Well folks it's been a few years since the 338 federal was commercialized and we have learned a lot, but still have more to go. And not only that, but anyone with an interest in the 338 Fed must have come to some conclusion that maybe goes against what they have been hearing. So here are my thoughts/questions/comments...

1)Why the 210 grain Nosler Partition???
This is a bullet designed for deep penetration with a high impact velocity. The Fed spits the 210 Part. out at a mediocre velocity. So why the the 210 Partition???

2)Has anyone actually chronographed factory ammo through a 338 Fed? With the mild velocity of the Fed., all fps count! Did the people at Federal lie to sell rifles???

3)People have been killing some big animals with the 338 Federal, but nothing big at ranges more than 150 yards or so... Does somebody wanna sponsor me so I can retrieve data??? I want dead bull elk at 250-300 yards... Elk hunting can be a long range affair! Right? Is the Fed and elk cartridge or not?

4)IMR 8208 XBR???-I need to try this stuff out. I want my Fed. to shoot my 200 grain Hornady's atleast 2600 fps. That would put some air in my tires for sure. Anybody beat me to the punch??

So gents, and ladies, what ya think?

I've got a bud who uses a Montana in 338 fed a bit. he took a nice bull a couple of years ago with the 185 TSX factory load. He got the bull down (330 yds or so) but if i recall right it took a bit of doing.

As well the 185 TSX didn't exit on a shot that I would of thought that it would of. What's all this mean, nothing really as he could see something different on the next 15 elk he shoots...

Side note, he told me that the 185 TSX factory ammo is clocking in the mid 25's for him. Now that kind of suprised me as I thought it would of been a lot more. To me, this is perhaps a reason why the bullet didn't exit on a shot I felt that it should. And I'm one who really likes to have two holes on critters.

Bottom line, I love 33's and this is still a hella cool lil round.

Does anyone make a factory load with a CNC bullet in it?

Dober

I've had mine since 2007...a Ruger 77 Mk II RSI with a PacNor barrel. To answer your questions in order, what I know anything about:

1) I haven't used Partitions since 1982 or '83, because I don't like either their level of accuracy or performance in game. So that's not an issue to me. I do shoot 200 gr Hornady Interlocks, and they run about 2550 fps out of my 18.5" barrel. They also kill game very nicely.

2)The 185 TSX and 200 gr Fusion factory loads seem to shoot right about where they claim. My handloads are just a hair faster.

3) Don't plan to sponsor anyone hunting, except maybe my wife and daughters . I would have exactly zero qualms about shooting elk at 300 yards with either the 185 TSX at starting at 2600 fps or the 200 Hornady starting at 2550 fps. I did take it elk hunting one day this past fall, but didn't get a shot.

4) I use Re 15 pretty much exclusively in the .338 Fed these days. I tried some others, but the combination of accuracy and velocity is hard to beat. If I had a 22" barrel, breaking 2600 fps with a 200 gr Hornady would be a snap-simple event with Re 15.

I think that the .338 Fed is one of the better cartridges brought out in a long time, and I am very fond of mine. Here's a deer I killed two falls ago with mine...



I like it a lot...

Dennis

nobody is killing anything big with it out past 150 because it is not intended to shoot anything period past that distance. if you want to kill things further out why not a proven .335 win mag? dont ask the federal to do what it isnt intended to do, and you will not be dissapointed

Right...

Ummm...I shot that buck at about 225 yards, and it didn't seem to be much of a problem. I wouldn't shoot elk much past about 300-350 yards with a .338 Fed -- but then I wouldn't shoot at them past that range with any cartridge, unless they're already wounded. I suspect if you talk with Federal factory people (hint...I have, including the one who developed the cartridge for them) you will find they have no sense you should limit using the .338 Federal to under 150 yards. They will, in fact, express significantly different viewpoints.

Call them up and tell us what they told you...

Dennis

What are the real world velocities one should achieve with a 20" barreled 338 Federal?

