Gentlemen,

I recently came into an Ishapore Enfield action chambered in .308, I was thinking about rechambering it to .338-.308, with a 22 inch barrel.

How does that sound to everyone here??

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

I assume you mean a .308 Win. case necked up to shoot .338" bullets?? If so, you are talking about reboring the barrel to increase the bore diameter to .338". This is not a simple rechambering job, since the chamber remains essentially unchanged, but the bore is enlarged. The .338/'08 is a good round, in the same class as the .358 Winchester, but, in my opinion, a little better because .338" bullets have greater sectional density if they weigh the same as a .358" bullet. The .338/'08 would give up very little velocity to the .358 Win.

Eldeguello,

I did mean re-barelling it as well, sorry about the confusion. I have a good gunsmith who will do the work for me. I thought it would make a great bushveldt rifle. The enfield action is about the fastest around.

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

I would also see what the max length of the magazine is and have the rifle throated to seat the heaviest bullet you intend to use as far out as possible. The 338 bullets are very long.Sounds like a great project.

Jr,

While you're at it, why don't you consider a 338-08 AI 40�?

www.reamerrentals.com has the reamer for rent and you can get the reloading dies from www.ch4d.com.

That should give you 338-06 power from a very small, but potent, case.

I'm contemplating a 338-08 AI right now as well.

------------------
Speak softly and carry a really big MAGNUM.

Regards,

Mark

I seem to remember that Handloader did an article on the 338-08. If you have access to back issues then you could get a head start on loading data.

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

Also, one of the early editions of Rifle Shooter had a custom 338-08 and load data in it.

------------------
Speak softly and carry a really big MAGNUM.

Regards,

Mark

The "Thunder of Thor" in the timber!.....well maybe. sure-shot

Joel:

I have a 338-08 in the works. Actually, the rifle and dies are being shipped as I write this. I expect to have both by Wed. and have some first shooting results by Thur. (Can't wait) Mine will be a std. version on a 700 short action w/21.5 bbl. and will be exceptionally light.

Magazine length is a bit of an issue, but I plan on using 180-210 gr bullets so it should not be much of a problem. I'll also try the 225 Hornady which is not too long.

I'll post ballistics when I get some meaningful data.

JIm please keep us posted

Mark

"GET TO THE HILL"

What will a 33/08 do that the already standardized and excellent .358 won't do ?

Pesonally , I have to wonder if an Isapore action is worth spending any money on atall ? The ones I have seen look pretty crude........ I think you would be just as well off loading the original .308 barrel with heavy bullets.......Or if you really want a nice Enfield , look for a good #4 from someplace like the Long Branch arsenal and use it in the original caliber ......A 303 Brit loaded with heavy bullets will also do what you want , and factory ammo should be no problem in southern Africa ........

I built up a 338-08 and wasn't much impressed, so I re-chambered it to a 338/284 and duplicated the 338-06 for all practical purposes..but again it was unsatisfactory, so I got a 338Win and thats where I should have been all along and have been for the last 30 years....I tried to make a silk purse out of a sows ear and it just didn't work..your pretty much locked in to the 210 Nosler with the .308 or 284 case, and even to a lesser extent with the 06 case..

The 338 is a medium lenth action (06 size) and handles 200 to 300 gr. bullets with equal resolve and can be loaded down to the other calibers, but they cannot be loaded up to the 338 Win safly..

All this came about the hard way and at great expense.

I did like a Savage 99 in 338/284 and thats one place it fit my needs.

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Ray:

With all due respect, if I wanted to duplicate a .338 magnum, that's what I'd build. Instead I want a short, very light rifle with manageble recoil. I want to have the dual purpose capability of a 300-350 yd. shot in open terrain along with a 225 gr. fairly fat bullet for an elk or bear at closer range.

The 338-08 with a 180-200 gr. bullet at 2700 fps. and a 225 at 2450 or so will do this job quite well. Whether or not these velocities will be attainable in my rifle remains to be seen. I expect to start shooting this week so I'll know soon enough.

If I don't get the velocities that I'm looking for, then I can consider a bunch of options including an AI version or a 284 case.

JimF -
The velocities you're after SHOULD be attainable in that 21.5" barrel. I had pretty good luck with AA 2015, R12 (with 180's, especially) if you have any on stock, since Alliant quit making it , R-15; one of the 4895's and W748.

Keep us posted on your results.

R-WEST

------------------
"the spotlight of truth will cause the cockroaches of deceit to run for cover every time"
Rush Limbaugh

I have an old issue of Rifle with an article on the round. It will push a 210 gr partition 2400-2500 fps, certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Paul, R-West

Thanks for the input. The rifle maker formed the cases for the die maker with a 210 & RL-15. Vel. was 2570 in my barrel. He did not "officially" specify the charge but he mumbled something about 46 gr.

My initial powder selections are 2015, Varget, IMR 4895, RL 15-15, WW 748, & H-414. I will run a pressure series w/200 gr. bullets while I break in the bbl. By the time I burn 100 of those 200's I should have an idea of the working max w/each powder. Then I can move on to the bullets that I'll actually use, and cautiously extrapolate to the working maximums for each.

For a light "thumper" like this, I'm not going to sweat trying to find 1/2" groups. A working max with groups of sub 1 1/2" will be good to go in my book.

Empirical data by the weekend (if it doesn't snow again)

I picked up a used Savage M99F in .358 Win a while back for $235. Pretty hard to beat that! Especially since there was no gunsmithing involved.

A friend uses it for his woods rifle now for white tail and black bear. (He wanted it more than I did.) I think the .358 Win is a better hunting cartridge than the .338-08.

jim dodd

------------------
"if you are to busy to
hunt, you are too busy."

I, too, have an ishie Enfield. A couple years back Iparticipated in a milsurp bulletin board and there was much discussion of the Ishie and 7.62 Nato pressures. The Enfield fans pretty much recommended not pushing the action too hard, and underloading a bit (pressure-wise) if shooting handloads.

I do know that a warmish hunting load my .308 Ruger M77 digests just fine will freeze the bolt on my Enfield. Boy, was my face red.

If I were to build a .338-308 (of which Bob Bell, Ken Waters, and Wayne van Zwoll have written approvingly), I'd use a modern commercial action, as most data I've seen was developed in modern guns at modern pressures.

Ken Waters used a BSA short action, with a magazine length just about equal to a Ruger M77, about 2.9". It worked just fine, but any commercial bolt action usually chambered in .308 or 7mm-08 should do: Rem models 7 or 700, Ruger M77, Winchester M70, Savage 110, and so forth.

With the 200 grain Nosler B-Tip, this cartridge would be a winner on deer, caribou, black bear, and hogs.

BigIron

I did the 338-308 thing about 2 years ago.
I had a Win. 88 in 308 that I had rebored.
My favorite loads for it use a 200gr. Combined Tech. Ballistic Tip over IMR4895 and I also found that the Hornady 200gr. FN (originally made for the 33win) workes great on deer out to 150yds. I developed these loads using Ken Walters Pet Loads for the 338-308 plus a number of articles in Rifle and Peterson's Hunting magazines.
I do also shoot a 358 Sav.99 but enjoy the 338-308 in the Win 88 a little more.

Will the action take the pressure