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] .338 Federal can use SR-25 pattern magazines but requires to further modification [4]
| .338 Federal | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 .338 Federal between .308 Winchester (left) and .358 Winchester (right) | ||||||||||||||||
| Type | Rifle | |||||||||||||||
| Place of origin | United States | |||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| Test barrel length: 24" Pac-Nor Source(s): Nosler Load Data,[1] Hodgedon Reloading Data Center[2] | ||||||||||||||||
Comparison
editThe .338 Federal was designed by Federal Ammunition and it is a SAAMI standardized cartridge that was released in 2006. In the table below is a comparison between the .338 Federal and the older .358 Winchester, another cartridge based on the .308 Winchester.
| Cartridge | Bullet Weight | Muzzle velocity | Muzzle energy | Load[a] | Recoil in 8 lb (3.6 kg) rifle | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gr | g | ft/s | m/s | ft·lbf | J | gr | g | ft·lbf | J | |
| .338 Federal | 210 | 14 | 2,630 | 800 | 3,225 | 4,373 | 47 | 3.0 | 23.42 | 31.75 |
| .338 Federal | 180 | 12 | 2,830 | 860 | 3,200 | 4,300 | 47 | 3.0 | 21.84 | 29.61 |
| .358 Win | 200 | 13 | 2,490 | 760 | 2,753 | 3,733 | 49 | 3.2 | 20.07 | 27.21 |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Load values specify typical powder weight for this level of performance.
References
edit- ^ "Nosler Load Data" (PDF). Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
- ^ "Take Aim at Rifle Reloading Data | Hodgdon Reloading". Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. 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
- ^ "Successor to the Scout: Q's 8.6mm Fix". YouTube. 14 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2024-06-14.
External links
edit- 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" Archived 2008-09-23 at the Wayback Machine (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"
- Jeff Quinn of GunBlast.com reviewed the ArmaLite AR-10T in .338 Federal in "ArmaLite AR-10(T) Match Grade .338 Federal Semi-Auto Rifle" (14 Aug 2008).