To Jeffrey and the boys! Here we go!

OK!......I happen to do some reloading for a friend of mine who owns a 338 Federal chambered in a Ruger Frontier compact (target grey) carbine with a 16.5" barrel. For short, to moderate and out to medium ranges hunting in brush, timbers, from stands etc, this cartridge and rifle is about as an ideal and excellent combo as you can get.

So far to my friend`s credit and to his rifle`s credit, he has a bull moose kill at about 185 yards, a couple of black bears and has killed numerous hogs in my presence as we hunt hogs together.

Let`s put the 338 Federal in proper context or perspective.

It does very well for what is was designed to do. It is a short to moderate to medium ranged big game cartridge. It is not a 338 Win Mag. Though I personally wouldn`t try for a moose or bull elk at 300 yards with this cartridge and opt to get closer, that does not mean it couldn`t be done.

Simply put, if one wants a more than adequate 250-300 yard and beyond elk and moose round, there are better choices than the 338 Federal.

But at the same time, rather than throwing the 338 Fed under the bus in lieu of the more powerful 338s, let`s not discard the 338 Federal and give it some credit where credit is certainly due.

It is an excellent and ideal cartridge for what it was "DESIGNED" to do, chambered in the shorter actioned and in some cases, shorter and handier rifles! It is not a long range round!

Mine is a 21" 338Fed and I get 2550fps with a 200gr Hornady IL. As evidenced by the "257 Weatherby thread", I do not push my handloads real hard. I think there is room icrease the MV, but I have no need to do that. I've killed a whooping two deer with it this year at 5 yards and 25 yards. Not real "long range." I did get nice exit holes and I think I had burned hair on the close one! I posted all my work up using IMR4895, RE15 and W748 with 185TSX, 210NP and the above mentioned bullet. Try searching through my posts. I'll try to find it also. I would be comfortable shooting at an elk at 300 yds with my 338Fed.

Despite the above post, it will work out past 150yds.

RH

Have used one for two years. Kimber and load with W748 and RL15 with 210ttsx. Shoots into under 1.5. Don't chrono, so can't tell you much on fps. It's up around book top and is what it is.

Bought it for a short to mid-range handy rifle, and the two deer it has killed didn't go more than 10feet and that was flopping on the one. One from front and out back hip at around 70yards. The other a head shot.

There are better LR calibers, but out to 300 or a little more, it should work if you stick the bullet properly.

I like it for what I want it to do which is shoot a big bullet at moderate velocity at close to moderate range. For that I think it is a winner.

If you load according to some of what I saw there you can probably get that 200 going about 2900 fps.

At sea level, my chronograph is showing 2600 fps out of my 18.5" bbl with 48 gr Re 15 and 185 gr TSX. Cases show no signs of excessive pressure after shooting. With the same load and a 200 gr Hornady Interlock, my chronograph is showing 2550 fps. I've been making these loads for myself and shooting them a lot at the range since 2007. I have also fired them at deer, once shot per each, in 2008 and 2009. Both the 185 gr TSX and the 200 gr Hornady seem to kill deer well.

I would think adding 1.5 inch to the barrel could add up to 75 fps or so; maybe less, maybe more. It all depends on the comparison between your barrel and the one you're comparing it to. I once had three .280's with 22" barrels, and there could be as much as 150 fps difference between them with a given load. The correct answer is...it all depends... .

Dennis

I'd have no problemo taking a Montana in 338/08 (like that better than Federal) and sticking a scope with dotz on it and it'll take elk for me just fine to 500 yds. Obvious here I wouldn't take any shot I had @ 500 but if the conditions were right for me to shoot with any other round @ 500 then I'd take the poke with the lil 33 as well.

Most likely I'd use my fav 33 bullet which is the 200 NBT, it'd be easy to set the dotz to kill on demand and the bullet would open at range as well.

