.338 Federal lamented...

M

Missionman

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This was the perfect caliber for me. A large size projectile, in a compact short action, a 7.62 x 51 brass necked up to receive a .338 bullet! I should have purchased it when it was out! :bangHead:

God only know how it disappear so fast from the north American market and are there lucky owners on CGN who can testify for its pros and cons in the field? If you've hunted any large North American wildlife with the .338 Federal, please give us yer impressions. Thank You all.

Missionman
 
I don’t understand why you feel that you are too late to pick up a Fed? There are a few manufacturers making them and there are some on the used market... I am a Fed fan... it has always been weird to me the love that the .308 and .358 receive on CGN versus the scorn that the Fed receives... if this thread lives long enough, you will see what I mean... I have a Ruger M77 AW in .338 Fed and an H&R Ultra in .338 Fed... I love the cartridge and performance... rather than own a .308 AND .358, I would suggest just going with the Fed... although I own the whole .308 family in several platforms and would not want to be limited to one personally.

You watch... Sunray is going to show up with his standard line; " The .338 Fed is the answer to an unasked question..."
 
hoytcanon said:
I don’t understand why you feel that you are too late to pick up a Fed? There are a few manufacturers making them and there are some on the used market... I am a Fed fan... it has always been weird to me the love that the .308 and .358 receive on CGN versus the scorn that the Fed receives... if this thread lives long enough, you will see what I mean... I have a Ruger M77 AW in .338 Fed and an H&R Ultra in .338 Fed... I love the cartridge and performance... rather than own a .308 AND .358, I would suggest just going with the Fed... although I own the whole .308 family in several platforms and would not want to be limited to one personally.

You watch... Sunray is going to show up with his standard line; " The .338 Fed is the answer to an unasked question..."
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Does anyone take Sunray seriously anyways?

I've never really been intrigued by the .338 Fed. It may be the areas that I hunt in, but in the smaller bores I like medium to heavy bullets for cal going at least 2800+ and the Fed falls in a odd spot for me. Too big to be small and too small to be big. Nothing wrong with the cartridge in the right rifle though.
 
I bought one in a Kimber Montana for my dedicated elk rifle and really like it. It's no screamer for sure but at the ranges I hunt it is more than adequate and has put several elk down quickly.
 
Having no personal experience with this caliber, it seems like one that I would love to add to the arsenal as an all-round deer/moose/bear gun. I currently hunt in areas where shots over 200 yards are unlikely, but they do come around once in a while. Curious to see others thoughts on this one as well. I think it would make for a nice shorter barreled rig to lug around when the 30-30 doesn't feel like going for a walk, especially during moose season.
 
Had one made, but only had it a short while. I like the fed, but oddly, i was more intrigued by the 338-08 before it was standardized... A 225gr bullet doing 2400+fps is just about perfect for whitetail bush hunting...
 
In both pictures, the bottom gun is a .338 Federal;





I run them both on 225 AB's & IB's...
 
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Wanna see an uber-rare one?



Ruger M77 Frontier Stainless/Laminate *factory* chambered in .338 Federal.

Never even heard of another one besides mine. There were very very few produced before Ruger intro'd their own 338 (the 338 RCM) and production ceased.

I'll tell ya, that little 16" barrel loves the Fed.
 
Wrong Way said:
Wanna see an uber-rare one?

Ruger M77 Frontier Stainless/Laminate *factory* chambered in .338 Federal.

Never even heard of another one besides mine. There were very very few produced before Ruger intro'd their own 338 (the 338 RCM) and production ceased.

I'll tell ya, that little 16" barrel loves the Fed.
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That is a beauty Wrong Way!

I remember seeing these listed somewhere when they first came out but I've never actually seen one until now. It would be a sweet handling little rig!
 
Wrong Way said:
Wanna see an uber-rare one?



Ruger M77 Frontier Stainless/Laminate *factory* chambered in .338 Federal.

Never even heard of another one besides mine. There were very very few produced before Ruger intro'd their own 338 (the 338 RCM) and production ceased.

I'll tell ya, that little 16" barrel loves the Fed.
Click to expand...

I have the same gun in 7mm-08 and .358... nice little rigs... when I'm going to be crawling through brush I bring one of those two along...
 
SuperCub said:
How bout?? .... The 358Win IS the answer to the question.
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If there is a question... and it goes something like this; "what is an excellent medium range cartridge for medium to large game?" And as an answer .308 Win gets a lot of love and so does .358 Win... then how could the .338 Fed not? They are all off the same case... lots of powder and bullets available for all three... don't get me wrong... I shoot and love the .308 AND .358, but I really appreciate what the Fed brings to the table... and if you were to tell me that I could only have two .308 case cartridges... I think I would choose a .260 Rem and the .338 Fed.
 
hoytcanon said:
If there is a question... and it goes something like this; "what is an excellent medium range cartridge for medium to large game?" And as an answer .308 Win gets a lot of love and so does .358 Win... then how could the .338 Fed not?
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No reason why not, really. :D

hoytcanon said:
I think I would choose a .260 Rem and the .338 Fed.
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Good choice, really. :D
 
I love my Kimber 338 Fed, great little power house. I think the 358 is cool too, and the ability to walk around with a 200+gr pill loaded is comforting for me, mine seems to be taking a liking to 225gr bullets, which is a bit weird, the 185 TSX is a great bullet for this round as well
 
Aside from custom jobs, not too many companies still make a .338 Federal rifle. Ruger, Remington, Winchester, Marlin and Savage dropped it from their lineup. The Finns, who know and love their gunz, still list a few models and German gun maker Merkel had one last i checked sometimes earlier this year.
There's always "used" but it's not really me, trust issues i guess.

Mission
 
Salty said:
They're still made was looking at a new finnlight in 338 Federal recently. Tikka makes them as well as a couple of the semi custom outfits I believe.
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Oh yes, Finnish firearms rock, craftmanship is flawless. Merkel too btw but it "lives" outside my budget, saddly.

Mission
 
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