Why didn't they bring back the .358 Winchester instead of building a new caliber. I do believe someone had their hat rack up their lower posterior.
The .358 Win has a whole lot better bullet selection by far and has already proved itself all over the world by some very well known shooters. WHAT HAS HAPPENED?????

Because it's 'new'.

I thought the same thing! Seems like a waste of time.

Theres a hole in the market they thought they could fill. How many short action 338's are there?

quote:

Why the 338-08

Question of the year! Too bad there isn't a good answer.

The only hole in the market, was when the dummies dropped the .358 Win. That took a BRAIN FART!!!!!!!
The .358 has the .338 beat hands down...... It has better range, more power, and is very accurate.
It also holds its own in the cast bullet world, and that is something the .338 will never do.

Build yourself a .358 and quit whining!

Seriously, how can you say bullet selection for the 35 is better? Discounting pistol bullets the .338 has the 35 beat hands down.

Obviously someone at Federal saw it differently.

Just for an opposing opinion why the 308? 7mm-08? or even the 358?

IMO the 338 caliber beats the 358 caliber hands down. 160-275gr rifle bullets that are ballistically better than the 358 bullets.

I studied long and hard before choosing the 338-06 over the Whelen. On paper the the 338-06 wins. In the field no difference.

IMO I feel the same ballistic advantage goes to 338-08 over the 358. In the field no difference.

If I would ever buy either, it would be a 338-08. Another reason is because of all the 338 caliber bullets I have in my reloading room inventory.

I have never thought that shooting pistol bullets out of a rifle was much of an advantage. Not when you can buy cheap bulk rifle bullets and just load them down. If you try the flat trajectory arguement it doesn't hold water. You are better off with a higher BC bullet over the flat nose pistol bullets.

I sure wouldn't get rid of a 358 to buy a 338-08. But if I had to pick between the two, I would choose the 338.

I think we all know it's just a ploy to generate sales. It brings little to the table that ain't there already.The 8x57 has been around for a long time and is every bit as good and better with heavier bullets. After the initial sales boom, if any, it'll be history. roger

Bartsche.....
You hit the nail dead center on the head, it is only a sales gimmick. You can only invent the wheel so many times.
I will keep my Ruger 77 in .358 and have the best of both worlds, Thanks/jebb45

We do this dance all the time.

There are precious few new shooters/hunters coming up the ranks and too many being dragged away to other sports so bottom line for me, anything that helps maintain any amount of continuing interest in shooting or hunting is a good idea.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
We do this dance all the time.

There are precious few new shooters*** coming up the ranks ****, anything that helps maintain any amount of continuing interest in shooting ****is a good idea.

I don't know of what you say is fact. Me thinks it depends where you take your poll. East LA ? South Central? Washington DC ? Concord AZ? roger

Good pros and cons,

I will bet on the fact that the 338-08 will stand on its own merit. Marketing? Yes, across the whole industry. Fact is we likely could take 99% of game with a 30-06 and 180 core-lokts or a 6.5x55 140's, etc. etc. A 308/165 likely would too, within most real hunting distances.

Is a 338/08 'better' or offer any real distinct advantages over 358? Not much, I DO like the slightly less recoil, and fact that it will be in a factory BOLT rifle.

I have a 350 RM Ruger and to be honest, I don't like the recoil with max loads. If I lived in the Northwest and hunted elk, moose, and was in Griz country, I would be content.....but in the South on deer, and for occasional elk, I feel comfortable using either 338/08 OR 358.

I have shot pistol bullets and they are fun hitting milk jugs out to 200 yards......158 jhp Xplode!!!! them...

But, at 300 those pistol bullets DIVE aLOT........none the less

338 I believe can equal if not better energy DOWN range, is it much? Important? Significant in the field? Not likely.

A case for bullet diameter with the larger 358, but will it matter? Matter much?

I WANT to have ONE good stand by all around load for a large game rifle and I could be happy with a 200 hornady or 210 partition in the 338 Federal (338-08).

For a 358, I could be happy with a 225 Sierra and I hear the x bullets do well, and there are some who love the 250 Speer, but you NEED 225 gr to have a decent BC.

