Long range newb - rebarrelling tikka .308 to 280AI

[mattwill00]

Yeah the barrels didn’t seem too hard to come by for the 280ai, but I jumped the gun a bit and purchased the 6.5x284 due to the OAL limitations. But now that I know that options exist for replacing the bottom metal and lengthen the COAL, I might make a change depending on the barrel life I get out of the 6.5.

Plus it seems like a pretty daunting task to take on reloading that from scratch. Appreciate the heads up though! That’s probably the route I will take if I do end up re chambering after this barrel runs it’s course.

 

[TxxAgg]

Tagged

 

[tdhanses]

Well i figured I'd jump in head first. I purchased a Preferred Barrel Blanks barrel nut prefit 26" 1:7.5 twist 6.5x284 in #3 contour. Figured it would be heavy enough to shoot a few rounds down range, and still be somewhat light enough to not become ultra annoying on backcountry hunts. I used bergers calculator to make sure I can stabilize 140gr bullets (still haven't chosen any to begin reloading with, any recs?) in the 1:7.5 twist. I hope I made the right choice.

I have a little time to figure out how to remove the tikka barrel. Everything I've read basically says its a total pain in the butt. I plan on getting a barrel vise and an action wrench. Any recommendations on those as well? Should I go with an external?

Anyways, I really appreciate all the help I've got thus far! Any good recommendations on stocks that will fit a #3 contour? I want to stay on the cheaper side of things so I've been looking at B&C, but they dont really specify barrel clearance. At least that I can tell.

Most gunsmiths will remove and install a prefit barrel for around $80 FYI...

 

[Trogon]

Yeah the barrels didn’t seem too hard to come by for the 280ai, but I jumped the gun a bit and purchased the 6.5x284 due to the OAL limitations. But now that I know that options exist for replacing the bottom metal and lengthen the COAL, I might make a change depending on the barrel life I get out of the 6.5.

Plus it seems like a pretty daunting task to take on reloading that from scratch. Appreciate the heads up though! That’s probably the route I will take if I do end up re chambering after this barrel runs it’s course.

Wouldn’t reloading 280ai be easier than 6.5norma? At least 280 has a few factory options. Maybe I missed something. Either way, will be a sweet rig!

 

[mattwill00]

Figured I’d update the post for all of you who helped me along...

Ended up buying a vise off ebay and removing the barrel. Holy cow it was a beast of a process. Let’s just say the factory barrel did not come out in usable condition. Ended up actually using an angle grinder to cut a relief cut on it pretty close to the mating surface. Little scary and I don’t recommend it as the possibility for nicking the action is VERY real.

Torqued on the preferred barrel blanks #3 sporter chambered in 6.5x284 using a bugholes internal action wrench. That part was wayyyyy easy. Sent the barreled action off to axial precision (allterra arms) for inletting and bedding, as well as swapping out the factory bottom plastic for some actual metal. Used Mountain tactical for the lug and bottom metal on the new build. They did a bang up job and had the whole thing shipped back to me before my first rifle hunt of the season!

In the meantime I went ahead and built up a reloading bench from scratch to feed this thing. That was a whole other learning process. Settled on two loads using 140gr Berger VLD huntings and 127gr Barnes LRX’s. Tried to do my own OCW ladders and such, but the chrono I bought wasn’t the greatest, and truthfully I couldn’t tell much of a difference between the round robin I did with the VLD’s. Loaded up some LRX’s and off to Wyoming for a very unsuccessful deer hunt I went. Ended up botching a few opportunities on some nice deer and hammered a spike from 245 yards on the very last night of the hunt for some meat in the fridge. Rifle performed flawlessly.

I will say that the VLD’s are sub 0.5 MOA, and the LRX’s are even better than that. So as far as a budget option, preferred barrel blanks gets the green light from me! The rifle now wears a Maven RS.1 and I have a magnetospeed on the way to narrow down some load development. Thanks for the recommendation on the 6.5x284! The rebated rim feeds flawlessly in the factory mag, and I’m not even close to running out of space with a LA bolt stop.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[unclericco]

I have a 280 AI built on a tikka action. It's somewhat limited as far as shooting heavy bullets and I feel like that's the longest COAL I'd ever try on a Tikka. I originally planned to load the 162 ELD but I couldn't get them to shoot consistent. But I feel like I've got lucky as I've been able to reach very close to 3,000 FPS with the 168 Berger VLD and RL-26, Peterson's brass with good accuracy. I didn't plan to shoot heavier than 162ish, so getting that velocity with that heavy of a bullet was unexpected. You can't go much heavier than that but I love the rifle and very happy with it. I can seat the bullets out a tad bit longer with the Mtn. Tactical magazine also.

 

[Trogon]

Congrats on an awesome setup. Perfect cartridge choice for the Tikka. You make me want to do the 284 win version of the same build I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while.

weight of rifle without scope?

 

[Formidilosus]

and off to Wyoming for a very unsuccessful deer hunt I went. Ended up botching a few opportunities on some nice deer and hammered a spike from 245 yards on the very last night of the hunt for some meat in the fridge.

What happened on the botched opportunities?

 

[Longbow53]

Been happy with my 284 SA for 30 years. My second choice the 280 AI, an awesome very simple round. My 284 set up for 140 gr Barnes has done it all,no need for anything larger,faster,or whatever.
I do alot of switch barrels with my bench rest shooting. Torque to 60 fp. I have taken a heat gun on some guns and heated the action to untouchable,wont hurt the steel but enough to loosen the barrel so it comes off with a short wack.