338/50 Talbot

Historical Notes:

The 338/50 Talbot is the work of Skip Talbot, Talbot's Custom Equipment in Fallon, Nevada. Skip began development of the cartridge in 1984 as an outgrowth of working with the 50 caliber Browning Machine Gun cartridge. The 338/50 is a 50BMG necked down to 338 caliber and with the shoulder angle increased to 35 degrees. The primary purpose of the 338/50 is long range target shooting out to 3000 yards. Forming dies are made by RCBS. 

General Comments:

The 338/50 is a highly specialized cartridge and not intended for hunting. It would, of course, be adequate for any North American big game and the same would apply to Africa. The cartridge is over bore capacity and sever throat erosion occurred within only 250 rounds. Talbot also tried a shortened version of the cartridge, about one inch shorter than the full length case, in order to increase the loading density. The maximum load of 170 grains of Accurate Arms 8700 powder occupied only 77 percent of the volumetric capacity. However, the short version was not successful because muzzle velocity was reduced by about 500 fps. The full length case developed a muzzle velocity of 3700 fps with a 250 grain bullet when fired from a 44 inch barrel. By comparison, the 340 Weatherby Magnum pushes the 250 grain bullet at an initial velocity of 2850 fps from a 26 inch barrel, so the 338/50 develops an additional 850 fps with the same bullet. When one considers that, perhaps, 500 fps of the muzzle velocity results solely from a longer than standard barrel, these ballistics are not so impressive. However, with a much slower powder and bullets of 300 grains or heavier, the results might be spectacular. It is an interesting cartridge, but not very practical for most purposes

Source: Cartridges of the World

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