Why did the 338 Federal fail?

You can always find room to make improvements for a military application, but I presumed we were primarily talking about the 338 Federal making it's way as a hunting cartridge in a world filled with calibers for every need already. It does seem that the Human Race has a fascination with competition, winning, acquiring, dominating, and showing off the latest, greatest, fastest, flashiest things they can get their hands on. Not everyone, mind you, but it's a pervasive tendency. So there tends to be a market for some items where there is absolutely no need but yet the item fulfills some innate desire as above. The 338 Federal is actually kind of practical relative to some of the faster and more sensational calibers. But the plain-Jane-practical girl just doesn't get the attention that the fashionable glamorous girls get. While I would rather drive an older pick-up truck suitable for a load of firewood and driving up a long, rough, and brush-scratching road to the wilderness trail-head, (even in town), most others want a nicer vehicle than that and they want to replace it often with a newer one. This is why the 338 Federal will receive faint praise as a minor footnote, relegated to a few reloading manuals, while some flashy newcomer gets less deserving attention, but attention none-the-less. I finally shot a 257 Weatherby the other day. It's my brother's nice Browning 1885 High-Wall. But I don't crave one; I'll stick with my tried-and-true, 270 Winchester. There must be at least a dozen or two other calibers that will do the same job as a 338 Federal. It's a good performing, but forgettable cartridge.
 
the .338 is a perfectly suitable cartridge, but it doesn't do anything the "big 4" of .308, .30-06, .270 and 7mm mag can't do.
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It does one thing 3 of those 4 can't do, fit in a short action.

It splits the difference between .30 and .35 cal. giving some of the advantages of both. And it fits in short actions, and some lever guns. It seems to be a good round, but not impressive enough to dominate any particular niche.

Likely if will have a small, dedicated following, but outside of them, be relatively obscure.

In a decade, or two, some writer will "discover" it, and write it up, and it will be popular for a little while, before fading again.
 
I was torn between the 358 and the 338 when I was deciding what to build--the 358 won out barely mostly cause it delivers monster energy out of a 308 case--I think the 338 federal will live on mostly due to the ease of converting AR 10 type rifles to it.
 
338 Federal and 327 Federal. Tried to compete with comparable well established well liked cartridges. Seems to me neither Federal newbie garnered the shooting public's attention nor there dedicated Ruger firearm/s to keep either from sliding into obsolescence.
 
I like "Pathfinder's idea" a Model 99 in 338 Fed sounds very cool :cool:. I have many calibers now, or I would otherwise pursue the 338 Fed.
I have never been a big fan of the 7RM or 300WM, great rounds that they are! Beating up my shoulder just doesn't appeal to me any more.:D
 
It does one thing 3 of those 4 can't do, fit in a short action.

It splits the difference between .30 and .35 cal. giving some of the advantages of both.
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This is something I'll admit I've never quite gotten. I've always felt like there was a bit of a no man's land between the big 4 cartridges and and the dangerous game cartridges. My personal hunting rifles are a .308 scout rifle and a 7mm mag, and then I've got nothing up until a .375 H&H and a magnumized .45-90.

Now I'll be the first to say I own the big guns "just because" - I have no great bear or bison hunts in my near future. But conceptually it's clear what game they're intended for and if I wanted to pay I could hunt it. But I don't have much of a picture in my mind of what kind of hunt might be ideal for a .33 or .35 caliber rifle. I guess .35 Whelen could be thought of as sort of a minimum bison caliber, but I'd just use the .375 H&H and they're chambered in pretty similar guns it seems like. I like cartridges like the .338 federal, .35 Whelen, and .348 Winchester in the abstract but I occasionally wonder exactly what I'd use them for and thus have never bought one.
 
I think a lot of guys are going to barrel up a 99 Savage to one. I picked up a Green Mountain barrel and put it to the side just in case I live long enough to do one myself. I have a couple beater 99s laying around, so maybe.
 
Gunplummer said:
I think a lot of guys are going to barrel up a 99 Savage to one. I picked up a Green Mountain barrel and put it to the side just in case I live long enough to do one myself. I have a couple beater 99s laying around, so maybe.
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I don't think it's ever going to be a popular conversion for the Savage 99, but there are a few out there. When the cartridge first came out a former forum member by the name WildAlaska (aka Wild West Guns) did one in his shop. You can read the original post here.
 
Taylorforce1, That guy did not know what he was doing. I have done quite a few barrel and caliber changes on 99s with no problems. The problems working on 99s start with a gun some else monkeyed around with already.
 
Gunplummer said:
Taylorforce1, That guy did not know what he was doing. I have done quite a few barrel and caliber changes on 99s with no problems. The problems working on 99s start with a gun some else monkeyed around with already.
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Well we don't know the story behind that rifle, other than it had magazine issues. It may have been "monkeyed" with prior to Wild West Guns making it a .338 Fed. Plus I don't think WildAlaska did anything other than run the retail portion of the shop. I still don't see many people running out to make a 99 a .338 Fed, the rifles unless seriously "monkeyed" with have more value in their original chambering.
 
I always thought that the .338 Federal would make a dandy cast bullet rifle. But the simple fact is that the .338 Fed is a niche cartridge. I don't know that it has failed, and I certainly see the appeal.

But, you can walk into any gun store, anywhere across the country and pick up a .308, or .30-06, or any of a dozen other calibers that will do everything that the .338 will do without having to search for ammo.

There is a heck of a lot of .223, .270, .308 (etc) sold every year to lots of shooters who simply hunt and buy one or two boxes of ammo every year to bring home their venison. By-and-large, the ammo companies aren't making ammo for us, they're making it for those guys, who outnumber us by the hundreds to one.

I've often thought that a .338 Federal would make a nice project rifle, but I've got a lot of projects and not that much money. It's way down on the list.
 
Simple swap out of barrels on an AR 10--just like the 358 win--should be all there is to it. And like the 358--reloading should be nothing more than a simple neck up with plentiful 308 brass available. All things being equal--I like bigger holes better. : )
 
Maybe it will fail because the other companies "Blackball" Federal products. Maybe Federal is stupid and will not allow other companies to produce their ammunition? Remember the 7-30 Waters? What a flop that was. I don't remember ever seeing any ammunition other than Federal for that cartridge and I don't see anybody else making ammunition for the .338 either. Not even brass.
 
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