A 200 in a 338/08 does about as well as a 358 225 once you get out to 200 yards......and closer I don't think there is any question as to efficacy of either.

Both rounds are great and have advantages......I will buy a 338/08.....but if factories MADE a BOLT in 358, I would be torn between both.

For plinking with pistol bullets, my Marlin 1894 C sure is a hoot, and it will Blow up milk jugs nicely out to 150.....with those cheaper pistol bullets.

I have no argument against the 358-a super round that died as a commercial round.....for the most part but not for lack of effectiveness. The same may someday be said of the 338/08, but if enough NON AR shooters use it, you know, the guys who buy the factory guns AND ammo........that is who decides on the success/failure of factory offerings.

Good hunting whatever you use. Just place your shots and use a decent bullet, and you will smile.

quote:

Originally posted by jebb45:
Bartsche.....
You hit the nail dead center on the head, it is only a sales gimmick. You can only invent the wheel so many times.
I will keep my Ruger 77 in .358 and have the best of both worlds, Thanks/jebb45

Well gee Jeb, why not just avoid all the crap and just post, "I have a .358 and I like it?" Why the need to trash a new round? It's not like it's another WSM after all, is it?

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
We do this dance all the time.

There are precious few new shooters*** coming up the ranks ****, anything that helps maintain any amount of continuing interest in shooting ****is a good idea.

I don't know of what you say is fact. Me thinks it depends where you take your poll. East LA ? South Central? Washington DC ? Concord AZ? roger

true but that's another argument another day for the merits of the 45 GAP when the 45 ACP is so verstile already or the 357 SIG vs the 9MM. Or maybe which is better; controllability of semi-auto or volume of full auto Mac 10s.

quote:

Originally posted by jebb45:
Bartsche.....
You hit the nail dead center on the head, it is only a sales gimmick. You can only invent the wheel so many times.
I will keep my Ruger 77 in .358 and have the best of both worlds, Thanks/jebb45

No question the .358 is a great round. Seems to me the .338-08 would be the perfect choice for the 210 grain Nosler, I've always thought it was too light for the .338-06. Just my two cents.

I have two 358's (Sav.99, custom Montana 99) and one 338-08 (rebore Win. 88).
I could not be happier that Federal came out with 3 loadings for my 338-08, will it take game better than my 358, doubt it, but it sure is fun finding out.
Why do we need a new caliber, don't really know or care, why do we need the 100 different ones out there now ?
What can anything do much better than an 06?

I agrre that it is too close to the 358 to make any real difference...in fact, the 358 bullets are shorter and intrude less into the powder for any given bullet weight, so it is probably better from and internal ballistics perspective.

I suppose the 338-08 makes some sense:

-The 338 Win Mag is a highly successful cartridge and has made a reputation for the .338 caliber that far exceeds the .358.

-The whole world seems to be short action crazy.

Ergo, I would imagine a .338 caliber that *might* fit in a short action may have some market appeal. Or such may the be speculation of Federal's marketing department.

Can someone please tell me who is chambering for this cartridge?....is it Ruger?...savage?...Remington???

Quote

quote:

Can someone please tell me who is chambering for this cartridge?....is it Ruger?...savage?...Remington???

Vapodog

Good question is anyone??? Last rumor I heard was that sako was going to build guns, but have yet to see any word from them.

Mine is being built on an intermediate length mauser. Anything in the .308 family can easily be rebarreled. I'm not aware of any factory chambered rifles that have made their way onto the market yet.

quote:

Why the 338-08

It's called Marketing AKA making $$$$. Useless caliber if you ask me.

The truth of the matter is new guns for the 358 Win. sell about as fast as Bengay at a sunburn clinic. This may not do any better but for a retail manufacturer, it can't do any worse.

quote:

The truth of the matter is new guns for the 358 Win. sell about as fast as Bengay at a sunburn clinic. This may not do any better but for a retail manufacturer, it can't do any worse.

Now THAT is funny

I would not mind haveing a light weight brush gun in 338-08 or 358 win. To bad Savage does not bring back the 99. The 338-08 would be a GREAT fit to it. If I could pick up a used/abused 99 action, I'd build one.

quote:

Originally posted by POP:

quote:

Why the 338-08

It's called Marketing AKA making $$$$. Useless caliber if you ask me.

