Hi guys. Im busy doing an article on the new .338 Federal (.338-08 wildcat comercialised by Federal) and the info provided on federal's web site is not quite enough. If anyone has more info on this new callibre or the wildcat version, please post it here. If anyone has load data and results for the 225gr bullets it will be appreciated as well. Lastly, if anyone has photos of animals hunted with this calibre (.338 Federal or .338-08), PLEASE post them here! If anyone posesses a rifle chambered for this calibre, please post a photo of the rifle.
Thanks guys

You want us to write the article for you too?

For the life of me, I just do not understand Federals interest or investment dollar expenditure targeted at commercializing the 338/08 cartridge. There are so many other wildcats I would have given priority to over the 338/08.

30378 has hit it right on the head.

It would be quite a charmer necked up to .358"
;-)

The 358 version has already come and gone. It was called the 358 Winchester which also died on the vine.

quote:

There are so many other wildcats I would have given priority to over the 338/08.

Which wildcats do you recommend for domestication?

I put 50 rounds through a 358 winnie today..

funny, for a dead round it sure is..
dead -- accurate
dead -- on target
dead -- easy to get to feed
dead -- with better long range ballistics (225 SPBTvs 168gr SPBT) than a 308
dead -- lighter recoil than a 338-06

the 358 is dead.. long live the 358

jeffe

Go to the Federal site and copy everything that they write. Then call them and ask for marketing.

Then write the article and maybe they will invite you on a safari. Write us a article about the safari how the round is just the best ever.

This is why I don't bother to read magazines.

quote:

Originally posted by 30378:
For the life of me, I just do not understand Federals interest or investment dollar expenditure targeted at commercializing the 338/08 cartridge. There are so many other wildcats I would have given priority to over the 338/08.

Why has no one done the 270/08 or a 270 REDDING?

We have the 260, so I don't figure it was "unnecessary". Is the 260 really necessary?

It stands to reason that if we "need" a 30-06,
a 270 Winchester and a 280 Remington Express,
then we need a 308 Winchester, a 270 Redding and a 7mm-08 Remington.

And I guess I could throw in the 6.5-06 and the
260 Remington. And the 25-06 and the 25-08.

I guess I just don't get it! Actually I
think about 75% of our current cartridges
are unnecessary due to "lapover" of ballistics.

We seem to be able to justify anything but
a short 270 cartridge. (I don't want a WSM)

The same applies with the 57mms too.
We have a 257 Roberts, a 6.5X55, a 6.5X57,
a 7X57 and an 8X57. But no 270X57?

Using the logic of most other calibers, we should drop the 270 Winchester as....unnecessary?

I don't see any problem with Federal turning a wildcat into an official cartridge, and hope that there will be more coming from Federal. For example, I hope that some gun manufacturer, Federal (or whoever) can do the same for the .375 Taylor.

The .338 Federal will be popular with .308 hunters and shooters, or anybody who just wants something different, specially something that does not have a short and fact case. What it has going for it is something that only a few cartridges have, and that is factory ammo following closely behind. This cartridge will do just fine with deer to elk hunters using factory or handloaded ammo with 185-grain to 210-grain bullets.

Quote "Why has no one done the 270/08"

I know its not the same but the 6.8 SPC is close.

When I had my 358Win built (love it to death!!) no barrel maker in Australia would match a WinM70 Featherweight contour in .35 caliber. But I reckon they would in .338 caliber. Best use I see for the 338Federal is an honest to goodness featherweight back-pack rifle for larger (elk/moose/bear) game. Seems we have featherweight .308s, but nothing larger.
Cheers...
Con

I hope this round last longer than .338-06 did for Weatherby. Sako is supposed to be the first to chamber the round in their rifles. I think that if they produce a rifle in the $600 dollar range it will sell quite well. The Weatherby Mark V Ultralight was just too expensive at $1300 no to mention the $2 per round price tag. I think it would still be selling if they had produced it in their Vanguard line and had someone like Federal produce the Ammo.

For the .338 federal to succeed, there will need to be rifles chambered for it on the market at a reasonable price. The .338-06 failed as a commercial cartridge because of poor marketing and the lack of comercial gun makers to chamber for it. Same can be said for the 6.5-284. Now if the BLR came in a .338 federal that would be a step in the right direction.

