High Quality 338 Win Mag Brass-Need Help!

[Wind Dancer]

I need some high quality 338 Win Mag brass. I have used a lot of Lapua in other calibers but it doesn't look like Lapua makes anything in 338 Win Mag. So I checked on Norma from Midway. Their rating for the Norma brass is only 3 stars as opposed to 5 stars for Winchester brass. Of course it looked like the rating was based on only one providers opinion, who said the inside of the Norma case necks was out of round and rough. Anyone got any advice?? Thanks. Greg.

 

[davewilson]

you could get the 300 win mag brass and push it out to 338. there are several manufacturers that make quality 300 brass.

 

[royinidaho]

Dave,

Going from 300 Win to 338 Win is about like going from 300 RUM to 338 RUM which I did. And got dimples in the shoulders, not from lube but brass crunching.

Annealing helped but not nearly enough. (Maybe I didn't achieve sufficent temps /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif)

I'm sure someone has successfully performed the 300 to 338 in both Win and RUM and it is a good idea.

 

[davewilson]

Roy, i pushed a bunch of 300rum out to 338 not long ago, remington, didn't have any problems at all. pushed them over a 308 pilot first then over a 338. didn't have any dents in the shoulders. some of the necks were a little crooked but i have to run all of them through my 338/300 FL before loading. had no probs at all. must be the air in this part of pennsyltucky!

i just realized, you're going to 338rum from 300rum. that's much more difficult because you're smashing a little bit of shoulder with yours. is the 338 win a bit shorter than the 300? i assumed they were the same length to the shoulder. is it the different length thing for can't chamber reasons?

 

[royinidaho]

Dave,

The 338 WinMag is about a tenth shorter to the neck than the 300 Win same as the RUMs.

Yea, I think it is for the 'can't chamber reasons'.

Also I was starting w/7MM Rum and sized up to 338 and pushed the shoulder back in a single step. I Could have gone to 30 cal as an intermediate step but didn't think of it at the time.

 

[waha]

Try the new Nosler Brass for the 338 WM. Little spendy but very strong and consistant.

http://www.noslershop.com/

 

[waskow54]

There are a number of manufacturers who make .338 Win brass. Making it from .300 Win brass seems a little difficult. Winchester was a little late with the .300 Winchester. Norma necked the .338 Win down before Winchester did so they moved the shoulder forward by about .1" to make the .300 Winchester. Necking it up to .338 Win would involve pushing the shoulder back. I think you may be able to do it with 7mm Remington mag brass. Check the length from the base to the shoulder to see if it's the same length before trying it and then only if you can't get .338 Win brass. Maybe use a .30 diameter sizing ball for the first pass then go to the .338 sizing ball. I would only do this if I couldn't get factory .338 Win brass though. I've had good luck in my Nikko Golden Eagle .338 Win with Winchester cases. I've gotten six or seven reloads out of these casings and the Nikko is a rear locking bolt action.

 

[MudRunner2005]

you could get the 300 win mag brass and push it out to 338. there are several manufacturers that make quality 300 brass.

The .338 WM is actually shorter than the .300 WM.

The .338 WM specs are as follows:

The .300 WM specs are as follows:

These images and specs came straight from the Nosler 7 reloading manual.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Win 338 brass is decent stuff.
I've made 338's from 7 rem brass and it can be done but win 7rem brass will have very thin necks. Rem 7rem brass is better for necking up. You will need to go to 30 cal first unless you have a tapered expander.
I've pushed 300 win shoulders back for both 7rem and 338 win brass and they wrinkled a bit but shot fine. Not quite as bad as fireforming 7rems into 7stw's I suppose... Don't try that one at home boys and girls.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Dayum! 7RM into 7STW...That's that new magical shrinking brass, right?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Dayum! 7RM into 7STW...That's that new magical shrinking brass, right?

nope, had both a 7 rem and 7stw on the bench at the same time and chucked the wrong one in and pulled the trigger. The 7rem will headspace off the belt when fired in a 7stw but will blow the shoulder out and leave you virtually no neck. Not much different than fireforming "improved" rounds other than 7rem brass is to short.