Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 338 FEDERAL...Popularity? Experience?

Alright there is only one way to settle this. We need to have a Campfire Feral Pig Safari. We should have 40 guys with 7mm Magnums and 40 guys with .338 Federals.
When they have shot 100 pigs per team then we have them butchered and see which pigs are deader.
I'm voting for the .338 Federal! I can feel the warmth of Elmers smile beaming down on us all.
whelennut

My thoughts, would be if the 338 fed is the equal to the 7 Rem mag then get them both to top end and see how they run...so lets take a look at what they're capable. So we zero em both at 100 even and rock on

338 Fed/160 BarnesTTSX(.342 BC @ 2900) 7 Rem mag/160 Noz(.475 BC @ 3100)

300 yd drop=12.6 300 yd drop=10
400 yd drop=28.9 400 yd drop=22
500 yd drop=53.7 500 yd drop=40
600 yd drop=88.8 600 yd drop=66
700 yd drop=136.8 700 yd drop=98

So lets see how they comp out in terms of drop

@300 yds the 338 Fed drops 2.6" more
@400 yds the 338 Fed drops 6.9" more
@500 yds the 338 Fed drops 13.7" more
@600 yds the 338 Fed drops 22.8" more
@700 yds the 338 Fed drops 38.8" more

Hmm how's the old equal game working out here, I'd say not so good when it comes to drop...

Now you also mentioned energy, a term that doesn't do a ton for me but we'll go that route as well

338 Fed 7 Rem

300 yds=1763 300 yds=2371
400 yds=1454 400 yds=2085
500 yds=1191 500 yds=1826
600 yds=968 600 yds=1593
700 yds=784 700 yds=1384

So now lets see how they comp out in terms of Energy

@300 yds the 338 Fed has 608 less Energy
@400 yds the 338 Fed has 631 less Energy
@500 yds the 338 Fed has 635 less Energy
@600 yds the 338 Fed has 625 less Energy
@700 yds the 338 Fed has 600 less Energy

So now perhaps we take a look at speed and how it goes for the two..

338 338 Fed 7 Rem

300 yds=2278 300 yds=2584
400 yds=2023 400 yds=2423
500 yds=1831 500 yds=2268
600 yds=1651 600 yds=2117
700 yds=1486 700 yds=1974

(not sure how far beyond 500 the 160 will reliably open?

So how do they comp out in terms of speed?

@300 yds the 338 Fed is 306 fps slower
@400 yds the 338 fed is 400 fps slower
@500 yds the 338 Fed is 437 fps slower
@600 yds the 338 Fed is 466 fps slower
@700 yds the 338 Fed is 488 fps slower


Guess we can look at this a lot of ways, but in terms of the 338 Federale being an equal to the 7 Rem I think I'll take a pass on that theory...

Just my thoughts on said subject

Dober


(side note, personally I like em both and could easily use em both but I am also quite aware of what they are and what they're not...)

And on a very side note, I could easily hunt most all that moves with either round and have no qualms about it.

The lil 338 that GW has put together is truly a rock star rig and I really like it.

But when it comes time to comp out the two I don't find em equal.

Dober

I have a 300wsm to do the work of the 7 . I need a .338 Federal to play with.

It does the same job as the .358 Win. that I just can't bring myself to keep around.

George

I hear you on the 300 WSM, mines gonna do some heavy lifting this year with R17 and 155 Scenars. M70/300 WSM with a 3-10 Leo on top with a M1 on it, with a Hunters Edge wrapped around it. It'll do I spect...grin



Dober

That's nice. I never made it any further than the 180tsx. Bugholes....

George

It shoots well, can't wait to take it to 1K this spring and see how it perks at long range.

Dober

What if we compared a Hornady .338 225 gr. SST with a BC of .430
Compare that to the Hornady 7mm 154 gr. spitzer with a BC of .433
Now what if we compared the .338 Federal to a 7mm-08.
It seems fair to compare the two cartridges of equal powder capacity and by using bullets of equal BC.
Now the .338 has the advantage of a bigger cross sectional area
and more weight. This would make me choose the .338 if I were hunting bear or moose or elk. I think we can expect the heavier bullet to break big bones and disrupt more tissue.
whelennut

That'd be fun to do, especially over across the pond with a ton load of time and a lot of bullets.