If it won't do anything that the 358 and 308 can already do, than the 358 and 308 are just as useless I suppose???

Yes it's marketing but I'm sure it will kill as good as the other medium calibres. Thats far from useless, and why would they wait for another company to come out with the first short action 338? It's good marketing if you ask me.

Hey if you don't care to get one, then pass it by...

Personally being a handloader, I can create whatever I pretty much want...

However some people don't have that luxury and are interested in something that is not currently available.. or think they need it...

In the long run all cartridges do the same thing, with proper bullet placement....

If someone doesn't like or feel the "need" for a proposed cartridge, why do guys spend all their time complaining about it, and never intend to buy it any way???

An internal desire to pursuade everyone else from not buying it also??? What for????

Ya want everyone telling you what to buy or don't buy??

Nope, you want to make up your own mind... well how about giving others the same courtesy???

Not ment to piss anyone off, but that is the way I see it....

I could care less for magnums and especially these new Short Mag craze........but I am happy that the products are available for those that want to buy them...

If we all spent half the time thinking positively about a lot of things, instead of dwelling on all of this negativity, life might be a little happier for everyone....

If you want to explore a 338/08... then by all means go for it... If you don't want to, then quite telling everyone else, why should they look at it, because YOU think a 308 or 358 would be a better choice???? the guy looking at it, will be hunting with it, NOT YOU....

My apologies for the rant, but some one needs to say it once in a while!

seafire

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
Hey if you don't care to get one, then pass it by...

***My apologies for the rant, but some one needs to say it once in a while!

seafire

John, my comment still stands, "It is a marketing ploy and brings nothing to the table." This is not infringing on any ones ability or right to make a choice. This is not a venture into negativity.

It possitivly states someting that I think is evident to those who have been in this game for awhile. This is just the way sales are generated in a saturated market place. I'm not going to fight it, but I reserve my right of freedom of expression. roger

The .338-08 will be popular enough with those who use .308's, or those who like the short but slim cartridge. Other than that, there are other cartridges that may be better or worst based on the shooter's experience (or in the shooter's mind). Every one of us wants something, but the problem is that "that something" often is different from what another wants.

The .338-08, now called .338 Federal, has been around for a long time. Since ammo availability is a primary reason for the success of any cartridge, in my view the .338 Federal will do just fine among the bunch of cartridges in existence. It's up to Federal to produce a variety of ammo for it.

Now, what i would like to see is a factory chambering of the .375 Taylor, which in a way is a "slim-short-Magnum .375 H&H"

quote:

Now, what i would like to see is a factory chambering of the .375 Taylor, which in a way is a "slim-short-Magnum .375 H&H"

Damn right.....and I think a lot of us would as well.

You could get by with a:
22 rimfire
223
30-06
300 Win Mag
50 BMG

Or you could get by with:
Crow Magnum pellet gun
220 Swift
284
416 Rem

Or you could get by with many other possible combinations


A guy could pick a combination that includes the 338-08, but I personally already have that gap bridged in my arsenal.

I gotta ask WHY NOT the .338-08.

Who cares if it doesn't bring anything to the table that isn't already out there. The same exact thing could be said for 90% of the cartridges that any one of us have in our collection.

.22lr, 30-06, 375H&H, and a 416 Rigby. No other cartridge ever needed to be invented EVER, end of story, and we could all kill anything that ever walked this planet.

I really don't know why any of you are complaning about it being just a marketing ploy. Whoopty doo. If companies didn't try and reinvent the wheel we would all be shooting the 30-01 instead of the 30-06.

Bottom line is it is and will continue to be a great medium range big game cartridge. Lets all accept and move on.

And now all they need is the .270-08 commercialized and the 308 family will be complete.

Being a huge 270 fan, I would buy a 270-08 in a heartbeat. In fact I have been toying with the idea of building one for sometime.


I realize the 260 and the 7mm-08 will do everything that 270-08 will do, but I have close to 1000 277 bullets in about 12 different flavors in my reloading room inventory.

