- Thread starter
- #41
- Oct 30, 2004
- 24,901
- 4,899
Win 748
338 rpm
- Thread starter FOTIS
- Start date
Kennethjamestaylor
Beginner
- Jan 18, 2025
- 2
- 1
Thank you.
gerry
Ammo Smith
- Mar 1, 2007
- 7,071
- 2,284
As a fellow lefty I noticed that rifle too. Pretty tough to beat that package for hunting in grizzly country. I would get a supply of brass and reload for it myself. Weatherby makes awesome ammo but I'm sure you could get some great loads pretty easy.
Developing a load for whitetail would be cool.
cloverleaf
Handloader
- Sep 10, 2006
- 4,521
- 1,306
Sorry Fotis I missed this one. Very Gracious of you. Thanks! Just had another cousin move back to Gods country. Now if I could just get myself there.... I will keep it in mind if I get the Ford that far west. CL
if you're already set up to reload , definitely yes , load for it . or if reloading is something you have wanted to do , yes do it . for what everything costs today , and the cost and availability of components I'm not sure I'd start reloading for just one rifle .
Blkram
Handloader
- Nov 25, 2013
- 3,362
- 4,160
At first, the 338 RPM appealed to me as well...
While not a true apples-to-apples comparison:
When I look at the powder burned in a 24" vs 18" barrel with a 225 gr AccuBond, you get 2800 fps vs 2660 fps (loss of approx. 23 fps/inch), and then look at my 338-06 with a 215 gr bullet getting 2750 fps from a 22" barrel, and burning over 10 grains of powder less, I think I'll stick with my 338-06, and 338 Federal. Wby's factory load with the 210 gr Partition also gets 2750 fps in my rifle (as advertised). Even the 338 Federal is capable of over 2700 fps with a 225 gr AccuBond from a 24" barrel, as per Nosler's load data.
But this is just my opinion...
While not a true apples-to-apples comparison:
When I look at the powder burned in a 24" vs 18" barrel with a 225 gr AccuBond, you get 2800 fps vs 2660 fps (loss of approx. 23 fps/inch), and then look at my 338-06 with a 215 gr bullet getting 2750 fps from a 22" barrel, and burning over 10 grains of powder less, I think I'll stick with my 338-06, and 338 Federal. Wby's factory load with the 210 gr Partition also gets 2750 fps in my rifle (as advertised). Even the 338 Federal is capable of over 2700 fps with a 225 gr AccuBond from a 24" barrel, as per Nosler's load data.
But this is just my opinion...
Your opinion makes allot of sense and I will consider it.
I have a few obstacles budget, being left-handed, and not owning a bolt action yet.
Right now I own a Remington 7600 16.5 inch barrel chambered in 308. I use the 7600 for Whitetail deer in the northeast. I love that gun. It takes a beating, BUT it isn’t made well.
As a matter of fact, I discovered that the buttock became loose during a long still hunt.
When I got back to the trailhead, I was pretty pissed off about it and I was happy that I didn’t walk up on a buck and have an issue to cycle through.
This got me thinking. Since I’m building points out west and I’m 100% committed to chasing whitetails in the mountains of the northeast maybe I should get a bolt action rifle that will do it all. They are reliable and light. I want something short and handy being the style of hunting that I do. Snow tracking and still hunting.
I’m not really looking to get out past 500 yards because I most likely will not feel comfortable taking an animal further than that. Although I do plan on going to a precision rifle course with the Sig academy. For now inside 500 yards will do. I do like the sectional density of a 30 caliber so when I found a 338RPM, I took a liking to it.
One thing I did not like about the 338 RPM is that it is a proprietary cartridge that cost $105 a box.
That sent up a red flag.
Unfortunately, right now I don’t have the budget to have several different rifles for each species. I need a do all preferably something that is accurate out of 500 yards with a short barrel for thick timber.
Blkram
Handloader
- Nov 25, 2013
- 3,362
- 4,160
Being a fellow left handed shooter, I understand your plight!
Short, handy rifles are just a lot of fun to own, shoot, and carry hunting.
All of my data for the 338 Federal will provide 400 yards shooting out of my bolt action rifle's 22" barrel (rebarreled LH Sako 85). This is where the velocity has dropped for reliable expansion in the 1800-1900 fps velocity range. (Retained energy is not the issue here for deer-sized game.) I do have data for one load with Leverevolution powder and the 215 gr SGK that will be good to 500 yards.
The 20" barrel on my rebarreled Winchester Model 88 lever action has reduced the range of the Federal 210 gr Partition ammo to 300 yards due to the retained velocity. But this fine for a short, handy stalking rifle. (And still has over 2000 ft lbs of energy just past 200 yards for larger game.)
After all, in my 38 years of hunting of a wide variety of big game, in a wide variety of terrain types, my average shot distance is just 132 yards, while having taken game at distances of 5 to 475 yards over that time span. So I really do not feel disadvantaged when hunting with my 338 Federal instead of my 338-06! Although I will carry the 338-06 just for a change and I still want to take more game with it!
Both of my 338 Federals will shoot sub-MOA groups with factory ammo, so the accuracy is there, as long as I do my part!
And the 200 gr UNi-Cor and Trophy Copper ammo both shoot less than 1/2" groups in the bolt action, so if I do not hit the target, it will be my fault, not the rifle's! (And both retain more than 2000 ft lbs of energy at 200 yards, which is still legal for bison!)
As a lefty, find yourself a LH Savage in 338 Federal, or a Sako or Remington 700 action, or rifle as a donor, and barrel to this chambering.
No one is still chambering to this cartridge anymore (unless Savage still is....I just do not follow Savage myself so am not up to date here), and it is getting harder to find ammo, although Federal is still listing the 200 gr Fusion ammo ($62/box) and 200 gr Trophy Bonded Tip ($103/box). One can still find the odd place that has older 200 gr Uni-Cor, 180 gr AccuBond, 185 gr TSX, 200 gr Trophy Copper, or 210 gr Partition ammo on the shelf. (Or someone selling their ammo.) And then of course, you could always handload!
