I just got a Winchester .33 WCF made in 1904, it is in very cood condition, so says my gunsmith, great bore and little blue missing.

I want to start loading my own, but .33 WCF brass is difficult to find.

Does any company sell resizing dies for the 45-70 to .33 WCF?

What kind of lube would a feller use for resizing?

Thanks for the assisstance

Doc

First off, Buffalo Arms will do all the work for you. It is one of their standard offerings, and the price isn't bad at all. I have some samples of their reformed brass, and they certainly look nice.

I've been tempted to make up a .33 WCF, so my notebook has some comments I've recorded over the years. Two .33 WCF shooters have mentioned the pricey case forming dies are not really needed for this one, despite the large reduction in diameter. One user here reports using a .40-65 die, then a .38-56 die, then finishing the operation in a .33 WCF die. I must wonder if an anneal would be useful before the last operation, but he didn't mention it. Basic Lee dies worked for him. One thing I'll note, which he didn't mention, the .38-56 will push the shoulder back if run in all the way, so don't run that one in to the hilt.

A user on another forum reported using just the .40-65 in between, with Lyman dies.

As for lube, Imperial Die Sizing Wax is often recommended for such work as this.

You'll need some loading information as well. First off, FN bullets are no longer available from Hornady. Hawk seems to be the only source for jacketed FP bullets now.

The only charge information (for current powders) is very old and was not developed in pressure barrels. 4895 and 4064 have been used by reloaders. (I'll spare you the reason why, but I'd probably try Varget.) Start around 40 gn and work up to about 2100 fps on the chronograph. The 2200 fps factory figure (200 gn from 24") may have been more advertising than fact, at least early on.

I have a 33 Winchester die from Lee, that was pretty cheap...

I am sure envious of your finding a 33 Winchester in good shape... ALL of the one's I have ever found were rechambered to 45/70.....

I load my 338/06 to 33 Winchester specs, just to hunt retro sometimes....

cheers
seafire

Years ago I formed .33WCF in the .33 dies. To minimize the accordion syndrome, I sized in the slightly looser seating die first. That cut my collapsed cases to about 10% after the slow learning curve was climbed.
Now I find the .40-65 or the .38-56 is adequate to make the first form.
Don't try to size the whole case in a single stroke; go part way, then take the case out and redistribute the lube, making sure there is not any excess. Lube dents are not cause for alarm, but if the case buckles, discard it, don't try to reclaim it.
Annealing may not be necessary, and should not be done before the first form step or the case will likely buckle.
Use only uncannelured cases.
Buffalo gets $73.00 per hundred for formed .33. New .45=70 is about $37.00 per hundred or less.
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross