HELP with .358 WCF Dies

[Terrier]

Tonight I attempted to neck up some .308 cases to .358 with a used set of Lee dies and on the first attempt the die died an untimely death. I need a die set that will work for expanding .308 cases (I was given 250 Federal cases) as well as normal reloading chores. I can get either RCBS or Lee here in time but which are better suited for my need. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Terrier

[Rockydog]

Terrier, Expansion by .05 is a pretty big step to do in one jump. If you had the opportunity to go to 8mm or .338 first you might have better luck. You could just run the case into the die far enough to hit the expander button and then back out without running the case into the die. You might be able to accomplish it in one stroke if you can find a die with a long, tapered expander ball. I use a Hornady New Dimension die for expanding .223 cases to 6mm TCU. It has a very long tapered expander just for that use. The benefit is that you also get the Hornady inline seater die with the set which I really like. At any rate, whatever you get you might consider ordering a separate expander stem and ball in 8mm or .338, inserting it in your .358 die and taking the whole batch halfway prior to going to .358. Also, if you do get the Hornady dies read and follow the instructions carefully. They do not get set to "cam over" like other dies. Setting them this way will resort in cases too short to headspace properly. I discovered this 200 cases into forming and had to toss the whole batch. RD

[357maximum]

Hornady dies +1more fan


I can go from .27 , .28, 30 to .35 in one stroke with my hornady new dimension dies...as long as the case mouth is 1st annealed and then mica lubed..one stroke of YE OL' bonanza.................presto

I have tried this with 2 other brands of dies and although I can get it to "work sometimes" it ain't pretty ever and results in very uneven O.A.L , uneven (ugly) concentricity, and just plain grossly uneven neck length around the perimeter of the mouth.

You will love that seater die also.

[high standard 40]

All of my 358 cases have been reformed from 308. I use Redding dies with a tapered expander. I do it in one step and have never lost a case. I use virgin brass, lube the neck and run it through, no problems.

[waksupi]

I do mine in one pass, just lubing the neck well. Have never lost a case in forming. Get some good dies.

[Bret4207]

What exactly happened to the Lee dies? I can't imagine what a simple operation like that would do to break the die. I have dies from all the majors plus a lot of minor or long gone makers and all work good. My Lee dies have never failed mechanically.

[1hole]

Ditto to Bret, what in the world happened to "break" the Lee sizer?

Lee's do have a rather abrupt angle on the lower end, it wasn't made to expand necks UP. But, due to it's longish length, it can easily be ground for a longer entry taper to allow it to do so and without affecting it's normal use at all. Simply chuck the upper end in a lathe, or even a drill motor, and file/polish the bottom into a longer taper, starting smaller than the mouth of the donor cases.

After that, you would need to really tighten the expander stem's holding collet to prevent it from sliding up. OR you could find a short section of thin tubing, such as from an old broken-off sectiion of an auto radio aerial and slip it over the upper stem to provide a solid block to it's sliding.

[Terrier]

After the expander rod slipped up I loosened the nut, put the rod back in position and REALLY tightened it up. It slipped again so I disassembled it. When I took the nut out the threads were stripped. Remember these are used dies. They worked fine for normal sizing so I did not notice the problem. You can put the nut back in and it will hold the rod (I resized a couple of cases) but as soon as you try to expand a .308 case, up it goes.
Terrier

[Gary51]

If your using fired cases and do not know how many times they have been reloaded you could have brittle brass and annealing the necks could be in order and probably would not be a bad idea with most fired brass considering how much you are expanding it.

[NHlever]

I've used RCBS .358 dies to expand the .308 cases in one step with no problems. I do lube the necks first.

[Terrier]

Gary51 - once fired by my son.

Cases had Imperial sizing wax on the inside and outside of the necks as well as the case. The top part of the neck of the case flaired to about .358 size and ended up looking like a funnel with a case attached. I have done some case forming in the past with good results so this sort of threw me.

Terrier

[358wcf]

Sir- I have over the years made many a 358 case from 308, both commercial and military, using only the RCBS die set with the looooong, tapered expander ball. 100% success when annealling is done prior to expansion-- As noted by several experienced gents above, lacking a high-quality tapered expander, annealling, then expanding by steps to 8mm and 338 will get you there eventually.
We now have a good supply of factory new 358Win cases available. I use them exclusively now, reserving the older expanded 308 cases for other times.
I once made the mistake of trying to check zero before a deer hunt with what I thought were 358Win in 308 cases-- shot a group at 50 yds- to find out that they were in fact 308s!! Stupid mistake on my part, but at least the projectiles were UNDER-sized, not oversized!!
I no longer have a 308 rifle and will not allow 308 ammo anywhere near my 358--
This is the most useful cartridge available for North American game, from ground-squirrels to large game!

358wcf

[Terrier]

Gentleman,
I wish to thank you one and all for your input. I have ordered a set of RCBS dies which should make things go much better.
Again, Thank You.
Terrier