Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 338 Federal Questions ??

Thoroughly enjoyed the 338 Federal postings on this site. Very informational. My specific questions. I recently ordered a Savage 110 Storm 338 Fed. from Buds and it should be here soon. Share any specific experience you have to the Storm with 338 Fed? Reloaded since 1970 for hunting purposes for personal and family. Since 1990 have reloaded for the families cache of Winchester 70 308 Classics. Have 100's of once fired 308 cases, both brass and nickel plated. Mostly Win. brass. Also 100 plus 358 Win. Have a RCBS new die on order. Hopefully with tapered expander. Sizing up to 338 Fed. do I use the brass or nickel plated? Also any advantage of sizing down the 358 to 338 ? I've gathered bullets in 160, 185 and 200 grain weights to cover my needs. I've been sold on premium bullets since starting with Bitterroots and Nosler PT in the 70's. Most all my rifles are with short barrels, even my 375 H&H is wearing a 20 Inch tube. I focus on bullet placement and second on bullet construction. Bless the inventor of the bonded process. I understand rebarreling as an option to build a 338Fed, but has anyone had a rebore to move to an 338 Fed.? Experience?? Sources ? Appreciate and response regarding the 338 Fed. reloading or shooting experience. Moving on from the 308 Win. because I want to. Looking forward to it. Old guys need a new project. Regards, DBLGNR. Also, love the vintage SXS shotguns. LC Smith, Fox

What are planning on hunting with it?

I have a Kimber Montana in .338 Federal. I’ve killed 3 elk with mine, from 23 paces in the timber to 250 yards in a clearing. I’ve always used Federal’s now discontinued 185gr TSX load.

I’m happy with my .338 Federal.

JES will rebore to .338 caliber. I already have several .338 caliber rifles so have not needed his services for this conversion. You can call him and leave a message. He will call you back to discuss your project. Around $250 plus shipping. Many here have had him rebore a rifle.

35caliber.com

Bill N. Thanks for the reply. Living in Northern Michigan, black bear and whitetail are the local targets but black bear are at least 12 years to draw a permit. That will make me mid80's. My hunting life passion has been chasing big whitetails in Mi., Oh, SD, NE, Ontario, Saskatchewan. All hunts free range, no high fence and no guides. Early years hunted with brother in AK for Brown Bear, goats, Dall sheep, caribou. Years ago, built custom stalking rifles and am extremely fond of lightweight, short barreled anything. Even my S&W 29 is 4 " barrel. My passion still burns for the hunt. The 338 Fed. maybe not be a great measureable gain over the 308, but its a new caliber that hits my sweet spot for 0 to 300 yds with a solid performing 160 to 210 grain bullets. I live by bullet placement first, second is bullet construction and third is entry and exit holes. Shoot straight.

I shoot factory ammo out of my Sako 85. Started with the 185 gr TSX load. Grouped about an inch out of my gun. Started using the 200 gr Trophy Bonded Tip load a few years ago. Groups around 5/8”, hammers anything I shoot with it. Very little meat damage. IMO 185-200 grain bullets are perfect in this cartridge. Good luck with it!

You are overthinking it. I've had one since 2008. Just neck up 308 brass. Use any bullet you want. 180-210 work best. Midway has some 185 Fusions on clearance for $28 per 100. TAC and XBR 8208 are excellent powders. You really can't go wrong.

210 Partitions and Benchmark powder is what mine likes. I'm hunting with it this week in Pa and hope to shoot a couple deer with it. My next move will be 160 TTSX in my rifle.

The headspace of my Savage is right on, maybe 0.001" over the go gauge. Thus, I can use Federal 338 fed brass and it is a bit snug. When headspace is on the long side, I like to take brass to the next caliber (.358 in this case) and neck it down just enough. Velocities with the fed are not so high, and the ordinary 200 Speer works great.

I rebored a Browning A-Bolt. They use a magazine that snaps on the floor plate. The magazine has an insert in the front that narrows down to fit the profile of the round, this is suppose to help stop the round moving forward during recoil. I had to enlarge that some with a dermel for the larger 338 because the rounds were pinching together while loading the magazine. Also, the 308 Win COL is 2.800 and 338 Fed is 3.820, so I had use the dermel and lengthen the the front of the insert to accommodate the slightly longer COL. The 338 Fed is never going to be a long range round, I think it is best to stay with 160gr to 185gr bullets to keep the speed up. Many field reports have shown the 160gr TTSX will break both shoulders of an elk and turn the insides to soup, don't let the lower weight scare you. The 160gr TTSX will do everything the 180s-225s cup/core bullets will do and keep the velocity up for a flatter trajectory. A very over looked bullet is the Woodleigh Weldcore 180gr. They make a 338, 180 bullet just for 338 Fed/338-06, unlike other manufactures that try to make one bullet that covers 338 Fed to overbore 338 Mags, this bullet is designed for up 2900 FPS. The best part about the Woodleigh Weldcore 180 is, the BC is about the same as Nosler 180gr AB and about $30 a box less. The Woodleigh bullets are proven in Africa and are every bit as good or better than Nosler AB for $30 less. I wouldn't go heavier than 180s, you lose too much velocity and you can do everything you need with the 160 and 180s. If you feel the need to go heavier than 180s, I wouldn't go with a bonded bullet, those 338 bonded bullets were designed for the 338 magnums. I would go with a standard cup/core bullet, the 338 Fed low velocity, and bullet design for higher velocity should hold together fine.