Am thinking the next rifle will be a .338-06. A few questions about loading for it.

If one starts with 30-06 brass, does the case need to be fire formed to finish blowing out the shoulder and setting proper length of the shoulder?

Wise to uae real bullets for this process, or can a bullseye/cream of wheat load be used? If so, any recommended charges for that purpose?

Rifle will be on an FN action. Worth getting a deluxe die set with the neck sizer as well as an FL die?

Thanks Guys!

Neck up load and fire. There should be no fireforming required. The double die set is your choice. I normally set my die up to bump the shoulder then place a shim under it until I need to bump again.

If your chamber is cut to the SAAMI specs for the .338/'06 A-Square, the headspace is the same as for the .30/'06 round........

I don't fireform, but my once fired cases do yield slightly better accuracy & have a grain or so more powder cap. For serious hunting loads, I use once fired.

Agree with Fred, used a Redding 2 dies set, all mine are set up partial size, 1/2 moa easy. I'd save my money, just me. Heard of cream of wheat for wildcats but this is really about done when you neck it up, if std chamber and not AI, and it will be fine. Unsure if using that method is harmful to barrel or not, but I would find out first. I'd get 100 WW cases, load them up, sight in and use 1x fired cases to hunt. Last a long time for you.

Unless you already have cases, it is probably easier to run .35 Whelen cases into your die. If you have a bunch of '06 cases, forget this.