Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .338 Federal Brass

Does any other manufacturer ( other than Federal ) make Brass for the 338 Federal?

Not so far, but it can be formed easily from .308 Winchester brass. I've only done it with Remington cases and I recommend the .338 Federal FL Sizing Die from Redding. The Redding Die has a tapered expander which is a big help. On rare occasions Federal sells unprimed cases but I haven't seen any in a long time.



RCBS Expander Assembly on the left, the Redding on the right. I don't know if RCBS still puts that knurling on the button but it didn't work very well when forming cases (scratches!)

Thanks for the information, by luck I have just ordered a Redding Deluxe set in .338 Federal
By the way are those 180gn Nosler Balistic tips you have loaded?
I looked on the Nosler web site the other day and the 180gn Nosler Balistic Tips in .338 were not listed?

Yes, they're Nosler Ballistic Tips (out of production). The 180 gr. AccuBond is pretty close - but more expensive! The Hornady 200 gr. InterLock is pretty good too (if you can find any!) I've taken one whitetail and two feral hogs with the Hornady InterLock - the hogs were DRT and the deer stumbled and fell within 20 yards (1/3 of that sliding down an incline).



Five shots at 100 yards.

Some 180 gr. AccuBond loads in Remington brass.

Remington and Winchester 308 cases can be a bit thin in the neck once necked up for the Federal. Some people have had issues with RCBS dies giving insufficient neck tension with these cases, although your new Redding dies will work well. Necked up Lapua 308 cases are dimensionally very similar to original headstamped Federal cases.

I have seen neck tension issues with resized 308 brass. RCBS dies have done this in my experience. Other brands of 308 seem fine. Thankfully I have a good supply of Federal 338 Fed brass.

I had issues with Winchester .358 cases necked down in RCBS .338 Fed dies. No neck tension so I gave them away to a .358 shooter.

I went to .308 Lapua brass necked up and it works perfectly with the same RCBS dies. The Kimber Montana has never shot better.

I used Lapua brass for mine.

I have used .308 brass by Lapua and Federal and they have worked very well. I wish Lapua made some headstamped brass. That was with an RCBS die. I do have some .338 Fed stamped brass now though (~350 in various stages of shooting and 100 unopened). Out of curiosity I was looking for more and it appears everybody is out right now. I recently asked Federal and they said they did not have a schedule for when they would produce more.

By the way, great groups, great photo's and good update of info
Regards
KRC508

If someone is really desperate for new .338 Federal stamped and primed brass pm.

do yall size up in one pass?

I sized up with a Sinclair expander die in two steps, to 8mm then 338. Not sure the extra step makes any significant difference but the accuracy of first firing loads was outstanding.

Are you fellas having luck with Federal 308 brass?

When I size WW or RP with my RCBS FL die, you can drop a bullet in them. The Fed 338 brass works like a champ, but I'm running thin and thought about trying Federal 308 brass.

KRC508 - wish more manufacturer's would produce the brass also. Homesteader.