People really underestimate what rounds are really capable of these days. I mean you wreck the lungs and they're melba toast!

Dober

Agreed, though I ran into the other kind of guys this week at the range. Two from the Coast Guard, shooting SKS's and suchlike. I had my .308 and .338 Fed RSI's out, just checking. After awhile they came over and wanted to look through my 15-45 scope to check my shooting. Sub-inch groups seemed to stagger them up, so I shifted the bench rest a bit and took a shot at the 300 yard steel plate. They were utterly staggered at my getting a "rinnggg" out of it, first time . I shot it a couple more times, with the .338 Fed, and they were most impressed. It didn't seem worth the effort to explain that shooting a 12" plate off the bench at 300 yards did not represent a great deal of accomplishment. They were very nice, and very impressed...so I hope they come back .

And you are so right, Mark. A large group of people seem to have lost out on the knowledge of just how far away one can kill big game animals -- if they can hit them, find them, butcher them, move them et al are other kinds of questions that have no connection to how well the bullet actually works and at what distances.

Dennis

when i said people arent killing stuff past 150, it was in response to the ORIGINAL post, which most of you dont seem to have read. scroll up a bit guys

JB wrote an article in handloader about loading the 338 Fed. Using TAC, he was getting 2900+ with a 180 NBT, and 2700+ with a 200gn Hornady. That was with a 22" barrel and are loaded just at or under Ramshot's published max loads (which indicate similar velocities). I think the 338 Fed can reach out and touch quite well. I'd be willing to bet that 90%+ of the time, the shooter is the limiting factor when shooting in field conditions rather than the 338 Fed. When getting 2700 with the Barnes TTSX it will still be going just a bit under 2000fps at 500 yds if hunting up around 9k. 2550 with a 210 Scirocco is still ~1940fps using Hodgdon's H4895 max load. That's certainly enough for an elk or just about anything else. I do think the 338 Fed benefits from using high BC bullets and finding just the right powder more than other cartridges to get the most out of it at range. But it can still be done. I have a bunch waiting to get tested when I get my Ruger 338 Fed back. Have to shoot the 338-06in the meantime...

Thanks for your imput guys. It's good to hear accounts of elk being taken out to 300 yards or so. To some this may not seem like too far, to others a great distance. My personal max range on big game is 300 yards simply because with a hunting rifle in a field position with natural elements things can go bad quickly. As far as the distance question I was thinking more from an energy perspective. My concern is bullet performance on the animal. To say 150 is what the round is made for seems a little pessimistic. As far as the bigger gun side of things... I bought my Montana for it's light weight and toughness. It seemed like the perfect elk rifle and I guess you could say this entire posts is based on my dreaming of an elk hunt in the coming year.

.

I agree, just 150 yards is a chip shot for my 300 Savage.

RugerDude, can you please tell me about the .335 Winchester Magnum?

Learn something everyday...

Too many people get too caught up in FPS and FT. Lbs. I did too in my youth.

Now, I look at accuracy and shootability, WITH adequate ON TARGET performance.

If one flinches and misses with a .335 WIN Mag vs. hitting with their 338 Federal in the vitals, which I ask is the better round?

Hit something thru the vitals with a round and that animal not die, that will tell you either the wrong bullet was used, and/or it did not have enough 'TERMINAL SPEED on impact' to do it's job.

Not seen an animal yet 'Vitalized' and not die....

I knew muledeer would chime in on this. Don't mess with the man's 338 Fed...

I've used mine only on Calif. hogs to date because it happens to shoot the 185-grain copper very well. Everything hit to date has died, out to 300.

If my memory is working properly today... I believe it was Greg Rodriguez who told me he has culled a ton of kudu with the 338 Fed and finds it wonderfully suited to the task.

All of which is fine with me, as I won't be asking my 338 Fed to do something my other 338s do better.

