When I was in college, the guy with the biggest and loudest stereo system in his room often got the prettiest girls during parties, or so it seemed. Thump was impressive, despite the fact that, with a multi-tiered component deck and two or more floor speakers jammed into a space already too small for your worldly possessions, you hardly had room to dance, let alone tend to the finer points of courtship. Younger friends tell me the trend these days leans more toward downsizing with digital setups. The last time I mingled with a group of undergrads, the tunes were coming from an iPod and a set of speakers that fit nicely on a small desk. The girls showed up just the same, and no doubt the guys had an easier time getting their numbers without the music drowning out conversation.

Top: Thompson/Center Arms chambered its Pro Hunter single shot for .338 Federal shortly after the cartridge was introduced. Based on the common .308 Winchester case, the .338 Federal was an easy addition to the Pro Hunter line. Bottom: The .338 Federal produces about 21 foot-pounds of recoil in an 8-pound rifle. To reduce kick to an even more tolerable level, the Pro Hunter is fitted with a Flex-Tech buttstock.

     A curious parallel exists between those acoustical advances and centerfire cartridge development. During the last decade, the fascination with things big and booming has seen just about every new cartridge from major ammo manufacturers come with a “magnum” suffix. But, just as the emphasis on audio hardware has shifted from the blaringly enormous to the efficiently discreet, Federal bucked the magnum mindset when it introduced its first bottlenecked rifle cartridge about a year ago. Behold the .338 Federal: short but not fat, and plenty powerful without being ultra.
     It’s a bold move that has left some shooters scratching their heads over what is so special about the cartridge. Super magnums of the 21st century never failed to include “faster” and “flatter” in their list of descriptors and obtained immediate, if short-lived, stardom. The .338 Federal, on the other hand, comes nowhere close to the 3,000-foot-per-second benchmark that has somehow become mandatory to raise eyebrows. By ignoring the one-upmanship that largely characterizes recent magnum mania, Federal was able to create a cartridge that appeals on a different level—one that provides heavy punch at the ranges most big game is killed but doesn’t need extra length, powder or recoil to get the job done. In other words, the short-action .338 Federal is a tremendously useful cartridge that was arrived at through the application of common sense—and therein lies its beauty.

A Lot in a Little
     The .338 Federal is not a complicated cartridge. Instead of going through all the trouble to drastically modify a big case by cutting it in half or blowing out its shoulder, the engineers at Federal simply necked up the .308 Winchester to accommodate a .338-caliber bullet. Like the other cartridges that trace their lineage to the .308 Winchester—including the .243 Winchester, .260 Remington and 7 mm-08 Remington—the .338 Federal is a factory-legitimized wildcat, a production version of the .338-08. The only cartridge based on the .308 Winchester that was not born in wildcatting—the .358 Winchester—has also been the least successful.
     While the availability of brass is certainly one reason behind so much experimentation with the .308 Winchester, its case dimensions explain part of the popularity as well. The .308 Winchester family members require less chamber space than the majority of recognized big-game cartridges, thereby bringing hunters the joy of toting a short-action rifle, yet they all operate at a maximum average pressure of 60,000 to 62,000 pounds per square inch. That’s a lot of potential in a small package, and the .338 Federal harnesses it better than its siblings or father.

Prudent hunters carry a round or two for backup. A neat rubber sleeve that fits around the barrel and fore-end of the T/C Pro Hunter keeps a pair of .338 Federal cartridges at the ready for caribou.

     A practical way to compare big-game cartridges is to look at the amount of terminal energy they produce. All things considered, it is energy that puts game on the ground, and it is a definitive measurement of a cartridge’s effectiveness. When pitted against other cartridges in the .308 Winchester family, the .338 Federal is clearly the leader in terms of knockdown power thanks to its ability to push a mid-bore bullet at 2,630 to 2,830 feet per second, depending on bullet weight. These are velocities published by Federal for factory loads fired from a 24-inch barrel, but in real-world testing I found them to be reasonably truthful. The company uses advanced, high-energy propellants not available to handloaders in its .338 Federal loads. Recipes from Speer utilizing standard propellants list velocities for the .338 Federal that are a bit lower than the factory-published data.
     Federal currently loads the cartridge with four types of bullets. On one end of the spectrum is the sleek, 180-grain Nosler AccuBond, while the heaviest load contains a 210-grain Nosler Partition. In between are a 185-grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet and a 200-grain Fusion, which uses Federal’s proprietary electrochemical process to molecularly bond the copper jacket to a pressure-formed core to prevent separation. Federal has been in the business long enough to know shooters and hunters like a cartridge that is versatile, and the best way to cater to that desire is by offering a variety of bullet weights and profiles. With the four load choices, the
.338 Federal should be able to smartly handle any animal that roams North America, perhaps with the exception of the big bears. Colleagues of mine have successfully used it on whitetails, black bear and elk, as well as plains game in Africa.

