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

I'm about to start monkeying with the 225 DeepCurls and 2000 MR. Alliant lists 2625 using 225 Fusions. I'd be thrilled if I can get 2550 out of the DeepCurls with their .490 BC.

Those book numbers are very nice. I haven't been able to match their book numbers. Ex: with the 200 Hot Cor they list 52gn for 2725. I get 2620 with 52gn at 2.81 and a Fed 210 primer. Granted its a 22" vice 24" barrel that I'm sure they used, but that's a big difference. I did just notice today there was a large difference using the 215 primer vs. the 210. 52gn of 2000MR with a Nosler 210 Partition I got 2625 with the 215 and 2583 with the 210 primer (all are three shot averages corrected to muzzle velocity). Everything else the same. Let me know what you find out. Could be a very good combination.

badshot...I'm with prm. Getting book velocities almost never happens for me and like prm, I too am shotting 22 inch, not 24. That being said, I haven't seen any Deep Curls yet and I would be interested in the results you get. What are you hoping to hunt with this combo?

prm...40 fps advantage seems like a worth while experiment, and at about $3.50, not too expensive to try teh 215's.

The 215 example was really just to indicate that the book load for a 215gn bullet was 52gn of LVR, so you may be able to go up a fair amount from the 49 you were testing with the 200gn bullet (working up of course). I will say I can generally match the book loads for TAC, or at least be well within the consideration of having a 22" vice 24" barrel. A bullet that has impressed me is the 200 Hot Cor. The ones I have recovered from shots into phone books and stumps have looked like bonded bullets. The 200 CT and 200 SST come completely apart. Can't say that's representative of game though. There are no shortage of good bullets and powders to play with for the Fed.

First off - I like the round, ballistics, and what it offers for what it was designed to do.

BUT, I found a thread that said Sako cut chambers .007 oversized to allow for users to form brass from 308, 358, etc. and several Sako owners reported they were unable to get below 2" groups.

Wonder if that is/was a fact and if so if it was ALL 338F Sako's.

Anyone on chamber/throating being 'oversized' for handloaders and it's negative impact on accuracy? It would be interesting to know what chamber specs were used in various rifles.....or runs of a specific model.

Blueranger,

I've had mixed results with book velocities. For Barnes 160 and 185 TTSX, the book velocities were right on. I went one grain under max for both and was able to get 3050 and 2820 fps with Accurate 2230. I've had good luck with Alliant 2000MR and 200 grain bullets. Using 52 grains, everything shot right about 2650 FPS. I tried 200 SST, 200 Interlock, 210 Partition. My rifle seems to really like Hot Cors and Accubonds. I've loaded them with 52 grains as well but never got around to chronying them. I just figured they were about 2650.

Hot Cors are my primary bullet. The Deepcurls are just a cheap experiment. Anything north of 2500 FPS would be impressive with it's high BC and weight retention. They are supposed to open easily.

As far as hunting with my 338 Federal, it's primarily going to be a wild boar rifle since my land is in East Texas. Any bullet from my 338 Federal would do fine for this purpose.

Oh, I too have a 22" barrel.

Hi all,

First post here. I thought I would contribute some thoughts and experiences. When i read about the 338 and the supposed power, I took the reference to the 7mm simply as giving a reader a warm fuzzy feeling that it has enough power to play ball with bigger animals and it gave the reader a quick comparison power wise to an established round that everyone has a firm knowledge of. i don't think they are aimed at targeting the same audience.

I think both are overkill for deer. The 7mm rem mag I only think is needed if you are really shooting at longer ranges for deer 250+ yds.

I think the 338 federal is great as a under 200 yd or less black bear/hog gun. It can be put together in a more compact package and gives a bit bigger hole in animals that tend to have a bunch of fat to plug up a hole.
I built mine as a black bear rifle. T/C Prohunter with an MGM 19" barrel and 1.5-6 vx-3 on top. It is great to drag thru the brush. Since I didn't get a shot at a bear i took it out for deer season. 185 TSX went in in front of the near shoulder and blew through the far shoulder. The deer was at a slow run at about 65 yds. I was shooting off hand uphill. It laid down about 20 yds from the point of impact.

I think few of us actually need a super fast super flat magnum at the distances we shoot. My biggest complaint is half of the guys I know are shooting deer at 50 yds with a 7mm or 300 mag using discount bullets and are surprised when their cheap bullet has no consistency in expansion or just epically fails. Previously I hunted everything with a hand me down model 94 30-30 with open sights. so maybe i have a bit of a skewed outlook on life.

I haven't owned one, but i have had a reasonable opportunity to see what it can do in friend's rifles. And from what i have observed i would have to agree with a lot of the sentiment above - it is simply unbeatable on bigger and tougher deer (or big pigs) at non-internet ranges. I have been very impressed with the combination with the 185 gr Barnes TTSX. Bullet performance has been far more reliable than using 7mm and 300 mags at these ranges - which are generally less than 250 yards and often much closer (OK, i'm sure guys could have done better with their reloading and choice of ammunition, too). And i think the reality is, these are the ranges at which most real hunting occurs - not all, but most. And rifles are lighter and handier, and don't recoil a lot (although recoil is almost beside the point at these ranges). I have a 8x57, and it is very similar, but if i had a turnbolt i'd have the 338 instead for the shorter action and choice of 338 bullets.

It is certainly not a cartridge for folks who find ballistics at 700 yards is of some significance to them. It is a real hunter's cartridge. If you are after big deer at ranges of less than about 300 yards (and who isn't), i think it is simply your best bet.

Just a 358win with a pink bow on it.

The 338 Fed is capable of near pass throughs on Kudu and Gemsbok. Zebra penetration to the opposite shoulder. IMHO,the 338 Fed is capable of killing any NA game animal at 200 and under.

Emphasis on the humble opinion part,please.

Killed this 210 lb boar with a Ruger No. 1-AB in .338 Federal using the American Eagle 185 gr PSP. DRT...

passed one up one time. a brand new ruger 77 all weather, black synthetic stock and stainless barrel for $459.99. have regreted not buying it ever since.

Well, if you are serious, you have another chance. CDNN has some available for $399.99. I just had my dealer order one for my oldest son. He was so excited when he saw the ad, I just decided, why not? If it doesn't work out, it would still make a dandy platform for a nice .260 Remington or 7mm-08. But I am kind of intrigued by a bigger bore without the magnum recoil. I am very interested to see how it recoils compared to my .270 WSM. I realize it is not a long range caliber, but believe it will be very effective at practical ranges (under 300 yards), and a real thumper inside of 100 yards on black bear and such. Here is the link:
Check page 52

I'm wondering about punching out the barrel on a Ruger Scout Rifle...how much would you loose with the short barrel?

TFF

or a .308 w/ a Black Tie ?

Question ? Are the .338 bullets designed for .338Win Mag or 340Wby velocities too stiff for the Fed velocity range ?

I can't see the point of the .338 Federal for myself. Can't see any difference with a 30-06. But for those who .338 loonies, I just noticed that Midway USA is selling a .338 Federal upper assembly for the AR-10. Might be just the thing for hog hunters.