I've only taken one animal thus far with my 338 Fed (20-in bb), but it was a big cow elk standing broadside at 300 yds . One 185 gr TSX through the lungs and she stumbled 50 yds and fell over.....Still surprised how little it recoils.

Jeffrey: I have only used my newish 338 Federal Rifle for spring Black Bear Hunting so far.
I have had it two seasons now and have not harvested a Bear with it as yet.
I am happy with my Rifles accuracy so far and its light weight for packin over the miles in the spring high country.
My friend here in SW Montana killed a mature Bull Elk with one shot using his 338 Federal this just past season.
He relayed the yardage as around 200 yards.
Let me say this though - even though I have never done this exact thing myself - I am sure if YOU put a 210 grain Nosler Partition through an Elks heart/lung area even out at 300 yards that Elk is going to die!
You may not knock it down but it is going to die!
I have shot enough Elk with Nosler bullets to know this to be factual!
My secondary use for my Tikka T-3 in 338 Federal is to use when Hunting the fresh tracking snow conditions and pussyfooting into the bedding areas of the Elk (defined as "thick stuff"!) and getting closer shots there in their bedding areas.
My Rifle is shooting the 185 grain Federal factory TSX ammo right now.
Some more "thoughts" for your consideration.
There are (and I own some of them!) some better "LONG RANGE" Elk cartridges out there.
My main Elk Hunting partner uses a custom 338/378 Weatherby Magnum with a 30" barrel and a Shepherd scope!
I have seen him kill Elk (including a dandy 7x7 Bull!) with this Rifle at longer ranges than you mention.
His son "allegedly" killed a Bull with this rig at 950 yards!
I don't know this to be fact as I was not along on that days Hunt.
But they both allude to that being the reading on the laser rangefinder.
Once I go through all these Federal factory TSX's I have I am going to use THE Nosler 210 grain bullets for my handloads - and I will let you know what I found out with them, then.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG-any chance you've clocked any of those factory 185's? A buddy of mine did and had some slow speeds with it.

Thx
Dober

From the other side of the pond, i use my Tikka 338Fed for two seasons now, really an intesresting cartridge for us that deserve more attention even in the USA where you can use every thing. Changing from scope to red dot sight i used the Tikka for driven hunt (red and roe deer, wild boar), stalking roes and corsican ram and even gams, shots were from 15 to more than 200 meters. All were one shot kill the farthest distance after shot was 35m, a red deer doe shot in heart lung area in driven hunt, pushed very fast by dogs. Used factory 180AB and 185TSX plus some hand loads with 225grs Speer and 250grs (yes 250)Hammerhead from Sako cause i've more than 1000 of them. The Hammerhead really hammered (no pun intended)hogs at short range (15 to 60 meters), less recoil than my 9,3 or 45-70, light to carry and powerful enough for all euro games even big boars,mooses, bears. Surely better than the 300/270WSM that a lot of guys use here in "battue hunting" with semi-auto. I spoke with the Browning manager to have some made for Europe but they are not interested at the moment...To bad, would be a seller in France (biggest Euro market for BAR/Short Trac,Argo,SR1,or 750 semi autos). About velocity had mesured the AB and TSX factory loadings with my Chrony Gamma Master controlled by firing some match 22lr ammo of well know velocity (R50RWS and Eley EPS): the 338Fed speed were right on with the TSX and a bit faster with the AB than announed by Federal. Temperature was 19�C, elevation 100m above sea level.
Looking to rebarrel un old Browning BLR 243 i own!

The Nosler Partition was designed to open at moderate velocities and stay together at high velocities or through heavy bone, hence the partition.

Thats the way I see it

Good point Temmi...

RugerDude, I think you're the one not reading carefully. I think most of us responded very clearly -- we just seem to disagree with your and the OP's belief that 150 yards is the end of the limit for the .338 Fed. You might notice that most of us are expressing opinions based on our actions using the cartridge or a similar one to kill game...that might be a clue that we might actually know something. Not too much point to arguing at a guy that 150 yards is the limit when he's been succeeding at 300...

