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