Here's another route to consider. 1) The .338 Imperial reamer can be used to create a .338 Edge chamber; 2) And .338 Imperial dies can be used to load .338 Edge cartridges; 3) And all of your .338 Imperial brass could be fire formed to the .338 Edge. How do I know? I've already done all of these things. Kirby Allen converted my .338 Imperial chamber to the .338 Edge.
Paul, thank you kindly , it is much appreciated , please elaborate on your statement above...what do you have to do to achieve this procedure??? If I get my reamer and re-loading dies , how am I to go about this procedure to successfully convert to the .338 Edge????
Gert,
1) Your gunsmith will use your .338 Imperial chamber reamer to create the .338 Edge chamber, with the proper .338 Edge headspace. Which means the chamber will be cut a little deeper (approximately .015 - .020" deeper) than for the .338 Imperial. A competent gunsmith will know the precise .338 Edge headspace dimension prior to cutting the chamber.
2) You'll back your .338 Imperial resizing die out slightly so it leaves the longer case head to shoulder dimension to match your new .338 Edge chamber, rather than the shorter case head to shoulder dimension of the .338 Imperial cartridge.
3) The initial fire-forming of the .338 Imperial cases to fit the .338 Edge chamber is a bit of a hassle and consumes some time and materials. It's easier to demonstrate that to describe in this reply. The person you're getting the .404 Jeffery cases and .338 Imperial dies from may be a good source of information. Because someone already went thru this process to create .338 Imperial cases from that parent .404 Jeffery brass.
Here's how go about it:
A) anneal the .338 Imperial case necks;
B) enlarge the .338 Imperial case necks to .358" using a case neck expanding mandrel;
C) partially resize the case necks back down to .338 with your .338 Imperial resizing die, being careful to leave sufficient .358" diameter case neck to act as a shoulder to ensure the case head is in firm contact with the bolt face when closing the bolt on your .338 Edge chambered rifle;
D) use the Cream of Wheat (COW) method to fire form the .338 Imperial cases to your .338 Edge chamber;
E) anneal the case necks a second time after fire forming.
The .338 Imperial was a neat cartridge and you could stick with that for the nostalgia. The Remington Ultra Mags more or less copy-catted the Imperial Magnum line of cartridges that were designed/developed by a Canadian. However the Imperial Magnums have gone by the wayside and as such, .338 Imperial head-stamped brass hasn't been manufactured for decades.
Two big advantages to building a .338 Edge are 1) it's a current cartridge (not obsolete), and 2) high quality head-stamped brass is available from Shawn Carlock (Defensive Edge is the business name, if memory serves me right).
Both are good performing .338 cartridges offering a bit more MV and downrange performance than the .338 Remington Ultra Mag. I've killed a number moose and brown bear with mine over the years. Impressively effective on these large animals.
Choices, choices choices... Hope this is helpful...
