I remember Huntingtons had the dies. I emailed them and they say they are unavailable. I will have to order a catalog.
Cool huh?

[This message has been edited by Roger Rothschild (edited 04-01-2002).]

Very cool! - Dan

Daddy Like!
And to think there are places where they consider it to small for big game.

Got an email from CH4D, they'll make the dies for me no sweat.
Email came in from Redding, they have them in stock...$138.00 but no form die.
The A-Sq is only 0.063" shorter overall, I could just "trim" the .378 Weath or .338 Weath to length.
The problem is pushing back the shoulder. At the base of the neck it has to go back 0.0461" and at the outside of the shoulder 0.0976". Would this crush the case? I know in one of the cartridge books Alphin had written about the .338, .460 Short, .495 and .500 A-Sq. He said on the .338 it had to be annealed in the shoulder area, reformed and neck reamed if I remember correctly.

I would like to be able to understand how this cartridge gets 100 fps more velocity at pressure than others. I asked this question of my physics professor. I told him the .338 RUM was smaller, the .338 Lapua a little smaller and the .338/378 Weatherby bigger. The Lapua (27")ran at 58,000 psi, the Rum (24")at 62,400 psi and the Weatherby (26")at 52,000CUP. All approximately in the same area yet none can squeeze past 3000fps. The Weath can with Hodgdons Retumbo...3040fps.
Yet here is a cartridge that is just a little smaller than the Weath, just a little bigger than the Lapua and kinda bigger than the RUM. It goes ~120fps faster, at approximately the same pressure range. His response was, well, velocity is a function of acceleration over time, acceleration is a function of the force (pressurexarea) over the mass and the work done is the pressure times area times the distance. So by keeping the pressure as high as possible over the whole length of the barrel will result in the highest velocity because the more work is done. If the pressure was very high at the beginning yet tapered off the velocity would be lower. Upon hearing that I told him how the 6.5 '06 uses 56 grains of powder to go 2950fps, the .264 Winchester uses 78 to go 100fps faster, the 6.5/300 Winnie uses 80 to go 3450fps and the 6.5/378 Weatherby uses 120 to go 3450fps. All at roughly the same pressure. He said this is what many physicists have problems with, that things do not always work the way you think they would looking at the 6.5/378 using almost 250% more propellant yet only going 15% faster.
So it appears the A-Sq is the happy medium between small and large. To go faster you have to get into pushing the shoulder forward on the Rigby (or Weath) case to pack in as much powder as possible, or go the .338 Excalibur route which is only 80fps faster than the .338 A-Sq.
Now all I need to do is save up my money.

My understanding is that the .338/'06 A-Square is just the regular .30/'06 necked up to hold .338" bullets. If this is so, I would expect reloading dies to be available from several of the bigger reloading manufactures, since the .338/'06 has been around since the early days of the .338 Winchester.

A-square has made a number of 338's. The 338-06 is the smallest case, then the 338 A-square (shortened 378 WBY case, necked down to 338), and then the 338 Excaliber. - Dan

Roger,

I also have a 338 ASQ, but it may become something else in the near future, because the barrel is approaching the end of its days.

I formed my brass with from 378 Weatherby brass using just the FL die w/o the neck expander button. The cases did need to be annealed before sizing, and I used Imperial die sizing wax on absolutely clean cases. I also decided not to trim the cases prior to resizing in order to avoid having to do it twice.

The resulting case necks were a pretty tight fit in the chamber, so I did turn them down to a moderate but not excessive clearance.

I had good luck with H1000 and Barnes 225 gr X's. It would shove them out at about 3150 fps, and consistently put 3 into an inch. After three shots, the barrel would really heat up and walk shots out of the group.

I did get some of the ASQ ammo with the 200 Nosler BT, but it was not accurate, nor was it as fast as their literature claimed.

Good Luck,

Steve

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I know the next rifle will be the answer to all my hunting needs....

Give RCBS a call if they do not have them they will make them for you. They sent me the dies for my 338 Excaliber about 9 months ago.

Chris

Does somebody know the actual shoulder angle of the 338 A-Square? I have been looking for a sample for my collection for many year, and for the 375 A-Square ( a necked up version of the 338) too.

Maybe I can use some common die to form the shoulder from 378 Weath brass

.338 A-Square shoulder--- 35 degrees

.338 Excalibur --- 28 degrees

.375 A-Square --- 35 degrees

I have the 338 RUM and that rifle will put them down the range. I'm glad you found the 338 A-Square