Pathfinder45
New member
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.