Tikka .338 win mag bullets for reloading

A

awatters

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
Location
S.W. ONTARIO
Hi, I am going to be reloading for my .338 tikka M695 for this years Moose season. I tried out some remington core-lokts but not shooting well at 100 yrds grouping around 5-6" diameter area and shooting from a lead sled rest. looking to tighten this group up with reloading and i am wondering what you recommend for powder and lead. Currently i am reloading with IMR 4350 and it has worked well for my other larger calibre rifles and winchester 748 for .243 and under. Basically to sum this up iam looking to see what works great bullet/powder combinations. my thoughts were leaning towards IMR 4350 powder with Barnes TSX bullets? Im just concerned about buying these and they end up working like the Core-lokts, Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
The 225 gr TSX are very accurate in my 338 win mag, and IMR 4350 will work great, although I am using RL 19. If you are getting 6" groups with core-lokts, you may have other problems that need to be addressed. I normally work up loads using hornady bullets and then fine tune using my hunting bullets.
 
in my t3 338, i had great luck with r-19 and 215g gamekings, IIRC off hand around 76.6gns r-19 and seated as long as i could to fit the mag.. 5 shots about 1" at 100 yds
 
Three hints:
  1. make sure that your telescope is secure!!!
  2. make sure that you don't rest the barrel itself on a solid surface!
  3. seat TSX 0.050" (1mm) from the lands (might not fit in your mag)

On a different note, you should try Nosler Accubond 225gr as Accubond bullets, like Ballistic Tip (don't try ballistic tip on moose) bullets have a tangent ogive which allows bullet to self-align in the bore. Accubond (like Ballistic Tip) often give near-match accuracy.

Alex
 
I'm working up 185grain tipped triple shocks with ramshot big game powder and 275grain a-frames with h1000 in my new t3 hunter. Ill let you know how it goes. Last year 4350 and 225grain tsx patterned well out of an old browning bar.
 
My Belgium browning works great with 210 nosler partitions w/ 75 gr. of h 4831 and an oal 3.315". I would work up to this load slowly, show manuals have lower max loads while others are higher. I have some tsx but have yet to try them.
 
I fell in love with Hornady SSP's (200gr) and RL22. It was awesome and talk about some serious kicking.

It was flying (for me) tight groups and about 3" higher than the loads with the same bullet using H4350.

That was a big jump in overall velocity and power. It's my go to load for big game.
 
I shoot 225gr Nosler Accubonds with 73.5gr of Reloader 19 in my Browning A-Bolt, under 1" at 100yds. My Tikka T3 in 30-06 also likes 165 gr. Accubonds with 57.5 gr of IMR 4350.
 
I have had good results with RL-19 for the 225gr bullets and IMR-4350 for the 250gr bullets. Hornady 225gr SST's, 250gr SP's and both 225gr and 250gr Accubonds have all shot well out of my Ruger M77.


Mark
 
awatters said:
Im just concerned about buying these and they end up working like the Core-lokts, Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Sometimes you have to chalk it up to "sh*t happens". I have most of a box of 286gr 9.3mm TSX. I couldn't drive them over 2000fps no matter how much powder I crammed in. Switched to Normas and they ended up to 2350 with no sweat.

Any real reloader will have not only bullets that didn't give the desired accuracy, but bullets for rifles he no longer has and bullets for rifles that he has never had. It's like the position of the moon or the ebb and flow of the tides. Just let it be.
 
My go to load in 338 Win Mag is Barnes TTSX 225 with BC of .514!!!! (Barnes 225 TSX is only .386) for hunting and Hornady 225 SST with almost the same BC for plinking and RL 19.

I don't shoot game with Lead core bullets due to lead fragmentation in meat.

Andrew
 
338 win mag

My favorite loads for 338 win mag include either 200gr barnes X bullets or 210gr Nosler partition...The powder is the same for both, 760 Win ball powder...this combo give very good accuracy with a very pleasant recoil.
 
I have to say that 5-6" out of a lead sled seems very odd. There must be something wrong. Have you checked all screws, scope mounts etc? Is your scope ok?

I just picked up a box of 185gr TTSX and will be trying IMR4350 with it, and perhaps RL17 as well.
 
There is another possibility. I'm not trying to be hateful, so don't take this personally...can you shoot? Sure, the lead sled will take the abuse out of a bench session, but if you're yanking the trigger you still won't get good groups. Did you buy the lead sled after having the rifle beat the stuffing out of you? If so you may have developed a flinch causing you to anticipate the recoil and yank the trigger, tweak the grip etc. Have you shot the rifle with factory ammo as a control test? Did you (or a previous owner) forget to clean the barrel and end up with a badly pitted bore? Sometimes we are more to blame than the rifle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom