Almost weightless, the William's 5D receiver sight offers quick aim and a clean receiver profile.

He similarly dismissed the .30. “About all we can do to improve on the .308 Marlin Express is to increase case capacity and velocity. We’d run into space problems with bigger hulls; besides, bullet speeds above 2,700 fps often cost more than they’re worth.” He settled on the .33.

Some might say Federal beat him to the punch, with the excellent .338 Federal just now getting its legs. But the Federal round—a .308 Winchester necked up—was designed for short bolt actions, not lever rifles. Dave wanted more powder capacity to keep pressures modest without sacrificing ballistic muscle. In short order, he located a case with promise: the .376 Steyr. Hornady already manufactured the round, with 225- and 270-grain bullets.

“Marlin specified a rimmed case for its 1895 mechanism,” Dave explained. “We used the Steyr hull as a model but didn’t make the new round from that brass.”

Whereas the .308 Marlin Express features a thinner web than the .307 Winchester (for added capacity), the new .33 has a thicker web than the .376 Steyr (for added strength).

“We re-engineered our 200-grain .338 Winchester Magnum bullet with a thinner jacket to encourage upset at long range. Of course, it has a flexible tip.”

Functioning with the new round was smooth and fault-free. This Marlin cycles as would a .30-30.

The new cartridge, dubbed the .338 Marlin Express, measures 2.60 inches as factory loaded. The 1.89-inch semi-rimmed case has a 25-degree shoulder, a base diameter of .553. At .30, the neck might seem a bit short of ideal by traditional handloading standards, but given limits imposed by the action, it’s surely long enough. In profile, the cartridge looks efficient and muscular.

The chronograph shows it has plenty of pep, too. In fact, at 2,565 fps, the new .338’s pointed 200-grain bullet matches the velocity and energy of the .348 Winchester bullet at the muzzle, then quickly leaves it behind. The .338 Marlin Express bullet can’t quite deliver the energy of the much heavier (325-grain) .450 Marlin. But at the 100-yard mark, they have equal punch, and beyond that, the ballistically superior .338 takes over. It very nearly duplicates the arc and payload of a 210-grain Nosler Partition from the .338 Federal but at significantly lower pressure.

Like its sibling, the .308 Marlin Express, the .338 traces a flat trajectory. With a scope adjusted to land bullets three inches high at 100 yards, the 160-grain .308 ME and 200-grain .338 ME stay within a half-inch of each other to 200 yards, where they strike about 1 1/2 inches low. At 300 yards, the .308 ME drops roughly seven inches, the .338 ME drops eight. At 400 they’re down 23 1/2 and 25 1/2 inches, respectively. That far off, a 180-grain .30-06 bullet started at 2,700 fps strikes 21 1/2 inches low.