Is there any reason why I should not be able to load good accurate hand-loads for a .338 Federal using Lapua .308 Win brass?

Don't see any reason why not. I would check neck thickness though as I find Lapua brass heavy.
I have loaded many, many rounds of .358 Win. using Rem, Win, and Federal brass with no problems.
Sizing brass going up in caliber is usually with less problems than going down in caliber.
I anneal beforehand and use a tapered expander and lube the inside of case necks with Imperial sizing way with a Q Tip.

Hip

You might find of brand of brass better then another.

Other then that should be no trouble.

All my 338 Fed has seen since I've owned it is Fed brand 308 brass necked up. Never a single issue. I use powdered graphite on a Q-tip to lube the inside of the case necks

i used to fireform 308 into 458 - nickel brass always split, btw

Thank you all.

I could see no reason why good .308 brass wouldn’t produce fine .338 Federal hand-loads. I was already working up loads doing such but a fellow shooter told me I could never make the .338 Fed rifle shoot to potential using .308 Win brass.

the round was originally a wild-cat named the 338-08.
then some guys come along and slightly changed the shape a touch and called it something new.
it lasted about as long as the 9mm rimmed round federal come up with.

quote:

I was already working up loads doing such but a fellow shooter told me I could never make the .338 Fed rifle shoot to potential using .308 Win brass.

Prejudice and ego often result in old wive's tales when it comes to reloading.

The accuracy "potential" of the .338 Federal is a silly concept to begin with since it is hardly a benchrest cartridge, nor is it used for long range hunting. However, I've never seen a rifle which didn't shoot as accurately with cases properly re-formed from another caliber as with factory-original cases.

I use nothing other than formed cases in my .25-06 and .280 Rem, which both shoot as accurately as can be asked from a sporter hunting rifle. The same is true of my .300 Blackout, although I do have a handful of original caliber cases for it.

When it comes to precision heavy barrel varminters, I've used re-formed cases in .222 and .20 Vartarg, as well as a .20 Tactical. And a heavy barrel .243 that I use mostly for 700 and 800 yard targets shoots just as well with re-formed .308's as it does with original .243 brass.

Take advice from the source that advised you on .338 Fed brass with a very large grain of salt.

I have made a lot of different cases from others and never ran into any accuracy problems.

These include 218B, .222R, .22-250, .243, 256W, .257 AI, 6.5CM, .280AI, .30-30, 30-40 Krag .308 8/06AI, .338/06, .338W .358W, 9.3x57, 9.3x62 and probably others. Some more work than others but all shot fine.

Hip

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
a fellow shooter told me I could never make the .338 Fed rifle shoot to potential using .308 Win brass.

Due to the fact that higher quality 308 brass is available than 338 federal brass I would argue the polar opposite.

Agreed on all points…thank you all kindly for the responses.

39 years ago I was in a butcher gun smith shop in Twin Falls, he amd a customer were at it as the smith used a screw driver to shuck a fired 1/2 case out of his 308 99F..Smith paid the customer the going price of a new one..all settled down except the smith, I said I,ll give you a hundred for the gun, he said take it..I had it rechambered to a 308/284. brass got hard to come by and I rebarreled it to a 338/308. It duplicated a 338-06 and was a heck of a nice saddle gun and it killed deer and elk about like one would expect... I then restocked it in a fancy stick of Turkish and sold it to a world champion cowboy neighbor of mine.

If I ever do another it will be a 99EG, the f had a extra portion of kick ass.