338 caliber
Can someone tell me about the 338 calliber, federal or mag?
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Wikipedia can tell you anything you would want to know about them. More than anyone could remember well enough to post on here. Now if you want to know about performance based on experience, well then you're in the right place! 0 -
The 338 Win Mag is basically a hard hitting (both...Energy & Recoil) rifle...good for anything in N. America. 24 " barrel is fine...but a 338 should be a rather heavy rifle with good recoil pad to absorb recoil. It is a LOT of gun...but very versitile! 0 -
krazyboutguns,
Here is a short list of most of the .338 cartridges:
.338 Edge
.338 Federal
.338 Lapua Magnum
.338 Remington Ultra Magnum
.338 Whisper
.338 Winchester Magnum
.338-06
.338-06 Ackley Improved
.338-350 Remington Magnum
.338-378
.338-378 KT
.338-378 Weatherby Magnum
.338-404 Jeffery
.340 Weatherby Magnum
Here is a brief description from actual firearms resources:
.338 Federal
"In collaboration with Sako Rifles, Federal Cartridge's engineers and ballisticians have developed the .338 Federal, which necks up the proven .308 Winchester case to accept a .338 caliber bullet. This design, which is the first to bear the name 'Federal' on the headstamp, is intended to provide big-bore wallop with moderate recoil for today's light weight, short bolt-action rifles. It is a commercial version of the .338-08 wildcat.
The .338 Federal bears more than a passing resemblance to the .358 Winchester cartridge, which was introduced in 1955. Like the .358 Win, the .338 Federal offers excellent performance on big game without magnum recoil. Its muzzle energy exceeds the 30-06 with a similar weight bullet. equaling the muzzle energy of the 7mm Remington Magnum. Its muzzle velocity ranges to approximately 200 feet per second greater than its parent .308 Winchester with similar weight bullets. Owners of custom .338-08 rifles should not use factory .338 Federal ammo, many custom .338-08 chambers are slightly shorter than .338 Federal cases. It is recommended that bullets larger than 225 grains because of the reduced powder capacity due to the longer bullet. Maximum pressure has been established at 62,000 psi. Maximum overall cartridge length is about 2.820'. Most powders that work for the .308 Winchester also work great for the .338 Federal."
This text is based on information from Cartridges of the World, Hodgdon reloading manual, the cartridge designer and/or own resources.
.338 Winchester Magnum:
"Introduced in 1958, the .338 Winchester Magnum has plenty of fans as well as its share of detractors. Some say it is our all time greatest elk, moose, and grizzly cartridge, without being totally ridiculous when used for hunting deer size game. Others say with equal fervor that the .338 generates more recoil than most hunters can handle and its power is excessive for all except dangerous game. There's no law that says the .338 Magnum can't be used on deer and the like, but the cartridge is seen at its best when used on bigger game. Whether or not the .338 Magnum is actually a better elk and moose cartridge than the .300 Magnums, or even the 7mm Magnums, will long be debated, but when large carnivorous game becomes the topic of conversation all such arguments quickly end."
This text is based on information from Cartridges of the World, Hodgdon reloading manual, the cartridge designer and/or own resources.
.340 Weatherby Magnum:
"The .340 Magnum uses .338" bullets, same as the .338 Magnum, and it is Roy's fifth most popular cartridge; the .300, .270, 7mm, and .257 Magnums are ahead in popularity by a considerable margin. The Weatherby Mark V is the only factory rifle available in .340 Magnum, but a number of custom rifles are built in this caliber around the Remington Model 700 and Winchester Model 70 actions. When loaded with the right bullet, the .340 Weatherby Magnum is suitable for hunting any of the worlds big game. This includes elephant and cape buffalo (where the caliber is legal) when the .340 is loaded with bullets of full metal jacket construction. For all thin skinned game the handloader can do a lot worse than load H4831behind a Nosler250 grain Partition. An excellent long range elk and moose load for the .340 is the Nosler210 grain Partition or the Sierra250 grain spitzer pushed to maximum velocity by H4831, H450, IMR-4831, or IMR-7828."
This text is based on information from Cartridges of the World, Hodgdon reloading manual, the cartridge designer and/or own resources.
.338 Lapua:
"The 338 Lapua Magnum was developed in 1983 by Research Armament Co. It was based on a 416 Rigby case necked down to .338 caliber. Later Lapua and Norma have put this cartridge into production. The caliber was designed to arrive at 1000 meters with enough energy to penetrate 5 layers of military body armor and still make the kill. The effective range of this caliber is about 1 mile (1600meters) and in the right shooting conditions, it could come very close to the 2000 meter mark, provided you have the right rifle/ammo/optics/shooter/spotter combination. This caliber is designed primarily as a military extreme range anti-personnel round. There really are no Law Enforcement applications, unless you need a super penetrating round for either armored vehicles, or for barricaded suspects. There are not a lot of rifles chambered for the .338 Lapua, but the list is growing with the likes of Sako, AI, and others producing .338 sniping rifles.
