Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How accurate is your T3 338 Federal?

I recently purchased a T3 Hunter 338 Federal and have run several different factory loads through it. I have not been extremely impresed with any of them, but they were all less than 2-2.5 MOA at 100 yds. The 180 grain accubonds were the most accurate followed by the 200 grain federal blue bax and then the 200 grain fusions. The 185 grain american eagle load was last of the 4 rounds tested but again it wasn't horrible. I have a T3 25-06 that after testing several different loads I found that it is extremely accurate with 117 grain hornady SST's (.5 MOA) and was hoping to find an extremely accurate 338 Fed. load as well. I have yet to fire it at an animal but have no doubt that it will get the job done. I really like the feel of this gun. Mine is topped with a pentax pioneer 3-9x40. What has been your experience with the 338 federal accuracy wise?

mine is a ruger but it likes the 185gr barnes best, followed by the fusion loads.

The first time I shot mine was with factory Fusions just for the brass alone. The damn thing shot 2.5"+ groups. I was able to get .75-1.25" accuracy from several handloads, but it has a slow bbl compared to the MVs I see posted on here. The funniest thing was I tried Fusions again later on and it shot a bit less than an inch. It's not the most accurate rig by any means, but works for a beat around gun. Good luck getting Berretta to fix it if it doesn't shoot with any factory ammo you try, I've heard they will not honor the accuracy gaurantee.

I'd fiddle with the screw torque and make sure there is no potential for inconsistent contact between the barrel and forend. I've also found every rifle I own has shot better after putting some Tubbs Final Finish through it. Just thoughts, never owned a Tikka so can't speak to it directly.

Mine is a Stevens with Shillen barrel that shoots 1 to 1-1/2 groups with all so far

My T3/338Fed shoots 200 Fusions best, 1" plus or minus about an 1/8". All other factory loads are about 1 1/2". I wish it was the tackdriver that the family heirloom 358Win is.

I had the exact experience with my T3 in .338 Fed.It didn't like any of the limited factory loads available,I couldn't bring it under 2.5" at 100 yards.I handload but I didn't feel like spending the money to see if I could make it shoot.I feel any new rifle should get better accuracy than that.I sent it down the road.
Thanks,
Bob

My T3 Lite shoots MOA or better with factory 200 grain Fusion. I haven't done much in the way of load development, but I get the same results with handloaded 200 grain Hornady Interlocks.
I have a box of 210 TSXs that I'll try when the snow is gone.

Anyone have any theories as to why these 338 federals do not seem to be as accurate as many of the other Tikkas? Anone have any accurizing tricks that have worked for them on these guns. I am not saying that it is not accurate enough for hunting purposes, it is just not what I have come to expect from my experience with another tikka as well as from what I have seen on here from other people's tikkas.

Handloading for it is about the only thing I can think of to make your stock gun shoot better. IME a good tube with a good platform will shoot just about anything pretty good, but shoot several loads very well. OTOH I've found several rifles that only did well with a load or two and sometimes finding that load can be a pain. My T3 in 300WM is a perfect example, the damn thing wouldn't shoot worth a hoot with nearly every load I tried. I was about to trade it, then found it really liked 180TTSXs.

Good Luck

loder

Is it an across the board thing with the 338F Tikkas? Maybe they had a run of below average barrels or some minor issue with a reamer, new trainee at the controls, who knows. So far the 185 TTSX seems to shoot universally well in the 338 Feds. I've tried it with multiple powders and they always shoots better than every other bullet (and I've tried a lot). Load some up with TAC or IMR 8208 XBR. I will again recommend loading up the Tubbs Final Finish kit and shooting it. If there are irregularities in the barrel it will help to clean them up. The three barrels I've used it in all shot better afterwards. They weren't as bad as what you're describing to begin with, but I doubt it will hurt anything.

I had a T3 in 338 Federal, it only liked the 160 TTSX and that was only after trying several powders. I believe it was switching to RL 7 that fixed my accuracy issues...have had 7 Tikka's all shot better than the 338 fed.

Extremesolo: My Tikka T-3 in 338 Federal has a Zeiss 3x9 scope on it and to date I have only run factory TSX 185's through it.
I just last week found and bought some Federal factory brass so my "handload development" for this Rifle is soon to commence.
Accuracy with these 185 grain factory bullets was so-so at around 1.5" for several 3 shot groups.
I was not miffed at this level of accuracy nor was I impressed!
I did want to add though that my modest power scope and moderate amount of shooting brought me these so-so results so far.
I will report back with handload accuracy BEFORE the coming spring Black Bear season here in Montana starts.
Good luck with your Tikka.
This is the first Tikka I have owned/Hunted with and I have no real complaints at all with it.
And like you I am very fond of the feel, fit and balance of this Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

At least I am glad to know that I am not the only one with this experience. It seems 1.5" is the norm and not the exception. As varmintGuy stated not exactly impressive but not horrible either. I bought the gun used and have not thoroughly cleaned the barrel yet. I will have to give it a good cleaning and then shoot it again to see if there are any accuracy changes. I do not handload yet but may be ordering some reloading equipment in the next few days. VG please keep me posted on your handload developments as i will be very interested in seeing what you find out.