The 6mm ARC (Advanced Rifle Cartridge) Hornady Announces - The 6mm ARC (Advanced Rifle Cartridge) 308 Performance in an AR-15 Package. It’s a big improvement over the .35 Remington, slightly more powerful than the old .35 Winchester, and more useful than the .348 Winchester. The 180 grain .308 Winchester load comes out on top here, followed by the 150 grain .308 Winchester load, which is in turn followed closely by the .338 Federal load. I definitely love this rifle and the recoil is comparable to a 30-06! The .308 Winchester, .338 Federal, and .358 Winchester are all great rifle cartridges. The .358 Winchester uses the same .358″ (9.1mm) diameter bullets as other .35 caliber cartridges like the .35 Remington, the .35 Whelen, the .350 Remington Magnum, and the .358 Norma Magnum. However, the 7.62x51mm and the .308 Winchester both achieved that performance with a much shorter case (51mm vs 63mm) due to advances in powder technology that occurred after the development of the .30-06. Near perfect big game hunting round in my opinion. The .338 Federal seems to fit something of a “sweet spot” out of the three cartridges though and clearly offers a definite, though not gigantic ballistic advantage over the other two. Some of the smaller sporting goods stores may not keep .338 Federal ammunition in stock, but most of the bigger stores as well as a number of internet retailers sell ammo for the cartridge. 200 grain loads are most popular for that cartridge. Though it’s not readily available as factory ammunition, many reloading manuals have loads for up to 250 grain bullets. ), In 1987 Browning produced a modern version of the Model 71 in Japan. Glad you enjoyed the article! figure of .223e—I’d have to agree with you as well. On my way out of the gun shop, I picked up an older Bushnell Banner 1.5×4 for $29.99. Finally picked up my Savage MSR 10 in 338 Federal. [2][3], Barnes, Frank C., ed. John, They had them at Grice Gun Shop in Pennsylvania, and Grice listed them on GunBroker. This page was last edited on 22 December 2020, at 00:16 (UTC). Using a .308 Winchester case necked up to use .338″ bullets, the .338 Federal is advertised as having more muzzle energy than the 7mm Remington magnum, and shooting flatter, retaining more energy, and having less recoil than the 30-06. While there is a large amount of overlap in their capabilities, each one does offer certain advantages. The price was right $399.00! Though it’s still hanging around, the cartridge has greatly declined in popularity in recent years. The 338 would be really cool however the 358 intrigues me. As you can see, there’s a wide disparity in availability between the three cartridges. The data used to compare the trajectory and wind drift of the cartridges was obtained from Buffalo Bore (here), Federal (here, here, and here) and Hornady (here). Not surprisingly, all three cartridges have very similar case capacities. Case capacities and reloading data were obtained from Kwk, Hornady (p651 of the 10th Edition Hornady Reloading Manual), and Nosler (here and here). All other things being equal, a bigger bullet will make a bigger hole, cause more tissue damage, and result in more blood loss. On the other hand, .358 Winchester ammo is even more rare. Pour la chasse … (.358) 225 gr Nosler Partition (cerfs élaphes, sangliers, ours bruns, …) The .338 Federal is not quite as resistant to wind drift as the .308 Winchester though and it does have more recoil than the .308 Winchester as well. Additionally, all three cartridges have basically the same maximum pressure. The 210 tsx flattened a bull moose at around 75 yds. Please note, the following information reflects the estimated average ballistics for each caliber and does not pertain to a particular manufacturer, b The shared heritage of the .308 Winchester, .338 Federal, and .358 Winchester are obvious in the photo below. Typical 200gr .338 Federal factory loads have a trajectory that’s virtually identical to 180gr .308 Winchester factory loads, but the loads for the Federal cartridge also have more kinetic energy all the way out past 500 yards. caliber rifles. Do you want a cartridge well suited to hunt large game like elk, moose, red stag, or kudu in North American or on an Africa or New Zealand hunting safari? Therefore, for all intents and purposes, we can treat all three cartridges as though they have the same maximum pressure. With regards to bullet weight, the majority of .308 Winchester factory loads shoot bullets in the 110-180 grain range. If you were to vote for the .30-30 Winchester based on its higher Sectional Density values—the 170-grain .308 bullet has an S.D. Perfect bullet expansion. In my opinion its the perfect round for the one gun hunter. In this article, I’m going to do a detailed comparison of the 338 Federal vs 308 Winchester vs 358 Winchester in order parse out the differences between those three cartridges so you can make an informed decision regarding which one will work best for you. Even then, this may not be a big issue for most hunters, but it’s certainly something to keep in mind. Copyright © 2021 Big Game Hunting Adventures LLC | All Rights Reserved. I usually loaded 250gr Speer Hot Core bullets at max loads. Even so, the cartridge remained pigeon-holed as a “woods” or “bush cartridge” in the minds of many hunters and shooters and it never really caught on as an all-around big game hunting cartridge in the hunting community at large. Oh, and the .338 Federal does all that while at the same time fitting in a short length rifle action as well. The situation is similar, but not quite the same with wind drift. For close in work, the 225 woodleigh RN is wonderful performer. Thanks for your comment and for your feedback PJ. Book an outstanding black bear hunt here. The .308 Winchester uses .308″ bullets, the .338 Federal uses .338″ bullets, and the .358 Winchester uses .358″ bullets. Of the three rounds, I only have experience with the 308 and 358. I didn’t know Ruger made that special run of rifles in .358 Winchester. Iola, WI: Gun Digest® Books, 2014. pg 412, http://www.b-mriflesandcartridges.com/upload/50BMAK%20by%20Layne%20Simpson.pdf, The Winchester 71 and .348 Winchester Cartridge, The Model 71 Winchester and the .348 WCF Cartridge, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=.348_Winchester&oldid=995613378, Winchester Repeating Arms Company cartridges, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 December 2020, at 00:16. The pressures listed for the .308 Winchester and .338 Federal above are both measured using the transducer method while the .358 Winchester pressure was measured using the crusher method. (The Model 71 was discontinued in 1958. Currently, Savage and Wilson Combat are the two primary options for hunters wanting a new bolt action rifle or carbine chambered in .338 Federal. Do you primarily hunt medium sized game animals like deer, feral hogs, or black bear at ranges within 200 yards? That being said, a serious hunter should still be able to find a high quality hunting rifle that suits his or her needs well regardless of the cartridge chosen. It is excellent for any North American big game in woods or brush, if the 250 grain bullet is used, but not especially suited to long range (400 yards and beyond) as a result of the need to use flat-nose slugs due to the Model 71's tubular magazine. At this time, the Browning BLR (Browning Lever Action Rifle) is the only rifle currently manufactured in .358 Winchester. To me, this gun gives the maximum amount of power for the minimum amount of pain. I know it is capable of much more than what the factory offers and I’m excited to play around with it. It was introduced in 1936, and developed for the Winchester Model 71 lever action rifle. BUY A NICE 308 WINCHESTER HUNTING RIFLE HERE, BUY A REALLY GOOD 338 FEDERAL HUNTING RIFLE HERE, BUY A GREAT 358 WINCHESTER HUNTING RIFLE HERE. This is a significant advantage for the .338 Federal vs the .308 Winchester and an even bigger advantage for the .358 Winchester. While I could chose from a variety of deer rifles in my cabinet including the two aforementioned .308 Win. Winchester manufactured the .358 Winchester in the Model 88 lever action rifle and the Model 70 bolt action rifle for a time. After tons of research, I found the 338 Federal to be my big bore of choice. This is an area where the .358 Winchester (at close range) and .338 Federal really shine when compared to the .308 Winchester. The .308 Winchester is no slouch though, especially when using heavy, premium quality bullets (like the Nosler Partition). Get a good hunting rifle chambered in the cartridge that you think fits your needs the best, learn to shoot it well, use quality bullets, and you’ll be all set for most hunting situations. 30-06 ammo is a popular choice among American hunters and shooters today and the round has an interesting past. 6.5 Grendel 100gr FMJ Wolf WPA Military Classic Ammo Box (20 rds) $1.65/rd $32.99: In Stock 4d ago 30m ago The Armory × As such, it is almost always more powerful and faster than the .30-30 Winchester.