338 Federal
- Thread starter Miles Teg
- Start date
338-08
I've been useing a 338-08 for about 10 years now, useing 225grn hornady sp. I have also been useing a 338-06. For the vast majority of the hunting that I do, the 338-08 is more than enough cartridge. Right out to 300m I would be hard pressed to say which is the most effective cartridge. The 338-08 has considerably less recoil when loaded to max than the 338-06, which has a lot less felt recoil than the 338win mag or 340 weatherby. As age catches up with me, I am realising more how much a smaller case will perform in comparison to a large magnum case. If you already have a magnum 338 and can handle the recoil enough to practice enough to be proficient, fine, more power to you
no pun intended. The 338-08 seems to work best with 225grn bullets, unless you're going to use lighter premium bullets. Don't be afraid to buy a 338 Federal, you won't be disappointed. The key to great rifle/cartridge terminal performance is practice until you can hit what you're aiming at. The 338-08 alows you to use heavy bullets in a small package that is crushing at most reasonable ranges. bearhunter
I've been useing a 338-08 for about 10 years now, useing 225grn hornady sp. I have also been useing a 338-06. For the vast majority of the hunting that I do, the 338-08 is more than enough cartridge. Right out to 300m I would be hard pressed to say which is the most effective cartridge. The 338-08 has considerably less recoil when loaded to max than the 338-06, which has a lot less felt recoil than the 338win mag or 340 weatherby. As age catches up with me, I am realising more how much a smaller case will perform in comparison to a large magnum case. If you already have a magnum 338 and can handle the recoil enough to practice enough to be proficient, fine, more power to you
no pun intended. The 338-08 seems to work best with 225grn bullets, unless you're going to use lighter premium bullets. Don't be afraid to buy a 338 Federal, you won't be disappointed. The key to great rifle/cartridge terminal performance is practice until you can hit what you're aiming at. The 338-08 alows you to use heavy bullets in a small package that is crushing at most reasonable ranges. bearhunterjohn-brennan
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island B.C.
338 federal
I would have rather seen a 338WSM instead of the 325WSM, but the 338 federal will have it's followers for 250-300 yard shooter.
I would have rather seen a 338WSM instead of the 325WSM, but the 338 federal will have it's followers for 250-300 yard shooter.
I dropped my bear tonight with one shot from my 338/08 I nailed it in the neck at 65 yards with a 185 grain Barnes TSX it removed a full chunk of vertabrae. I have only seen one other instantly dead bear like this one today and that was with my 450 Marlin at 40 yards a couple years ago. Its working fine for me thats two bears this spring with my 338/08!
On a side note my other loads are 200 grain Accubonds(in the works) and 225Hornady Interlocks. The Hornadys are very accurate and recoil is very tolerable. I sold my 338 Win Mag to buy this rifle and I don't regret it a bit.
I nailed it in the neck at 65 yards with a 185 grain Barnes TSX it removed a full chunk of vertabrae. I have only seen one other instantly dead bear like this one today and that was with my 450 Marlin at 40 yards a couple years ago. Its working fine for me thats two bears this spring with my 338/08!On a side note my other loads are 200 grain Accubonds(in the works) and 225Hornady Interlocks. The Hornadys are very accurate and recoil is very tolerable. I sold my 338 Win Mag to buy this rifle and I don't regret it a bit.
Mcrea - could you tell us a little about the ballistics you're getting? What kind of ranges could you go out to, what would be streaching it, how are you feeing about it's penetrating power, etc. I doubt anyone else here has shot a lot of game with one, especially bears (mind you anything that hits spine is going down).
Well both bears this spring were complete pass throughs.
First bear was a 287 yard rested shot into the shoulder. It went down instantly and didn't get up. I put another into it because it still had some fight.
Last nights bear was a 65 yard shot into the neck with complete pass through.
I am using 185 grain Barnes TSX's. The average velocity of the load is 2700 fps so its no diffrent than using a 30/06 with heavier bullets. This load groups under an inch at 100 yards. I can still get a decent group at 200 and 300 yards. I myself wouldn't push it past 300 yards though. First and foremost is the shooter, I don't practice past 300 yards so it doesn't even cross my mind as to how far it will humanely take game. My longest shot was my bear this spring at 287 yards and thats about as far as I want to shoot. That shot completly passed through the shoulder and dropped it so it still had some snot behind it. I think the Barnes bullet has to take credit for some of this though. Awsome on game performance so far.
