can anyone give me some information on the 338/08 cal. I have a ruger ultra-lite ,older model and would be interested in rechambering if the ballistics were good. Thank you

At first I too thought that would be a nice wildcat but now Im thinking that some of those long 338 bullets would take away too much space/powder capacity in the short case. Im going with a 358 Win.

Greg: The .338-08 is a wonderful wildcat, and there have been several articles that mention it along loads for it. I will look for an article that was published in the August 2000 issue of Petersen's Rifle Shooter, I believe, and let you know about it.

You should get enough velocity from the .338-08 to get pretty close to the ballistics of the .338-06.

Here it goes: The article titled "The Mighty .33 Magnums" was written by Wayne van Zwoll. According to Mr. van Zwoll:

"The .338-08 is an efficient wildcat that treads close to the heels of the .338-06. Lightweight bullets like this molycoated 185 Barnes-X" (picture shown) "shoot flat."

One of the loads listed, with a 200 grain Hornady and Accurate 2015 produces 2,670 fps. Another handload with the same powder and 185-grain Barnes-X produced 2,810 fps.

[ 09-29-2002, 09:36: Message edited by: Ray, Alaska ]

Greg:

Your magazine will accept bullets of a certain length regardless of whether they are .338 or .358 The difference being that a 358 bullet of a given length will weigh more and move slower.

My 338-08 is on a rem 700 w/21" bbl. I can comfortable use the following bullets.

180 Nos/Btip @ 2770
200 Horn spire @ 2740
210 Nos Partition @ 2600
225 Horn Spire or Nos Part. @ 2500

250 gr. bullets do not fit my magazine length well. If you want/need 250's the 358 win would be a better deal. If 225's or less are enough for you, the the 338-08 is the way to go.

FWIW, mine is an exceptionally light rifle (5 3/4 lb scoped). It delivers slightly less recoil than a 30-06 w/200's in the same weight rifle.

Great, practical caliber, highly recommended.

Jimf

With a twist in the range of 1-13,14", these are also a great cast bullet chambering.

This is a good topic. I came here to post such a request of info, and its already being discussed.
I too am very interested in this wildcat, so any further info would be nice to have.
My intentions were to use a 20 inch barrel (for a Scout rifle idea), and shoot 210 nosler Partition bullets only, so the magazine length is a moot point for me.
I'll keep returing to read this thread, since my info on this is zero.

Any load info for for the 210 Partition with IMR 3031? IMR 4064? Thanks. ~~~Suluuq

I confess to being a .35 aficianado (nut), and you can factor that into your assesment. I think that the .358 W is a better option than the .338/08. Bullets for .338 are designed for .338 WM velocities and above and may not expand as reliably as .35 bullets that were designed to work at the velocities achievable on the .308 W case. A much more diverse selection of bullets is available in .35 to allow development of not only big game loads but also a variety of special purpose loads.

Fireplug

RG:

3031 has a very good burning rate for this caliber. 4064 & Varget are a bit slow, you might run out of case capacity, and cheat yourself of some velocity. I found that 2015 delivered good accuracy and velocities through the range of bullets that I tested. The bullet selection for this cartridge gives it fantastic flexibility. For example the 180 nos. Btip or the 200 Hornady can reach 2700+ fps. this delivers a similar trajectory to a factory 30-06 180 load out to about 300-325 yds but with the tangible benefit of a nice fat bullet and less recoil than an equal weight '06. The recoil is an issue for me because this rifle is so light.

Then when you have the need for more bullet weight, the 210, 225 Noslers or the 225 hornady offer you plenty of punch for bigger animals. Again, trajectory is very useful to about 300 yds or so.

I built mine for the express purpose of a backpack hunt for Caribou in AK. While 'bou are not that hard to kill, there is a reasonable chance of having to face down an interior Grizzly. Sure, that's unlikely, but I would feel better with a .338 bullet to throw out there if it ever came up.

JimF

Only if you just have an itch for non-standard cartridges is this a good one. On the lower end, the 308 will do about anything it does, and on the upper end the 358 outperforms it (that old physics thing). The 308 and 358 are both available as brass and in factory loads, although the 358 selection CAN get spotty.

