I need to neck up some brand new, never fired LC 30-06 brass to 35 Whelen for my 35 Whelen AI. I was considering doing it in two steps, first to 8mm-06, then to 35 Whelen.

My question is, should I anneal the brass before necking up?

I have an annealing machine and running them thru it would probably take longer getting it set up then actually performing the annealing itself, but if it is worth it and would minimize potential neck splits, it's probably with the little extra effort.

You will need to anneal before forming or after firing the first time. I suspect that if they still have the arsenal annealing colors they will form without any trouble. But you will need to anneal it after firing one time unless you want to wait until you get a few splits. With the cost of the brass now you still have expensive material to conserve even if the brass was free.

I would fire form before annealing.Prior to that you might consider necking up to .375 and than neck down to .358 to get proper ( tight ) head spacing.Just a thought. roger

i dunno but for my 35ai i just ran some g.i. brass thru the sizing die, fireformed and loaded them backup. didn't have any problems

There is never any harm in annealing but I doubt you need it on unfired LC brass. I run mine in a Hornady tapered expander .338 die and then into the old custom round ball expander Whelen die. One more step but, just eliminates any problem. I have tried to find a Hornady tapered expander in 358 but they all are backordered.

Just neck it up and shoot. No annealing needed.

I necked up 100s of once-fired military brass to standard 35 Whelen back before it went commercial. Reloaded most of it 8-10 times and never had a neck split.

Going AI, you may want to anneal after fire forming, but two other AIs (243AI and 6.5-06AI) and have not bothered to anneal until after the the 4th reload.

I agree with Bartsche on necking them up-then down. Or you can seat the bullet into the lands and be sure you use a "medium" load. Either way will get you the headspace you need. I seat into the lands on my AI case forming because it works the brass less and is easier.

Barstooler

Can I use my 375 H&H die to neck up then back down?

For years I've been using 280 brass for my various wildcats. Since my case moves the shoulder forward I 've expanded the neck past the caliber in question then formed a false shoulder to allow me to headspace. Since I've taken the 280 all the way to 416 I simply got into the habit of annealing after sizing. Going only to 358 from 308 I would probably neck up and fireform then anneal.

I would first neck up to 358 and test a case in my chamber. If the AI is cut correctly then it should be a crush fit. If so I would go ahead and load and fireform. If the case is loose then you have 2 option neck it up further and then form a shoulder. Or take and bullet long enough to let you seat it in the lands to provide headspace.

Yes you can use a 375 die to expand it provided your expander has enough taper. Or just buy you and expander button and rind a smooth taper.

Again if your chamber is cut correctly you shouldn't need to go to a larger caliber.

Properly lubed, I have necked up 06 brass to 338 and 35 Whelan with one pass thru my die with a tapered button..I also made a screw in neck expander on the lathe that I ran the case up in..Never had a problem and never annealed those cases and they lasted as long as anything else such as the Rem fac. case..I have also fired formed it and continued to reload and use it for up to about 7 or 8 loadings, maybe more.

I think we are inclined assume too much sometimes..Lots of rumors in the gun world. I used to anneal almost everything and I did get a few more firings or so it seemed, perhaps I was just braver then...06 brass is cheap enough that 7 or 8 loadings, mostly more suits me fine, then I toss it and gets some more.

I decided that I could not live without a 375 Whelen. While the rifle was off getting rebarreled Iordered in 30-06 Remington and set of Redding dies.
With great trepidation I lubed ten cases and fed the first case into the expander die/sizing die, and boom I had a 375 Whelen case.
Took an afternoon to fire form using cast bullets.
Tumble cleaned, resized, trimmed to length, neck uniformed, uniformed the primer pockets, then started working up loads for the rifle using cast bullets.
Should mention that the original ten case batch got expanded to a hundred case lot that first day of expanding 30-06 cases.

Jim

Excellent information, thank ya fellers!

Red Dot, Cream of Wheat, tissue paper, pull trigger, done. FL size with 35 Whelen die.

Back when, All my wildcatter friends just fired milsurp 30-06s in their Whelans and they did not reseat the bullet to touch the lands, Milsurp was cheap back then...

Today the experts tell me now thats a dangerous practice. Maybe the newbies are peronoid; maybe they read more than they practice; maybe they are too technical; and surely they have never tested the practice; Maybe they like to add to the rumors and expound on their brillance. I have no idea, but in all those years I never knew of anyone getting in trouble firing 06s or .270s in a 338-06 or 35 Whelen. I have been told that bullet wobbling down the barrel is bad on rifling, but why that is I have no idea since brass and lead is softer than steel, and I suggest more barrels are ruined by cleaning rods than wobbly bullets.

I always loaded my 338-06 and 35 Whelans with Unique and cornmeal and a wax top, pointed it up and pulled the trigger. That way I didn't have to drive to the range, now I just have to run my neighbors off when they come whining! I was here long before they moved out here from town.

Graybird: I have been shooting and loading the 35 Whelen since the early 70's. I have always just run 06 brass thru the 35 Whelen die, and went shooting. If you know the pedigree of your brass, I suggest you do the same and enjoy it.

Jerry

I'm in the same boat.
I do anneal my brass simply because it is blowing out to the AI shoulder.
Maybe not really needed but I do it anyway.

To fire form 308 cases to 358 Win. I just use a normally loaded 308 and fire it in my 358. You can't expect to hit anything but the case is nicely formed and ready to reload. Annealing before hand is not necessary because the brass is formed under heat and pressure so it forms readily to your chamber. It certainly hasn't hurt the accuracy of my rifle as it fires consistent 0.3" groups at 100 yards. It may be capable of smaller groups but I doubt that I am.

I bought my Remington 700 Classic .35 Whelen in 1998. My first cases were 30-06 R-P. Ran them through the die and that was it. Took several to Africa several years ago. Worked fine. I'm still using them, although I don't fire the Whelen much anymore.
Make it fun, not overly complicated.