Recommendation for .33 Winchester load, Lyman 338320 WITHOUT a gas check

[26Charlie]

Pressure limits for the gun is not the constraint, but for the cast bullet the pressure is much lower and the constraint will be leading.

At one point I was considering buying a Peabody single shot in that .33 WCF caliber from Providence Arms, but the price and the problem of finding brass mitigated against it. However, Federal came along with the .338 Federal, and Ruger with the M77 Mark II, so I found myself in need of .33 molds. eBay to the rescue - found that very 338320 mold you have. So - my load in the .338 Federal, is : 338320 205 gr FPGC, 23.0 gr 4198, Rem 9 1/2 primer.
That is with gas check. Should work in your rifle.

PS: For those that don’t know, .33 WCF is a .45-70 necked down, and the .338 Federal is a .308 Win necked up.
And sad news, Mike Venturino has passed to his reward.

[jonp]

The Hornady 3rd edition has data for the 200gr JACKETED bullet.

Starting loads for 1700 FPS are:
H-4198 28gr
IMR 3031 33.3grs
IMR 4064 35.1grs
H4895 35.1 grs

Gas checks are not all that much money and make a world of difference for the velocity range you will be shooting this cartridge.
I have a bunch. Contact me by PM and I can send you some to try.
Mike Venturino may have something on the 33 Win. You might check. I loaned him a bunch of molds and dies to write about the 33 Win and the 348 Win. about 15 years ago. I never followed up to see what he wrote.

I don't think you can check with Mike on this.

[405grain]

Any bullet designed to accept a gas check will generally shoot better with a check installed. I would recommend these: https://www.sagesoutdoors.com/338-ca...or-gas-checks/
The prediction that you could shoot an unchecked 33 WCF bullet at 1700 without leading seems to be pretty high. I've shot cast 45-70 bullets (BHN 13) without their checks and started to get barrel leading at above 1500 fps. (I know, it's a different cartridge, but it's the closest thing that i could compare the 33 WCF with) I use a Lee push through sizer to install gas checks and it works great. Probably any type of luber/sizer would work for crimping on gas checks. If you decide not to use gas checks I think that powder coating might be more useful for the Lyman 338320 than paper patching. Paper patching works great with bullets that are designed for it, but the 338320 might not be a good match. I have a 338089 mold, and plan on rebarreling a single shot to 33 WCF, but there are other builds in line ahead of that one.

[mrcvs]

Okay, then what might be a sufficient load that would put me at 1500 fps using various common powders and no gas check? I might just have to purchase these.

Thank you to a kind member of this forum who offered a few. I thank him for this but it’s all or nothing. Buy none or the 1,000 gas checks—which I’ve never used in all my nearly 54 years.

[Shell knob]

If I remember correctly gator gas cks come in packages of 250? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

[35 Rem]

If I remember correctly gator gas cks come in packages of 250? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

You can buy 250, 500 or 1000.

[Eddie Southgate]

Try these they are not expensive and are great checks made by Vets .

https://bayoubrassandammo.com/shop/o...per-gas-checks