In the 338-08 I played around with a few years ago, after reading Ken Waters' write-up in Handloader, getting 2700 FPS out of 180 B-Tips was pretty easy (44 - 48 grains 4895 or 748), and 2,600 from 200 Speer or Hornady Spitzers was obtained with a grain or two less of the same. I'm sure there was more available, but, never did complete the load development series, as the barrel, a re-bore job by some guy in Washington who I've fortunately forgotten, was a botched up mess that just ripped chunks of copper off the bullets (kept track one time - using Barnes CR-10, I got 30 DARK blue/green patches out of there after 10 shots). Got tired of fighting with it, so, had ER Shaw put a 21" 358 barrel on there, and couldn't be happier.

Another real potential problem, if you have either/both 308 and 358 rifles as well, is getting loaded rounds mixed up. The 338-08 looks enough like a 358 that it could happen pretty easily. Getting a 358 in the 338-08's chamber would create some excitement at trigger let-off, I'd imagine.

R-WEST

Fireplug: I would agree with you that a great number of .33 bullets are tougher, but there are a great number of .33 bullets that are not as tough. At the same time, most lightweight .33 bullets such as Barnes' 160 to180 grains fly fast and flat out of the .338-08, so within 300 yards it does not matter how tough these bullets may be. The idea of using lighter bullets (regardless of toughness or not) is to attain higher velocities, which in turn help with trajectory and expansion.

Then one can use heavier and "softer" bullets from Speer, Nosler, and others, and leave the heavy/tough bullets for other .338's.

Nowadays the .33 benefit from a great selection of bullets. Some are softer and can be used with the slower .338's (.338-08, .338-06, etc.) while the tough/heavy ones can be used with the .338WM, .338RUM, .338-378, .340 Wby, .338 Lapua, .338 Lazzeroni, .330 Dakota, .338-404, etc.

Boy, is this topic timely.
I have a Winchester 88 that I had rebored into a 338-308 and kept the 22" barrel length.
I have collected as much data as I could find on loading info. but could not find that much using my favorite powder (IMR4895) and my two favorite bullets (Hornady 225SP and Combined Technologies 200gr. Ballistic Tip)
In my reading I found a number of references to starting out a little light using 358win. data.
In an old Rifle Mag. (May-June 1974) I came across an article on the 338-308 using the same rifle as mine. In the article the author used 48gr. of 4895 behind a 210 Nosler Part. Nolster manual #3 shows a max. charge for a 358 using a 225gr. Partition of 49.5gr.of 4895. Lyman manual #47 uses 4895 with a max. of 51.5gr for a 200gr. bullet and 44.5gr. with a 250gr bullet.
Ken Walters' Pet Loads list 46gr. of 4895 with a 200gr Ballistic Tip. but does not use 4895 with a 225 Hornady.
So, now that everyone is confused let me share with you the two loads that have worked well for me.
46gr. of IMR4895 behind 200gr. Combined Technologies Ballistic Tip for approx. 2600fps.
47gr. of IMR4895 behind 225 Hornady Spire Points for approx. 2500fps.
I appears the 47gr. is a light compessed load.
Neither show case stress (I'm using new 308 Federal Match Brass)
The Ballistic Tips keeps 3 shots in an 1" or better group, the 225 Hornady shoot 1.25" or better.
The only load that I'm concerned about is the 47gr. Any comments??

jbmi:

What exactly are you asking? Are you asking whether 47/4895/225 Horn, is a safe load?

FWIW: Here are the points where I stopped with 225 Hornadys in my rifle. With most powders and a 2.800 magazine length, you are squashing quite a bit of powder when you are around 47-48 gr. In all loads listed, I stopped when compression was getting high or pressure seemed high. 21" BBL. STD. PRIMERS. "MY RIFLE, MY LOADS, ALL NORMAL CAUTIONS SHOULD BE OBSERVED"

AA2015/46.5=2530*
AA2230/46=2486*
RL-15/48=2418
Varget/46=2307
WW748/48=2426
IMR4895/46.7=2470*

*These loads are maximum in my rifle.

