Fire forming .308 cases?

[Farmer17]

I have an opportunity to get a Browning lever action BlR .358 winchester at a great price. I've been wanting to get into reloading because of high ammo costs and was wondering about reloading the .358 out of .308/7.62 cases.
Can I buy the cheap .308 ammo and just fire it in the .358 to form the cases, or is there an easier/cheaper way? The cases need to be properly sized since a lever action doesn't have the camming power of a bolt action.

 

[7.62foryou]

I can't answer on the .358 from experience I can however tell I've been running 30.06 cases thru a 8MM resizing die and fireforming the case into 8mm for 20 years now. I use a lighter powder charge for the fire forming about %15 below a lower normal charge. After that I only resize the neck. Works well for the 8MM.

 

[s&wchad]

http://www.natchezss.com/Categ...%20WIN%2E%2050%2FBAG

 

[n4zov]

If I understand your question, you're asking if you can drop .308's into a .358 chamber, fire them and have formed .358 cases? No! The case necks will probably split, the bullet will bang its way along the bore possibly doing damage, and I'm not sure what else.

You can look at the RCBS website and buy a set of dies designed to neck up fired .308 cases to .358. The easiest and cheapest alternative is to just buy some .358 cases. 100 cases will probably last you a very long time.

 

[OKFC05]

I've been wanting to get into reloading

If you'll permit a suggestion from someone who has beewn loading for over 30 years, learn to load before you try anything as ambitious as changing brass from another caliber.
Although brass forming can be done, there are possible complications and pitfalls: headspace, length, neck thickness. And you NEVER just fire the wrong caliber full load in a gun.

You'll have enough to do just learning basic reloading.

 

[mtgianni]

I reform 308 and 35 Whelen from 308 and 270 in one pass with an RCBS die.

 

[7.62foryou]

Originally posted by n4zov:
If I understand your question, you're asking if you can drop .308's into a .358 chamber, fire them and have formed .358 cases? No! The case necks will probably split, the bullet will bang its way along the bore possibly doing damage, and I'm not sure what else.

You can look at the RCBS website and buy a set of dies designed to neck up fired .308 cases to .358. The easiest and cheapest alternative is to just buy some .358 cases. 100 cases will probably last you a very long time.

+1 to that you'll probably need to trim the neck and put'em thru a resizing die 1st. You need to get the case close before fireforming.
I trim the necks on the 30'06's before and after the resizing die step, also some minor trimming after resizing the neck for the first time after fireforming is required. It requires a bit of work and a good set of dial calipers to do it right and safe.

 

[MTKTM]

+100 to what n4zov said. No way you want to fire a 308 in a 358 chamber, you'll ruin the brass and possibly damage the bore even though pressures would be low and no personal injuries would be likely to result.

Shoot it in a 308 first, or, if you don't have a 308, just get 308 brass and neck it up in the appropriate die. Should be an easy forming task.

 

[TSQUARED]

Simple answwer is NO! You should expand the neck gradually using 8mm, 338,and 348 expanders before expanding to 358 and fire forming with a reduced load. When I did a lot of case modification I purchased a bunch of Lyman M die expander buttons in various diameters which made the process a lot easier.

 

[emtprn]

www.gunstop.com has 358 Winchester Brass instock for purchase.