You guys have talked me into buying a 358 Winchester barrel for my Encore. I found a good buy on a barrel. Problem is I can not find any brass. Does anyone know where there is any brass? Tom.
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You guys have talked me into buying a 358 Winchester barrel for my Encore. I found a good buy on a barrel. Problem is I can not find any brass. Does anyone know where there is any brass? Tom.
If you can not find any 358 Win brass you always have the option of reforming 308 win brass. Run it through your sizing die and............ viola 358 win brass
Is it really that simple. Do you just take 308 brass and run it into a FL 358 Winchester sizing die? Are there any other processes involved? Tom.
Might be worth annealing the neck if you find you are getting splits, I do that by dipping the case up to the shoulder in a pot of lead at about 650 and hold it until i feel the case head getting warm to my touch then drop into a pail of water.
I'd just try a few first without that step and see how it goes. Use commercial brass, not military surplus as the military brass is a bit thicker and tougher. Commercial is just a bit easier.
When running .308 LC brass through a .358 Win sizer, I find the case OAL decreases by a few thousanths. Is this a common occurance with you all? Any problem shooting formed .358 Win cases shorter than the minimum 2.05" ?
That is normal that the brass shortens a bit when necking up. I see the same with thing .35 Whelen save trimming until after the first firing and resizing. I don't worry much about bottle neck cases being a few thousandths under the minimum, they'll grow with use.
Necking up brass sometimes causes some of the necks to split. A better solution might be to simply reload some .308 cases with 8 or 10 grains of Unique and whatever .308 bullet you have laying around and firing them in your .358. Voila!! Perfect .358 cases. You can even dispense with the bullet and simply use the powder with a wax plug in the case neck and point the gun up in the air. Works but you may have to adjust powder charge to get complete case fillout.
I wouldn't waste all the powder and bullets to fireform .308's, I would just neck up .308 brass. I neck up 30-30 brass to make 357 Herrett (and used to neck up .223 to make 7mmTCU) with no problem. Run a few strokes with a neck cleaning brush with a generous amount of case lube on it in the case and run it into the sizing die. If your die does not have a tapered expander ball, get one, it will make the necking up a lot easier on you and the brass. If you have problems with split necks, you can anneal the necks easy enough with a propane torch and a bucket of water.
Use a moderate amount of force to run the brass through the die. When you get the occasional one that sticks on the way up, don't force it, you will crush the shoulder. Pull it back down (it will look like the end of a trumpet) and relube it. It should then run through easily the second time.
I thought I might be able to find some .338 Federal brass for an easier neck up job and that stuff is scarce too.
MJ
I found some 358 Winchester brass at Buffalo Arms. It was $44 per 100. I ordered the MGM barrel in 358 Winchester. The barrel is 12 inches long/ with the integral MB. Thanks for your help guys. I ordered an RCBS 200 grain mold for the barrel also. WE SHALL SEE. Thanks guys, Tom.
To Marlin Junky, I double checked with Buffalo Arms, they said they had it, and that it shipped??? We will see. Tom.
Scrounger, I already tried them; they are out.
I also bought 358win brass at Buffalo Arms.
Buffalo Arms called me today, after I placed another stupid order last night for .358 Winchester brand brass, to say that the .358 brass has been back ordered and they don't expect it for awhile.
Mj
What brand of brass are you ordering? I do not think they have any Winchester. I believe the brand they have in stock is a different brand. I called my order in. I have not received my order yet, but they verified the brass was in the order.I can not remember the name of the brass. Tom.