.338 Federal. Your experience?

[MS 9x56]

Main reason I was asking was I read about the 338 federal on Chuck hawks and It strikes me as odd that the case is too short to use the long high bc 338 bullets and your stuck with short low weight/bc ones. The 338-06 i think would at least let you use 300 gr. Just a thought I had. Still a cool round. Is there anything like that for 35? 308 case based 35/short 35 whelen?

Yes there is. 358 winchester, but the only rifle still chambered for it is the Browning lever action.

 

[Caseknife]

I had a Rem 700 6mm rebarreled to 338 Federal a couple years ago. Couldn't find brass at the time so necked up 308 brass in two steps, worked perfect. Have a load worked up with 160TTSX at about 2950 with a 22" barrel. Haven't had a chance to kill anything with it yet but sure it would do the job in the distances that I hunt, <300yds.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

I had a Rem 700 6mm rebarreled to 338 Federal a couple years ago. Couldn't find brass at the time so necked up 308 brass in two steps, worked perfect. Have a load worked up with 160TTSX at about 2950 with a 22" barrel. Haven't had a chance to kill anything with it yet but sure it would do the job in the distances that I hunt, <300yds.

160 TTSX @ 2950 sounds positively lethal. This was my line of thinking when I bought the barrel. 160 or 180 grain mono moving fast.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Why not a 338-06?

Because, that's a long action (I loathe long actions) and the .338 Fed barrel fit the action I already have, plus it was $130 shipped AND brass is cheap and available.

 

[MTLabrador]

A .338-06 or .338 win mag are much sexier.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

A .338-06 or .338 win mag are much sexier.

View attachment 358986

Not as sexy as my 300 WSM, though.

 

[ismith]

Not as sexy as my 300 WSM, though.

How old are you?

 

[mtmuley]

(I loathe long actions)

Funny. mtmuley

 

[MTLabrador]

Not as sexy as my 300 WSM, though.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

How old are you?

Take a guess and then I'll tell you.

 

[ismith]

Take a guess and then I'll tell you.

No.

 

[Brad]

I've always felt the 338 Fed is an answer in search of a question. It really doesn't do anything a 308 Win does with less fuss, and I say that as someone who was a huge .338 fan (338-06 and many 338 WM's). And in my experience neither of those two do anything the 30-06 and 300 Mag do. The only benefit I found to the 338 WM is it works very well with a 22" barrel, whereas I wouldn't want a 22" bbl'd 300 Mag (unless suppressed).

My observation is one really needs to step up in velocity with the .338" bore to see something meaningfully different (340 Wby and more), and better yet, a jump up over a .358" bore in order to do something genuinely different than 7mm/.308 cartridges. Killing just isn't that hard, and cartridges are more alike than different.

But, a rifle nut has got to scratch the itch, and I understand that all too well

 

[Landsandgrooves]

It’s possibly true the .338 Fed and .338-06 don’t do anything a .30-06 can’t do, but who cares?

I’ve shot a bunch of critters on two continents with the .338 Win Mag, and this year I’ll be hunting with a 6 1/4 pound (with scope) .338-06. Why not?

The last 6 mule deer I killed were taken with .308, 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, .257 Weatherby. .270 Winchester, and .284 Win.

This year I hope the little.338-06 gets an elk and mule deer.

I left behind the “this cartridge is better than that one” silliness about 25 years ago. Now I pick rifles and cartridges because they seem fun, interesting, different, or have a connection for me.

A good bullet in the right place ends the discussion.

 

[mtmuley]

It’s possibly true the .338 Fed and .338-06 don’t do anything a .30-06 can’t do, but who cares?

I’ve shot a bunch of critters on two continents with the .338 Win Mag, and this year I’ll be hunting with a 6 1/4 pound (with scope) .338-06. Why not?

The last 6 mule deer I killed were taken with .308, 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, .257 Weatherby. .270 Winchester, and .284 Win.

This year I hope the little.338-06 gets an elk and mule deer.

I left behind the “this cartridge is better than that one” silliness about 25 years ago. Now I pick rifles and cartridges because they seem fun, interesting, different, or have a connection for me.

A good bullet in the right place ends the discussion.

Great. mtmuley

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

It’s possibly true the .338 Fed and .338-06 don’t do anything a .30-06 can’t do, but who cares?

I’ve shot a bunch of critters on two continents with the .338 Win Mag, and this year I’ll be hunting with a 6 1/4 pound (with scope) .338-06. Why not?

The last 6 mule deer I killed were taken with .308, 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, .257 Weatherby. .270 Winchester, and .284 Win.

This year I hope the little.338-06 gets an elk and mule deer.

I left behind the “this cartridge is better than that one” silliness about 25 years ago. Now I pick rifles and cartridges because they seem fun, interesting, different, or have a connection for me.

A good bullet in the right place ends the discussion.

Love this response because I feel much the same way these days.

The barrel came last week and I did not anticipate (but understand why) it is a magnum contour rather than a typical sporter contour. So 2 lbs. 8 oz. barrel instead of the 2 lb. 4 oz. barrel that my .308 wears. So, I will cut it down to 20" because I don't think a .338 Fed needs a longer barrel, and probably send it off to have it spiral fluted to get it down to roughly 2 lbs. 2 oz., then my finished rifle will come in under 7 lbs. Should be a fun project. A mini-thumper, to go along with my 300 WSM long range thumper.

 

[MS 9x56]

It’s possibly true the .338 Fed and .338-06 don’t do anything a .30-06 can’t do, but who cares?

I’ve shot a bunch of critters on two continents with the .338 Win Mag, and this year I’ll be hunting with a 6 1/4 pound (with scope) .338-06. Why not?

The last 6 mule deer I killed were taken with .308, 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, .257 Weatherby. .270 Winchester, and .284 Win.

This year I hope the little.338-06 gets an elk and mule deer.

I left behind the “this cartridge is better than that one” silliness about 25 years ago. Now I pick rifles and cartridges because they seem fun, interesting, different, or have a connection for me.

A good bullet in the right place ends the discussion.

Amen brother.