.338 Federal
 

Anybody have any experience with this round? I'm thinking about maybe an African plains game hunt in a few years, Sable, Kudu, Gemsbok (not any of the really dangerous stuff...).

RE: .338 Federal
 

if all your animals are of that size and danger, why not shoot a 300 weatherby/win mag?

RE: .338 Federal
 

How does the .338 Federal's recoil compare to the .300 Win Mag? I'm slightly recoil averse. I suppose for the game I'm thinking about, my .30-06 would suffice, if I was extremely careful about my shot selection. But, I'm looking for an excuse to get a new rifle, and the .338 Fed looks interesting for what I'm considering. This is still in the very early planning stages...

RE: .338 Federal
 

You would be better off going with the full length .338 Win Mag, first because of ammo selection, and second not many companies even make rifles chambered in .338 Federal, and the companies that do are selling the guns for a lot of money.

RE: .338 Federal
 

Yeah, the only one I know of so far is the Sako M85. Again, one of my concerns is a bit of aversion to recoil. I made the mistake of buying a .30-06 when I was too young and too small to really handle it and I still have a tendency to develop a flinch if I don't REEEEAAALLLYYY focus. That's one of the reasons this cartridge interests me. The TKO values on the round are in between the .300 Win Mag and the .300 Wby Mag., and I'm interested to find out how the recoil compares.

RE: .338 Federal
 

I have heard that the recoil is equivelant to the 30-06.

RE: .338 Federal
 

My brother has a 300 win mag that drives 200gr. nails down range, and with a muzzle break/ aka boss system, it kicks like a 243, so basically nothing. I would imagine the .338 Federal kicks like a mule, i know very little about that caliber besides the .338 portion. I am looking to get a .340 with a muzzle break hopefully soon.

RE: .338 Federal
 

A muzzle break and the BOSS system, which was the brainchild of Browning, are two different but alike things.

RE: .338 Federal
 

It should compare very close to the 338-06 which is an excellent round for NA game. Articals in Guns and Ammo a while back featured it on a couple Elk hunt where it performed very well. I don't think it will fly far unless someone besides Sako gets abourd. Nothing wrong with Sako but the prices may foil many who want to try the cartridge. On the up side, it would be a very simple and pretty inexpensive rifle to build from scratch since any good short action would work fine.

For a pure hunting round there are many cartridges that will perform the same duties. That may hurt its sales as well. In the end, most everything based on the 308/30-06 case will perform well with less recoil than the Magnums. Of course it will never be able to match the 338 Win Mag for ME and MV.

Myself, I love the idea of a good whacker without fierce recoil. For some it will be the perfect cartridge. Its kind of a special nich proposition.

RE: .338 Federal
 

Anyone care to explain how you take a 308 case, neck up to a 338 and shoot the same weight bullets at a higher velocity? Higher chamber pressures from more bearing surface or what? I feel dumb all of a sudden.

RE: .338 Federal
 

I think the .338 Federal is a great idea, its just, it should be available from all of the big rifle manufacturers, and allow the rifles to be priced very cheap and affordable, if that happens, I think this cartridge can be around for a long time.

RE: .338 Federal
 

Thats a good question for someone like Roskoe. I would quess that opening up the mouth effects the shoulder as well and maybe adds a little more powder space. However although I have read the ballsitics, I don't remember them right now. Its not a high velocity cartridge though. I think it has a 210 grain bullet and a 180 grain bullet in its factory loads. The factory, using blends of powders that are not available to handloaders give the an edge to start with at least.

RE: .338 Federal
 

case volume isn't much different but since you have a larger diameter bullet you have more cross sectional surface area... and F=P*A... so for the same mass... you move the bullet a bit faster... there will be some frictional things to consider since you also have a larger circumference so more bearing area on the bore...

RE: .338 Federal
 

It doesn't kick like a mule, but morelike a 3006 if the rifle weights are similar and useing similar weight bullets...


The expansion ratio is different...... I guess another way to explain it is, the .338 bore is bigger than a .308 bore, so you can use a bit more powder to fill the space...

Here's another thing though... All else being equil, you have to use a "heavier" bullet in .338 to get the same penetration as a .308 bullet... So, a 180 grain.308 bullet is going to out perform an 180 perform.338 bullet...

Next problem, if you use heavier bullets in the .338 Federal, like 250 grain bullets your not going to be able to push them fast enough to get them to expand properly as they are designedfor a higher velocity than the .338 Federal can push them.

DM

RE: .338 Federal
 

Dont forget.....this may not make a big difference but the 338 bullet has a little more surface area than the .308 at the base of the bullet to be exposed to burn thrust. Not a scientific explaination of course but it does make a difference..lol. Kinda like a flat base bullet making more velocity than a boattail with equal powder charges?

RE: .338 Federal
 

With all of the 08 cartidges and the intro of the .338 Fedral, for me this makes 'ye olde 308' that much more appealing.

RE: .338 Federal
 

In a gun of equal weight, it should give less recoil than a .358 Winchester......

I'd sure like to see one in a BLR!

RE: .338 Federal
 

I don't know about th flat base vs boattail comparison, but you can push a bullet of a given weight faster if it has a bigger cross-sectional area for the powder gases to push on. This was one of ol' P.O. Ackley's major arguments against the use of increasingly smaller bore diameters in the wildcat business.....

RE: .338 Federal
 

I just read up on the .338 Federal in American Rifleman. I guess I am just one of those that go against the grain in the new short magnum and ultra magnums craze!
But the .338 Federal does look like a darn good hunting cartridge to me!

RE: .338 Federal
 

I just don't like the "Federal" after .338, sure I like Federal Ammo as it is my prefered factory ammo for several of my rifles. But It would be more appealing if it was like .338 Remington, or .338 Winchester Short Action.

RE: .338 Federal
 

.338-08 also has some appeal.

RE: .338 Federal
 

You've got a point there Mag! Many a cartridge have died, only to be resurrected to success with a new name! The 6MM Rem. and .280 Rem. are two that come to mind!

RE: .338 Federal
 

I also have a suggestion for H&R and NEF, that would be cool if they chambered their Handi Rifles in .338 Federal, I think it would be better than the next best thing they offer, (the .35 Whelen.) and it would make an excellent gun just to carry around in the woods, with just a little 22" barrel. That is just MHO though.