Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game .338 185 gr Fed Fusion

Not bad at all in today’s world! 👍

A little off topic but, I wish that more manufacturers were chambering rifle in the .338 Federal…..I think that it would be a sweet cartridge for largish big game at short to moderate distances! memtb

It is that. It thumps and shoots flat enough.

I'd love to try the 338 Federal. It's got an nice suite of game hunting bullets and I prefer 338 cal over 30cal in everything but cost. Trouble is I'm invested in an 30-06 and can use 200 and 220gr bullets at similar velocities so it's close in performance.

I bought a bunch of the 185gr (Fusions) when Midway had them on sale. I load them in my 338-06 and 338 Federal, I haven't shot any game with them, but they group well.

I bought 4 or 500 and figured that the 308 AR lower would eventually become an 18” barreled suppressed 338 Federal. I’ve got 308 and under taken care of in spades but a high capacity, semi-auto AR in 338 Federal might be a formidable weapon.

If I’m going with ultra-lightweight bullets at scalding speeds I’ll stick with the TSX/TTSX since they’ll handle the impact velocities of lightweight 338 bullets (ie <200gr). At 3250-3300fps with a 160 TSX in a 338wm it should flatten the curve and still thump the target. In reality I don’t see myself getting much general use from the lightweight bullets in the 338’s since I think the medium bores shine with the heavier bullets and with the great selection of monos there’s not much reason for going heavier than a 225 TTSX…..but I still have 50 275gr 338 Swift A-Frames to load up anyway. My general purpose round is the 210gr TTSX @3000fps or the 200gr Ballistic Tip @~3050fps. If I HAD to choose 1 bullet it’d be the 210TTSX in the 338.

I have 50rds of 280gr Swift A-Frame for my 35 Whelen that I need to load up too. In the Whelen my 1 bullet of choice is the 225gr TTSX. The heavy A-Frames in 338 (275gr) and 358 (280gr) are theoretically for going into the brush after something that can bite where distance is measured in feet and down range velocity with high BC’s are not important…… but I’d feel just as comfortable with the TTSX’s.

I’m trying to decide if I’m going to send a rifle to JES for rebore and whether I want to go with a 458wm or 358 Norma? I think the practical side of me says “go with the 458 since you currently have nothing over 358 cal” but the cool-dude side of me says get a 358 Norma since nobody has one and it’ll do everything I’d need it to do….so far the 458 is in the lead and the Norma might just have to wait…..tomorrow the Norma will be in the lead.

I loaded some for my 338 win mag and down loaded them to 338 federal speed. I shot a young bull elk in the shoulder at about 150 yards last fall with that load, he never took another step just spun around and fell over.

Has anyone else noticed that these are large diameter for caliber? I'm measuring them at .3385 at their thickest. It takes quite a bit of effort to seat these things.

I just loaded some to test for groups and seating the bullet was a little harder than usual. I will measurer some tomorrow.

.338 225 grain bullets are excellent for the price. $18 a box of 50. They penetrated 1/4" less than 30 cal 220 grain partitions ($100 a box of 50) when shot into spruce boards. They retained more weight as well.

The wide expansion would be great for anchoring goats/sheep in proximity of steep terrain. Another excellent use, would be shooting caribou in herds, where you don't want to cripple a caribou on the offside, the bullet stays against the offside hide.

Never understood the inferior argument of there being only .03 difference between unexpanded diameter of 338 and 30 cal bullets. Such a narrow point of view. The picture is an expanded 225 fusion next to an expanded 30 cal 220 partition.

These 225 grain fusions will seat flush in the neck, an not impede powder capacity of any .338 federal, or 338 rcm. And no, the jacket isnt thin. Good job Federal on both the 338 fed and the .338 fusions!

Interesting picture, Mainer. How fast were those bullets going? I’ve never entertained the idea of a 225 grain bullet in my 338F, but your post has me thinking.

It's the whole point of a .338: 225 an up. Would be perfect in the 338 federal with lever revolution powder. Velocity was 2550 fps. 338 fed should vet close to that. The 230 oryx is another outstanding bullet for the 338 fed. Will not impede powder capacity.

I just checked mine. They are also .3385. Everything else I have, Nosler and Hornady is .3375.

I went ahead and took the nuclear option and and ordered a redding bushing fls die. I've got over 1k of these bullets so I gotta make em work.

I doubt there’s much harm in shooting them at .3385”.

I’ll have to keep an eye out for those 225 Fusions!

The factory 338 Fusion ammo shot great out of my Kimber. I hope to get similar results out of my reloads.

I worked them up carefully and found ejector marks at the top end of the books loads. I backed off. I simulated the loads in software with .3385 vs .3375 and it only raised the pressure prediction marginally... not even 1,000 psi. I do plan on coating them in BNH as I believe this is how they were indented to be from the factory. They just didn't get to it before deciding to dump them.

I just got around to trying out the big batch of 185 Fusion seconds I bought back when the rest of you did in my 24" 338-06. They are driving nails with 64.5 gr /SB6.5 seated .005" off the lands, at 2875 FPS (CCI 200 and necked up Norma case). I did a seating test and up close was the clear winner, I had tried them before in my 19" 338-06 carbine and they were not spectacular, but now I'm going to go back and try this load again.
My concern is if this load, a 185 grain in the 338-06, is going to be "useful." Meaning that, If I'm going to shoot a 180-ish (or even 200) grain bullet in this basic case, it'd be more effective as a 30-06.
So I reckon I'm really looking for some folks to tell me more of their experiences on game with this stubby little 185 grain .338 bullet. It's easy to get addicted to throwing down 3/4 MOA groups with a .338 but if it ain't killing it ain't worth the primers and powder.
Please share more of your hunting experience with these, regardless of what chambering.

Rex

P.S. anybody know the BC of these?

@trexf16 I have .378 written down for the 185 gr seconds. I am not sure where I got it, most likely somewhere on the web.

Don’t have first hand experience with this bullet on game yet, but I think if it is shot at reasonable velocity, not too fast, it should perform well.

Guessing BC is somewhere around .310-.330.