338 Federal

[Nomad]

 What are your thoughts on a 338 fed for a hunting rifle........
 Been thinking of this cartridge since it came out as a good hunting for all game
in Idaho. Pronghorn, deer whitetail and mule, elk and bear....
 Bullets are say 180 to 225gr good choices.........
 You thoughts.........

[Precise]

Well, here's my bias (I mean opinion). I think that .338 Federal is too big for pronghorn and both White tail and Mule deer, as well as mountain lion. You really don't need anything larger than an 30-06 with a 165gr bullet for those animals and one could say that 125gr would be sufficient. Also 30-06 with 180gr bullets for Elk and Bear has been more than enough for me to take each of these animals. This is the age old argument of "How much gun is enough or too little gun?" and goes back to the arguments between sports writers like Jack O'Connor, Elmer Keith, and others. 

[fj40mojo]

I tend to lean towards flatter shooting cartridges, but there is definitely something to be said for a large bore heavy bullet traveling at moderate velocity. My pops has a .338-06 and I've been pretty impressed with how effectively it kills elk at under 200yds. The .338 Fed lets you put a similar package together in a short action light mountain rifle. Sounds like a win to me as long as you now your range limitations.

[carharttfarmer]

i always look at it as how much do i gain with it over what i already have  ? that plus the money to  reload it   generalyy dont  make enough differnce to justify it

but if i was in the market  for a short action thumper id lean towards one of the  big bore short magnums same length action and more case capacity to get those big bullets moving

[loaded]

Sounds like a lot of gun, I like my 270 for what you listed  30-06, 7mm mag would also work

[birddog1989]

+1 for 30-06, or 308.  Can you say bullet selection.

[fj40mojo]

Sounds like a lot of gun, I like my 270 for what you listed  30-06, 7mm mag would also work

All long action cartridges, not quite the same animal. Agreed, all are capable of taking any game in North America. I think the .338 Fed is another example of what can be done with a parent cartridge much as has been done with the .30-06. It was necked down to make the .280 Rem, .270 Win, 6.5-06, .25-06, and a host of wildcats down to .22 and then necked up to make the .338-06 and others. Now the same thing has been done with the .308 over the last 50 years to make the 7mm-08, .243, .260Rem, and others. I say the more the merrier, the world would be a boring place if we only had .308s or .30-06s.

On a side note, did anybody ever neck the .308 down to .277? I can't think of a cartridge that fits the description, but I'll bet somebody has done it.

[fj40mojo]

One of these in .338 Fed would sure make a nice brush gun for elk. 'Course it would suck to scratch up such a beauty.

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