“NEW” 338 Federal Reloading

[longridge]

So for years I always used a Remington 700 7mm-08 with no problems. Last winter I picked up a good deal on a Remington 700 in 30-06. The 30-06 will more or less be my do all rifle. Being someone who can’t leave well enough alone I started looking at what to do with me 7mm-08.

After some research on here and other places I decided to send it off to JES to get it rebored. After about 8 weeks I had it back.

So my intentions with the rifle is a timber pushing elk rifle so I knew I was going to lean towards heavier conventional bullets or 200-210 copper bullets.

I had a box of 250gr Speer Grand Slams I wanted to play with. I know everyone will say they’re too heavy and too slow to be worth anything. But I had a couple reasons to lead them.

I could and I wanted to.

Did a very rough ladder test to look for pressure and ran out of case volume before any pressure signs. So I picked a higher load of Varget and loaded up 10 rounds for group testing.

Took it out during my lunch break today and it shows promising results. Will still need to load more up and proof it a couple more times. Honestly I will probably eventually settle on a 225gr load, but I will play these out and see how they do.

Getting right at 2250fps. Holds 1800fps out to 350yds. Which is more than enough for my intentions for the rifle.

 

[czgunner]

Nice. I liked the Savage I built in that caliber years ago. I think its a cool cartridge.

Sent from my Pixel 8a using Tapatalk

 

[shmtastic]

Just placed an order for another 338 Fed barrel last night. Plan on using 225gr as well, probably SSTs or Speer BTSP. Have you used anything other than Varget?? My plan is to start with Leverevolution and see how it does with the 225s.

With my other 338, I generally use H335 and 2000MR, they both work great for 180/200 gr.

Tagged in to let you do half of my load development for me! Keep up the good work man, love seeing that accuracy for what you're using!

 

[gbflyer]

I don't know that the 250 Grand Slams are necessarily too heavy, just constructed for .338 mag velocity. I don't think you will be super stoked about the expansion. Looks like they shoot great though.

prm on this site has extensive .338 Fed knowledge. Hopefully chimes in. I have one, it's throated for the 210 Partition. I like the cartridge a lot.

 

[06 SB]

I used a 338-08 before Federal claimed the cartridge. I generally used 200gr Hornady Interlocks (not SSTs). I recently emailed Federal about factory ammo and the reply was basically we abandoned the cartridge and are not making ammo or components. Starline still makes brass and it can easily be made with any brand's 308 brass.

I currently use the Federal 185gr Fusion, Nosler 180gr AB, and Federal 200gr Trophy Bonded Tipped. I am taking the Trophy Bonded to Africa next year. Many recommend Barnes TSX/TTSX but I never got acceptable accuracy with those. I did not try all that hard either. The other bullets were very easy to get there. I have a few boxes of Hornady 225gr Interlock SP-RP and Nosler 225gr Partitions that I want to try soon. One sleeper is the 200gr Hornady Flex tip. Load it to 2400fps and it becomes an awesome deer killer. There is no longer much concern about bullets being designed for certain cartridges and won't work in larger or smaller cartridges. Thankfully, many are now publishing designed velocity ranges for proper expansion. Stay within that limitation and you will be fine.

The most useful powder I have found is H322. It is one of the "Extreme" powders so it is not temperature sensitive. Others are IMR8208XBR, IMR4895, LVR, CFE223 and others in that burn range. Pick one, they all seem to work.

 

[longridge]

I don't know that the 250 Grand Slams are necessarily too heavy, just constructed for .338 mag velocity. I don't think you will be super stoked about the expansion. Looks like they shoot great though.

prm on this site has extensive .338 Fed knowledge. Hopefully chimes in. I have one, it's throated for the 210 Partition. I like the cartridge a lot.

Expansion is still a concern. I contacted Speer asking about expansion velocity and they stated they use energy as more of a metric for expansion and that bullet should have expansion down to 1500ft/lbs. that would be about 1650fps for this bullet. They’ve said this before as well when I asked about 7mm 175gr GrandSlams years ago.

I plan on doing some expansion testing with these in the 18-1900 fps range and go from there.

Like stated ultimately I will probably settle on the 225gr range. Likely the Hornady 225gr SP-RP.

 

[onlybrowning]

You guys are making the wait for my Browning A Bolt re-barrel and BLR takedown re-bore even harder! I have accumulated a large stock of bullets to try as well, but all are 200gr and under. I wish Nosler would continue to make the 180 or 200 .338 Ballistic Tip, but understand why they don't. I was lucky enough to accumulate a good supply of them, but it seems like once they're gone, that'll be it. At the .338 Federal velocities, I feel like it is the perfect tipped bullet. With a Sako 85 I had, the 200 grain Speer Hot Cor with Varget was easy to get to shoot well. I am planning to try Benchmark, as well as Varget, H4895, and IMR 8208XBR to find a load that will shoot well in a couple of different barrels.

As far as brass goes, I like to get proper headstamps whenever I can, and the Starline stuff has been good for me. Something about them saying the "wrong" chambering on the headstamp bugs me.

Those 250's would sure be hard to stop! Keep us updated, especially for those of us chomping at the bit for our own projects to arrive!

 

[longridge]

Just placed an order for another 338 Fed barrel last night. Plan on using 225gr as well, probably SSTs or Speer BTSP. Have you used anything other than Varget?? My plan is to start with Leverevolution and see how it does with the 225s.

With my other 338, I generally use H335 and 2000MR, they both work great for 180/200 gr.

Tagged in to let you do half of my load development for me! Keep up the good work man, love seeing that accuracy for what you're using!

I have not tried any other powders as of yet. I only have 12 rounds through the barrel so far. Varget is just what I had on hand. I live in Wyoming where temperature swings can be drastic throughout season so I intend to only use temp stable powders. I plan on trying H4895 next along with Hornady Interlock 225gr SP-RP.

As far as accuracy I am very happy so far. Only 12 rounds down the barrel, 9x spice resting of sweatshirts on the bench. Took the Timney trigger off this and put it on my 06. So I put the factory X—Mark trigger in this gun. I see lots of potential.

 

[Joshk358]

I really like the 210gr partition in the 338 Federal. Have 100 for sale in the classifieds actually as I don't shoot it much these days, but it's my go-to when I rifle hunt. The 210 has worked great on deer, hogs, axis and a big moose in Maine a decade ago. Rolling out around 2500ish FPS, it's been an awesome cartridge.