tikka t3 varmint zeoring problems

[Guest baldie]

Read my previous posts its there. Ok, simplified version. Shoot one, clean one, for the first five rounds.Then , shoot three, and clean, for the next 15 rounds [5 x 3 shot strings] that gives you 20 rounds altogether. The next 20 rounds, shoot them in batches of 5 shots, cleaning thoroughly after each 5.This gives a total of 40 rounds, with 14 cleaning sessions in there, if you do the cleaning correctly, and by that i mean at least 20 passes with the brush[per clean], followed by patches to clean and dry, you wont get the barrel hot enough to worry about it. Remember, you arent shooting for best groups, you are breaking the barrel in, but it doesnt hurt to get it zeroed whilst you are doing the break in.My remmy, took around 50 rounds, and my .204 ruger took 15 rounds, all of a sudden, the group size will shrink, and less copper fouling [blue stains] on the patches will show.The better the barrel, the quicker it will break in.Stainless barrels can take up to a 100 rounds, as they are harder, dont mix ordinary bullets with moly coated ones either, infact , forget moly, for the time being.

[pegandgun 52]

Just a thought.Have you let anyone else try your rifle??It may be that you are twitching on the trigger pull or something similar??

And yes your right baldie about bullet development but its very interesing and its suprising how accurate you can be even with a standard hunting rifle.My mate has all the gear and i love messing about with home loads.

That 6br my mate has is shockingly accurate over some very long ranges.His rifle scope and bipod weighs in at nearly 19pounds,f*****g heavy

[pegandgun 52]

I was just wondering Nutshot.Do you know what twist your 22.250 barrel is(they can have iether 1in12 or 1in14 twist).If your rifle has a 1in12 twist you need to be using 55gr bullets or heavier.If your barrel has a 1in14 twist then it wont stabelize 55gr bullets so you need to use 40-50 grain bullets.

If you dont know what twist your gun has then try some 40gr bullets which will shoot well in both barrels.

[Guest baldie]

Theres your problem mate, your gun has a 1 in 14 twist rate, you need to be shooting the lighter bullet,like a 40 grain. I ,ve just checked the twist rate on the tikka site.

[pegandgun 52]

Its ok lads,its all in a days work :whistle:

[nutshot 0]

thanks to the gents who offered their thoughts and advice to my original post " tikka t3 varmint zeoring problems" i am chuffed to say its now sorted . All i did wos check scope and mounts were secure and the stock bolts were also tight .I then cleaned the barrel until the patch's came out clean [this took quite some time as it wos real shitty . then i purchased some winchester supreme 50 gr ballistic tip ammo and gave it a whirl last night while out lamping some rabbits . fired to 3 shot groups which averaged about an inch at a target 100 yards away across a plough ,which wos good because i didnt have a very good shooting position like i would have done when sighting in from a rest. so all i need to do now is sight in properly and hope to come across some charlies soon . So once again thanks to all for your help

[pegandgun 52]

Glad to hear you sorted it nutshot.If you stick to 50gr bullets or under you shouldnt have any more problems.Good luck mate

[Guest Foxygrunter]

Fox dropper i think you will find that baldie answerd the question well mate.Braking the rifle in is the way you start the shooting proccess as the inside of the barrell is new and full of imperfections thats why you clean it after every round then after every three and then every 100 or so .

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Quality read lads .Learn something new every time I log on.

[pegandgun 52]

Foxgrunter,i think you will find that it was the bullet weight that sorted the trouble out.Mind you,good cleaning of your barrel will make you shoot better groups.

[Wilky 0]

What a bloody good thread, from some obviously very clued up lads.

[kiwi 4]

just out of intrest, as the rifle is now liking the 50gr winchester rounds, a factory bullet, what is it shooting the 55 gr like now?? i still think the raw barrel was the cause, and possibly the first type of ammo you used. this is a first class rifle and scope and i would not expect the rifle to have a problem with the 55gr load as most 22.250 ammo here comes in that weight, only the more expensive ammo gives you a choice of bullet weight if you are not into handloading. this rifle should after breaking in the barrel give you moa or under with factory 55gr ammo it is a tikka after all.

[pegandgun 52]

Kiwi,that rifle has a 1 in 14 twist in the barrel.This actually means that the barrel will not stabelize 55gr bullets properly.If it was the normal 1 in 12 twist it would shoot 55gr bullets really well.

Your right in what you say about barrel care but that doesnt change the fact that he was using a too heavier bullet.If he tries 55gre again he will find his groups open up again.If he goes down to 40gr bullets it will shoot very well

[Guest baldie]

Personally, the next thing i would get mate, is some reloading gear, then with a bit of work, you will see what it can really do I,ve been to the range today, my remmy shoots 1/2" groups with 55 grain v max homeloads, i,ve tried some 40 grainers, that i could never get to shoot well, only this time, i loaded them 5 thou off the lands, instead of my usual 15 thou, the group dropped down in size to just over quarter of an inch!You need the correct guages etc to measure this, but its well worth it, you see, shooting a calibre like yours [22-250] its not a 100 yard gun, its a realistic 500 yard killer, but if you cant get the groups down under 1" at 100, you wont get realistic 500 yard performance.Trust me, once you get a tack driver, that you can aim at a fox, and fully expect to kill, at 300 yards plus, its an unbelievable feeling, i,ve never had that opportunity with my .223, but have done it several times with my .204, which has a very similar performance to your 22-250.Beware, ballistics are very , very addictive you WILL search for the grail and its shaped like a v-max

[kiwi 4]

can you guys get factory loaded 40gr bullets i would still try the 55grs, i know all about barrel twist and how great the hand rolled jobs can shoot, but still would expect moa using the factory stuff, a different point of impact yes but not a huge difference in group size. i load the 64gr bullet for deer and use the 40-55gr for most other things in the sako and it still shoots better than i ever will.