Is a tikka action Long/strong enough for 338 lapua
- Thread starter Prebanpaul
- Start date
I would never recommend it for safety reasons. A 1.35" diameter action and a barrel shank to match chambered for the large diameter Lapua cartridge would not leave a lot of metal around the chamber for a high pressure cartridge. Yeah, some manufacturers have done it, but when I wanted a Rigby (the Lapua is based on a shortened .416 Rigby) I bought a Safari magnum action which is much larger than a Howa, Remington or Winchester.
Lapua size bolt face doesn’t exist for a tikka that I’m aware of. Also OAL would probably be an issue.
I have all Sako/TIkka actions for bolt guns. I have a trg42 already in a Lapua. I am looking for a lighter weight hunting rig. That was my thought process.
The bolt face can be opened up, seen it done, doesn't leave a lot of meat behind. As far as length goes it can always be single loaded. But once again, not anything I would recommend. Just because something can be done doesn't make it a good idea.
Short answer: no. The T3 action is neither strong enough nor long enough for the 338 LM. If you REALLY wanted to, you could do a 33 Nosler, but you'd be really limited in terms of bullet seating depth (read: the bullets would have to be seated such that they ate up a fair amount of case capacity).
Really, your best bet for a long range heavy hitter with the T3 action is the 300 PRC w/ Berger 230s or similar.
Really, your best bet for a long range heavy hitter with the T3 action is the 300 PRC w/ Berger 230s or similar.
I think the tikka long action might be a little limited in OAL for the 300 PRC based on the mags I’ve seen and OAL specs I’ve seen for that round.
I had the T3X Tac A1 in 308 and loved that rifle. I have been waiting to see Tikka release a 338LM version, but I have not seen or heard anything that indicates it it a possibility unfortunately.
Yeah, I know... I was just thinking of 300 PRC vs 300 Win Mag kinda along the same lines as the 6.5 Creedmoor vs 260 Rem; the newer, shorter/fatter case has approximately the same volume, but allows for the projectile to be seated further out (for a given OAL), thus not intruding as much on powder capacity.
There's a REALLY good article available from Applied Ballistics that compares 300 Win Mag/230 Berger loads to common 338 LM loads, and makes a pretty compelling case for the 300 WM; presumably the 300 PRC would be capable of similar performance.
I guess that T3 action is too small and it would require a totally new action. Tikkas idea is to use one action for as many as possible so I doubt that there will be new one just for 338LM