Someting for you to think about, when you present opinions to us about what you think we know...

Dennis

What is a 335 Win Mag ???

Hopefully, just a mistyping and inability to grasp "editing" functions...

Dennis

For the ranges you are intending to work in the 210 Partition ought to work great.

I keep thinking that I need a fed in the kimber montana. If I got one with a 4x leup on top I think I would shoot the Hornady 200. Seems about middle of the road. Cannot decide yet as I have a new montana in 308.

I dont think the 338 federal was ever intendid to be a 300 yard plus elk rifle but I would be willing to bet that in the hands of a compitent rifleman that could put the bullet on the mark, would have the Elk in the bag by days end.......

how many factory loads are there?
who other than the originator loads for it?
how many factory rifles are chambered for it?

It will never reach the success it needs to become anything other than a flash in the pan, sorry.

it will end up in the same place as the 260, 280rem and the 358.
Great round for its intended purpose but just didnt catch on with the mainstream.

...............As far as I know, Ruger, Sako, and Kimber currently chamber the 338 Federal. There may be some other makers who now do that I didn`t think of and some who might do so later.

The amount of factory loadings available may not necessarily determine popularity. As a reloader, I would be more concerned about brass availability, which has been no issue thus far in loading the 338 Federal for a friend.

From a marketing standpoint and to really determine "correctly" any cartridge`s popularity, one would have to some research and find out what the sales figures have been for new 338 Fed rifles from the makers going back the 3 years or so and then compare those past figures with more recent sales figures. That will determine whether or not there is a growing trend or a decreasing sales trend for the 338 Fed.

Then one should also contact the various distributors to determine how much 338 Fed brass has been and is being sold.

That would better put the puzzle together in order to better determine whether or not the 338 Fed will become just "a flash in the pan" or catch on with the "mainstream."

When it comes to popularity, I`m not so sure that the 260, the 280 Rem or the 358 Win are in such a bad or so-so place right now.

Until the proper marketing research is performed, I wouldn`t exactly say; "it will never reach the success it needs to become anything other than a flash in the pan!"

Opinions are ok, but they can be far from actual marketing facts.

Jimmy, I've got a 338 Montana and I love it. No animals yet but man it is one sweet rifle. I've got a Weaver K-6 and I'm shooting 200 Hornady's like you mentioned. All I can think about is shooting an elk with this bubba...
Af far as the flash in the pan comment, who cares??? We're reloaders right? I haven't bought a single box of ammo for this thing yet. It is just too reloader friendly for us to be concerned about here. I can't believe it has taken so long for this to become a factory rifle. It's too bad Weatherby and A-Square adopted the 338-06. That decision killed a beautiful round.

I like my Sako 85 Grey Wolf. I wanted a foul weather option to use instead of my Sako75 .308; seemed like a perfect fit for hunting Hogs and Deer in the thick Florida brush, swamps, and planted pines. I am a reloader, so factory offerings do not dictate my ammo. Added plus, the .338 bullet selection is pretty good.

t_bare

I'm fairly sure that Federal intended it to be a 300 yard elk rifle, and it's about perfect for such activities. Mine has only killed deer so far, but has been elk hunting and I would have exactly no qualms about shooting an elk with it. Hitting it in the right spot is one hell of a lot more important than whether a 200 gr bullet started at 2600 fps or 2800 fps...guaranteed.

I get a kick out of people who insist that it will somehow "disappear" because it doesn't become one of the top three sales cartridges. Among other things, that demonstrates serious ignorance of how gun owners operate... .

Dennis

1) Two boxes, each half empty, in my house. And about a dozen or so handloats. Don't really care what they sell, though, cause I kinda know how to make my own...

2) Who cares? Their loss...

3) Couple-three Rugers; Sakos; Kimbers; and I think a couple more.

