338-06 Dies for necking up 06 or 270 brass.

[screamingjohnny]

Guys I'm wondering if any of you would have suggestions on the best dies for necking up 270, or 06 brass to 338-06? I have a good quantity of 270 brass that I would like to neck up, and I don't have a 270, nor do I plan to have one. Any help would be appreciated.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Get any set of .338/06 dies, the decapper/resize die will expand the neck when you deprime up to .338 cal. I have Redding dies while a friend uses RCBS dies, both sets work fine for us. There is a trick that I employ with `06 brass when making .338/06 cases. I dip the case mouth in powdered graphite to better help the expander glide thru.Robert

[mac60]

I do '06 to .35 Whelan by annealing first and just running it through a Lee .35 f/l sizing die. It sounds like you have some brass to experiment with. There are numerous ways you could go about it. I'd try annealing and then running it through my .338-06 f/l sizing die. If that didn't work out, I might try it in steps - tapered expanders in .30 then 8mm then .338. It's very wasteful of gunpowder, but I've had great success with fireforming using the cream of wheat method. Maybe Grumpa or someone with a little more experience will come along and offer some advice.

[Guesser]

It is easily done with most any modern die set, lubricating the inside of the neck always helps as well as champfering the inside of the case mouth.

[GRUMPA]

Although I've never done that conversion something like this from 270 brass requires doing this in steps. First since you seem to want to try this starting from 270 that case mouth is going to get a work out. There's tapered 30cal decapper plugs out there, and that's the first thing I would use along with a liberal amount of lube in the neck.

I wouldn't even try to do that all in 1 forming operation from 270 to 338 by any means, I don't care if it was annealed first. That's just to much stress on the case to even think about.

Once I got the case mouth to 30cal at that point I would anneal the neck, not the shoulder but just the neck. Takes some practice for some but I do that often around here. But......I would be doing this in a somewhat scientific manner and anneal 2 pieces of this head stamp and a couple of another. Not all brass is created equal and your going to notice subtle differences in head stamp.

Then at that point I would try the final forming and see how it goes. Nothing is written in stone when it comes to converting cases from 1 to the other.

Gauges: Are a must as well as an indicator to check the formed case with. It can be done without 1 but not really recommended, I like to be the person in control and I want to know what's going on with the case the best I can. On the final forming it's rarely as simple as just putting a case in the press and pull the handle and your done. For repeatability on the final forming I often times have to spin the case after the first final forming 90deg and run the case thru the die again. Brass can and will have spring back, and when the final forming gets done twice it helps take a lot if that spring back out of the brass.

For the average person....they wont have a clue as to how much spring back a case has without indicators. Now when I form cases I check it with my indicators 6 ways to Sunday actually looking for a problem and don't take things for granted. Part 1 never acts the same as part 4 so always keep a watchful eye on what your doing.

[screamingjohnny]

Thanks guys for the advice, it is appreciated.

[Three44s]

When I did some '06 to .338 I recall using a 8mm Mauser die set high to expand the neck only and then on to the .338 FL die next.

Three 44s

[Hankster1962]

I have owned a 338-06 for years, still have it and it is my main hunting rifle. Also been reloading for about 30 years and have used mostly 30 06 brass to make ammo. I have used 270 and 280 cases, as well on occasion. Never ever have I have a case split on me. I have a set of Lee dies, Obviously I lube the cases, but like mentioned above, I lube the case necks with graphite powder. Obviously the 270 cases seem to have tighter case necks. I just recently started annealing cases, and that seems to make a difference. I have collected thousands of 06 and 270 cases, so if they get damaged, I just toss them. My rifle is based on an Enfield P17 action. I have taken moose, bear and deer with it over the years, and love it. Good luck

[Hardcast416taylor]

I, like Hankster1962, have been making and loading .338/06 rounds out of .30-06 brass for neigh onto 30+ years. I haven`t annealed a single case in all this time and haven`t lost a case in the necking up process. I use graphite to dip the `06 case mouth in before running the case up into the sizer/decapper .338-06 die. I remove the case and wipe off any excess graphite and case lubes and move on in the loading cycle. If .270 Win. cases are to be used, I would anneal, graphite lube the neck insides and progress in next larger caliber expansion. I find .30-06 brass is easy to locate and would be less of a headache to neck up than .270.Robert

[nrc]

I love my 338-06. I've necked up a few hundred (new) brass cases using the RCBS standard die set (+.03) with minimal prep - when spraying 'one shot' lube on them I angle the can down to get a small amount inside the neck (note to tumble after sizing so remove any excess lube).

I've done the same converting 3006 to whelen (+.050), and as long as I used new brass I rarely have problems. Cases get a little shorter, but that's fine, just square them up and wait for them to stretch.

If the 270 brass has been fired it may be worth it to anneal, but otherwise, just crank a few out and see how it goes.

[Hankster1962]

My 338-06 built on an Enfield P 17 action.