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

My observations have been different from yours, I've seen more wonky stuff in the Barnes manuals over the years than other manuals by far.

Anyone who honestly believes that a 160 in a Big 7 is gonna top out at 2850 or so is sorely lacking in Big 7 experience..

I've been working the the big 7's since the late 70's and to date I've not seen one that wouldn't run a 160 at 3050 at a minimum max and most of them would do 3100 with 7828, H870, R25, R22.

So we can cherry pick all day long, what I tend to look at is what is real life. And in real life the Big 7 kicks azz on the lil 33 in a big way!

Now I do like oddball rounds and kind of like the lil 33 but if I bought one I'd keep it on the real.

My experience has been that there's a lot of diff tween manuals. You mentioned that you need to go to a 140 to get to 3100 and with the Nozler manual with a 140 I see a couple loads that go beyond 3300 (R19/3318 and R22/3340).

Both are good rounds, both can do some real work but the idea that the lil 33 is an equal to the Big 7 isn't something I'm gonna buy into.

Dober

Sorry to interfere in your thread but want to give you the vision of a guy from Europe who use the 338Fed for 2,5 years now.
First i want to say that i don't understand why hunters punch each other because of caliber choice or liking. You all know that, if usefulness was the only reason to choose a caliber the 30-06 would be enough for 95% of our hunts even in Europe or Africa. Except in France (for crazy laws)where the good old 7x64Brenneke would do the same job.
But some calibers are better than other in some firearms or hunting situations or people prefer one to the other, that's freedom of choice.

In Europe for sure the 338 Federal will never become a block buster because of different way of thinking and sometimes laws but it offer some advantages over the cartridges we use mostly in driven hunt, where game is more difficult to kill or stop because of adrenaline and often so-so bullet placement.
As we mostly use semi autos in driven hunts i try to convince Browning, Merkel or Benelli to have a model so chambered. Would be easier on the rifle than the 9,3x62 or the magnum we use and easier on shooter too. Wait and see...

1st: It offer the punch of the 30-06 in a smaller package
2nd: Can use short action
3rd: Offer more punch than the 308, bigger size bullet, and with heavier one a bit more momentum
4th: In driven hunt seem to strike almost as strongly as a 35Whelen or 9,3x62 with 200 to 250grs.
5th: Better trajectory
6th: Less recoil so people train more and shoot better

For a guy who stalk it's accurate and good enough for more than 350m with Accubond or TSX. But a magnum is not and must not be compare to. The 7-08 is not a 7mmRM nor the 260Rem a 264WM, a 358 is not a 358Norma Mag. To condamn it is like condamning the 338-06.

Having used it on Wild boars, Red deer, Corsican ram, Roes in driven or stalk hunts, i would have no fear to use it for moose or Euro bears with the right bullet.
Note that i handload the 338Fed with 250grs bullet (have a stock of Sako Hammerhead)to 2300 fps (warm load but safe in my T3)and that the little beast anchor boars very well even if the case is a bit small for such heavy weight.

Not a bad cartridge but one in a "niche" on an over crowded market. For me , rifle loony, it's ok and i like it.
have a good sunday
Dom

My 338F experience is nil, but I ass-u-me it's pretty similar to the .358, which I have used quite a bit.

The appeal of something like a 338F is that at moderate ranges it hits hard, kills well, and (I like this part) doesn't turn meat to jelly.

To come back around to the 7-mag, it is simply capable of doing more than a 338F is. Period. But- which one would I rather punch a deer in the shoulder with at 40 yards? The 338F, hands down.

So I could l could, I think, love a 338F for the same reasons I love my .358. But they'd be different reasons than why I'd love a 7-mag.

Just IMHO!

Me to and the fact is less people reload than buy ammunition for there hunting purposes..Call them the normal Joes.My favorite is Federal Premium...

7MM Rem Mag..175 Nosler/2750 fps/2938 FPE..Drop at 300..14.4" 100 yard zero
7MM Rem Mag..160 Nosler/2950 fps/3091 FPE..Drop at 300..11.5"

338 federal..210 Nosler/2630 fps/3225 FPE..Drop at 300..16.2" 100 yard zero
338 Federal..200 TBTip /2630 fps/3071 FPE..Drop at 300..15.8"

So the 338 Fed your shooting 30 grains heavier in lead with a .054 larger frontal area and a difference of less than 2" drop at 300 yards and less than 200 fPE difference at 300 between the 175 Nosler and 210 Nosler.....Ummmm

For the normal Joe that does not reload and wants a 300 yard Elk rifle,seems the 338 Fed fills the bill nicely compared to the much smaller 7 Mag(.284 versus .338)...

For those that don't reload and rely on factory ammunition for there hunting/shooting.

Jayco

If you put a 300-yard limit on things it does, I guess, level the field some.

But I personally won't settle for a RIFLE-imposed 300 yard limit. If conditions, or my own shortcomings, impose that limit on a given day in the field- fine. But for a general-purpose hunting gun I won't accept my hardware imposing such a limit.

Plus- wind drift is what gets you, and I can promise you those light .33's at moderate launch speeds are getting blown around pretty good!

