ORIGINAL: salty
I actually have the article from American Rifleman in front of me and here are the ballistics for the new 338
with a 200 yard zero
338 federal is 8.94"low
358 win is 13.66" low
308 is 9.37" low
*magazine claims a 200 grain federal silvertip bullet was used for all testing
308 with 200 grain shoots @ 2571 FPS (generous handload)
358 win shoots @ 2490 FPS with 200 grain silvertips
338 with a 180 grain accubond has a muzzle velocity of 2830 FPS.
the 338 with a 200 yard zero using the 180 grain accubond is 1.8" high at 100 yards and 8.2" low at 300
I wouldn't exactly limit the 338 as a close range round with these ballistics.. Especially since the numbers outperform the mighty 308
There is no factory load for the .308 using a 200 grain bullet.
For one thing:given two bullets of an equal weight, a .338 caliber bullet and a .308 caliber bullet, the larger diameter bullet will
never fly flatter when fired from the same case so I don't know why you would even try to get away with posting that.
Why didn't you post the retained energy for them all?
I'll tell you what: I'll post my .308 load (a Federal factory load) and I'll post the best Federal factory offerings from the .338. then you can compare apples to apples.
.308 180 gr. Nosler Parition:
Velocity/Energy: Muzzle: 2740/3001
100 yards: 2551/2602
200 yards: 2270/2346
300 yards: 2196/1928
400 yards: 2030/1647
500 yards: 1871/1400
Trajectory: 300 yards: -8.1
400 yards:-23.5
500 yards:-47.3
.338 Federal 185gr. Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
Velocity/Energy: Muzzle: 2750/3107
100 yards: 2545/2661
200 yards: 2348/2266
300 yards: 2161/1919
400 yards: 1982/1614
500 yards: 1831/1350
Trajectory: 300 yards: -8.3
400 yards: -24.0
500 yards: -48.6
I can tell you which one I'd rather have.
Note: this data comes from the current Federal catalog and they are
not understating the performance of the cartridge they themselves developed. I also have contacts within Federal/Speer/ATK including several engineers and the man that develops the Speer reloading manuals.
*EDIT* Those numbers are at sea level so at elevation all numbers will be a little bit higher. But the atmospheric constant is equal for both of course.