I have always said the downfall of the 338 Fed was being exclusively introduced in Sako rifles. They are just too darn expensive for the vast majority of hunters in this country. Had it been Ruger, Remington or Savage, they might have had a chance. Don't bring out a medium performance, non-magnum (whatever YOUR opinion, Americans BUY magnums, period) in a rifle starting above the 1000$ mark. You will fail.

Kudos to Kimber for keeping it alive. Other then some special runs here and there, Kimber seems to be the only ones producing real hunters guns, light, compact and handy in chamberings like the 338 Fed, 257 Bob and 260 Rem. Too bad they aren't doing a 358! And too bad they cost so damn much too.

The 338 Federal is a nice round, I shot a nice bunch of deer with mine a few years ago, and it worked well. I do not think it will go away, probably just hang in there like the 358 Winchester does for many, many years .

Good point, it isn't exactly like they die of old age and disappear from the face of the earth. Not to mention "cartridge reincarnation" like the 45-70 has had!

had one built on a old BSA 243 afew years back was originally going to do it in 358 win but heard about the fed round thought what the heck,loaded it up with 200 grain bullets and went hunting ,it kills sambar real good ,my youngest seems to have takwen ownership of it these days but my try to wean him onto a whelen i have been playing with so i can get it back

I predicted it!

It offers nothing over the standard 308 unless loaded with heavier bullets which are not offered commercially. A round needs to offer some advantage to find a niche but this one has none.

That analogy then would imply a 308 offers nothing over a 7/08 or 260.....just saying.

I think mass and frontal area do matter, yet will it change the outcome of a shot on game?

Only if a lesser bullet does not hit and destroy vitals.

22 cal TSX will kill lots of big game.....perhaps not as efficient, or drop as quickly....that depends on many things.

If I were hunting elk, moose, bear I would appreciate the 338 bore size....yet won't argue even a 260 with good bullets will kill fine with shot placement.

Personally I feel the 338F is as good as any round to 300 yds or a tad farther on most any non dangerous NA game, and if I had a bear encounter, no doubt, the greater the mass/frontal area the bullet has that's in the chamber, the less the pucker factor....

Nothing against a 308....but I do know what a 338/06 does and it slaps game hard. I tend to think caliber has a good bit to do with why.

One can compare BCs etc. but to nominal game ranges up to 300 yds, I am not swayed much with stats. Just my .02.

While no one will agree with this, even though this place is the Accurate Reloading forum, not EVERYONE reloads!

Try going into a WallyWorld and finding ammunition for some of the new calibers.

In most cases it ain't happening.

The 338 Federal, the various short mags/ultra-mags/super short mags add infinitum while being great cartridges, are not going to be available, except in extreme circumstances outside of specialized gun stores.

No matter how great the firearm or the cartridge, availability is an issue.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
While no one will agree with this, even though this place is the Accurate Reloading forum, not EVERYONE reloads!

Try going into a WallyWorld and finding ammunition for some of the new calibers.

In most cases it ain't happening.

The 338 Federal, the various short mags/ultra-mags/super short mags add infinitum while being great cartridges, are not going to be available, except in extreme circumstances outside of specialized gun stores.

No matter how great the firearm or the cartridge, availability is an issue.

+1 That is one of the many reasons why the top three continue to be the top three. 30-06, 270 and 243.

And the top three magnums are:

7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, and 375 H&H

or perhaps the 338 Win Mag?

I think the 338 federal is a good cartridge. It is faster with simular bullet weights than the 358 Win.
It compares favorably to a 35 Whelen. The 338 loaded to 2500 fps with a 225 gr bullet is very much the same as the Whelen with a 250gr bullet. The 338 has a better BC so it will shoot flatter.
Getting that performnce in a short action ain't bad. So it can't reach 450 yards to kill elk. It should do just fine up to 300.

I'll report back on what happens when I take it to Africa this July/August. Plains game is on the list, which it should suffice just fine I think. I am shooting 210g at 2400+ fps. I haven't finished working up a load yet, these are book numbers.

But as the PH told me, his dad shot his first elephant with a 30-06. It was a brain shot and it took him a couple of hours to set up the shot; just to get the right angle. A good bullet in the right spot will kill them every time.

I have the 338 Remington Ultra Mag. And I haven't heard any thing about the 338 going out.