This is a wonderful caliber...good luck

JimF

Rusty -

quote:

---

Anyone else... May I purchase the Handloader magazine with the 338-08 artical, or have a xerox of it? ~~~Suluuq

---

e-mail your address & I'll get Ken Waters' article, plus another one on the 338-08 from "Big Bore Rifles & Cartridges".

rlw@easternelevator.com

R-WEST

That article by Ken Waters is not of much use. He made that .338-08 on a long action and I recall had someone throat it long. The entire article is one of those 270 vrs 30/06 things with his creation using a ballistic tip bullet out ranging the .358 Win.

Everyone should have the opportunity to own one wildcat, one Corvette and one time share. Go ahead, of the three the rifle is by far the cheapest.

Yo Rusty!

I guess I should have clarified ....3031 has about the right burning rate, but I haven't tried it. I've checked out all the sources and think you'll be OK starting w/40 gr. I'd guess you'll start to top out around 45-46 or so. That's about the perfect volume of powder for that bullet.

I worked mostly with the powders listed in the other post. I liked and had good results w/2015, 2230, Some others were a tad slow, and filled up the case too much before velocities got where I wanted them. ie(748, 4064, RL-15, Varget) IMR 4895 was really good too, but just slightly slow.

FWIW: I'll be installing a 2.950 magazine box in mine this winter, then when the snow goes and I can shoot again, I'll start over with some of the promising powders that showed too much compression.

JimF

I have been the 338-08 route, then went to the 338-284 and got a hell of a lot better balistics...Same lenth, same action better round..I had a 338-284 in a Sav. M-99 and it shot an inch and duplicated the 338-06 exactly and out of Lever action that had to be loaded down a grain or two below that of a bolt gun...

Ray.........(again) with all due respect.

For those of us in the 338-08 camp, "better" ballistics is not the goal. An efficient package that gives us a good bullet in a velocity range where that bullet "works" all with manageable recoil is the goal.

For example, take the 338 NP @ 2600 fps out of a 21" barrel. This is a premium bullet that is right in the velocity range where it "works" If you add 100-120 fps, will that bullet "work" better? (IMHO no, it will not). Does the fact that it gives 0.6" less drop @ 300 w/250 zero help you in any way? (IMHO no, it does not).

So again IMHO, the 338-08 offers a superb package for the purpose intended, and the 284 derivative, while marginally faster, is in no tangible way "better".

"More is not always better, it is just always more"

JimF

GregP,
Just saw this and had to reply! I don't think that your wife would like you to shoot a firearm that obviously has way more recoil potential than your pityful body could stand! You could hurt yourself if you moved up to a monster basher like a .33 cal! Why don't you just give me the Ruger and stay with your 22 lr and not hurt yourself.Michelle would appreciate it and you would'nt have to pay any chiropractor bills!

Just a thought!
best,
bhtr

338-08 always seemed like a caliber I would love to have also!

Best reference I have seen in an article on the cartridge and performance was that 338-08 was to 338-06 as 308 was to the 30-06.

39 grains of 3031 in the 338-08 and Hornady 200 grain flat point 33 Winchester bullet gave the same perfomance over the chronograph as it does in my 338 Mag with the same load.

Great for our 50 yard shots on whitetails.

With 180-200 grain bullet and heavy load it would be great for most stuff, but then it is also just the perfect cartridge to be "different".

LouisB

The 210 grain partition .338 bullet has about the same SD as the 150 grain partition 7mm bullet and that's pretty darn good SD for most hunting.

JimF,
that is of course your choice, but you are not going to get those balistics with the 338-08 my friend, and efficient it is not...

It won't hold enough powder and that is why I re-chambered my 338-08 to the 338-284 case...With a 210 Nosler in a 338-08 you will have to hump to get 2400. at least that was my problem. If you want to load it to the gills you might get a little more but thats the trouble with wildcatting, most are over loaded to the gills to prove a point.

I simply offered an alternative to save the poster a repeat of my experience, Certainly no one has to take that advise.

As an alternative to the 338-284 (as Atkinson mentioned), why not do a new wildcat, a 338 based on the 376 Steyr case? Of course this won't fit in a short action, but it might do very well anyway. (I suppose it might be more prudent to go with the 338-06 instead of using the 376 Steyr case, but why not do something different, eh?) ~~~Suluuq