Updated: Remington has released a Law Enforcement/Military version of the .338 Lapua with a civilian version available as well. There is an ever increasing number of custom tactical rifles being built on a daily basis."
This text is based on information from Cartridges of the World, Hodgdon reloading manual, the cartridge designer and/or own resources.
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quote:Originally posted by krazyboutguns
Can someone tell me about the 338 calliber, federal or mag?
Karen,
Between the two, if you can handle the recoil, I'd go with the .338 WM. Mine is a Ruger M77 MKII (24" barrel, I think?) with a muzzle brake. Its felt recoil as configured is comparable to my .270 Win (without muzzle brake) using .150gr NBTs and 56gr of H4831SC.
This is my primary elk rifle for this year. My elk load is .225gr NAB and 73.5gr H4831SC. I am getting .5-.75 MOA, if I do my part, at 300 yards but have not had a chance to stretch it beyond that.
Good luck and happy safe hunting/shooting.
ADDED:
tsr1965, it used to have the paddle stock but changed it with B&C (better pillar bedding and free floating will be next - after the hunting season). The trigger is http://spec-tech-industries.com/triggers.htm set at 2.5 pounds.
You are correct about the Ruger-to-Weaver adapter and the scope is 4.5-14x42 with BP reticle.
Thanks!0 -
338 Win Mag in a BAR is a joy to shoot. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by FEENIX
quote:Originally posted by krazyboutguns
Can someone tell me about the 338 calliber, federal or mag?
Karen,
Between the two, if you can handle the recoil, I'd go with the .338 WM. Mine is a Ruger M77 MKII (24" barrel, I think?) with a muzzle brake. Its felt recoil as configured is comparable to my .270 Win (without muzzle brake) using .150gr NBTs and 56gr of H4831SC.
This is my primary elk rifle for this year. My elk load is .225gr NAB and 73.5gr H4831SC. I am getting .5-.75 MOA, if I do my part, at 300 yards but have not had a chance to stretch it beyond that.
Good luck and happy safe hunting/shooting.
Very nice rig FEENIX! I see that you have Burris extension Signature rings for the Ruger 77MK II, that houses what looks like a Burris FF II scope. Not sure what else you might have done to the rifle, but Pillars and a free floated barrel, and a good trigger job would help even more, if you dont have them already...not that it is needed the way it shoots.
Ooops...my bad...That is the Burris adaptor to Weaver base.
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krazyboutguns -greetings and welcome to the GunBroker Forums again.
I have read your question over several times wondering exactly what you were inquiring about ... the .338 Federal specifically or perhaps the verious .338s in general???
Asking about the .338 Federal itself is quite specific, but as "For what purpose or compared to what other chambering/s? That is what I'd like to inquire back to you. If your question is just in general terms as "What is the .338 Federal chambering?"
Then just as midnightrunpaintballer - has suggested, referring to or accessing through Wikipedia.com which I have found to be a great spot to start on many re/searches. I will often Google.com then go to the above site then read recent articles regarding questions such as yours above.
nononsense - provided you the short list of many of the .338s and then followed through with some information on a number of them from "Cartridges of the World" for you.
Did this information "cover all the bases" regarding your intial question and the information you desired?
Two more from the "short list" that I've also been curious of and have done some reading/study/ and cursory research are the .338 Norma and the .338 RUM. Due to my uncertainty as to what you were seeking, I'm including or providing references to them for you as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.338_Norma_Magnum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.338_Remington_Ultra_Magnum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.300_Remington_Ultra_Magnum
I referenced the .300 RUM, simply because it is in the same Remington cartridge family as their .338 RUM (and Wikipedia has much more material in their article regarding the .300 RUM) and much of it applies in a general manner to the .338 RUM also!
Oh, I had forgotten to remind and suggest that you also make use of the above search mechanism here on the forums to access for reading anything and everything that has previously been posted asking or sharing information on the "Federal" in particular, or various .338s in general.
I'd also offer the fact that the felt recoil from any of these various chamberings can be significantly "tamed-down" significantly by loading down appropriately and/or through the proper use of a great muzzle break system.
I hope that the information that folks have posted is what you are searching for???
Best of luck to you with your questions and your search.
PS: for FEENIX - mighty purdy photos of a mighty fine critter that you got there. It seems that you may be in love with your "black beauty". Looks as though you have it rigged the way that you want it. Great!0 -
Karen,, I have a Browning auto safari grade 2 with a boss which still had substantial recoil using 225 gr bullets.I replaced the normally hard Browning recoil pad with a Lim-Saver pad,what a difference it is like a 30-06 now with the combination of semi-auto,boss and Lim-Saver pad. Just a thought if you are leaning toward a 338 Win Mag. 0 -
U/M was nice while i had her, treat with respect , they bite !![:0][B)] 0 -
if you be hunting whitetails the 338 fed is hard to beat,the mags are more better for bigger game/longer range 0
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