The .358 winchester is only dead to the major manufacturers.

Do any firearm manufacturers chamber this cartridge yet? I think a Ruger #1 Intl. would be pretty slick with this chambering.

Lourens

I kind of scratching my head here wondering what a 338-08 can do better than an 8MM Remington Magnum?

As for the 358 caliber being "dead," not really for check out the demand for BLR's in that caliber and if you can find a good one, Savage 99 in that caliber brings a pretty good premium as well. Both strong, tough rifles and highly desireable in thick Eastern Woods as well as any other thick brush hunting regions. Certainly is not a plains game round compared to others, but it is a very well balanced hunting round for sizeable game.
Why Federal came out with the 338 version, only they can give a tue answer, but it will be looked at for those wanting powerful, handy hunting rifles I am sure. Would imagine Browning would be looking at it as we speak!! Will it be a marketing whiz?? who knows, but let's hope so for the more choices we have, the better.
The 284 Win. cartridge died off with the Win. 88/100 rifles even though it is probably all the cartidge one could want for most hunting purposes of large game, but the present wildcat, 284/6.5 has basically taken over the long range shooting world and done so by storm I might add. Yet there are no commercial rifles offered in that caliber that I am aware of, but bunches of custom ones for long range shooting. Remington seems to be the one over the years that commercialized wildcat rounds, and with any luck, they will do the same with the 284/6.5. Again, just more to keep us all occupied.

Come on JJ comparing 338Federal or .338-06 to an 8mm Rem Mag is like apples to oranges.

Here it goes!

8mm Remington MagPremeir A-frame 200gn
.338Federal Nosler Partition 210gn

8mm MV 2900fps ME 3734ft-lb
338 mv 2630fps ME 3226ft-lb

500yds
8mm 1672fps 1241ft-lb
338 1647fps 1266ft-lb

bullet drop at 500yds
8mm 49.6"
338 56.1"

A-frame bc 0.332
Partition bc 0.400

All info came from Federal and Remington web sites.

quote:

The same applies with the 57mms too.
We have a 257 Roberts, a 6.5X55, a 6.5X57,
a 7X57 and an 8X57. But no 270X57?

Sure there is a 270x57. It's the Chinese 6.8x57, been around a while too.
and the 6.8x57 Dutch. Not sure what the differance is.

Don't forget the 6x57 (.244 Remington) the 9x 57, or 9.3x57. The Nx57's have "been there and done that" on a host of calibers.

The thing that I just laugh about is why not just use 8x57 instead of .338-08, but thats not how you sell new and improved is it.

I see nothing wrong with the 338 Federal if that fills your needs. I'll stick with the 358 Win in a Rem M600
with a 16.5 inch barrel. Handles great in the blow downs an dead timber here in Oregon and has never failed
to drop a deer, elk, or bear. Rips coyotes to shreds with the 125 grain Vmax. My only concern with the 338 Federal is that most of the bullets are intended for higher velocity and may be too "tough" for the lower
speeds of the 338 Federal. The brass will be good for necking up to 358 Win. Thanks Federal.

quote:

Originally posted by Old Elk Hunter:
I The brass will be good for necking up to 358 Win. Thanks Federal.

If you think .358 Brass is hard to find, try looking for 338 federal. I've not seen any brass for sale nor any factory loads.

ZLR,

I don't even bother to look for 358 brass anymore.
I just buy new 308 brass and expand the necks while full length sizing with the tapered expander. With new brass I have zero losses.

125 vmax in .358?

quote:

the present wildcat, 284/6.5 has basically taken over the long range shooting world and done so by storm I might add. Yet there are no commercial rifles offered in that caliber that I am aware of

Might be wrong, but I beleive that Cooper Arms is chambering for the 6.5-284.
The .338 Lite (Fed) should be a dandy. I hope Kimber and the other major rifle manufactures give us some rifle to play with !

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
I put 50 rounds through a 358 winnie today..

funny, for a dead round it sure is..
dead -- accurate
dead -- on target
dead -- easy to get to feed
dead -- with better long range ballistics (225 SPBTvs 168gr SPBT) than a 308
dead -- lighter recoil than a 338-06

the 358 is dead.. long live the 358

jeffe

jeffe with such a great endorsement of that round how about the 375-308 and 411-308??? 180 to 400 grains on the 411 (wonder how fast barnes 180 gr xpb's would fly out of that?)and the 375 would be kinda neet too?

p.s. how fast can the north fork 270 grainers come out of a 358 win?????