My other load is a 225 grain Hornady Interlock at 2400 fps. The heavier bullet weights tend to start getting longer so they intrude into the powder space. This load shoots .5 inch groups at 100 yards and still shoots nice out to 200 yards. I have not taken game with this load so I can't say how it will perform.
Currently I have 200 grain Accubonds which I have not tested yet but I am thinking this is the bullet weight I would like to use. If I can get this load shooting as well as the Barnes I will give them a try in the fall for deer. For big critters like Moose and Elk I will mostly likely stick with the Barnes bullets. My concern with the Barnes is they might be too much of a good thing on deer in this caliber.
I also have a load for 180 grain Nosler Ballistic tips that is .5 inch accurate and has an average velocity of just under 2750 fps. Its my range practice load because it has the same point of imapct as the Barnes bullets. Nosler discontinued them though and I have yet to try the 180 grain Accubond offering.
I had some 225 Accubonds left over from my 338 Win Mag and gave them a try. They are a loooooong bullets so speed was just over 2200 fps and accuracy was okay. Not my first choice but it could work with more tweaking.
The powder thats is working for me the best is XMR 2015 followed closely by IMR 3031. There are other powders I would like to try but its a mail order thing for me so I am limited in my components.
The rifle I am using is a Sako 75 Finnlight rebarrelled to 338/08. It has a 23 inch barrell. With scope it weighs 7.75 lbs. My old Tikka M695 .338 Win Mag with scope weighed 10lbs. I do allot of walking so it makes a big diffrence for me
First bear was a 287 yard rested shot into the shoulder. It went down instantly and didn't get up. I put another into it because it still had some fight.
Last nights bear was a 65 yard shot into the neck with complete pass through.
I am using 185 grain Barnes TSX's. The average velocity of the load is 2700 fps so its no diffrent than using a 30/06 with heavier bullets. This load groups under an inch at 100 yards. I can still get a decent group at 200 and 300 yards. I myself wouldn't push it past 300 yards though. First and foremost is the shooter, I don't practice past 300 yards so it doesn't even cross my mind as to how far it will humanely take game. My longest shot was my bear this spring at 287 yards and thats about as far as I want to shoot. That shot completly passed through the shoulder
and dropped it so it still had some snot behind it. I think the Barnes bullet has to take credit for some of this though. Awsome on game performance so far.My other load is a 225 grain Hornady Interlock at 2400 fps. The heavier bullet weights tend to start getting longer so they intrude into the powder space. This load shoots .5 inch groups at 100 yards and still shoots nice out to 200 yards. I have not taken game with this load so I can't say how it will perform.
Currently I have 200 grain Accubonds which I have not tested yet but I am thinking this is the bullet weight I would like to use. If I can get this load shooting as well as the Barnes I will give them a try in the fall for deer. For big critters like Moose and Elk I will mostly likely stick with the Barnes bullets. My concern with the Barnes is they might be too much of a good thing on deer in this caliber.
I also have a load for 180 grain Nosler Ballistic tips that is .5 inch accurate and has an average velocity of just under 2750 fps. Its my range practice load because it has the same point of imapct as the Barnes bullets. Nosler discontinued them though and I have yet to try the 180 grain Accubond offering.
I had some 225 Accubonds left over from my 338 Win Mag and gave them a try. They are a loooooong bullets so speed was just over 2200 fps and accuracy was okay. Not my first choice but it could work with more tweaking.
The powder thats is working for me the best is XMR 2015 followed closely by IMR 3031. There are other powders I would like to try but its a mail order thing for me so I am limited in my components.
The rifle I am using is a Sako 75 Finnlight rebarrelled to 338/08. It has a 23 inch barrell. With scope it weighs 7.75 lbs. My old Tikka M695 .338 Win Mag with scope weighed 10lbs. I do allot of walking so it makes a big diffrence for me
