Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Who at present makes rifles in 338Federal?

I suspect the 338 Fed will definitely survive, if as a Cult Classic.

The reason I think so is because .338" bore is coming on strong, with a good selection of bullets to support it. And the 308 Win will always be an easy source for 338 Fed brass.

The mk vii cost me just under $1000 about three years ago. They can be had for a lot less though. Mine is stainless with a laminated wood stock and a helical fluted barrel.

And it's Federal's first cartridge so they will likely keep ammo available.

Great little cartridge. I have one of the limited Ruger 1-AB's in it and it has really impressed me: great accuracy, no recoil (at least in the #1, the Kimber Montana rares up a bit), and enough mojo for at least 90% of America's game.

If I were you I would be patient and watch gunbroker until a T3 comes up.

SCGunNut,

Just curious: What North American game wouldn't you use a .338 Federal on?

It's still showing up around here in Montana. The ranch-supply store in my little town has a sporting goods section, and a little corner of that's devoted to handloading. I found a 50-case bag of .338 Federal there a month ago! Dunno what it was going there among the usual suspects (.223, .243, .270, .30-06, 7mm Rem., .300 and 338 Win.) but it's in my loading room now.

Kittery Trading Post has a T3 listed with a 30mm Leopold 1.5x5 scope for $925

John, I don't reckon I'd turn down a chance to hunt anything in NA with a properly loaded .33-08, I just have other stuff I'd rather use on really big and/or "expensive" beasties....

I've only tried it up to Elk, but it sure worked fine there. Nice video out there of a guy shooting a Grizzly with a 200 Trophy Bonded Tip (really wish they sold that bullet as a component). If a 30-06 is an effective round, I don't see how the 338 Fed is much different. Nearly identical velocities for a given weight. Just a fatter bullet which may be a good thing or bad thing depending on your application.

Thanks guys I've got this Rem.722 sitting here w/a .295 opening and may just send it to IT&D for a rebarrel. The only problem is I could probably find a T3 for a few dollars more if I shop around. Thanks everyone. I don't think the 338Federal will be going away any time soon w/the 210gr going 2650fps...that's a lot of killing power. powdr

Thanks guys I've got this Rem.722 sitting here w/a .295 opening and may just send it to IT&D for a rebarrel. The only problem is I could probably find a T3 for a few dollars more if I shop around. Thanks everyone. I don't think the 338Federal will be going away any time soon w/the 210gr going 2650fps...that's a lot of killing power. powdr

All this talk about the 338Fed has my brain churning, and all you meatheads know what that leads to.

What is the rifling twist rate commonly encountered on various 338Fed rifles? What is the top weight bullet that reliably stabilizes from such rifles? Will it shoot a 210 grainer?

The standard rate of twist is 1-10, which will not only stabilize a 210 but a 250--though the 250 won't be going very fast. The longest bullet I've shot in mine is the 225 Nosler AccuBond, which gets around 2450 fps.

Sounds like a great round! The 225gr bullets have SD of .28, which compares favorably with a 308/180 at .27 and is in the same velocity zip code of the 308 Win with 180gr bullets. The question in my mind is, does it measurably outperform the 308Win/180gr in terminal performance? I suppose it would depend on the size of the animal. The 308 is a real honey of a deer rifle, and has plenty of "poop" for that task. Maybe the 338 Fed is a little better on elk or moose given the .03" larger bullet?

Highest I've gone are 215 Sierra, 210 Partition, 210 Scirocco II and 210 TTSX. Scirocco was hit or miss with accuracy and I could not get the 210 TTSX to shoot at all. Don't know if it was a stability issue or what. That's out of 2 rifles, both 22" 1:10 twist.

Mule Deer: any plans for that 338 Fed brass, like a follow-on article? Yea I know, probably not a big market for that. However, I really enjoyed your original and I still have it on my bench and reference it when sanity checking what I'm doing. Now if I could just get those $%&#@ 180 BTs to shoot well!

prm,

Maybe the 210 TTSX is a bit long for that twist at that velocity.

Could very well be, it is a REALLY long bullet! Edit: and I'm only pushing it ~2600 max.

I'd love to see a Remington 7600 Carbine in .338 Fed. Doubt Remington will ever do it because I can't see them tooling up to make the ammo and doubt they'd be keen on loading a cartridge with "Federal" in the name. One day I might have to go the custom route. Can't imagine a better close range package for bucks-boars-bears.

Second hand information ... but I know a gent that used a 338Federal on spotlight culling of Sambar deer. With factory ammunition it was a 'quiet achiever' performing noticeably better than some other standard cartridges. Could be the result of the fantastic premium pills like the Fusion and TSX they load in factory ammo, but a few came away surprised.

Another gent I know used it for scrub bulls (wild cattle - usually Brahman types) and the 185gr TX was a solid performer.

Oddly ... my 338Federal is a Tikka 595 with heavily fluted but straight barrel designed as a target rifle. But if I found a second-hand one at the right price, I'd have a T3 Lite in 338Federal in a heart-beat and lop the barrel to 20". Vastly under-rated cartridge, but much credit belongs to the great projectiles placed on-top of the factory loads.
Cheers...
Con

prm,

I just ran the 210 TTSX through two twist-rate programs, one of which is the best one I know about, and both say it should stabilize fine at .338 Federal velocities in a 1-10 twist. Probably your rifle just doesn't like them for some reason.