338-06 brass source and resizing question

[Remnard]

I have a Weatherby Ultralight in 338-06 and I purchased 5 boxes of ammo for it. Needless to say I am running low and I have reloaded them several times. I found the Weatherby Brand Brass in Cabelas but they want more than a dollar per cartridge! Hell the 100 rounds I bought cost me just over a buck each and that was loaded with TBBC bullets.

I'm faced with 2 choices:
1) try and find the brass cheaper and pay the money or:
2) resize some brand new brass from a 35 Whelen or a 30-06.

So if given that choice (and nobody on here tells me about a great place with a great price on 338-06 Brass) what am I better off doing? resizing the 35 brass, which will push some brass around and maybe need trimming. Or do I stretch some 30-06 out and make them fit? This will thin the case mouth out, but it is what has been used before successfully. I worry about premature case mouth splitting and will probably need to buy an intermediate expander to neck size in a couple of stages.

Of course there is the issue that the headstamp will say -06 or 35 whelen on it also, but I am sure I couldn't stuff them in to either gun accidentally. the 338 might chamber in the 35 whelen, but I dont think it would cause high pressure situation, like the other scenario would.

Anyone with experience out there? It doesn't have to be the 338-06 specifically, just someone that has dealt with a wildcat cartridge that brass wasn't specifically for.

[harter66]

You might try The sportsmans wharehouse , I was in there a while back and they had several bins of "wildcat" brass that included 8mm 06'. I wasn't looking for 338. 323 is closer than 308 or 358 . Seems like a buck a case is pretty hi for a necked up 06' . Me for me I'd just neck up some annealed 06' for about .25 a case even if you buy new .

[popeye]

I've had my 338-06 almost 20 years,and I have never shot anything but necked-up 30-06 brass. No problems, no issues and I've shot some fairly hot loads out of mine. The headstamp doesn't matter. Confusing a loaded 338-06 for a loaded 30-06 MIGHT be a problem but you can actually see the size difference between the two. That is assuming that you also have a 30-06, if not then you have no problems at all

Brass with a 30-06 headstamp is both cheap and easy to find. Good Luck.

[eldeguello]

ORIGINAL: Remnard

I have a Weatherby Ultralight in 338-06 and I purchased 5 boxes of ammo for it. Needless to say I am running low and I have reloaded them several times. I found the Weatherby Brand Brass in Cabelas but they want more than a dollar per cartridge! Hell the 100 rounds I bought cost me just over a buck each and that was loaded with TBBC bullets.

I'm faced with 2 choices:
1) try and find the brass cheaper and pay the money or:
2) resize some brand new brass from a 35 Whelen or a 30-06.

So if given that choice (and nobody on here tells me about a great place with a great price on 338-06 Brass) what am I better off doing? resizing the 35 brass, which will push some brass around and maybe need trimming. Or do I stretch some 30-06 out and make them fit? This will thin the case mouth out, but it is what has been used before successfully. I worry about premature case mouth splitting and will probably need to buy an intermediate expander to neck size in a couple of stages.

Of course there is the issue that the headstamp will say -06 or 35 whelen on it also, but I am sure I couldn't stuff them in to either gun accidentally. the 338 might chamber in the 35 whelen, but I dont think it would cause high pressure situation, like the other scenario would.

Anyone with experience out there? It doesn't have to be the 338-06 specifically, just someone that has dealt with a wildcat cartridge that brass wasn't specifically for.

I would use .35 Whelen cases. You can size them down to make a precise fit in your specific chamber by screwing the die in a little at a time until you can just get the bolt to close on the case with a little effort. This method keeps the headspacing precise.

In addition, if someone gets one of your rounds and fires it in a .35 Whelen chamber, no harm will ensue because of the mistaken identity from reading the headstamp. Much better than having someone try to fire a .338/'06 in a .30/'06 chamber (if they got it to fit.....)

[Dan in Alaska]

I've always used necked up .30-06 brass in my .338-06. I had the rifle built in '97. I've put over 1000 rounds through the rifle, and I've never had an issue with using .30-06 brass, other than wearing some of it out.


I also have a .30-06 and I have NEVER gotten the ammo mixed up. It's not that hard to tell them apart with a quick glance, but there are a lot of other ways to keep them straight, if a guy wanted to be anal:
- use different colored ammo boxes for each caliber - this is what I do
- Nosler Ballistic Tips are already different colors for each caliber
- use completely different bullets for each caliber
- use different head stamps - choose one brand for .338-06 and another for .30-06
- use nickel-plated brass for regular .30-06 ammo (necking it up doesn't work so well, BTW)