Boomstick,
the 358 and the 708 are the perfect balance points for the 308 case, in my opinion. A 375 and a 410 on that case, well, you would soon be deciding to run your gun subsonice, as there is NOT alot of case capacity...

but my point is, actually, that the 6, 6.5, 7, 7.62, and 9 mm slots are already commerical loads... and the 9mm (358) got a bad rep, though it's an excellent caliber...

and there's nothing the 338 could do that the 358 did already do 50 years ago, and the 358 can use 9mm/35cal pistol bullets for plinkin


So, if you need one of these FACTORY guns, go for it... but a 358 has better bullet selection, better weights, and cheaper to shoot

jeffe

338 necked to .308. . . hmm sound like a .308 norma mag. Or just fire form the necked down round and you have a 300 Apex. Well, at least that's what I do! Maybe I'll have a new source of brass???

heh.. it's necking the .308 win to .338, making a shorter than 338-06 case

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Johnson:


I (am) kind of scratching my head here wondering what a 338-08 can do better than an 8MM Remington Magnum?

Have light enough recoil that most American hunters will be able to shoot it with some degree of accuracy, would be my guess.

Why does anyone think the 8 m/m Rem Mag died? Not because it wasn't a good long range cartridge, nor in an accurate rifle. Because most guys who shoot once a month, or maybe once a quarter, didn't like the way it bucks and kicks. And THEY, not us here at AR, are most of the rifle owners in the U.S.

The .358 Winchester is only dead to those who have never used one in the field. What other cartridge can do so much with so little powder, so little muzzle blast, and so little recoil. It seems to be very accurate too. There are a whole bunch of full size and short magnum cartridges out there, but none that I would be willing to give up my .358 for.

quote:

Originally posted by 30378:
The 358 version has already come and gone. It was called the 358 Winchester which also died on the vine.

Died on the vine?/ it seems to me that one can still purchase at least one rifle in .358 Winchester. the BLR. The one I had was amazingly accurate, and would produce over 2400 FPS with 250-grain bullets, and that from a 20" barrel, too. The one thing I did dioscover about the .358 Win. was that it was actually unnecessarily powerful for deer hunting. This may be one of the reasons for its relative lack of popularity. However, i consider the .338 bore size to be more versatile than the .358" size. Maybe more people will buy this one, even though the .308 is actually all that is needed for shooting things in the Lower 48......

quote:

But no 270X57?

Well, there was one, the 6.8X57mm Chinese Mauser, a round which pre-dated the (and perhaps inspired??) .270 WCF........

Really did not mean any flames here but since the fire seems to burning.......

From a commercial firearm sales perspective the 358 Winchester is on its last legs. Today there are a minimal number of rifles commercially available for the cartridge. Never did I say it would not get the job done. After all it is a high powered rifle. For those of you that like your 358, more power to ya. It's just a shame the firearm manufactuers and the general public that buys firearms do not really agree with you. With Marlin, TC, and a few others, the 35 Remington (of which I own one) is more popular in sales.

lourens there's already a 338/06 A Square that shoots circles around the 308 version many of my friends see no use for it and only 1 rifle is made for it Sako per everyone at the SHOT Show maybe some others will do it,maybe?

Schultz&Larsen chambers for 6,5*284 norma.
If lead is forbidden in bullets(in Sweden) the 6,5 *55 sm isnt allowed for big game, then alot of rifles will be rechambered to 6,5*284 norma.

Has anyone seen the Sako 85 in 338 Fedral yet? I was checking out Baretta's site and they list the rifle from 1496.00 to 1595.00 retail. I'd like to see this cartridge offered in a cheaper model, they should have got Savage or Remington to produce the rifle to go with this cartridge. I think Sako's are very fine rifles but I think the .338-06 offered by Weatherby died becaues the rifle was to expensive for the average hunter. When Winchester offered the WSM cartridges you could go down to Wally World and buy a Model 70 Synthetic for around 400.00, and I've talked to quite a few people who went out and bought them.