Power Without Pain

Top: With a maximum case length of 2.015 inches, the .338 Federal fits nicely in short-action bolt guns. The Ruger M77 Hawkeye All-Weather has an integral box magazine that holds four of the mid-bore cartridges. Bottom: It can certainly be beautiful, but the tundra is also rugged and unforgiving. Much like the .338 Federal, the T/C Pro Hunter was up to the challenge.

     Though it is worth noting the .338 Federal drives a 180-grain bullet faster than any .308 Winchester load in Federal’s lineup and nearly any .30-06—the sole exception being the company’s High Energy load—I tend to favor the two heavier bullets in this cartridge. There are many cartridges that do a better job of delivering lighter bullets faster for flatter trajectories, but the power the .338 Federal obtains with a 200- or 210-grain bullet is unmatched in the short-action realm. Ballistics calculated at the Federal laboratory show the 200-grain Fusion bullet has 2,665 foot-pounds of energy at 100 yards and retains 2,245 foot-pounds at 200 yards. The 210-grain Nosler Partition slams a target with 2,712 foot-pounds at 100 yards and 2,266 foot-pounds at 200 yards. With either bullet at either range, that is more wallop than carried by any of Federal’s .308 Winchester loads. The gap widens when you compare the .338 Federal to its smaller brothers and the .358 Winchester. Simply put, the .338 Federal is the most powerful production short-action cartridge that doesn’t have the word “magnum” attached to the end of its name.
     No longer must hunters sacrifice magazine capacity or deal with occasional feeding jams—two downsides to short and fat cartridges—in order to get a short-action rifle that will shoot heavier bullets at respectable velocities. Certainly, there are other mid-bore cartridges that can deliver a 200-grain bullet, but none with a similar-sized case do it with as much speed or with a trajectory as flat as the .338 Federal. The 200-grain Fusion load attains a muzzle velocity of 2,660 feet per second. Dead-on at 100 yards, the bullet is 15.6 inches low at 300 yards. Compare this to the performance of other mid-bore cartridges in the
.338 Federal class: the .348 Winchester, .35 Remington and .358 Winchester. The closest comes from the long-defunct .348 Winchester with a 200-grain Winchester Super-X Silvertip, which manages 2,520 feet per second at the muzzle. With a 100-yard zero, the bright-nosed slug drops almost 22 inches by the time it reaches 300 yards. Granted, the .338 Federal has the advantage of a more aerodynamic bullet with a higher ballistic coefficient and sectional density, but that’s the point. The cartridge has bullets with superior ballistic qualities at its disposal, while the other mid-bores generally do not, and it uses them to turn in a well-rounded performance.
     Some shooters have been quick to classify the .338 Federal as a short-range, “woods” cartridge, especially when it is loaded with heavier bullets. But to do so is to ignore half of its potential. At 300 yards, the 210-grain Nosler Partition retains 1,878 foot-pounds of energy, more than enough punch for bucks and bulls. With a 200-yard zero, it drops only 9.4 inches at 300 yards. Now look at the .338 Winchester Magnum, a storied slayer of elk. Loaded with the same 210-grain Nosler Partition and zeroed at the same range, it drops 8 inches at 300 yards. That’s less than 11⁄2 inches of difference, which, unless your rifle is truly minute of angle and you can shoot it to that level when a screaming bull is about to disappear forever into the distant timber, is hardly enough to matter.

The availability of quality .338-caliber bullets gives the .338 Federal an edge over other cartridges in its size class. Factory loads include, from left, a 180-grain Nosler AccuBond, a 185-grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet, a 200-grain Federal Fusion and a 210-grain Nosler Partition.

     Admittedly, the mid-bore magnums carry more energy downrange than the .338 Federal, and there’s no such thing as too much power when hunting big game—as long as you can manage it. Larger cases burn more powder, and that means more recoil. Sore shoulders and gashed foreheads—or the anticipation of such maladies—are a few of the leading causes of poor shooting. What the .338 Federal may lack in ballistic performance when compared to the magnums it makes up for in manners. In an 8-pound rifle, felt recoil from the stoutest, 210-grain Nosler Partition load measures about 21 foot-pounds. The .338 Federal kicks a bit harder than the .308 Winchester, but it is nowhere near as harsh as the .338 Winchester Magnum, which delivers around 35 foot-pounds of felt recoil with most big-game loads in a rifle of similar weight.