4) It's already reached far beyond the point of "flash in the pan" -- otherwise this conversation wouldn't be going on. Think about it; you might get it...

5) The same place as the .260, .280, and .358 (OK, mine are a .35 Whelen and a .356 Win, but I used to have a .358 as well) is...in my gunsafe! If you actually think the .260 and the .280 are not successes, you need to learn how to think about rifles and cartridges. I guess if you just want to own the top five cartridges and won't buy them otherwise -- then go for it, but remember that your ownership has neither personal character nor actual value, it's just so many images.

And oh by the way..."mainstream" is a pretty irrelevant set for any cartridge acquisition -- we're a small group.

Buy what you want...I could care less. But don't adopt the idea that you can guess what will happen to a given cartridge. There have been quite a number of people, over the past 130 years or so, who were quite certain that the .45-70 would disappear... .

You'll have to wait a long time past three years to make an equal judgement on the .338 Federal, and a whole set of other cartridges.

Dennis

I'm not so sure that any round introduced in the last few decades has been a great hit? May be wrong, but can't think of one off the top of my head. Lots of good solid offerings, and I think the 338 Fed is just that, a solid offering. I think that as better powders become available to us (like TAC and IMR 8208 XBR) it's relevance will improve. Great selection of bullets and factory 338 Fed brass becoming available shortly. In my opinion it has great utility for the bulk of shooting and hunting I'll be doing and does it in a compact, reasonable recoil package. There are other good options out there too depending on what floats your boat. My bigger decision is whether to take the 338 Fed or 338-06 when I hit the woods. Good problem to have.

Damn, man, you expect people to blindly reach for facts instead of their own well-entrenched opinions? In here? *slapping knee*

My own well-entrenched opinion is that the 338 Fed is here to stay.

truth, I don't know who will chamber it moving forward, but it is too simple with a 308 shell necked up to go away.

Need to save my pennies..

It (338 Federal) started out with 4 factory offerings. That's more than the 260 Rem, the 358 Win, the 257 Rem Robts, the 250 Sav, the 338 WinMag, and a bunch of others had in the beginning. And the first two mentioned didn't even enjoy four factory loadings in their whole life.
Federal has since added a fifth load. They obviously see enough sales potential to keep working with it.

There are actually 7 loads now including the Fusion load:

180 Accubond (Federal Premium)
185 Soft point (American Eagle Brand)
185 TSX (Federal Premium)
200 Soft point (Federal Premium)
200 Fusion (Fusion)
200 Trophy Bonded Tip (Federal Premium)
210 Partition (Federal Premium)

Bigsqueeze:Steyr is also making 338Fed, DPMS and Armalite chamber one olso on "AR10" size action. The reports on the semi auto versions are quite good in the US.
Dom

Heck, what Marseille says just helps everything out. The ctg will be around for awhile. All the ctgs I mentioned are still around in some form or another, some are huge and all are cool in their own. Everyone should have a good 338 Fed, don't ya think?

....Didn`t know that. The more rifle makers,,,,,,,the better!!!

,,,,,,,,,,Yeah I know! For some, doing some research,,,,"FIRST",,and,,"BEFORE" expressing some knee jerk opinions,,,,is a little too much to ask!

It kinda makes common sense that IF a cartridge weren`t popular, OR there were trends indicating such, the rifle makers wouldn`t be chambering it. Un-popular chamberings, leads to very few rifle sales!!!! Not a good way to run a rifle making business!

Including the 308, anything based on the 308 casing; 243, 260, 7mm/08, 338 Fed, 358 Win,,,ISN`T going anywhere!!!

I had my chrony at the range last month and a fellow was shooting his .338 Fed and handloaded 180 TSX bullets. I let him setup and fire several rounds through my chrony. I was a bit surprized to find out it only registered an average 5 shot group at 2485fps.

