338-06

[DaveG6909]

Does anyone have any .338-06 brass willing to sell?
Thank you

 

[sgt_zim]

unless you're taking it to Africa or some other place that's going to compare the head stamp to the caliber marked on the rifle, no reason to not use 30-06 brass

not trying to be snarky. when I was considering 338-06 and 35W a few years back, that was one of the main reasons I put some serious thought into both of those calibers

 

[DaveG6909]

Does anyone have any .338-06 brass willing to sell?
Thank you

Thank you. May do that if I can't find any?

 

[sgt_zim]

be sure and do your homework, though. I've long forgotten, but I believe there's a little bit more to it than opening up the case mouth.

Seems you are new here. Welcome.

In for a penny, in for a pound. If you're going to go the 338-06 A Square route, might as well take it 1 step further and do the 338-06 Ackley Improved. From what I recall when i was researching this stuff years ago, AI will let you do stuff like push a 200 gr bullet to the same velocity as an A Square firing a 180 gr bullet. Heavier and longer is almost always better. Wouldn't even be a barrel swap, you'd just need the throat reamed a little more to accommodate the AI's shoulder

 

[Axle2010]

unless you're taking it to Africa or some other place that's going to compare the head stamp to the caliber marked on the rifle, no reason to not use 30-06 brass

not trying to be snarky. when I was considering 338-06 and 35W a few years back, that was one of the main reasons I put some serious thought into both of those calibers

Not trying to hijack the man's threat by any means but I'm in the same fence between the 338-06 and 35 Whelen. All I'll be doing is swapping the barrel on my Savage 30-06 so either is fairly easy. Which way did you do and why if you don't mind? I do already have a 338WM in thinking the 35 would be s great midrange cartridge since most of mine are, too me, longer range.

 

[mdwest]

Not trying to hijack the man's threat by any means but I'm in the same fence between the 338-06 and 35 Whelen. All I'll be doing is swapping the barrel on my Savage 30-06 so either is fairly easy. Which way did you do and why if you don't mind? I do already have a 338WM in thinking the 35 would be s great midrange cartridge since most of mine are, too me, longer range.

I went through the same process probably 5 or 6 years ago.. I landed on the 35 Whelen..

For me there were two major decision drivers.. one not really relevant to most people.. the other possibly relevant..

The first.. I came across an incredible deal on a 35 Whelen barrel.. I paid less than $100 for a brand new, quality barrel delivered to my door..

Second.. when I started looking at feeding the rifle.. theres simply no major manufacturer making ammo or even brass in any serious quantities for the 338-06.. whereas there are numerous companies manufacturing 35 whelen (barnes, hornady, winchester, etc..etc..)..

while I reload and wasnt too worried about ammo long term.. the ease of getting components for the 35 whelen along with getting a few boxes of factory ammo (for testing the rifle, basic sight in, etc.. and then for the brass) made it the winner over the 338-06 for me..

In terms of range... I dont know that a 35 Whelen is a "long range" cartridge.. but.. my wife had zero problem taking an eland bull with a 225gr bullet at about 260 yards (at a steep incline) with her whelen.. I feel certain had he been another 40-80 yards out (probably the absolute max range she'd be comfortable shooting) he'd have been equally dead..

Thats a big, heavy beast at a pretty far distance.. and the whelen presented exactly zero problems.. it was absolutely up to the task..

 

[Graham Hunter]

I have a 338-06 and love it. I got some brass from Nosler and some loaded ammo from Nosler that I shot for practice. Also quality cartridge makes brass although not great on the quality but works for practice.

 

[sgt_zim]

Not trying to hijack the man's threat by any means but I'm in the same fence between the 338-06 and 35 Whelen. All I'll be doing is swapping the barrel on my Savage 30-06 so either is fairly easy. Which way did you do and why if you don't mind? I do already have a 338WM in thinking the 35 would be s great midrange cartridge since most of mine are, too me, longer range.

My solution to that conundrum was to buy a 9.3x62, lol

 

[Axle2010]

I went through the same process probably 5 or 6 years ago.. I landed on the 35 Whelen..

For me there were two major decision drivers.. one not really relevant to most people.. the other possibly relevant..

The first.. I came across an incredible deal on a 35 Whelen barrel.. I paid less than $100 for a brand new, quality barrel delivered to my door..

Second.. when I started looking at feeding the rifle.. theres simply no major manufacturer making ammo or even brass in any serious quantities for the 338-06.. whereas there are numerous companies manufacturing 35 whelen (barnes, hornady, winchester, etc..etc..)..

while I reload and wasnt too worried about ammo long term.. the ease of getting components for the 35 whelen along with getting a few boxes of factory ammo (for testing the rifle, basic sight in, etc.. and then for the brass) made it the winner over the 338-06 for me..

In terms of range... I dont know that a 35 Whelen is a "long range" cartridge.. but.. my wife had zero problem taking an eland bull with a 225gr bullet at about 260 yards (at a steep incline) with her whelen.. I feel certain had he been another 40-80 yards out (probably the absolute max range she'd be comfortable shooting) he'd have been equally dead..

