Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 338-280

Would substituting 280 brass for a 338-06 be like the 338-06AI?

I would say pretty much.. A 280 is just a variation of the old 06 case, with a bit more room for powder..

Kind of reminds me of the guy who told us they created a super 7mm mag.. They necked down the .338 case to 7mm.. Best thing going he felt.. Trouble was he was serious..

I'd rather neck down a 9.3mm.

.280 brass is the basis for several different "improved" .338-06 wildcats, but the basic cartridge won't give you much more in the way of case volume in the standard .338-06. When you neck up the the .280 brass in your .338-06 die, you will move the shoulder back to the original .30-06/.338-06 datum. I doubt that you will get a grain more of water, if that.

If you are considering one of the .338 wildcats based on the .280, you will get 4-5 grains increase in water capacity depending on whether you decide to use those with 30-degree or 40-degree shoulders.

I got a good buy on a lot of 280 brass, and since I don't shoot that caliber, used it for my 338/06....

the die bumped the shoulder back, but I had to trim the case length for it to chamber...

a friend who fools around with Ackley Improving did a barrel in 338/280 AI but didn't really see any velocity improvement over his 338/06 AI... at least as he told me, as I didn't see any of his chrony results...

so doubt if it is worth the effort...