necking up brass

[tree rat]

do I need any thing special to neck up .308 win to .358 win, or will a lee .358 win die set do this? would I need to anneal new brass to do this, or just lube and size?

[HL]

I would opt for a tapered expander ball if you can get one. It makes necking up easier. Just lube as normal.

[beemanbeme]

I took the spindle and resizing ball out of my die (.243 to 7-08), chucked it into a drill motor, and stoned a bit more taper to it.  Then I lubed the inside of the necks  with a Q-tip and went at it.  Didn't anneal the necks or anything else.  And this was 1X brass, not new so your job might be even easier.  Oh, be sure and chamfer the inside of the case necks.

[Tom W.]

I've bumped up 25/06 brass, .270 brass and .280 brass to 30/06, just to see if I could.

I could.

And i'm still shooting it.


 

[qajaq59]

I took the spindle and resizing ball out of my die (.243 to 7-08), chucked it into a drill motor, and stoned a bit more taper to it.  Then I lubed the inside of the necks  with a Q-tip and went at it.  Didn't anneal the necks or anything else.  And this was 1X brass, not new so your job might be even easier.  Oh, be sure and chamfer the inside of the case necks.

beemanbeme, I noticed you said you didn't anneal the necks. Was that because it was not necessary or would it mess something up? I'm curious because I may be doing some of this in the future.
Qajaq

[Whelen Man]

Lots of times I size 308 Winchester cases up to 358 Winchester and 30/06 cases up to 35 Whelen.  I do it with RCBS and Redding dies by just lubing the cases inside and out and running them through the sizer die with no other fuss.  I haven't used the Lee dies though and don't know the shape of the sizer button, but it will probably work.  If not, just get another set of dies and you're ready to make 358s.  Just be sure to lube the inside of the case neck well so you don't accidentally push back the shoulder while expanding the case.  It's not that big a shoulder with either the 358 Win. or 35 Whelen.

[beemanbeme]

"I didn't anneal the necks":  I just didn't find it neccesary.  If you're using new brass, most of it has been annealed at the factory. 

[Don Fischer]

The Q-tip and lube is what I do usually, depends om how far up I neck. I like STP for that. Another thing I do going up or down is not to take it all in one pass. Doing what your doing, I'd run them all over a 338 expander plug first then over the 35 cal. Just change the plug in the 358 die.