.338 Federal

.338 Federal between .308 Winchester (left) and .358 Winchester (right)

Type

Rifle

Place of origin

USA

Production history

Designer

Federal Cartridge / Sako

Manufacturer

Federal Cartridge

Produced

2006

Specifications

Parent case

.308 Winchester

Case type

Rimless, bottleneck

Bullet diameter

.338 in (8.6 mm)

Neck diameter

.369 in (9.4 mm)

Shoulder diameter

.454 in (11.5 mm)

Base diameter

.470 in (11.9 mm)

Rim diameter

.473 in (12.0 mm)

Rim thickness

.049 in (1.2 mm)

Case length

2.01 in (51 mm)

Overall length

2.75 in (70 mm)

Primer type

Large rifle

Maximum pressure

62,000 psi

Ballistic performance

Bullet weight/type	Velocity	Energy
180 gr (12 g) AccuBond	2,680 ft/s (820 m/s)	2,871 ft·lbf (3,893 J)
210 gr (14 g) AccuBond	2,450 ft/s (750 m/s)	2,800 ft·lbf (3,800 J)
225 gr (15 g) AccuBond	2,380 ft/s (730 m/s)	2,642 ft·lbf (3,582 J)

Test barrel length: 24" Pac-Nor
Source(s): Nosler Load Data,^[1] Hodgedon Reloading Data Center^[2]

The .338 Federal is a rifle cartridge based on the .308 Winchester case necked up to .33 caliber. It was created by Federal Cartridge and Sako in 2006 and intended as a big game cartridge with reasonable recoil for lightweight rifles.^[3]

Comparison

In terms of performance, the .338 Federal compares favorably with cartridges that have similar capacities and purposes. Also included in the table below is the older .358 Winchester, another cartridge based on the .308.

.338 Federal Performance Comparison
Cartridge	Bullet Weight		Muzzle velocity		Muzzle energy		Load^[a]		Recoil in 8 lb (3.6 kg) rifle
Cartridge	gr	g	ft/s	m/s	ft·lbf	J	gr	g	ft·lbf	J
.338 Federal	210	14	2,450	750	2,800	3,800	47	3.0	19.55	26.51
.338 Federal	180	12	2,680	820	2,871	3,893	47	3.0	17.80	24.13
7mm Rem Mag	175	11.3	2,860	870	3,178	4,309	63	4.1	22.44	30.42
.300 Win Mag	180	12	2,960	900	3,502	4,748	73	4.7	27.12	36.77
.30-06	180	12	2,750	840	3,022	4,097	56	3.6	20.48	27.77
.308 Win	180	12	2,600	790	2,703	3,665	45	2.9	16.02	21.72
.358 Win	200	13	2,490	760	2,753	3,733	49	3.2	19.08	25.87

Rifles

Sako,^[4] Kimber Manufacturing,^[5] Tikka, and Ruger^[6] offered bolt action rifles. ArmaLite,^[7] JP Enterprises,^[8] LMT and DPMS Panther Arms^[9] offered semi-automatic rifles in .338 Federal as of November 2008.

References

↑ http://www.nosler.com/nosler-load-data/338-federal/
↑ "Take Aim at Rifle Reloading Data | Hodgdon Reloading". Archived from the original on 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2015-02-05.
↑ Cartridges of the World 11th Edition, Book by Frank C. Barnes, Edited by Stan Skinner, Gun Digest Books, 2006, ISBN 0-89689-297-2 pp.75,104
↑ Sako 85 website, retrieved 26 Feb 2010
↑ Kimber 84M webpage, retrieved 17 Nov 2008
↑ Ruger website, retrieved 17 Nov 2008
↑ ArmaLite website, retrieved 21 Feb 2009
↑ , retrieved 9 Dec 2012
↑ Panther LR-338L, retrieved 17 Nov 2008

Notes

^[a] Load values specify typical powder weight for this level of performance.

External links

Peterson's Rifle Shooter magazine reviewed the .338 Federal in a Kimber 84M in "Truly Useful: The .338 Federal."

Chub Eastman of Guns & Ammo has an article on reloading the .338 Federal: ".338 Federal: Federal's first proprietary cartridge makes real short-action sense" (2 Feb. 2007). He also wrote of using it to hunt antelope in New Mexico.

Chuck Hawks reviewed the .338 Federal in, "First Look: The .338 Federal Rifle Cartridge"

Sheriff Jim Wilson of Shooting Times magazine reviewed the .338 Federal in a Sako rifle and tells of his experience hunting whitetail deer with them "In The Field With The New .338 Federal".

Buck Pope of GunWeek reviewed using the .338 Federal in a Sako Hunter Model 85 and his use of them to harvest a 225 pound wild boar and an 8-point whitetail deer "The New .338 Federal Is Big News for Big Game"

Buck Pope of GunWeek reviewed the .338 Federal in a Ruger Model 77 Mark II Frontier in "Ruger M77 Frontier Rifle In .338 Federal Test Report"