a few feet. This is our groups first rifle hunt for them. I shot one with a rifle on my own in 2001. If I'm lucky, I'll be putting powder burns on them.

John

Thanks Steelhead. My dad has a bunch of old 308 ammo he discovered after he sold his 308, so thought I would create some cases for my new rifle with those old cartridges.

John

I

Who makes a die set with the tapered sizing die standard, or do I have to buy the tapered one seperate? Recommend me a good set of dies.

Thanks; John

I've ran into the deaded outer doughnut while reforming brand new 308 Hornady match brass . You could close bolt on reformed brass without a bullet seated , but not with a bullet seated. Tried to " size " just the neck after refoming but just made bulet harder to seat with same result. That left outer neck turning , I said screw it and just dug till I found sme new 358 brass to buy. Never tried to fire form so I to would be intrested in other experince in such.

I never have had a problem with running military 308 brass in a 358 sizer die. The only problem I've had with sizing to a different caliber is brittle brass. If your case necks split you will likely need to anneal. I've not had to yet with military brass. My dies have tapered expanders though.

My old RCBS dies came with the the rounded expander ball and it took a lot of effort to neck up 308 brass. I called RCBS and the sent me a tapered expander at no cost. With a touch of Imperial Sizing Wax you won't even know your are expanding the neck.

I like Forster Micrometer seating dies and Redding Bushing dies. Tapered plugs can be purchased cheap. You may not find a Forster in .358 Win, but you can call them to see if they are available.

my .358 is a BLR too, and I love that rifle. easy to tote, and fun to shoot.

I have yet to get "stellar" accuracy from it, but inside 200 yds it's golden.

if I were using it on a moose hunt, I'd definitely stick with the 225 PT's. I believe that's the best projectile available for the 358 Win, and a proven performer. Just expensive, but cheap insurance on a moose hunt.

I've hardly shot my 358 with anything not stamped "308" or "LC" or similar. One new bag of 358 Brass I bought years ago has not all been fired once yet.



As for bullets for moose, I've done more moose killing with the 225 XFB; only recovered the one above at long distance (for the 358). The Hornady 250 SP shed it all at the same distance. (The 300 XTP-Mag was near point blank at around 1500 fps; not sure why no expansion into the neck.)




The moose, killed with bullets pictured above, taken on the shortest day of the year some years ago.



A previous moose, first one I shot with the 358, stopped this 250 Hot Cor at less than 50 yards.



A bone test (moose knuckle) using the 200 XFB in the 358; those little 200 XFBs were very accurate in my rifle with 4895.



I can't remember the last time I didn't kill our year's moose with a second of some sort, usually Pro-Shop Noslers. This year the 180 E-Tip sailed on through the spine and beyond. The bullet above, a 180 Partition, was delivered to the moose at around 300 yards via my '06….two years ago.

Thanks Klikitarik, That is some great info, just what I was looking for.

That bull is a beauty! Love those fronts, and nice tines.

I will give the XFB bullets a try. Also going to check out the Nosler pro shop for Blems.
Thanks everybody for all the great info I really appreciate it.

John "Kota"

Kota,
With regard to Brass, I don't have an answer,,,,I buy 358 brass.
Now about the load...I have found my best group (100 yds) using 4 shot groups, is between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 inches. With Sierra Gamekings 225gr over IMR 3031 (42gr). My C.O.A.L. is 2.770

I hope this helps a bit, good luck.

Are the Game Kings a heavy built bullet like the Nosler Partitions, something that will break through bone, penetrate well on a moose? I like the looks of them and they look like they may be a better choice for longer range shots. Actually though, out of a 20" barrel, I'm not expecting to take anything over 250-300 yds.

Thanks; John

The 225 GameKing in the 358 Winchester is reasonably tough, but I wouldn't expect much if you hit one of the big leg bones or a joint. Sierra uses a rather hard - as lead alloys go- core on their 33 and 35 caliber Game Kings, and the jackets are reasonably tough as well. However, the core is still free to move once it opens up. I've killed a couple of moose with the 250 in my 340. One passed through the animal on a broadside shot. I found the jacket, but the core was too deep in a snow drift to find. A closer moose stopped this one:



It looked intact until I washed it off. Then I could see that the core was 'feeding out' of the jacket while it penetrated.

I shot a few bullets from my 358 one time into discarded drywall compound which was a bit old and had started to get a few lumps in it.



The cup and cores I've found, either in testing or actual use, or both, to work well in the 358 have been the 200 Core-lokt and the 220 Speer. I like the fact that you can get them going a bit faster than the 250s. The Noslers have the advantage of being soft up front so you still get positive expansion at the more docile speeds of the 358 while having that web to keep the back end intact for more more positive penetration.

ive had great luck with 200gr hornady interlock in mine, they'll angle through big midwestern deer like no bodys business, and in my gun, 1 hole accuracy @100 yards. I havent had to form any brass, as i ran across 200pcs of brand new 358win norma brass on here when i bought the rifle.