Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Need some 338-06 info please?

U
I've never had a 338-06 before in all my years. I will start by necking up new Lapua 30-06 brass. I expect no problem simply running them into a FL die. However, I have a wad of once fired Winchester brass I want to use too. So (a) can I just run them into the die to neck up also or (b) should I anneal ( never done it it before, gonna use the candle method if i need to) the necks first? (c) can I set up my die so I can do load workup as I am fireforming? I dont want to fireform by corn meal or sticking a bullet into the lands. What say you guys, help please?

Headspace CONTROL,should be your opening move. From there,simply run the best projectile available to the RPM/COAL/Throat Geometry. For me,that's ALWAYS going to be Lapooey '06 Virgins and 250 Skinner Smooches. Hint.

Positive headspace is your best friend and tapered expanders are the path of least resistance. Drive a false shoulder,Smooch a Skinner and never look back. Hint.



Kiss,find pressure and rock on. Not much to it,other than your Hilarious Phobias. Hint.................

The worst problem I had with the 338-06 was resizing Weatherby 338-06 brass ! Just running a FL into a once fired Federal 30-06 worked fine for me.I found Fed to be pretty soft, so basically disposable. Both my Lee and RCBS dies are well tapered. But when Hornady 35 Whelen brass shows up I'll try using it instead.

Federal is schit. Hint.

Hornady is schit. Hint.

Weatherby/Nosler is schit. Hint.

Lapooey is without peer. Hint.

Lee has yet to make ANYTHING worth a fhuqk and RCBS tends to struggle. Hint.

Pass the Redding and hold The Fluff. Hint...............

Thanks guys! Hey Stick, we both love that Lapua brass! I have also found RWS brass to be great when you can find it.

I did the same as DWT2. I used Winchester brass once fired then run the Redding 338-06 AI die through it. After that fireformed using 200gr Nosler BT. I've since been using these bras for 16 years. Some have been fired 8 times. Wouldn't change a thing.

If you go back a ways on this forum, not far, there is a discussion of forming 338-06 from 30-06. The poster had his Redding die crumble the necks and had .007" run when it didn't. This led me to check my run out. I had .003" with Lee die. Better, but I was not pleased. So I looked in to it much closer .

Winchester should be fine. It's all I used for about 30 years. Maybe the newer stuff isn't as good as the older stuff, but all I have is older stuff. I've always started with new, but once fired may be fine. The Redding FL die comes with tapered expander which is helpful. I tried Lapua, but with the snug chamber in my rifle it wont fit. If you go that way, make sure the chamber is large enough at the .200 line for Lapua. CIP specs are a tad larger there than SAAMI.

Stick is right about headspace on the 1st firing. If brass is a snug fit 1st shot, it will last a long time. Tried some Hornady 35 Whelen brass recently & the lot I have is as good or a maybe even little better than the old WW stuff for longevity. It headspaces easier, with one less step, in a long chamber with min length brass.

Years ago I had a 280 Rem/338 made up. I tried a bunch of the Rem nickled cases. Split necks when running over an expander button. tried fireforming with pistol powder/corn meal/parrafin The mouth of the cases were uneven, just a pain. I still have some new Rem 35 Whelen brass, I'm going to see how that works too. I got to figuring up the average distance I've taken elk out here. Only took four cows, it came to 195yds. Mule deer, 75yds, antelope around 250av ( just because I wanted to take some out around 300, 325, most were under 200). I'm just not a LR Hunter, but I do like to hit bigger game "hard", I want to see them flinch/stumble/stagger and drop, ha. Love a Medium bore

How do you “control” the head space on newly sized brass? Size to where you can just barely close the bolt? And will a regular ‘06/308/270 head space gauge/bushing for the stoneypoint caliper attachment thingy work for the 338-06?

Neck up 1 caliber size, then use your 338-06 full length die, to incrementally size down the neck until you have a little resistance when you close the bolt. Pull the firing pin assy for better feel. If you have or want to buy the Hornady comparator sets they also provide a reference chart.

[quote=Big Stick]Headspace CONTROL,should be your opening move. COAL/Throat Geometry. For me,that's ALWAYS going to be Lapooey '06 Virgins

Positive headspace is your best friend and tapered expanders are the path of least resistance. Drive a false shoulder,Smooch a Skinner and never look back. Hi

Stick, I told you I love Lapua also. I just ran them over the expander and sized to a light bolt crush. Loaded them with the 200gr NAB. They shot well with Big Game, going to finesse the next trial with same components except falling back to a LR Primer instead of a Magnum Primer. My groups are a bit vertical, going to try the BR2 and see if it helps ignition.
The Winchester brass with Hornady 225 CX lightly jammed into the Leade formed just fine, but those crappy CX bullets were all over the place! I order another 50 of the '06 Lapua, phooey on messing with the Winchester, lol. Thanks Bud, you the man! Thanks to the rest of you guys too, I appreciate the unput! Rev Jim

The BR2 trials were a bust for accuracy! Cases formed just fine, the BG powder fired off OK, but 3 to 3.5" 3 shot groups. Bummer. I'm going to fall back to 57 through 58 in small increments and finesse it with Mag primers. Rifle doesnt seem to like the 200 NAB over 58gr so far.

Jim:
Mine didn't behave until I got to 225's and higher and with a healthy dose of Varget. Went from 3MOA to 0.5MOA. FWIW

Give H380 a try. Most consistently accurate groups for me in 200 gr bullets.

Thanks guys. I'd love to try some H380....if I ever see some on the shelf, ha. I used a 35 Whelen AI for 20 yrs, killed everything with two bullets, the original Barnes 250X and the 200X. Pure poison. I loaded it hot, in new brass for hunting and enjoyed it. I always tried other calibers ( I love my rifles! ha) even bigger ones along the way, but the Medium Calibers won my heart, ha.

I have a 338-06 AI that has become a go to rifle for me. I use a Hornady .338 neck die. The tear drop shaped expander ball works well to up size necks. A qtip with a small amount of lube to apply lube to the inside of the neck will help avoid failures. Lapua brass is the way to go. Using others to practice with a few is a good idea to find the methodology that works best for what you have.

Little Stick's fantasy isn't being "the man", it's being "the woman".

I found H 380 to be the best performing powder in mine for accuracy and velocity. With a 200 grainer I load 65 grains of H380 and yes It does need to be crimped... and don't use it in real hot weather... but it gave the best MV and Accuracy.

As far as brass, all I do is neck up fired 30/06 brass in a Redding 338/06 F/L die, and its good to go... If the brass is not fired previously in 06, then I anneal it and then lube the expander ball, and then neck up. Most of the brass I use for mine, the headstamp is either Winchester or Federal.

Best of luck....

As soon as I saw Schtick had replied, I was expecting this to be a 40 page plus thread... maybe he's having a malaise sort of day....