Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Forming .358 from .308?

I also open 308Win brass all the time ... and it doesnt need to be new brass as I've opened brass that's had a few firings. I use Lee dies and lube the inside of the neck really well with RCBS lube. Slide them into the Lee 358Win FL die and with minimal effort they will open up. I've also used Hornady dies which have a tapered expander as well.

Just make sure that the FL die is adjusted to do some sizing ... if you run them in short the neck wil open but be out of alignment and kind of wonky. Mine are often wonky enough to prevent chambering ... hence work the cases all the way into the die.

Last night I opened some 'give-away' 270Win brass to 35Whelen again in one step. Expect the brass to shorten ... nice thing about 270Win brass is it shortens just about right to spec for 35Whelen.

Most of my brass after opening, it gets a rinse in vinegar and water to clean it up and dissoleve the lube in the neck.
Cheers...
Con

Redding makes their 358 FL die with a tapered expander button...makes 358s from 308s simple.....yes lube the neck slightly with Imperial wax...you'll never run out of 308 brass.....

Just my 2 cents, but I think y'all are missing a bet by not using graphite powder to lube the necks. You don't have to clean it up nor worry about some of it getting into the case and corrupting the powder charge. Besides a little box by Imperial Graphite Powder works for hundreds and hundreds of rounds. And, it decreases the effort to almost nothing.

But then you'd have to use a neck sizing die to achieve all this goodness. That might be a stopper. I only use a full length die with new or once fired brass for the first load. After it's been fire formed to my rifle, I neck size only.