Course the SST isn't quite what I'd pick as a big bone breaker even in a 338 Fed....

I'd say use the bestest bullets each one has available for the job at hand. If one wanted to go deep and break big bones it's gonna be very very tough to beat the 175 Noz out of the 7's big lil or small.

You mentioned the SST in the 338 Fed with a BC of .430 so if you wish to comp SST's in the two small case rounds I spect a fair comp would be to use the 160 SST with a BC of .550 out of the lil 7.

One could get 2700 out of the lil 7 with the 160 and what maybe 2400 out of the lil 33 if both rigs had 22" tubes.

IMO what one will do the other will do when it comes to bruins/moose or elks. And at long range the lil 7 will once again hand the 33 it's bunz!

Up close with stouter bullets for going for the most penetration I'd still bet on the 175 Noz going deeper than any of the 33's will do if bullet construction is the same. And this to me negates the 33's bigger cross sectional area or whatever you called it.

Just the way I see it but the 7's big lil or small are incredibly tough to beat. And this is coming from a fella who's been a confirmed 33 nutcase for many moons. (wore out two barrels with .340's shooting game/targets and long range chucks so I'd say that qualify's me as a 33 nutcase)

Dober

I'm with Dober....as a LR cartridge,comparing a 160 from the 338 to a 160 in a 7 mag is like comparing an asprin tablet to a javelin....forget the ballistic table stuff,which Dober should not even have to go through to "prove" it up,though the tables do tell the story.

And zero them both 2-3" up at 100 and then back off for point blank range;even to 500-600 yards and the 7mm 160 will leave the 338 firmly in the dust.....

The 338 Federal has its' virtues but competeing with a 7 mag as a LR cartridge ain't one of them.

I don't think anybody was ever trying to compare it as a long range cartridge. And, the 160 TTSX would be quite possibly the absolute worst bullet you could choose for the 338 Fed to get the most out of it at range. At 500 yds a 210 Scirocco II would be going faster than that little flat base 160. The 338 Fed is not a long range cartridge, but it can certainly be adequate to 500yds if you choose the proper bullets.

According to JBM if we started the 210 Sci with a BC of .507 @ 2500 (which I spect would be about it for a 22" 338 fed) then at 500 yds it's getting close to the same speed as the 160 but not quite.

JBM shows the 210 running @ 1813 fps and the 160 is at 1831. Drop of the long sleek 210 would be 55.8" @ 500 and the 160 is dropping 53.7" so the absolute worst bullet is still doing a bit better...

Just more BG for breakfast..grin

Pick one and get after it, don't matter to me which one you use but I have a hard time finding the 338 Fed to be the big 7's equal. But, that's just how I see it.

Dober

2600 with TAC is what my 22" runs. Or, 2750 with 185 TTSX. I don't see the Fed as the equal of 7 either FWIW.

that be rocking, how much Tac?

Thx
Dober

Don't have notes here, but 46 sticks in my head.

seems a bit warm to me, but I've never worked with one just studied them from afar..be a heck of a yote load..grin

Dober

The 2600 with the Scirocco II is as far as I'll push it. Same load is ~2610 with 210 TTSX. When shooting in 100deg temps, hot chamber, etc, the primers show a tiny bit of flattening (edges aren't quite as round). No sticky bolt or ejector marks though. The 2750 with the 185 TTSX (48.5 TAC) shows no pressure signs whatsoever.

I like the 180 NBT, have you run it?

Dober

Yup. Have a few hundred of them in fact. 48.5 Tac gets around 2800, accuracy has only been okay (.9-1.2ish). I did try some IMR 8208 XBR and accuracy was excellent, but haven't been able to chrono yet.

Gracias

Dober