Originally Posted By: 1badsheeNot sure why the 338 would have pressure issues other than not being reloaded properly, a friend has one and has never mentioned any issues like that.
I think it's quite reasonable to expect, logically at least, that the 338Fed would have issues with over-gassing in the AR-10. The comfort level that I'd have is that the 338Fed has the same dwell time and operating pressure as the 308win, but on the other hand, it's the same operating pressure with a 20% larger bore area and 20% heavier bullet over ~3-5% more powder, meaning more gas generation. With an adjustable gas block, I'm sure it's easily managed, but I wouldn't necessarily be surprised to see pushed or popped primers or case head swipes (CHS) in the Fed in an AR-10. I'd tend to assume that there would be interest in a heavier buffer to scrub off some recoil as well.
"Long Range" is always a subjective term that can mean different ranges for different applications and different folks, but I'd also think there's nothing wrong with the 338Fed as a "long range" option, at least compared to it's counterparts. If you compare trajectory for a 260rem 140grn pill at ~2750fps, a 308win 165grn at ~2700fps, and a 338fed 200grn at ~2600fps, and recognize that the 200grn 338 pill has a BETTER BC than the 260's 140grn, you're talking about 3" difference in drop compensation at 500yrds, and no more than about 10" across the field of loads available for both (looking around 45-55"). I'd expect about that much variability even within a single cartridge just by changing environmental conditions (depending on your powder choice), so I wouldn't sweat a 1-2MOA difference in trajectory.
If you can manage the drop of a 260rem, you can manage the drop of the 338Federal equally well.
