338 Edge Die Question

[scsims]

I'm having an Edge built and am looking to buy the die set I need.

Can I just buy a neck sizing die and bullet seating set? Or will I need the FL sizing die as well?

 

[Joe King]

Your eventually going to have to get something to to size the body down.

 

[B23]

FWIW, Defensive Edge has 338 Edge dies in stock.

 

[D.ID]

You can use the neck sizer and seater dies of any 338. Conventional wisdom suggests you will need a body die for a 338 edge or a 375 rum with expander removed at some point. I have several hundred pieces of brass fired 4 times and counting without resizing the body.

 

[dbhostler]

I recommend a custom die maker. They will take your reamer, several fired cases and a couple new cases and produce a die that is perfect for that rifle. Jim Carstensen, Neil Jones and Hornady to name a few.
db

 

[geargrinder]

338RUM die set and a 375RUM with the expander removed works just fine and is the cheapest solution.

I have about $65 invested in my 338 Edge reloading die set.

btw. Tapered expander in the Lee 338RUM set works very well sizing up 300RUM brass. Much better than the expander buttons of other makers.

 

[scsims]

338RUM die set and a 375RUM with the expander removed works just fine and is the cheapest solution.

I have about $65 invested in my 338 Edge reloading die set.

btw. Tapered expander in the Lee 338RUM set works very well sizing up 300RUM brass. Much better than the expander buttons of other makers.

Which Lee set do you use, the Pace setter?

Also, do you use a 375 FL die from Lee as well?

 

[geargrinder]

Yes, the Pacesetter. I use them for expanding, shoulder bump, and bullet seating.

I use a RCBS 375RUM FL die with the expander removed. I use it whenever the body of the brass needs to be FL sized. I picked RCBS for this one simply because I got it on Ebay for cheap. Any decent manufacturer would work equally well.

 

[scsims]

Got my set of dies and brass for Christmas. My first attempt I ran a piece of 300 RUM brass into the 338 RUM FL die set out far enough not to crush the brass.

When expanding the .308 neck up I noticed that the mouth is expanded more than the base of the neck. So I worked the die down further and further until I eventually crush the shoulder.

So I the case mouth supposed to be wider than the rest of the neck when sizing up the brass?

 

[scsims]

I'm really just looking for a step by step procedure for setting up using standard 338 RUM dies to neck up 300 RUM brass for the edge.

And does anyone have a discription on how the set up the 375 RUM die for full length sizing?

 

[D.ID]

I am not sure what your working with or how you could end up with a different sized neck from top to bottom. You do not even need to bump the shoulder on fresh brass (I use a hornady neck die) I even used a 338 win die and just stopped short for my first couple hundred cases. The core is the only part being used to expand the mouth, if you continue the case up into the die it will then show polishing on the neck where the die pressed on the outside: adjust your die down to "polish" the neck but not far enough to touch the shoulder, you can even just run it 3/4 down the neck (or not at all) it doesn't matter..................after firing in your chamber, adjust your full length die in so it just bumps the shoulder (I do not even bump the shoulder) or just neck size with a standard 338 neck die. When and IF you full length size (I do not) just pull the guts or core out of your 375 die and run it threw as if it was 375 brass, This will resize the whole case without disturbing your 338 neck. You may need to take a measurement of your neck at top and bottom and see if we can explain this better as I can not imagine how that is even possible. The neck would be spread by the expander and then compressed by the top of the die and then backed out over the expander and should not have any noticeable taper.

 

[dbhostler]

You might try a Sinclair expander die and several mandrels to get you to fireforming.
db

 

[scsims]

It's almost like it's getting stuck on the expander and buckling the shoulder before the expander can make it all the way through the neck.

The outer rim of the brass measures .357" and the base before the shoulder measures .337". I am lubing the inside of the neck. The above picture is of the 2nd case I've tried to neck up. I think if I put anymore pressure on it, it would have buckled like the first one.

 

[scsims]

Not sure if its the way I had it set up or not but, this Lee 338 FL die just doesn't have enough *** to push the expander all the way though. It keeps pushing the mandrel up through the top of the die. I couldn't tighten it enough, I ended up stripping it out of the die. Guess I learned my lesson about cheap stuff. Might send these back and just get the Edge dies.