Right on the Range
     Several firearm manufacturers chamber rifles in .338 Federal, and most are bolt actions. Oddly, the first came from companies overseas, but American makers are starting to recognize the merits of the cartridge. The .338 Federal was introduced alongside the Sako 85, an improvement over the Finnish company’s 75 series and having controlled-round feeding. Steyr-Mannlicher followed by offering the cartridge in its ergonomically designed, and undeniably European, Pro Hunter.
     Shooters who prefer more traditional styling from American makers can have the .338 Federal in bolt actions from Kimber and Ruger, both recent additions to their lineups. With an integral box magazine that holds five rounds, a 22-inch barrel and a weight of less than 6 pounds, the Kimber 84M is a perfect demonstration of the easy handling attributes that come with a short-action rifle. Two versions are available in .338 Federal: the Classic, with blued metal and a walnut stock, and the Montana, a stainless-steel-and-synthetic wonder with sensuous lines that belie its ability for taking abuse. Ruger revamped its M77 Mark II with a new trigger and stock design to create the Hawkeye, and the .338 Federal is among the cartridges offered in the All-Weather version of that rifle. The .338 Federal is also available in the company’s compact, 161⁄2-inch-barreled Frontier with a forward-mounted scope base. Regular readers will remember the Frontier was Shooting Illustrated’s 2006 Rifle of the Year, but we may have jumped the gun with that accolade. I believe the Frontier will be an even better rifle for tight spots in .338 Federal.

The .338 Federal is a fine cartridge for short-range hunting in timber, but it also excels at longer distances in wide-open places. The cartridge proved capable of taking caribou at ranges from 50 to 250 yards.

     Thompson/Center Arms was the first American manufacturer to chamber a production rifle in the cartridge, offering it in the break-action Pro Hunter.
The accuracy of a cartridge, or a specific load in that cartridge, has a lot to do with the rifle that sends the bullet on its way. In order to gauge the potential of the .338 Federal, I shot all four factory loads through the Ruger Hawkeye and the T/C Pro Hunter. My experiences on the range lend proof to the old adage about good things coming in small packages. With the 185-grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet, the
.338 Federal consistently produced groups at 100 yards that measured about 3⁄4 inch from both rifles. The Hawkeye liked the 180-grain AccuBond load nearly as much.     
     Though the 200-grain Fusion and the 210-grain Nosler Partition did not cluster as tightly as their lighter counterparts, they still grouped within 11⁄2 inches. The
.338 Federal is accurate enough to let you place a bullet where you want on any big-game animal, and as I found out last fall, one good shot is all it takes with this cartridge.

Tundra Takedown
     For a Pennsylvania boy used to chasing whitetails on ridges thick with oak and laurel, two things about hunting caribou in northern Quebec came as quite a surprise. The first was the amount of land mostly devoid of any vegetation taller than my waist. The second was the amount of antler carried by a big bull caribou. It did not take long for me to appreciate either of these qualities, though I learned the vastness of the former can sometimes make it difficult to find the presence of the latter.
     Much of caribou hunting has to do with timing, and shortly after the float plane left the 10 hunters in my party standing among a row of cabins painted with a shade of orange that looked like it came from a sunset, the camp manager informed us we were a little early. The Leaf River herd that annually migrates within sight of Willie’s Caribou Camp, owned by an Inuit cooperative and managed through Arctic Adventures, was stalled about 60 miles to the north by the warm September weather. The Inuit guides, however, were confident some bulls arrived ahead of schedule, and all we had to do was locate them.

Sizing-up the .338 Federal
Load	Velocity	Energy	Recoil
180-grain Nosler AccuBond	2,779	3,088	20
185-grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet	2,770	3,152	21
200-grain Federal Fusion	2,599	3,000	21
210-grain Nosler Partition	2,538	3,005	21
Velocity in feet per second. Energy and recoil in foot-pounds. Velocity and energy measured at the muzzle during 10 consecutive shots with an Oehler Model 43 chronograph. Temperature: 63 degrees Fahrenheit. Test rifle: Thompson/Center Pro Hunter, 28-inch barrel.

Accuracy Test: .338 Federal
Ruger M77 Hawkeye		Thompson/Center Pro Hunter
Load	Group	Load	Group
180-grain Nosler AccuBond	.99	180-grain Nosler AccuBond	1.44
185-grain Barnes Triple- Shock X-Bullet	.74	185-grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet	.68
200-grain Federal Fusion	1.18	200-grain Federal Fusion	1.25
210-grain Nosler Partition	1.5	210-grain Nosler Partition	1.45
Results are the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag rest at 100 yards, measured in inches.

