tikka t3 help

[gizzard 0]

hi chaps,

iv'e just bought myself a tikka t3 hunter in 243 cal mainly for roe and fox, this is my first centre fire rifle and i have been testing different makes and weight of ammunition on the range. i like the look and handling of the tikka and think after looking through the forum its quite a popular rifle.

i have been using hornady 100gn ammunition lately and get 3inch ,5shot groups off the bipod at 100 mts , would it be worth trying a lighter bullet and make to see if the grouping will come down any more.

if so what do you experts recommend .

 

regards steve.

[Murph 30]

You might not believe me, but I have the exact same rifle and really struggled with it, it wouldn't group any ammo and I spent a fortune trying all sorts of different types. Luckily, in the end I had a mate who had had the same trouble with his T3. I had tried ammo through my rifle, then shot the same through a steyr and they grouped well from the steyr but not through mine, I then tried my mate shooting my rifle as I was starting to think it was me, but no, his groups were as wide as mine. I had always shot a remmy 700 until it was shot out and it was on the nail every time so I was becoming despondent....

 

On my mates advice, I ended up taking the barrel away from the stock, you will then see the supporting lugs which support the barrel, if the barrel is free floating, you should be able to fit a zero target from the end of the stock to the breech before removing it. In both our cases, you couldn't fit the card in so remove the barrel and sand away the supporting lugs and anything that gets in the way of the card, it sounds extreme and I don't know why they come out of the factory like this but I'd bet that's why your rifle won't group. After ensuring the barrel was free floating in this way I put 3 shots in a target at 120 mts and covered the group with a 20p with no edges of holes showing. I have had no problems since and have never seen this advice before but that's what was wrong with both our rifles, try the card and see.

[gizzard 0]

thanks chap, that could have saved me a lot of time and money. as you say why do they send them out like this, can only go against their reputation. what make of ammunition did you settle on in the end.

 

regards steve.

[Guest remmy]

try some 87g bullets sounds like your barrel would stabilize them better mine likes them , there well worth a try just my 2p worth atb remmy.

[shottyscotty 3]

if you bought the rifle new then just send it back because theres no piont in messing around it should be right from day one

[gizzard 0]

sorry chaps i forgot to say the rifle was a used tikka but in as new condition, the gunsmith i bought it from said i could have a full refund if i wasn't satisfied. i took the rifle back to him and he checked the barrel to make sure it was free floating all the way up. he phoned me up to say that the barrel had actually been touching and he had sanded out the high spots so nothing now could affect it, as you rightly said murph.

went over to try the rifle out and the gun smith had loaded me some 90gn ammunition in hornady brass to try out, the first five shots were to check for grouping at 100 mts , all five shots were 2inch to the right but grouped within 1inch,adjusted the scope to the left and the next bullet went exactly in the centre of the bull, from then on all shots grouped around the 1inch mark.

i'm glad the rifle came true in the end as i really liked the look of the tikka.

thanks for the input murph. regards steve.

[Deker 3,478]

I have exactly the same rifle and fortunately have no issues, it likes the 90g SP and groups without effort at 1" at 100 yards, if I apply myself to the task it clover leafs.

 

Only ever put a handful of 100g through it, almost always use the 90g, they just work!

 

ATB

[Murph 30]

No worries steve, glad you've got it sorted, I ended up using winchester 55gr ballistic silver tips for foxes and munties and 95gr silver tips for Roe, 1" high with the 55gr at 120yds and without altering the zero it shoots the 95gr level with the bull but about 3/4" to the left. Most of my land is foxes and munties only but if i'm out for Roe, I chamber a 95gr and have the mag full of 55gr in case I bump into a fox at range. I have taken munties with the 95gr and carcasse damage was not too bad. My T3 was used but as new as well so I didn't have the chance of sending it back to the factory, I suspect the bloke who had it before me probably had the same trouble and that's why he got rid of it. Can't understand why some come out of the factory like this, I really wasn't keen at taking the sand paper to mine at all but I had tried everything else and it was a last resort before I got rid of it-I wouldn't change it now.

[gizzard 0]

went back on the 100mtr range today just to check it was not a fluke session last time with the tikka, first shot dead centre, wanted to put the rifle away so i didn't spoil things but i had to carry onand hope everthing would be as good as last week, next two shots in the bull then went and spoiled it with next two 1/2 inch out of centre. the difference from two weeks ago is unreal and i nearly gave up on the tikka and bought something else,

wierd thing was that 100grain hornady factory loads started grouping betterthan 90grain homeloads as we went through the session, funny things these centrefires.

this is my first centrefire, which i am going to use for roe and fox and i wanted the rifle to shoot perfectly before i even attempted live quarry. i have never raised a rifle at deer as yet as i was not happy with the rifles performance but everthing seems spot on now. going to have one more session on the range this week then hopefully out this weekend after my first buck ever, is it addictive

 

regards steve.

[pw7x57 0]

Glad you got it sorted. I have a T3 in synthetic with a blue barrel that only likes 100g bullets Hornady and Sako. A lot of friends who have synthetic stainless barrels say 90g are brilliant. Mine spits them everywhere.

Anyone having problems getting factory bullets??

Paul