This may or may not be relevant to the OP post.
I made up a 338-08 about ten years before Federal came out with their version.
I had a 338-06AI reamer which had been damaged, it was picked out of a smith's scrap bin.
I sent the reamer to JGS and they ground it for me to a spec they had from a previous job. The 338-08 was quite popular at one point, and Federal knew a good thing when they saw it.
My rifle is a converted Mauser 98 with a medium/heavy barrel, taken off a Ruger #1. It was a custom replacement barrel made by Shilen.
I cut off the chamber, threaded the tenon and chambered it to this version of the 338-08.
I really like the cartridge.
I have a 1-12 twist rate in my barrel and like you wanted to use 180 grain bullets.
I found out the hard way that the 180 grain offerings in the common cup and core type bullets was quite frangible, and although it killed Deer well, it made a mess of things in the area it hit. I had one that broke a shoulder, but didn't penetrate beyond the bone. The shot was just over 100yds, from a tree stand at a downward angle. The Deer went down, but got up again, running with a broken shoulder. He stopped after 50 yards and I put another bullet into his lungs, where the first bullet should have gone. My bad.
I managed to find some Nosler 180 grain 338 Accubonds and they worked much better.
The thing is, one of the reasons we shoot the 338 bullets is to get the ability to shoot heavier bullets faster than equal weight 30 cal bullets.
I like Nosler bullets but I don't like the price of them, so I opted to up the bullet weight to 200 grains, then 225 grains.
I found just about any 200-grain cup and core bullet was less frangible than the 180 grain bullets of similar construction. The 225 grain bullets I settled on was the 225 SP, flat base Hornady Interlock, which also works very well in my 338-06.
I finally settled on Win 748 as a good powder for my 338-08 with a 19.5in bbl, in all bullet weights.
Because of the larger bore diameter and the smaller case capacity, you need to use faster powders. Preferably one which will fill the case at least 90% or more and attain the best accuracy/velocity combination you can live with. W748 fills that niche for me.
My load for the 225-grain bullet is 47.0 grains of W748, over CCI250 magnum primers. H380 and CFR223 also work well, but Varget is too bulky.
My load for 200 grain bullets is 49.0 grains of W748, over CCI250 magnum primers.
I never really worked up a load for the 180 grain bullets after the shine went off of them for me, but if I were to use them again, I would likely use a faster powder such as IMR8208. I was considering trying some of the Enduron powders, but held off on them to see if they would be around for the long run.
My listed loads are Maximum for my rifle. Maybe too HOT, so I caution you to start at least 5% lower with your loads, should you decide to use them.
