338 Marlin Express vs 338 Federal

[daisygordoninc]

Because I am a "lever gun" guy, have been for my whole life,
the 338 Marlin Express is presently my choice between the two.
Any of you have experiences with the 338 Federal that makes
you think it is superior to the 338 Marlin? I'm really unfamiliar
with 338 Federal. This has probably been debated previously
but I'm relatively new to this forum.

[44shooter]

The 338 Federal is a simply the 308 Win necked up. It would be the choice if you are favoring a bolt action or any other type of rifle that is made for 243, 260, 7-08, 308 or 358. If you want a tube feed lever action, the 338 Marlin Express is the way to go. The Express has a unique case and isn't popular at all. If you get this one, get some ammo, brass and dies immediately.

Both cartridges are loaded with powders from the factory that are unavailable to handloaders. Therefore we cannot currently match factory performance.

I have no experience with either. My conclusions are from reading and shopping. I'm about to start messing with a 338 RCM though. Same deal....unpopular, inflated factory velocity, hard to find ammo, components and dies. Should be a powerful, compact, effective rifle nonetheless.

[.45colt]

I can't speak of the .338 Federal but the Marlin is one of My favorite rounds. Remlin has no idea what they could have with the (.338) platform and are not even building the rifles. For the past few years Work, Grandchildren and this year Eye-surgery have taken My range time. with any luck the eye issue is behind Me now. I don't like the Hornady ammo as much of it I bought years ago is loaded so hot I had primers flowing back and sticky extraction on a lot of the rounds fired. the Remington 250's changed My mind though. on (Real Guns) their is some data that uses Hawk bullets that is very good. An old post of mine. http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... 98#p429598

[Pisgah]

The .338 ME comes close to the .338 Federal at lower pressures and in that sense is a good round. But as already noted the .338 Marlin case is a one-off, a modified .376 Steyr, not very popular, and likely destined to fade from the scene before long. If you are a handloader, well and good, but caution would dictate laying in dies and a big supply of brass while they can be had. I have two Brown 97D rifles in .300 and 6.5 Bench Rest Magnum. The .300 brass is easy to come by -- just fire .30-30 in the rifle for perfectly fireformed brass -- but the 6.5 is strictly proprietary. I can still buy new 6.5 brass from Eben Brown, but I am glad I bought 300 cases way back when, when the price was 1/3 of what it is today!

[6pt-sika]

I had a pair of the Marlins in 338 Express one was blues walnut and the other was stainless laminated . Did the same with the 308 Express and all four were okay rifles . I also happened to have had an Encore rifle barrel in 338 Federal I liked the 338 Federal quite a bit .

[Ji in Hawaii]

I'd LOVE a BLR or a new Henry "Long Ranger" in 338 Federal or even 358 Remington. I have a ton of 308 brass so reloading not an issue through affording a new BLR or Long Ranger and then rebarreling to 338 or 358 certainly is with my fixed income and extreme cost of living here in "paradise".

Too bad the 338 Marlin Express never caught on.

[BenT]

The 338MX is only second to my 356 Win for favorite deer hunting levergun. Both rounds drop deer great. Remington is missing out on this round the 22 in barrel gun balances great and doesn't weight much more than the 30-30. Brass isn't hard to come by and last a long time. This isn't a bench gun so the amount of rounds shot a year will be minimal. 300 rounds of brass will last a lifetime.

But I would buy a BLR or Henry in 338 Fed,