     Camp was on a thin peninsula that jutted into a long lake stretching to the west. The daily routine—if you can call anything 125 miles from the nearest road in Kuujjuaq, Quebec, routine—started with a boat ride to likely hunting grounds around the lake. On the first morning I boarded an 18-foot V-bottomed Lund with two other hunters and headed to the western end of the lake. It was a 15-mile trip across the windswept water, but our guide was young and enjoyed using the 150-horsepower outboard to its fullest capability. The bumpy ride punctuated by constant spray from the waves made me glad the T/C Pro Hunter had a stainless steel barrel and a synthetic stock. After getting a thorough soaking and being repeatedly knocked against the sides and seat of the boat, the gun appeared no worse for the wear. Long before a more conservative driver would have got us there, the boat was beached on the sandy shore, and we made our way up a lichen-crusted hill to glass.
     There was a lot of territory to look over, and we did a lot of looking before we spotted two bulls feeding by some stunted spruce trees that ringed a low area covered in water about 400 yards away. The advice widely given to first-time caribou hunters not accustomed to the bulls’ impressive headgear is: “Don’t shoot the first bull you see.” I had heard it at least dozen times prior to the hunt, but a few of my more gracious mentors left me with some pointers that were actually useful. Though both of the bulls looked huge to eyes that absolutely savor an eight-point buck, one looked better than the other, and it had the characteristics I was told to watch for, and that’s all it took for me to want the bull badly.
     The four of us dropped behind a low ridge and took a route that brought us behind the bulls. They were out of sight while we were putting on the sneak, and we assumed they would continue feeding. When we peered over the ridge, however, they were gone. The tundra’s terrain is deceiving; an area of land right in front of you that looks nearly flat can be rolling enough to hide even a pair of caribou, which I discovered when the tips of the largest bull’s antlers appeared all at once just 60 yards beyond where I was kneeling.The bulls hadn’t seen us; they were just getting on with the whole migration thing. They were within easy range, but the slight rise they were traveling behind blocked their bodies from the ears down. I could do nothing but wait, and by a stroke of good fortune, the bulls began angling away from the rise and into the open. Leveling the Pro Hunter on shooting sticks, I thumbed the hammer. The big bull paused to look around as if to get its bearings, and the trigger broke, causing the caribou to rear up on its hind legs before falling to the tundra. At a little more than 180 yards, the 200-grain Fusion bullet plowed through the top of the bull’s heart and left an exit hole the size of a golf ball below its offside shoulder.
     I had another caribou tag and hoped to get a chance to use the .338 Federal on a bull that was a bit farther out, but as luck would have it, the next opportunity came at close range. After two days of seeing mostly younger bulls and cows with their calves at the far end of the lake, my guide decided we would head in the opposite direction. Crouched among a pile of large rocks that overlooked the water and provided a welcome break from the steady wind, we glassed a long ridge above the far shoreline. We were eating lunch when a herd of cows and calves, followed by a group of good bulls, trotted down the ridge to the lake. Without pause they jumped in the chilly water and began swimming straight toward us.

A single 200-grain Fusion bullet from the dropped this bull at 180 yards. Two shots were all the author needed to fill his bag limit of two caribou, as the .338 Federal performed perfectly each time he squeezed the trigger.

     With the bulls in the lake, I had ample time to get a good look at their velvet-clad antlers. One had nicely palmated tops and a long tine that grew straight out from the main beam above the left bez. Character does a lot for me, and I couldn’t pass up this bull. When it reached my side of the lake, it shook the water from its gray-brown and white coat and immediately started up the hill at a quick, long-legged pace. The bull passed directly in front of me, but it was bunched up with some traveling companions. I tracked it in my scope for 30 yards, waiting for it to get clear. Just as the herd was about to crest the ridge behind me and go out of sight, the bull slowed by a half step, and I had an opening. At the shot, it dropped in its tracks, and I heard it fall less than 70 yards away. The Fusion bullet performed to perfection for the second time, passing through the upper section of both lungs and causing massive trauma to the bull’s spine just behind its shoulders.
     Two shots resulting in two immediate kills is enough to convince me the .338 Federal has a definite place in the order of big-game cartridges. It doesn’t belch fire, and it doesn’t set any records for velocity. It just plain works, without showing off. There’s not a lot of glitz to the .338 Federal, but there is a lot to like about it.