Check this out. 7-mag shooting a 160 Accubond at 3000 fps, vs. the 338Fed with a 200-gn Accubond at 2650 fps. Obviously all this does is show what we already know- that the 338F is a short- to medium-range round- but since others are comparing it to a 7-mag....

I've long said that for the most part all rounds are equal to 300 yds...

Dober

Says "who"?

Quit reading....start loading and shooting...

..I have never owned a 7RM (out of many)that would not give 3050-3080 with a 160;and if you set the rifle up properly you will, indeed, get 3100 from it very easily and safely.

If you want a 160 at 2850, buy a 280....

Dober is, as usual, correct.

That was pure ballistics,Jeff..Doesn't mean it won't kill 'em at 301 yards either.

The fact is the vast majority of hunters don't shoot elk at over 3-400 yards, if even that.I have a picture of a great bull shot by Tony Makris at 275 yards with a 45-70 Double and a muzzle velocity of 1650 fps and a 420 grain bullet.He knows his rifle and is able to shoot it at pistol velocities out to dang near 300 yards deadly.

Sure the big 7 is faster than Superman and hits harder than a freight train but it is and always will be .284 in diameter as the 338 is just that.338..

.054 diameter difference is larger than the difference in the 375 H&H and the 416 Remington Mag...How many African hunters are going to tell either of us the 375 is as deadly as the 416 for dangerous game?

Awe..They all work but some just go crazy thinking the big 7 is the first and last word as an Elk killing machine..It isn't...And lighter and faster isn't always the best combo...

Jayco

I actually agree with you (mostly) Jayco. My main elk rifles have been a .338 Win mag and a .325!

And I loves me some .358...

But a 338F and a 7-mag are just very different tools IMHO. And the simple truth is, you could take ANY shot with the 7-mag that you could with the 338F; but the reverse is not true. The 7 can just plain do more.

BOBNH: 10/4 on the 7 Rem Mag. I can't remember when I got my first 7 mag and now have had several. ALL OF THEM would give 3300 fps w/139-140 gr. bullets with IMR 4350 & slower powders like IMR 4831 & IMR 7828.

3100 fps is CERTAINLY achievable w/ 160 gr. bullets with IMR 4831 & IMR 7828.

Having reached the velocities I wanted with those powders I have not tried some of the NEWER powders that I hear will do it also.

A quality CHRONOGRAPH is an indispensable tool to verify your own gun/s velocity and the VERITY of some handloading manuals.

I have a manual which shows loads WAY TOO HOT and more than one which shows load WAY UNDER potiential. We must compare more than one manual AND chrono to see what reality is.

JWALL
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VEGETARIAN.........Indian Word For Poor Hunter

A 7mm RM will do, as a rule, 3,000 - 3.050 all day long with a 160 (and more). That the various component makers don't acknowledge that is about liability with the aging round.

A 338 Federal and 7mm RM with a 160 are distinctly different cartridges, though each will obviously kill well.

I just happen to know what I'd rather be running past 450 yards, and it isn't the 338 Federale...

I've been thinking about building a .338 federal on an extra '98 action i have. I would like to have it custom throated to take advantage of the longer magazine on the '98 and use 250gr bullets. my intent would be to try and drive them to about 2150fps. anybody ever ran 250's with a longer COL? Its a military action that won't allow the longer 3.34" COL of the 338-06 without modification.

advntrjnky

Brown bear sow with very young cubs. She's aware of your presence, agitated and 35 yards away.

What's your poison, 7mm RM running 160s at any velocity or .338 Federal running 210s?

s.s.: Whichever is IN MY HANDS. Both will do the trick from a cool head. Hopefully encounter doesn't turn SOUTH due to the cubs.

JWALL
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VEGETARIAN.......Indian Word For Poor Hunter

All said and done its fun yanking the 7mm RM shooters chain. So i'll yank it one more time as the 264WM rains all over your parade. I bought my 338 Fed for brush with no thought of ever pushing it behond medium range. I have a 7mm RM setting in my safe it is my sons and I find it to be hard on the shoulder after a sight in session so I don't shoot it. My 264 has mild recoil and I can push a 85gr HP over 3900fps do that with your 7.

264: What's the old saying? One man's JUNK is another man's treasure. . Sounds like JUNK to me. L O L ! !

Whatever melts your butter or floats your boat.

JWALL
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VEGETARIAN.........Indian Word For Poor Hunter

Funny, I don't shoot a 7mm Mag of any kind... I just recognize worthless posts when I see them.

Brad that wasn't directed at you Just the die hard 7 shooters.LOL

So its "pretty similar" to a .358 Win - not a bad thing, me thinks.....



And virtually the same as .308 Win (although you like the .308 better....)

So doesn't that make the .338 Fed capable of covering all the ground from a .308 Win to a .358 Win....seems like a pretty good deal to me.

I don't recall anyone ever said that. ...it's a good all round BG cartridge if you load it right and point it straight.....just like many others.

If it didn't work well you wouldn't see so many of them killing elk-sized game here and worldwide.