.338 Federal
Encyclopedia
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.
It has less recoil yet similar muzzle velocity and energy compared to the 7mm Remington Magnum in bullets of the same weight while having greater energy than the .30-06 Springfield
. The .300 Winchester Magnum
is also a worthwhile comparison despite the .300's considerably higher recoil. Also included in the table below is the older .358 Winchester
, another cartridge based on the .308 that is intended for shorter range.
, Kimber Manufacturing
, Tikka, and Ruger offered bolt action rifles and ArmaLite
and DPMS Panther Arms
offered semi-automatic rifles in .338 Federal as of November 2008.
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
cartridge
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
based on the .308 Winchester
.308 Winchester
The .308 Winchester is a rifle cartridge and is the commercial cartridge upon which the military 7.62x51mm NATO centerfire cartridge is based. The .308 Winchester was introduced in 1952, two years prior to the NATO adoption of the 7.62x51mm NATO T65...
case necked up to .33 caliber
Caliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
. It was created by Federal Cartridge
Federal Cartridge
Federal Cartridge is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliant Techsystems, located in Edina, Minnesota. With a work force of nearly 1,000 in Anoka, Minnesota, Federal manufactures a complete line of shotshell, centerfire, and rimfire ammunition and components....
and Sako
SAKO
SAKO, Limited is a Finnish firearm manufacturer located in Riihimäki....
in 2006 and intended as a big game cartridge with reasonable recoil for lightweight rifles.
Comparison
In terms of performance, the .338 Federal compares favorably with cartridges that have similar capacities and purposes.It has less recoil yet similar muzzle velocity and energy compared to the 7mm Remington Magnum in bullets of the same weight while having greater energy than the .30-06 Springfield
.30-06 Springfield
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
. The .300 Winchester Magnum
.300 Winchester Magnum
The .300 Winchester Magnum is a popular, belted, bottlenecked magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963 as a member of the family of Winchester Magnum cartridges. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a magnum cartridge designed to fit in a standard length...
is also a worthwhile comparison despite the .300's considerably higher recoil. Also included in the table below is the older .358 Winchester
.358 Winchester
The .358 Winchester is a .35 caliber rifle cartridge based on a necked up .308 Winchester created by Winchester in 1955. The cartridge is also known in Europe as the 8.8x51mm. -History:...
, another cartridge based on the .308 that is intended for shorter range.
| Cartridge | Bullet Weight | Muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns... |
Muzzle energy Muzzle energy Muzzle energy is the kinetic energy of a bullet as it is expelled from the muzzle of a firearm. It is often used as a rough indication of the destructive potential of a given firearm or load... |
Load | Recoil Recoil Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law... in 8 lb (3.6 kg) rifle |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gr | g | ft/s | m/s | ft·lbf | J | gr | g | ft·lbf | J |
| .338 Federal | 210 gr | 2630 | 801.6 | 3226 | 4,373.9 | 47 gr | 21.71 | 29.4 | |
| .338 Federal | 180 gr | 2830 | 862.6 | 3202 | 4,341.3 | 47 gr | 19.27 | 26.1 | |
| 7mm Rem Mag 7 mm Remington Magnum The 7mm Remington Magnum rifle cartridge was introduced as a commercially available round in 1962, along with the new Remington Model 700 bolt action rifle. It is a member of the belted magnum family that is directly derived from the venerable .375 H&H Magnum... |
175 gr | 2860 | 871.7 | 3178 | 4,308.8 | 63 gr | 22.44 | 30.4 | |
| .300 Win Mag .300 Winchester Magnum The .300 Winchester Magnum is a popular, belted, bottlenecked magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963 as a member of the family of Winchester Magnum cartridges. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a magnum cartridge designed to fit in a standard length... |
180 gr | 2960 | 902.2 | 3502 | 4,748.1 | 73 gr | 27.12 | 36.8 | |
| .30-06 .30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army... |
180 gr | 2750 | 838.2 | 3022 | 4,097.3 | 56 gr | 20.48 | 27.8 | |
| .308 Win .308 Winchester The .308 Winchester is a rifle cartridge and is the commercial cartridge upon which the military 7.62x51mm NATO centerfire cartridge is based. The .308 Winchester was introduced in 1952, two years prior to the NATO adoption of the 7.62x51mm NATO T65... |
180 gr | 2600 | 792.5 | 2703 | 3,664.8 | 45 gr | 16.02 | 21.7 | |
| .358 Win .358 Winchester The .358 Winchester is a .35 caliber rifle cartridge based on a necked up .308 Winchester created by Winchester in 1955. The cartridge is also known in Europe as the 8.8x51mm. -History:... |
200 gr | 2490 | 759 | 2753 | 3,732.6 | 49 gr | 19.08 | 25.9 |
Rifles
SakoSAKO
SAKO, Limited is a Finnish firearm manufacturer located in Riihimäki....
, Kimber Manufacturing
Kimber Manufacturing
Kimber Manufacturing is an American company that designs, manufactures, and distributes small arms such as M1911 pistols, Solo pistols and rifles. The USA Shooting Team, Marines assigned to Special Operations Command, and the LAPD SWAT team use Kimber pistols....
, Tikka, and Ruger offered bolt action rifles and ArmaLite
ArmaLite
ArmaLite is the name of a small arms engineering facility founded in the early 1950s, and once associated with the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. ArmaLite was formally incorporated as a subdivision of Fairchild on October 1, 1954...
and DPMS Panther Arms
DPMS Panther Arms
DPMS Panther Arms manufactures a wide range of military and civilian rifles in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The rifles are chambered for the .223 Remington, 5.56x45mm NATO, .308 Winchester, .260 Remington, .300 Remington SA Ultra Mag, 6.8mm Remington SPC, and .204 Ruger cartridges, among others...
offered semi-automatic rifles in .338 Federal as of November 2008.
See also
- .338 Winchester Magnum.338 Winchester MagnumThe .338 Winchester Magnum is a .33 caliber belted rimless bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms Company|Winchester. It is based on the blown out, shortened .375 H&H Magnum. The .33 is the caliber at which medium bore cartridges are considered to begin...
- .338 Marlin express.338 Marlin expressThe .338 Marlin Express is a new cartridge developed by Marlin Firearms and Hornady. It is based on the .376 Steyr with a goal to duplicate the venerable .30-06 Springfield's performance in a cartridge compatible with lever-action firearms. The cartridge uses a slightly shorter, rimmed case to...
- .338 Lapua Magnum
- .338 Remington Ultra Magnum.338 Remington Ultra MagnumThe .338 Remington Ultra Magnum is a .338 caliber rifle cartridge introduced by Remington Arms in 2002. It is a beltless, rebated rim cartridge based on the .300 Remington Ultra Magnum case shortened .090" loaded with a .338 caliber bullet...
- List of rifle cartridges
- 8 mm caliber8 mm caliberThis article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the to caliber range.*Length refers to the empty cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the loaded cartridge.All measurements are in mm .-Pistol cartridges:...
- sectional densitySectional densitySectional density is the ratio of an object's mass to its cross-sectional area. It conveys how well an object's mass is distributed to overcome resistance. For illustration, a needle can penetrate a target medium with less force than a coin of the same mass...
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"
- 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).