“338 federal”

Named for the antagonist in the medieval classic Beowulf, the 6.5 Grendel certainly delivers a performance level which belies the cartridge’s image.

I briefly covered the 8.6 Blackout in my last Alternative Ammo piece, in which I compared it to the .338 Federal. But because this is such a new, niche cartridge, my editor thought it also deserved a deep dive, so I’m here to provide an in-depth look at the new 8.6 BLK.

Having celebrated its 100^th birthday in 2020, the .300 Savage remains a sound choice as a big-game cartridge—especially in the woods of the Eastern United States.

The .400 H&H Magnum is the most popular of the more obscure Holland & Holland cartridge offerings, and for a number of good reasons.

In my last article, I discussed two not-so-niche cartridges: the .243 Winchester and the 6mm Creedmoor. As you’ve probably guessed by now, I tend to go to extremes (it’s unintentional, I swear). This go around, we’re swinging for the fences on niche rounds: the new 8.6 Blackout (BLK) and the .338 Federal.

Introduced in 1955, the .358 Winchester shares a good number of the dimensional attributes of the .308 Winchester, including the .473-inch-diameter case head, a case length of 2.018 inches and the 20-degree shoulder which is used for headspacing.

A rimless designed made for use in the Mauser-style rifles, the .318 Westley Richards was released sometime between 1906 and 1910, and became one of the most popular medium-bore cartridges for hunting African game.

How did a cartridge developed for an autoloading rifle come to be one of our most revered lever-action cartridges? We take a closer a look at the .35 Remington.

Generating just over 3,200 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy, the .405 Winchester was—at the time of its release in 1904—the most powerful lever-action cartridge available.