I would have though that it would have done at least 2650fps but not so! I'll stick with my .338/06 and 210 grain Nosler Partitions. I get 2680fps using IMR-4320 powder!
If I shoot 180 Accubonds in the rifle, it's velocity jumps up to 2950fps, which I believe is a whole lot better than any .338 Fed loading is going to be able to match.

The guy was loadind very gently. Look at John Barnsness article in Rifle some time ago, here in France with 225 Speer BTSP, 41,7grs of SP9 (close to TAC same manufacturer)i get 2365fps from my Tikka T3 22 in barrel, primer is CCI250, OA cartridge lengh is 2,82in.With a french powder close to IMR4895, slightly compressed we come to 2410fps with good accuracy and regularity (CCI200). With VN540 and 250grs Sako Hammerhead (CCI200) i got 2310fps good for close range big game. Cases are Federal.
All speeds mesured from a Gamma master � around 18�c temp and at 200feet above sea level.

To put it another way, the number of animals that I would be leery of using a .338Fed on from 300yards and under are few in number.
_________________________

Soooo... Pretty much the 338 Federal is the sexiest thing goin right now in recent cartridge developement.

I would agree with that statement. It's very sexy to buck the trend of super magnums and super short magnums and get something that just seems to work. 338 bullets are sexy and so is the 308. This makes one sexy offspring.

Tonk, You're leaving alot on the table if your 338-06 is only doing 2650 with 210s and 2950 with 180s. Better whump 'em up some.
Factory Fusion 200s have gone as high 2705 from my 338Fed Tikka.
Handload 185 TSXs are at 2870 in my Kimber.
Even the factory 180AB loads were good for 2740.
When I had a 338-06 with 23" bbl my 210 loads were quite a bit above 2700.
Just thinking you should still be able to do alot better than you are. You are at 338 Fed levels at the moment, but you are correct in saying the 338-06 SHOULD do better than the 338 Fed

This rifle is now used by my wife and we detuned it down a 125 fps, less recoil as well. This rifle in question shoots less than 1-MOA from the bench for her and it suits her just fine.

Now Nosler's #6 reloading manual states, that the 338/06 does a top velocity of 2690fps out of a 24 inch Lilja barrel. This is by the way a MAX LOAD!

I suppose it is possible for someone to have a slightly faster barrel or chrony that registers a few points difference than Nosler's. However, you not going to be getting much over 2700fps and that's a fact.

Why this cartridge isn't more popular here in northern New England is a bit of a mystery. It should be a natural.Jack O'Connor once wrote that he thought the ideal eastern deer rifle would be a .33 caliber based on the 7x57 case. The .338 Federal is about as close as you can get and you can get it in a variety of short action rifles. Part of the problem perhaps is that the .30 calibers just plain work here and traditions die hard. I doubt that I have seen more than one or two .338 Federals on the racks in the gunshops here. I'd be willing to bet that those rifles are still there gathering dust and perhaps a few fingerprints.

The .35-Whelen started the ball rolling years ago, as it gave many hunters the big bullet they needed for such game as bears and moose etc. All this without the price of what it cost to own a model 70 Winchester in the .375H&H caliber.

Then the wildcat known as the .338/06 came along, after Elmer Keiths .333 caliber appeared. The .338/06 is the most logical and gives the hunter all he or she needs in despatching the largest of big game animals. Now days, it is a shoe in with reloaders, as there are so many good bullet weights to choose from as well as premium bullets to get the job done on bigger animals. It is pretty quick too, when you stoke it up with those 180 or 200 grain bullets! 2900 feet per second out of a 24 inch barrel, is not hard to achieve at all. It will do anything the .338 Win mag will do under 250 yards!

So is it 2450FPS with the 180 or 2700FPS in the Fed?

The 185 TSX runs 2600 fps out of mine, from an 18.5" barrel. All I can tell you... .

Dennis

muledeer, suspect you may want to weigh in on the "Kimber Montana in 338 Federal anyone have any luck getting it to shoot?" thread. Go visit...

