Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .338 Federal

I just saw the announcement of the first Federal cartridge: the .338 Fed. This is nothing more than the old .338/08. Probably a very nice short action deer killer. My question is (once again) Why?

The nice little .358 Win (another nice little short action deer killer) has lanquished for the last 5 decades, the .338 A-Square (338-06) is filling the gap nicely between the 8X57 and .338 Win Mag. I know that the manufacturer's have to do something to make their products sexy but this is kind of silly. Have the reloading manufacturers had a big run on .338/08 dies or something to make Federal believe that this is going to be a big seller?

I really appreciate the efforts that Hornady and Federal have put into making higher energy ammo, premium bullets, etc into their factory rounds. Without them I think we would still have the rounds of the 60s (ie. not very good) but the one-up-manship of this is really difficult for a simple mind like mine to understand.

I personnally think they should be doing more of the high energy type stuff - we can't do that at the reloading bench and gives them a real advantage. Introducing a new cartridge of dubious benefit just muddies the waters.

Any other opinions? John and John from MT? You have the assignment to figure this out.... Likely a major article in Handloader is already in the works.

Yeah, I posted a similar question in another thread. I just don't see the point of a commercial .338-08, especially when the .338-06 never made it to commercial status. Maybe it's just another attempt to cash in on the current "short cartridge - short action" fad. I guess I'm just an unreconstructed old fart, but I still can't see the great attraction for "short" everything. I don't like cartridges with short necks, and I especially don't like to seat bullets below the case neck. Ever hear of the "dreaded donut" syndrome? I do shoot a couple of shorties, but only in target rifles. Along those lines, I have owned a .222 Magnum as well as .223s, and much prefer the maggie, but for practical reasons I just stick with the .223 these days.

Paul

Hic Smith

You may think you can't get close to high energy rounds on the loading bench. But by using moly bullets and VV N500 series powders ones eyes can be opened wide!! FYI

Jeff

so....who's gonna be making the guns???

Mark D

Supposedly Sako

Jeff:

I have heard the the N series allows you to do fun things. Does the VV book clue you in on this? Being a little out of the mainstream I have yet to see their powders listed in the Bullet manufacturer's loading manuals.

Dan

Dan & friends,

Federal isn't making firearms (yet), so their motivation for introducing a new cartridge is not the same as the usual suspects Remington or Winchester. I hope that they have used their considerable research & development capacity to first identify a good candidate cartridge; and second to make it as good a round as they can.

Actually I am looking forward to the contest between the .338 Federal and the .325 WSM. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> This should be interesting.

The .338-'06 was registered with SAAMI by A-Square by the way, so it is a factory cartridge. The A-Square name irritates some in the industry if you have not noticed.

jim

If I well remember, a year or so ago Federal announced that they were going to produce .338-06 ammo. In that case, I see no problems with the .338-08, since there is a following for the .308. I imagine that these folks would be pleased with the idea of taking advantage of a bigger bullet launched from their favorite case. Also, I would imagine that HE ammo for both is a great possibility. Besides, I would think that the larger bore (on both the .338-06 and the .338-08) would help maintain pressures a little lower.

Another wildcat that Federal should look into (before others will) is the .375 Taylor.

IMO it is a round for the Looney's and it will be dead in short short order...

Mark D

I just fail to see any advantage over the 8X57. And it's over 110 years old in various incarnations. Re-invent the wheel a few more times and we'll get it right sooner or later. ATK doesn't have a majority interest in any rifle company does it? YeT - Agreed.

I've got a ruger 77 in .338 that needs reboring to .375 Taylor. That's going to be fun!

Dan,

What about doing it in .376 Steyr? I sure like mine.

jim

I don't really understand the short action action cartridge craze either. But, if they wanted a short action cartridge I think a .338/.284 would have been better. A .338/08 doesn't show me much but, whatever floats your boat I guess.

But Jim ----ITSA, ITSa - Short Action fireplug!

Sorry - couldn't resist. The Ruger is already standard length - I don't see the point in short action cartridges unless you have a short action to go with them. I do kind of like the idea of the Taylor - it makes sense to me. Especially if I get it rebored. A standard Ruger barrel is kind of heavy and it really isn't too much for Central Idaho elk. I'd feel kind of silly with the 416 Taylor on Elk. I actually don't need a .375 either with the .338 but loonies will be loonies.

Dan

Dan,

The .376 Steyr is an intermediate length cartridge (same as the 7X57, etc.), except it is 60 mm long. It really isn't too short for your Ruger.

Also Dan Pedersen is already set up to do this rebore according to another .376 Steyr user I know.

jim

HS

You can sorta stumble around in a VV manual. Thing we've found is that the 500 series don't perform well till you get the loads really hot. And I've had some loads that were quite a bit over the manuals suggestions pressure tested because they were showing little or not signs of pressure. Pressure came back on the top end but not overpressure.

With a certain project years ago -- it took moly on the bullets to make it work the best. Had to bump up the charge but the moly bullets allowed me to get more top end speed with the same relative pressures.

My suggestions are to pick the range that works for you in your cartridge and start midrange. Then start picking up charges and I just go ahead and load one each and shoot the batch over a chrono seeing how they cluster up (Audette test) and what the MV is vs pressure signs and take it from there.

You may not equal the high energy stuff, but should come awful close.

Lets just say I've been able to run 90 grain bullets in 223 cases in 20 inch tubes up to 2850 fairly easily. Its top end load though. And the accuracy load is back about 2800 or so. But to me, thats a LOT of speed for that heavy a bullet in a small case. AR loves it, especially at 600 and 1000 yards.

Be aware that VV can vary a bit from lot to lot.

Jeff

I think I will wait for a Savage barrel in .338 Federal and do a switch. Wouldn't that be a great hog gun!

I'm with this dude.

Just me thinking here, but as an 08 family of cartridge fan i think it is a logical next step. As has been done several times in modern times handloaders keep filling the gaps in this family and the manufacturer come on board after some years and make them legit(.243, .260, 7/08, 358). a lot of us Looney's also play around with 22/08, 25/08, and .270/08. have a friend that was playing around with the 338/08 years ago, his experiments got me interested in wildcats.

All this to say that i think it will outlive all the magnum whizzbang cartridges that have come along in the last 3 years.

Looney for the 08 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

arky65

I like what I'm hearing about the 338 Federal. I guess that puts me in the "loonie" category. I'm okay with that.

I'm sure glad that new cartridges don't come along just because we "need" them. If that were the case we'd have the 30-06 and maybe the .270 and that's pretty much it.
I love to see new calibers, it shows a healthy industry willing to risk some capitol. A good sign if you ask me.