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Tikka 338 loads
Posted by Murphy on Mar 29 2005
Hunt4,
I'm curious, what are you getting for groups? What are you using to rest the rifle? Is this rifle new with a clean barrel? How many rounds have you fired? How fast do you shoot? I mean do you let it cool between shots? With a light weight barrel such as the Tikka lite, in a heavy magnum caliber, it probably will not ever group with the heavier barreled lighter caliber guns. Also, if you can get three shots into two inches at 100 yards with a 6 pound 338 WM, you are doing a helluva job shooting. I hear or read a lot of stories about how good ol' betsy shoots but when it comes time to demonstrate it in front of people, something goes wrong. What I'm saying is, very few people can shoot a heavy recoiling light weight rifle well enough to brag about the groups. It is a hunting rifle designed to take very large game, not ground squirrels. Precision is rarely needed. Just about any ammo from that rifle will be more accurate than you as a shooter, or anyone else, can shoot. Here are some basic tips which apply to all rifles when trying to get good groups. First of all start with a clean (no copper fouling) barrel that is free from oil or solvent. Make sure the bedding screws are tight, the gun has to be firmly in the stock. Make sure the scope is of good quality and mounted correctly and all screws are tight. The rifle must be rested on sand bags or similar and stay put without you holding it. Now, put the butt of the rifle in the pocket of the shoulder when you get in position. Maintain the same pressure on forend and stock each shot. Break each shot as if your life depended on it, a good trigger squeeze here. Then stand up and stretch a bit and without looking at your target, repeat this procedure. Don't get in a hurry. Shoot only three shots. Then walk down to the target, that will take some time to cool the barrel. The most accurate factory loaded hunting ammo for your caliber is the Federal Premium Nosler partitions. I'll bet on that any day. A bonded bullet, even of high quality, will be slightly less accurate, but we are splitting hairs here. If you want to hunt moose, use the Fed 250 gr partitions. For caribou I would use the 210 gr partition Fed load.If you are hunting big bears, use something with 250 gr Swift A-frame bullet. Best bet is always to load your own if you want peak accuracy but there is very good ammo available over the counter for all calibers. The Barnes bullets are solid copper, soft copper, they foul a barrel very quickly and make cleaning more difficult. They are usually at the bottom in terms of accuracy.
I hope this helps, hang in there and good shootin'.
Murphy
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