Sad if true... I wanted one in a AR...


but wanted other stuff more.

We shall see.

I thought about re-barreling one of a couple Yugo 24-47 Mausers to 338 Federal, since I do have a bunch of 308 brass, and bullets for my 338 Win mag. But, the barrels on those 8x57's are like new, and I don't see any advantage to the 338 Fed over the 8x57.

Nothing against the Federal, but I won't build one, and will only buy one if I get a deal.

I don't want a 358 either, but at least I can use 357 bullets, which are fun in my Whelen.

Actually, the Federal is a bit less than the 8x57 if you compare handloaded bullet weights and velocity. But, the Federal does have a slight advantage in bore size.

Oh, wait, isn't this the old 32 Win Special vs 30-30 argument with new names ????

quote:

Originally posted by 44magLeo:
I think the 338 federal is a good cartridge. It is faster with simular bullet weights than the 358 Win.
It compares favorably to a 35 Whelen. The 338 loaded to 2500 fps with a 225 gr bullet is very much the same as the Whelen with a 250gr bullet. The 338 has a better BC so it will shoot flatter.
Getting that performnce in a short action ain't bad. So it can't reach 450 yards to kill elk. It should do just fine up to 300.

I disagree.

Ironically using the 180 grain bullets the 308 offers the same or faster initial velocities as the 338 Federal with better BC and SD. This would equate to flatter trajectory and improved terminal performance. The problem is with the case, it is just to small to offer any improvement with heavier bullets and going up in bullet diameter means going up in bullet weight.

Comparing apples to apples, IE: partition to partition, the difference between the 338/225 grain vs 35/250 grain bullets is negligable with SD and BC but the added 50 grains for the same velocity is significant. If you compared the better BC of the 338/250 you would be correct but the Fed does not have the capacity to push it.

Yes, it is capable of killing an elk out to 300 yards but so will my 270 winchester.

The bottom line is that the Federal using 180 grain bullets does not offer any advantage and is less than ideal compared to the 308. Necking cases down has always shown improvements for the 308 case but never up. The 06 case also has more success under that over and this translates to the magnums too. Necking up to use the lightest bullet in that new calibers line up is an act of futility IMO.

I totally agree with you Captain, but the comparison was between the 8mmx57 Mauser and the 338 Federal. The 8x57 has a bigger case than the 338 Federal.

quote:

Originally posted by RobertD:
I totally agree with you Captain, but the comparison was between the 8mmx57 Mauser and the 338 Federal. The 8x57 has a bigger case than the 338 Federal.

Load them to the same pressure & the 8X57 outclasses the 338 Feeble by a pretty good margin.

W/200gr bullets, the 8X57 can do better than 2700fps & the BC of a 200gr .323 bullet is in the .410 to .450 range.

Trying to load .338 bullets over 200gr for better BC in the 338 Feeble would be problematic given the short COAL & case capacity.

quote:

Originally posted by wildcat junkie:

quote:

Originally posted by RobertD:
I totally agree with you Captain, but the comparison was between the 8mmx57 Mauser and the 338 Federal. The 8x57 has a bigger case than the 338 Federal.

Load them to the same pressure & the 8X57 outclasses the 338 Feeble by a pretty good margin.

W/200gr bullets, the 8X57 can do better than 2700fps & the BC of a 200gr .323 bullet is in the .410 to .450 range.

Trying to load .338 bullets over 200gr for better BC in the 338 Feeble would be problematic given the short COAL & case capacity.

A wide margin? Not really. I admit to not having pushed my Feeble to the max pressure but using 52 grains of Alliant 200 MR, I was able to get 2650-2660 fps with 200 Hot Cors (.448 BC). So I'm giving up 50 fps but I get to use a short action. Nothing wrong with the 8x57 but it and the Feeble are in the same class with 200 grain bullets but with the Feeble you can go to 225 grains.

I believe the one thing that really surprised me in this posting is the fact that the 325 Win Short Mag is really just a 8mm-06 at full pressure rather than an 8mm equivalent of the 338 Win Mag, which is what I had originally thought.

I bet the 325 Win Short Mag is a bit lighter than the 338 Federal - that bigger bore makes for a heavier rifle. I am always amazed at the heft of the Sako 85S in 338 Federal. Just about every time I pick it up I am fooled at the heft. Maybe I just been hanging around the 308 and 7mm bore for too long?