Thats a big, heavy beast at a pretty far distance.. and the whelen presented exactly zero problems.. it was absolutely up to the task..

Thanks that's pretty much what I've been thinking except for the good deal. In looking at the 35 for a medium/short range rifle, my 308 and 3030 are the closest I have right now and neither are quite as heavy as is like.

 

[jnmullins]

I'll be a bad influence here and say Get Both.

I have a 35 Whelen AI and it doesn't gain enough over the standard 35 Whelen to be worth the extra cost of dies. Using Speer's data for CFE223, I have 250gr bullets going about 2660 fps. I know I could get them going a bit faster, but this was a velocity and accuracy node.

I am also building a 338-06 on an old surplus FN M98 receiver. I have some 225gr and 250 gr bullets for it and just picked up some Starline 30-06 brass to neck up to 338. Handloader Magazine had an article recently about the 338-06 Ackley and they data they published only showed a 50-75 fps gain over the normal 338-06. For me, that wasn't worth the added cost of the dies.

However, 338-06 and 35 Whelen Ackley brass looks impressive and theoretically should virtually eleminate case trimming.

 

[Sarg]

I went 338/06 as huge range of useful bullets, its a bit like a 30/06 on Roids, it is a long range caliber & can be loaded to crazy fast velocity in the Weatherby Ultralite that I had at that time, I found it great but depends on what size animals your hunting a bit, in NZ 338/06 was tops but I also have a 9.3X62 which is great at the heavy end.

The 338/06 goes from 160gr to 300gr so is very versatile, just run 30/06 case into the reloading die & load, no other forming !

 

[Deepfork]

unless you're taking it to Africa or some other place that's going to compare the head stamp to the caliber marked on the rifle, no reason to not use 30-06 brass

not trying to be snarky. when I was considering 338-06 and 35W a few years back, that was one of the main reasons I put some serious thought into both of those calibers

Does not seem to be an issue in SA. They never glanced at our ammo, only firearms.

 

[fourfive8]

Easy to re-size 30-06 to 338-06. Simply lightly lube inside neck. Slowly run into neck expanding die to expand neck. Nice thing about going from 30 to 33 cal is that it only slightly thins neck wall as opposed to swaging down a smaller caliber that thickens the neck wall. Thicker neck wall... not a good thing. Annealing 30-06 neck can smooth the process. Easy to get started that way. Then BOLO for 338-06 headstamped brass- Quality Cartridge can make it on order. Set it aside and that way always have some in case needed for travel. Also be aware it is called 338-06 A Sq Weatherby Magnum (made by Norma) which kind of messes up search descriptions or communication with folks who are not familiar with that labeling by Weatherby. Nosler is also a source for 338-06. Excellent choice of tough bullets with many available because of the popularity of the 338 Win Mag.

 

[Deepfork]

I'm glad some one started this thread! I have a 338WM, two .35 Whelens and A 338-06 being built that should be ready next week.

 

[Axle2010]

I'm glad some one started this thread! I have a 338WM, two .35 Whelens and A 338-06 being built that should be ready next week.

Nice! I'm having to hold off on new rifles for a little while after buying 3 this year and I really like the 375 Raptor for my next one unless I find a real good deal on a 416 R. So the Whelen being just a barrel swap doesn't constitute a new rifle and I don't have to justify it to myself lol

 

[Deepfork]

I have not started working up loads for the 338-06 yet, have been studying all of the reloading data I can find though.

At this point I can't see the 338-06 being quite as efficient as the 35 Whelen. I just went through my notes on my .35 Whelen loads. Over the last 6 months I have loaded the .35 Whelen using 17 different powders, 9 different bullets and well over 100 different powder/bullet combos. Only about a dozen loads made it to long range accuracy testing

At the end of the day I did not really end up where I thought I would be with the Whelen. My very best loads were 250gr bullets with Alliant 2000-MR.

65.1gr 2000-MR and 250gr Speer Hot-Cor 2684 fps .65 average
66.0gr 2000-MR and 250gr Norma Oryx 2659 fps fps .80 average

There is lots of info around about CFE223 and .35 Whelen loads. I made a point to compare CFE223 and 2000-MR and the 2000-MR loads almost always outperformed the CFE223 loads for me.

Pushing 2700 with a 250gr pill is serious business in my book. I am only getting 60-70fps more from my .338WM 250gr loads.

Some of you with extensive experience with the 338-06, what is the "sweet spot" for that caliber? As I said above in the .35 Whelen I think its the 250gr bullets.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Redding dies shows the .338-06 A Square for $173 for FL die sets.

 

[FLC]

Missed one last week and couldn't find one since then .

 

[CoElkHunter]

Missed one last week and couldn't find one since then .

Midway has RCBS dies for $80 on sale in that cartridge NOW! Buy em!

 

[fourfive8]

As to cartridge efficiency? Defining that is like catching a puff of smoke. My 338-06 is a CRF Win 70 with 10” twist Krieger barrel and standard chamber. My favorite hunting load is 225 gr Barnes TSX FB and Varget powder to right at 2500 muzzle vel. It is accurate and “efficiently” kills oryx, kudu, wildebeest out to about 275 yards as best I can tell…