Drank the Tikka cool aid.

[Buckshot85]

Bought myself a Roughtec yesterday in 6.5cm.
My wife will use it more than me. I prefer my Fieldcraft in 06.
Got the trigger down to 2lbs.
Bought a demo Leupold VX5HD for $250 less than the going price.
Probably order the Warne rings.
Ordered the vertical grip insert and a 5 round mag.

I have 3 friends with Tikka 6.5CMs.
All 3 are simply incredible shooters out of the box and for the money it’s a no brainer.

Got a box of Barnes LRX 127gr I’m gonna see if it likes to get it started.

 

[Rob5589]

Welcome

 

[Gila]

The Tikka/Sako barrels are cold hammer forged, which is unusual for a production barrel. The barrels are so good they don’t need to be broken in. Having said that, both of my tikka barrels had alot of copper fouling to start with. I cleaned after 5 rounds three times for a total of 15 rounds when the fouling became minimal and it was easier to clean. The vibration also decreased and the groups tightened a bit. I don’t know what the twist is for a 6.5CM but the other calibers typical have a slower twist rate for shooting short bullets typically found in factory ammo. Tikka test fires each firearm for the 1” MOA guaranty so I don’t think there is a very long throat on those barrels. But I have not measured.

Once you work a T3x bolt and hunt with it, you will be hooked. They just shoot laser beams!

 

[Buckshot85]

I think the twist is 8.

 

[Antares]

I also have a Roughtech in 6.5CM. It's fantastic. When I first set it up, I had a VX5-HD 3-15x44 on it and was it was in a McMillan Game Scout (pictured below). It has a NXS 3-15x50 on it now and is in a Bravo chassis. You may end up taking it from your wife... you'll like it that much.

 

[JohnnyB]

Welcome to the finer things club

 

[Buckshot85]

I also have a Roughtech in 6.5CM. It's fantastic. When I first set it up, I had a VX5-HD 3-15x44 on it and was it was in a McMillan Game Scout (pictured below). It has a NXS 3-15x50 on it now and is in a Bravo chassis. You may end up taking it from your wife... you'll like it that much.

It’d be pretty damn hard to beat my Barrett Fieldcraft. But, fun trying.

 

[T3X]

I put the Warne Tikka scope mounts on my T3X 6.5cm, with a Leupold VX3 4.5x14, they work well. This is the first season with the gun. Took a small 8pt on the first day here in PA.

 

[Tmac]

It’s not cool aid when it works…

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Do yourself a favor and get some sportsmatch rings.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

sportsmatch rings are very effective, and won't jack up a scope the way vertical split rings will. Got to make my first kill with the tikka 6.5 creed this morning. The 143 eldx is a very destructive bullet.

 

[Motown]

I have the Wideland model which is the same rifle just cerakoted. That gun shoots everything great but with 135gr Bergers and RL-26 it shoots 1/2” or better, and I am getting just shy of 3k fps too.

 

[ViperD]

Do yourself a favor and get some sportsmatch rings.

Which particular sportsmatch rings would you recommend for a tikka?

These?

Sportsmatch T048C Tikka 2 Piece Medium 1 Inch Scope Mount​

 

[T3X]

sportsmatch rings are very effective, and won't jack up a scope the way vertical split rings will. Got to make my first kill with the tikka 6.5 creed this morning. The 143 eldx is a very destructive bullet.

How do vertical rings mess up a scope?

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Which particular sportsmatch rings would you recommend for a tikka?

These?

Sportsmatch T048C Tikka 2 Piece Medium 1 Inch Scope Mount​

If you are using a 30mm scope, the to84 is great. For a 1” scope, the to48 you posted is good.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

How do vertical rings mess up a scope?

Most require clamping the scope tube with same force as the rail - that's not good for scope internals. Lots of info online if you look for it.

 

[dirtytough]

Most require clamping the scope tube with same force as the rail - that's not good for scope internals. Lots of info online if you look for it.

Interesting. One of my mounts has vertical rings and requires 55 inch pounds of torque. Hasn’t damaged any of my scopes so far.

 

[HighUintas]

Bought myself a Roughtec yesterday in 6.5cm.
My wife will use it more than me. I prefer my Fieldcraft in 06.
Got the trigger down to 2lbs.
Bought a demo Leupold VX5HD for $250 less than the going price.
Probably order the Warne rings.
Ordered the vertical grip insert and a 5 round mag.

I have 3 friends with Tikka 6.5CMs.
All 3 are simply incredible shooters out of the box and for the money it’s a no brainer.

Got a box of Barnes LRX 127gr I’m gonna see if it likes to get it started.

Want to sell me your '06 field craft?

 

[wind gypsy]

Interesting. One of my mounts has vertical rings and requires 55 inch pounds of torque. Hasn’t damaged any of my scopes so far.

I’ve not used vertical rings hardly at all but this thread caught my eye a while back and after looking into it more I’ll continue to avoid them.

Rifle Scopes - Vertically split rings

I've read that there was a huge shit show about vertically split rings a while back. On one of my rifles I have a Bushnell 4.5-18 LRHS in a set of Warne rings. After load development I was sighting it in and dammit if I couldn't get the windage to go further left. I was about a MOA at 200 off...

www.snipershide.com

"During the June classes, we had many scopes go down. In one class, 5 out of 15 scopes failed to return to zero. We try to diagnose the problems, and when relating the stories, we often get the attention of the various manufacturers. They will call me directly when reading the posts on Sniper’s Hide, usually within minutes of me posting. The June class was no different. I was in direct contact with the companies explaining my observations.

We found the biggest contributor to the problem was vertically split rings. I know right, who would have guessed? I was never a fan of them, they aren’t precision. They started out as affordable AR rings and then somehow morphed in to go to precision rifle equipment. I never advocate inexpensive for the sake of cost, as you get what you pay for in this case. Stuff designed for the AR crowd is not my idea of quality in the context of a precision rifle. The Airsoft stuff used is worse.

No this does not include the ARC rings, they are not true split rings which were the root of the problems. Since that class, we have paid more attention and in July we replaced two sets of split rings and loaned a good scope to a shooter with a third set. Clearly, they are turning out to be an issue."

 

[MallardSX2]

Next thing you know you’ll be wearing Sitka gear!