A Barnes TSX 110gr will do anything you ask it to do on deer/antelope. You could load up some 130 or 140gr and elk would not be out of the question, but then I have 338 caliber for elk.

The thought process invariably leads to just loading down the old 270 Win.

quote:

Originally posted by bigbulls:
I gotta ask WHY NOT the .338-08.

Who cares if it doesn't bring anything to the table that isn't already out there. The same exact thing could be said for 90% of the cartridges that any one of us have in our collection.

.22lr, 30-06, 375H&H, and a 416 Rigby. No other cartridge ever needed to be invented EVER, end of story, and we could all kill anything that ever walked this planet.

Ditto!

-Bob F.

I already have a .338-06 and .338 Win Mag. When I came accross a 1909 Peruvian and decided I wanted an open sight rifle one look at the thousands of .338 bullets I had in the garage made the decision an easy one. Had I the same stockpile of .358's I might have built a .358 Winnie instead. The new Nosler 180 and 200 grain Accubonds ought to be naturals in the cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by 6.5BR:

I have a 350 RM Ruger and to be honest, I don't like the recoil with max loads. If I lived in the Northwest and hunted elk, moose, and was in Griz country, I would be content.....but in the South on deer, and for occasional elk, I feel comfortable using either 338/08 OR 358.

I can tell you how to fix that minor problem.

Start shooting a bigger rifle.....at least as big as a .416 Rigby.

When you shoot a 6.5 BR all the time you loose the reality of Newton's law of "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Don't feel too bad, I shoot a 6mm PPC and outside of enjoying seeing a tight clover leaf, that rifle puts me to sleep.

The Rigby doesn't, and after seasoning myself to that caliber (I own TWO, btw.), top kick ass loads from my .35 Whelen feels like a varmint rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by bigbulls:

.22lr, 30-06, 375H&H, and a 416 Rigby. No other cartridge ever needed to be invented EVER, end of story, and we could all kill anything that ever walked this planet.

Sounds about right to me!!!

Might want to add a 12 guage shotgun to the mix though???

Woodsracer, sorry I like to 'ENJOY' my trip to the range and BR and '08 size cases do for 90-95% of what I do where I live.

And my name is '6.5BR' but i don't own one yet, since I registered, there is now a 6.5 Grendel, a blown out PPC within 1.5gr capacity and factory Lapua brass and ammo.

BUT, I just want to thank Seafire for his comments.

Also, there is little voids in cartridges as we all know, but hey, given time the 270 Redding likely will be made and months ago on the announcement of the 338 Federal, I said the next 'marketing ploy' might be the 270 - 308 and it will be a nice round.

My brother just bought a new 270 WSM in a MRC barreled action. Did he need the extra power/speed, etc for deer? Nope. He wanted something different, long range potential and good capable factory loads. I am sure he will be happy.

Me, I think my 7/08 with 140's out of a 21" at 2960 will due all I need for its purpose, but I WANT a 338 Federal and expect to try one.

I love the 260 and 6.5 swede also, but the 338 gets my interest and I SOLD my 338-06, GREAT round, MORE than I need 95% of the time.

Every hunter/shooter has different criteria, raw stopping power, trajectory, recoil, ease of loading if a reloader, cost of bullets can be a factor, choice of bullets if you want or need more than 1 good one, etc. etc.

Whatever makes one happy is fine with me.

I intend to try a 338 F and be please for what I do with it. There is a chance I get a 358 as well, Or instead, but I WANT a bolt gun and right now one is not available to my knowledge in a 358.

None the less, if it were not for 'marketing' we might all be using the SPRINGFIELD 1906 with fmj bullets for all shooting.

How boring might that have been?

Enjoy the pursuit of learning more......and have fun while you do it gang. Life is too short and I have never had a bad day hunting fishing or a trip to the range.

I know the single MOST important reason for making the 338-08 a legitimate caliber listed as the 338 Federal . . . Cause I was too cheap to buy the custom 338-08 dies, but they will be cheap as 338 Federal and now I can build a gun I have wanted for a while.
Heck that is the performance I load my 338 Mag to, so I will not miss anything.
And the 338 Mag is one fine cast bullet gun for plinking and playing about 1800 fps!
And that is with Lee boolits nonetheless.