The .338 Federal was designed by Federal Ammunition and it is a SAAMI standardized cartridge that was released in 2006.

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In the mid-1890s, Colt redesigned the cartridge. They reduced the entire diameter of the bullet to 0.386″ OD and lengthened the brass case in order to put both the bullet and its lubrication inside the case. The overall length of both loaded cartridges was about the same. The barrel of the revolver was reduced slightly to match the more popular .38-40 at 0.400–0.401″ groove diameter. This meant that the outside diameter (OD) of the new bullet was smaller than the barrel’s bore, let alone its groove diameter. A hollow-base bullet can be dropped down the bore by gravity alone. The newer soft lead bullet was made with a large hollow base, like Civil War Minié balls. The intent was for the base of the bullet to expand with the pressure of the burning gunpowder to grip the rifling.

The original .41 Long Colt brass cases came in three primary lengths, although they vary quite a bit within a headstamp.  The first ones were the shortest at about 0.932 to 0.937″ long. In balloon-head cases, they held about 20 gr of compressed black powder (BP) with a 200 gr flat-bottom, heel-base, blunt-nose bullet. The next cases were about 1.130 to 1.138″ long with a 200 gr hollow-base, blunt-nose bullet and about 21 gr of BP (also in balloon-head cases). Although the brass case lengths were far different, both cartridges were about the same overall length when loaded. The last brass case length was 1.050 to 1.100″ long and was created exclusively for hand loaders so that both heel-base and hollow-base bullets could be used interchangeably (note that cartridges made from the longest brass cases and heel-base bullets are too long to fit most .41 Long Colt revolvers).

The accuracy of the .41 Long Colt is adequate for what it was intended; close range self-defense, its drawback had more to do with the heavy double-action trigger pull of the Thunderer.  Elmer Keith wrote in his book Sixguns that the “.41 Long Colt was a better fight-stopper than its paper ballistics would indicate” and it was “better for self-defense than any .38 Special load made”.  Keith would go onto design the .41 Magnum, possibly influenced by the advantages of the .41 Long Colt. However, .41 Long Colt cannot be fired out of a revolver chambered for either .41 Special or .41 Magnum.

The .41 Long Colt worked well considering the mismatch of bullet and bore sizes, but by the beginning of World War I it was in serious decline and it fell from use by the beginning of World War II.  The .41 Long Colt was a moderately popular chambering in several Colt models. It was available in the Model 1877 Thunderer double action revolver, the series of New Army and New Navy revolvers of 1889, 1892 94,95,96, 1901 & 1903, the Single Action Army, 1878 double action, the Bisley Model, the Army Special-Official Police.  Today, the .41 Long Colt is a mere relic of the past and is considered obsolete. It is currently only produced sporadically for high prices by a handful of small manufacturers such as Black Dog Ammunition and Ultramax, as the Model 1877 Colt Thunderer is considered by collectors too valuable to shoot.

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Although the .280 Remington is considered to be a very balanced cartridge combining the best attributes of both cartridiges due to the high ballistic coefficient and sectional density, characteristic of 7mm calibers, it did not reach the popularity achieved by the .30-06 and .270 Win.

The famous wildcatter P.O Ackley, worked on the .280 Remington case in order to add it to the line of “Ackley Improved” cartridges and named it the .280 Ackley Improved 40 degrees. By 2008, Nosler standardized it and SAAMI accepted it. Ever since, the .280 Ackley Improved has earned great popularity in the US market.  Several different companies manufacture rifles chambered in .280 AI, including the Ruger M77 Hawkeye, Savage 110, Browning X-Bolt and Weatherby Mark V.

The .280 AI is basically the .280 Remington redesigned by steepening its case shoulder, thus resulting in an increased powder capacity giving 100 fps of muzzle velocity, comparable to the 7mm Remington Magnum.

The differences between the .280 Remington and the .280 Ackley improved are minimal. A .280 Remington cartridge fired from a rifle chambered in .280 Ackley Improved will result in a case formed for the latter, which may be used for reloading.

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The .308 Marlin Express was designed to produce performance similar to the .308 Winchester. This would give lever-action hunters improved performance over their .30-30 Winchester rounds.  Due to the round being used in a tubular magazine, the round requires the use of a flat nose or round nose bullet.  Also the Hornady FTX bullet can be used due to its soft tip that allows it to be used in tubular magazines.

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32-40 Winchester

$51.00

Bullet	Choose an option170gr Oregon Trail RNFP
Brass	Choose an optionNewReman
Quantity	Choose an option20rdsClear

32-40 Winchester quantity

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SKU: N/A Categories: Ammo, Ammunition, Rifle

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The cartridge is acceptable, with proper bullet, for medium-size big game such as North American whitetail deer within 250 yards.   However, the standard Italian service round used an unstable round-nosed bullet with a propensity to tumble, whether hitting soft tissue/ballistic gel or harder material such as bone.

It has been found that the cartridge is indeed accurate   and the rifles were well constructed. Cartridge developers and experimental handloaders such as P.O. Ackley found the rifle was able to handle excess pressure, with even Ackley’s abuse “unable to break the action.”  A testament to the quality of the rifle and the cartridge.

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The 38-40 was first offered in the Winchester 1873 rifle.  Later, Colt, Remington and Marlin also chambered rifles for it.  It is most often found chambered in the Colt SAA revolver.  This old cartridge should only be loaded with Black Powder or Black Powder Substitutes.  It does have loadings listed for smokeless powders.

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The .22-250 is similar to but was outperformed by the larger .220 Swift cartridge. However, it is in much wider use and has a larger variety of commercially available factory ammunition than the Swift. This makes it generally cheaper to shoot. The smaller powder load also contributes to more economical shooting for users who load their own ammunition. Due to its rimless case the 22-250 also feeds from a box magazine more reliably than the Swift, a semi-rimmed cartridge susceptible to rim lock.

In 1937 Phil Sharpe, one of the first gunsmiths to build a rifle for the .22-250 and long time .220 Swift rifle builder, stated, “The Swift performed best when it was loaded to approximately full velocity,” whereas “The Varminter case permits the most flexible loading ever recorded with a single cartridge. It will handle all velocities from 1,500 ft/s up to 4,500 ft/s.”

Sharpe credited the steep 28-degree shoulder for this performance. He insisted that it kept the powder burning in the case rather than in the throat of the rifle, as well as prevented case stretching and neck thickening. “Shoulder angle ranks along with primer, powders, bullets, neck length, body taper, loading density and all those other features,” he wrote. “The .22 Varminter seems to have a perfectly balanced combination of all desirable features and is not just an old cartridge pepped up with new powders.”

Accuracy was consistently excellent, with little need for either case trimming or neck reaming, and Sharpe pronounced it “my choice for the outstanding cartridge development of the past decade.” He finished by saying he looked forward to the day when it would become a commercial cartridge.

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