338 Federal

DGY

DGY

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Good day all, I never really paid any attention to that caliber, but started to read a little on it and it seams like a great round on paper!
I’m sure there is a few here that have played with it over the years, what are your thoughts? What kind of ballistics are you getting with what bullets? What powders and primers work best for you? What is the rifle it is chambered in?
What did you used it on?
Is it relevant today( of course it is) ?
 
DGY said:
Good day all, I never really paid any attention to that caliber, but started to read a little on it and it seams like a great round on paper!
I’m sure there is a few here that have played with it over the years, what are your thoughts? What kind of ballistics are you getting with what bullets? What powders and primers work best for you? What is the rifle it is chambered in?
What did you used it on?
Is it relevant today( of course it is) ?
Click to expand...
I don’t know why really, but I’ve always wanted a .338 federal. I figure for where I hunt, it would be the finest kind of round. Then again, just about anything will do the trick for deer in the woods of Nova Scotia lol
 
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I have one built on a Rem 700. Gaillard barrel. Originally on a short action but I recently swapped it to a long action as even with factory 200gr I had the occasional feeding issue. It’s an excellent bear round, excessive for deer in my opinion. I originally built it for moose hunting but have yet to take one with it
 
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im hoping to like mine. Just recently did a rebarrel of a rem 700 in 7-08. have not yet gotten it back from the barrel maker. but to me what is there not to like about that cartridge.....338 bullet with short action. i have a 338-06 which is also a great cartridge. however i wanted a lightweight short action rifle to use for deer and use for moose and elk when i want to carry a 7lb gun instead of a 9lb gun.
i realize i will be limited in bullet and powder selection with the short magazine of the remington 700 but will be using 180gr bullets at max. hoping that 180 accubonds and imr 8208 will be the ticket.
worst case if i have feeding issues it will become a single shot. no biggie for me
 
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I’ve always wanted to pickup a barrel or build one!

I like the .338 projectile selection and I think it would be a fantastic option. An if a barrel ever comes up I will definitely be picking it up!

Plus you could technically use small rifle primer .308 brass so that could be useful as well!

B
 
I used to own a Tikka T3 in .338 Federal.
It was an awesome little rifle, shot good groups, and it dropped quite a few deer and a couple of elk for me using the 185 gr Barnes Federal Premium load. I tried reloading for it , but could never come close to factory velocity, so I sold it. Kinda miss it, actually.
 
I have had a couple of these now. The last one was for hunting thick bush, I had the barrel cut down to 18” and it was a dream to pack. I made the choice to sell it and sometimes I still miss having it, it was super handy.

My first 338 federal I managed to take a deer or two and it was very effective. Shooting 215 grain sierras with a high neck shot actually flipped the deer right over and that was it. Pretty beat experience.

I had great groups in both guns with the 160 TTSX, but unfortunately never did get to take an animal with them.
 
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Lots of people could never get the factory ammo velocity claims when they loaded their own so they ended up selling them off.
With the powders out today it’s quite easy to reach those velocities the cartridge was known for.
TAC and RL7 have worked well for me
 
I have Tikka T3 SS Lite 338 Federal - Excellent cartridge ! Shoots 160 TTSX. At 3000 fps PLUS from my 22.4 “ barrel
200 grers at 2700 FPS All this performance from a 308 Win case . It’s an Amazing cartridge ! 😀
Shot a couple of deer with it DRT with the 160 Barnes . .Very accurate Lots of groups under 3/4 “ .
I load my bullets over top of A2230 powder with CCI 200 sparkers 👍 RJ

My T3 wears a T3X stock - has a Yo Dave trigger spring - Leupold SILVER VX111 2.5-8 Duplex Scope in Talley LW rings .
May ? be For Sale -pm me if interested . 👍😊
 

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this caliber is my next rifle build.
I had wanted a .338 federal stag-10 but the OIC bans culled that project
The remington 700 footprint is the obvious choice but haven't decided on a barrel maker yet. maybe Jury barrels?
Hope to have a build complete by fall but we'll see.
 
I have no experience or need for one but think it should have caught on a lot better than it did.

A SS tikka 338 fed with Leupold 2.5-8 on top. Something like a 165/180 NBT for deer. 200speer or 210 partition for bear, elk, moose. Just seems right.
 
I had KS Arms build a .338 Federal for me a couple years back, 22" barrel, Wildcat Tac Hunter stock, with a Zeiss V4 4-14x on it in Talley rings. All in 7 lbs 11 oz. Light to carry, pleasant to shoot. I'm getting 2625 fps shooting 200 gr Trophy Bonded Tips.

I've taken wolf, elk, and a beauty white tail buck this past year so far. Ranges from 90 yards to 250. One shot kills, the elk went 75 yards, the wolf and deer were DRT. I absolutely love the cartridge, and mild recoil, and the terminal effects. My other rifles are gathering dust now, I use it for everything.

I don't understand the comment that it is 'too much' for deer. Dead is dead. Moderate velocity means less blood shot meat then with my 7mm RM. It doesnt blow them up, and not tracking is a good thing.

Hoping to get my moose draw this year, I'm sure it will work good on them too. Or bears.
 
Roger243 said:
I have one built on a Rem 700. Gaillard barrel. Originally on a short action but I recently swapped it to a long action as even with factory 200gr I had the occasional feeding issue. It’s an excellent bear round, excessive for deer in my opinion. I originally built it for moose hunting but have yet to take one with it
Click to expand...
If you have a feeding issue with any of the 243-358 cartridge family you have a rifle problem not a cartridge problem !
Excessive for deer so is a 165 gr 308 or a 165 gr 30-06 also etc or or ? What is excessive for deer mean ?
JUST WONDERING 🤷🏼‍♂️ 😊 Moose is as easy to kill as deer with proper shot placement . 😊 JMO RJ
 
dan belisle said:
Never owned a 338 Federal, but I built a 338-08 some decades back, which is basically the same thing. I liked it, but preferred the 338-06. - dan
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I almost got a Cooper .338-06 A Frame instead of building my Federal, but I really like a short action. It's just a more compact, lighter rifle, and at the 300 yards and in hunting shots I take, it doesn't give up that much to the -06 with a 200 gr bullet. No animal would notice the difference, as they'd be equally dead with the same bullet properly placed.

So, for me the Federal was the better choice. If I was going to step up I'd probably skip the -06 and go right to the .338 WM, but it's just not necessary to put up with that recoil to kill something. Just my 2 cents, but the Federal really is a great underrated cartridge.
 
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