Optimal path for boomer tikka

[KenLee]

I got a 6.5PRC Roughtech recently. Although it has more recoil (no brake/can), it isn't that much more than my 6.5CM does.

I find it comfortable to shoot. With a can, it will be a pussycat.

Naah, it's alot more. I can't hardly tell the difference in recoil between a 30-06 x-bolt and a t3x 6.5 prc. It's a small diameter bullet w decent thump. Not a small caliber solution, in my opinion. Actually, the prc tikka t3x feels like it kicks more

 

[KenLee]

I got a 6.5PRC Roughtech recently. Although it has more recoil (no brake/can), it isn't that much more than my 6.5CM does.

I find it comfortable to shoot. With a can, it will be a pussycat.

Your creedmoor must be much lighter, or the prc fits you better

 

[Unckebob]

Naah, it's alot more. I can't hardly tell the difference in recoil between a 30-06 x-bolt and a t3x 6.5 prc. It's a small diameter bullet w decent thump. Not a small caliber solution, in my opinion. Actually, the prc tikka t3x feels like it kicks more

Your creedmoor must be much lighter, or the prc fits you better

My Tikka 6.5 PRC is a hair lighter than my 6,5CM Savage.
The Savage has the AccuStock so fit is excellent. The Tikka has about 1/2 inch more LOP than I like, but is OK.

OP started with a 300WM so I assumed he needed a good deal of gun for larger game,

I have 3 CF Cartridges I considered recommending

1) a 6mm of some sort. My 6 ARC Savage in a chassis = A baby to shoot. My daughter is learning on it now. If recoil is the number one priority, one of the 6mm cartridges is the way to go.

2) 6.5 CM : Recoil = 9.6lbs. Very manageable. No brake or can needed.

3) 6.5 PRC: Recoil= 11.2 lbs. I don't find it unpleasant to shoot. With a brake or a can, recoil is very manageable. I plan to hunt with an Evo can on it.

4) 270 Win Recoil = 11.64. Pre-suppressor, I can manage a box of ammo fine. With my Nomad can, it is really easy to shoot.

I think 3 or 4 can be a bigger game cartridge (using the correct bullet) without beating him up. If he is only shooting a deer sized game, a 243 or 6 creedmoor will do the job.

 

[Gila]

Changed barrels on my Tikka action from 300 win mag to 6.8 western. Hopefully get everything together and to the range within a week. I was in OP‘s soup. So, with much less recoil am I giving up anything? Alex Robinson at Outdoor Life says no:

“Browning and Winchester are touting this cartridge as a long-range hunting and target shooting load, likely to try to capture some of the excitement created by the 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 PRC, and solve for some of the criticism (albeit misplaced) that those cartridges don’t offer heavy enough bullets for taking down larger game like elk or moose. With the 6.8 Western’s heavier bullets, Winchester says it’s bringing 16 percent more energy than the 6.5 PRC at 500 yards and 67 percent more energy than the 6.5 Creedmoor. And the 6.8 Western can take on some of the big boomers at long range as well. In fact, Browning’s 175-grain Long Range Pro load has more energy at 500 yards and beyond than most 180-grain factory loads in .300 Win. Mag.”

Plenty of good factory ammo out there for the 6.8 Western but I will roll my own. Going to focus on the 165 LRAB and 175 Gamechanger.

 

[AlpineCarpetbagger]

OP started with a 300WM so I assumed he needed a good deal of gun for larger game,

That was the idea. Big, heavy bullets as fast as I could “tolerate” to smack horse-sized deer far away. I believed the people saying guns with 35 ft-lb recoil could be shot as accurately as anything else if you didn’t “develop a flinch”, and 7mm bores were already borderline unethical (keep it off the shoulder!). I’d shot 180gr .30-06 out of a Rem 721 with a hardened buttpad and didn’t perceive it as unpleasant.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Sooooooo much nonsense in the conventional thinking.

 

[AlpineCarpetbagger]

Sooooooo much nonsense in the conventional thinking.

A century of consequences of Hague Convention-al thinking:

“Woah 5.56? Son, that’s marginal on 130lb Somalis”

*orangehatman.jpg*

 

[roosiebull]

Apologies if I failed with the search function.

Is there a generally recommended path for dumb idiots like myself who bought a tikka in 300WM and then found out that dinky bullets work fine?

After ~500 rounds, I have nothing to show for it but a perpetually black and blue shoulder and 10+ round groups that are far worse than what I can do with bulk m855 and a red dot, and I have significant astigmatism. I’m not sure how much of this is my Vortex Strike Eagle (wow like the fighter jet) and how much is due to bad recoil management, but FWIW I’ve tried tricking myself with dummy rounds and cat tranquilizers but never saw reticle movement that could account for the disaster I see on paper.

Should I order a 6.5 PRC barrel to go with my magnum bolt and the pile of H1000 and N560 I’m sitting on, or is this likely to still give me a worse hit probability at 400-600 yds than my AR shooting 77 tmk?

I just needed a 7 rem mag to reach the same conclusion, that was the peak of my “knockdown power” mountain

 

[Marbles]

Probably sell the 300 and get another Tikka in 6.5 CM is the cheapest rout.

As you reload, you could go with a wildcat like 6 PRC, but a barrel is not cheap.

 

[AlpineCarpetbagger]

Probably sell the 300 and get another Tikka in 6.5 CM is the cheapest rout.

As you reload, you could go with a wildcat like 6 PRC, but a barrel is not cheap.

New dies aren’t free either, and I have them plus some brass for 6.5 CM. The slower powders I have would sit collecting dust, but if I can burn out the 6.5 barrel and replace it with a 6mm or .22 down the road…

 

[Marbles]

New dies aren’t free either, and I have them plus some brass for 6.5 CM. The slower powders I have would sit collecting dust, but if I can burn out the 6.5 barrel and replace it with a 6mm or .22 down the road…

I bet you can find someone locally who would be happy to take the slower powders off your hands.

 

[AlpineCarpetbagger]

Thanks everyone for the input. I just got back home with a stainless SL in 6.5 CM and put my vertical grip on it. I’ll be looking for a used Nightforce or trying to get in line for an SWFA like half the people on here.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯​