Reloading Tikka 30-60 and 300 WM

[Yellowknife]

You are planning on testing things that many many of us have "tested" already. I've been shooting 200 gr EDLX through a 1:11 Tikka 30-06 since they first hit the stores. Shot them out past 600+ yds and in temps well below zero. Killed a lot of game with them. Stabilization isn't a concern.

The Tikka has limitations.... as do all guns. But for that caliber, twist isn't one of them. Neither is action length for the '06 as its a shorter case than the .300 WM.

 

[Packmansion]

You are planning on testing things that many many of us have "tested" already. I've been shooting 200 gr EDLX through a 1:11 Tikka 30-06 since they first hit the stores. Shot them out past 600+ yds and in temps well below zero. Killed a lot of game with them. Stabilization isn't a concern.

The Tikka has limitations.... as do all guns. But for that caliber, twist isn't one of them. Neither is action length for the '06 as its a shorter case than the .300 WM.

That makes sense. Also I only plan on using hunting loads in the 300wm so honestly case length isnt a big deal it's only a few rounds that I won't be able to shoot such as berger hybrids and Barnes LRX. Thank you for the input.

 

[Gila]

You are planning on testing things that many many of us have "tested" already. I've been shooting 200 gr EDLX through a 1:11 Tikka 30-06 since they first hit the stores. Shot them out past 600+ yds and in temps well below zero. Killed a lot of game with them. Stabilization isn't a concern.

The Tikka has limitations.... as do all guns. But for that caliber, twist isn't one of them. Neither is action length for the '06 as its a shorter case than the .300 WM.

On the bullet box Hornady lists the twist at 1:10” but I think that may be the worst case scenario. I have a 1:10” twist barrel on the 300 wm. The range is at 6,500 ft. and all of my elk hunting down here is above that. I think I could use a 1:11” and the bullets would stabilize just fine. But the problem is COAL. I am limited to 3.37” with the Tikka mag so the bullet is way down into the case. Anyway you slice it, it’s gonna be a highly compressed load in the 300 WM for that bullet.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

The 1-11 twist on the tikka 30-06 has not been an issue for any bullets I’ve loaded from 150 to 200g. I’ve been shooting a lot all winter long up here. From 30 degrees today to below zero and have not seen any issues.

My advice is to enjoy your gun, when you actually find problems, then address them. Personally I don’t think shooting 200s out of the 30-06 is optimal anyways but like I said, zero issues here.

 

[SwiftShot]

First, you said you are new to reloading. Ok so spend some time following the reloading manuals and learn to be safe. Dont go blowing yourself up running out the bullet and pushing pressures. Get some experience following the manual. Be safe, while trying to go heavy on the bullets can be nice you can also jam them into deep and spike pressures.

 

[Packmansion]

First, you said you are new to reloading. Ok so spend some time following the reloading manuals and learn to be safe. Dont go blowing yourself up running out the bullet and pushing pressures. Get some experience following the manual. Be safe, while trying to go heavy on the bullets can be nice you can also jam them into deep and spike pressures.

A friend of mine shoots PRS and he will be helping me with the reloading. He does a lot of reloading. I have also done reloading but only for rimmed cartridges (357 and 45-70) I do understand the procedure for changing seating depth. Certain rounds have a coal greater than 3.34" in 300wm. I might consider getting bottom metal to get 3.5" for the WM which will get me most of the way or I might rebarrel to 300wsm and just use the long action. The benefit of changing the coal can be pretty big according to my friend which includes increased velocity and accuracy. I don't think I'll have a hard time coming up with a good 180 grain load for the 06 or a 200 for the wm. Thank you all for the help! I'll probably stick to 180 or 190 with the 06 and 200gr for wm

 

[brewster29]

A friend of mine shoots PRS and he will be helping me with the reloading. He does a lot of reloading. I have also done reloading but only for rimmed cartridges (357 and 45-70) I do understand the procedure for changing seating depth. Certain rounds have a coal greater than 3.34" in 300wm. I might consider getting bottom metal to get 3.5" for the WM which will get me most of the way or I might rebarrel to 300wsm and just use the long action. The benefit of changing the coal can be pretty big according to my friend which includes increased velocity and accuracy. I don't think I'll have a hard time coming up with a good 180 grain load for the 06 or a 200 for the wm. