How did it get this way

dtknowles

I found a case headstamped .338 WIN MAG W-W SUPER. The case is 2.619 inches long and looks like a .300 WIN MAG case including the neck diameter at 0.310 inches inside diameter. All the other .338 WIN MAG cases I have checked are about 2.49 inches diameter. I could understand if the situation were reversed as you can shorted .300 WIN MAG cases to make .338 WIN MAG but I don't see how you could lengthen them. Would it grow that much if you necked down a .338 to a .300 and fire formed it. It has the remnents of the factory crimp that look undisturbed. I think it is a factory defect what do you think.

Tim

1KYDSTR

Are the shoulders rounded? I have seen people shoot 300 Win Mag from a 300 Weatherby chamber (glad I wasn't around to actually see that). Makes for some really weird looking fired brass that is all MANNER of out of spec. Tends to stretch like hell and leaves a neck about an 1/8th of an inch long! Could be something along those lines?

nononsense

dtknowles,

One of the most useful things about belted magnum cases is the belt. You can fireform all sorts of shapes and lengths as long as the headspace is set correctly with the belt and you don't exceed the amount of material required to make a new length. Making .300 Weatherby from .300 H&H is a good example.

Is that 0.310" dimension the measurement of the inside diameter of the neck?

If we accept:

- .338 Win. Mag. case is 2.500" overall
- .300 Win. Mag. case is 2.620" overall
- Your case is headstamped .338 Win. Mag.
- Your case measures 2.619" overall.

Then we can figure that the case was fireformed.

The first thing to do is measure the neck length. You can't have a .338 Win. Mag. W-W case measure 2.619" without getting that length from someplace. That 0.119" has to come from somewhere. The neck would have to be shorter than the 'normal' neck of the .338 WM.

If you have something other than this then you need to supply us with more information and maybe a photo.

Best.

tsr1965

The most logical progression about this case, would be that someone in the area has a 30-338 rifle. These are fairly common for hunting, and long range target shooting, even though they are a wildcat round. It would make for the 338 Win head stamp, and the .310" ID of the neck.

nononsense

tsr1965,

But it doesn't explain the length:

"The case is 2.619 inches long and looks like a .300 WIN MAG case including the neck diameter at 0.310 inches inside diameter."

The .338 WM case is 2.500" overall.

As an aside, the 30-338 wildcat is the equivalent of the .308 Norma Mag.

Best.

Tailgunner1954

Or it could quite simply mean that the wrong bunter was installed/left in during the production changeover.

tsr1965

you are correct, that it will not grow that much length by sizing it down. Unless there was one awefully sticky, rough expander ball, which i doubt. it almost has to be a mistake in the stamp during the manufacturing process. perhaps they had a run of the 300 win, and 338 win back to back, and forgot to switch the stamp head. I guess that is one that will remain a mystery...some are better left unsolved.

dtknowles

I thought about pictures but they are a bit of trouble and if I took a picture of the headstamp it would look like .338 WIN MAG and if I take a picture from the side it looks like a .300 WIN MAG. I was wondering if you could stretch a .338 case to make a .300 or if it had to be a mistake. Anyone want this case to investigate further.

Tim

tsr1965

That determination of case streching could be done with some more included measurements. You have stated the OAL case length to be 2.619", and the case mouth ID to be .310". If you could give us the case length from the base to the shoulder, the case neck length, and OD, we could then determine the height of the shoulder from the case body to the neck, and shoulder angle, and the neck thickness(it could be very thin, if the case was streched that much, as we are talking about 0.100" here). The 300Win has a longer case body than the 338, where as the 30-338 is the same as the 338 with a smaller neck.

dtknowles

Length head to sholder 2.196 inches

Length of neck 0.264 inches

Neck OD 0.342 inches

tsr1965

OK, here it is...Going back to ANSI dimensions of the 300Win.Mag. case, the length base to shoulder is 2.1959", and the neck length is .266", and the OD is .3397"(when holding the .308 diameter bullet). This case meets all the dimensions perfectly of a once fired 300 Win.Mag. The only explanation would be that it got the wrong stamp at the factory, especially as you say there is no evidence of any thing other than a factory crimp. Unless this shows signs of neck sizing. Like nononsense says the additional case length comes from someplace, and reducing a 338 neck to 30 cal., would have teltale signs on the factory crimp. The fireforming there after, you might also be able to see where the previous case shoulder of the 338 was, in relation to the new shoulder. Perhaps like stamp collecting...every time they make a limited screw up, the collectability sky rockets along with the price. Maybe to a case collector it would be worth a bit?