From my Tikka T3 22inch get around 2700fps or 820m/s with french spherical powder, close (near the same) as TAC, not far from John Barnsness test in rifle...good all around load for me on all euro game, but prefe Partition or Speer bullets.

Tonk, Is your 338-06 built on a receiver long enough to suit a 338 Win Mag?

Better numbers than a .30-06, and that one will kill a 300 yard elk...

I have one being built right now, should be back soon. I plan on doing some extensive development with it, and have a long list of bullets waiting...

180 AB
185 TSX
200 IL
210 TSX
210 TTSX
225 IL
225 IB
225 TSX
250 NP

factory 180gr Accubonds averaged 2750 fps in the 22" barrel of my M77. 185gr TSX did 2725 fps avg. 200gr Fusion 2675 fps Avg from the 22.5" Sako85 I had. (handloaded 210gr TSX did 2650 fps, 215gr Sierra did 2625 fps)

shooting an elk @ 150 yards with a 338F is like shooting one at 300 yards with a 338 Mag. I believe the 338 Mag is a solid 400-450 yard elk rifle, so the 338f should do just fine to 250-300y. Ideal cartridge for open country? no. But damn near ideal for anything at normal distances

the fed seems platform dependent to me, 6 pounds is cool.

I like the 358 better, but I have a 338 federal, and the sucker does perform.

Reviving this thread. Anyone have more recent experience?

It seems the market these days is putting out more compact rifle options that would suit the 338 Federal very well, and be the handiest rifle with 30-06-like ability.

If getting to a 338 Federal requires reboring, any reason not to go all the way up to 358?

Would there be any practical difference at all between the 338 Fed. and 358 Win with 200 grain bullets up to 250 yards?

More bullet choices in .338, usually with better ballistic coefficients over .358. Will kill about as good as a 308, 30-06 or 358 win. Game animals won't know the difference.

I can't see much practical difference, but it might be easier to fit the pointier AB/BT offerings in a 2.8" box in the .338cal. A longer Howa/Ruger77 box would not be so tight.

I've hunted with .338 NBT's at 2,800 in other chamberings and found them to be wicked mean on animals. Shoot 225gr .358 NABs in my Whelen single-shot at a lowly 2,450fps and they knock big holes too, while allowing a fairly flat trajectory for the velocity. Blood trails with both leave nothing on the table. The last deer I shot with that 225, I could see the gaping exit hole as the deer ran off. If it'll open at that speed on a lung-shot 125lb whitetail, it'll open on nearly anything.

I've used the 338 Federal with 180 Ballistic Tips at 2750fps. Killed an Axis, Antelope and hog. None took a step and all had nice exits. I'm taking it mule deer hunting this year. Im basically mimicking a 30-06 with my bullet choice. I can push 200 Speers or Accubonds to 2600 fps. Playing a little with 210 partitions but it seems to max out a little shy of 2600 fps.

That's my take on it too. IMO the 358 is 'shorter' ranged than the 338 F.

Jerry

While late to the post it may help others looking at the 338 federal. I own two rifles, a tikka lite and a ruger Hawkeye. In the tikka I load 185 Barnes ttsx with 2230 at 2750 fps. This produced a bang flop result on a mountain goat at 230 yards on a quartering away shot. Bullet passed through breaking the offside leg on exit.
The ruger shoots the factory 210 partitions in fair groups of 1 - 1.5 moa at about 2600fps. I hand load 160 Barnes ttsx at 3000 fps and shoot clover leafs with this load. I have not hunted with this round yet.

Found this old post while looking around. I have used the 210gr partition on a pretty large Maine moose, hogs, axis and a couple whitetail. My gun is a REM 700 24” barrel. My guesstimate is those NP are moving around 2600fps. That’s my jam in the 338 Federal, that that round. Although I would love to run some old school ballistic tips through a few animals. Anyway…great round.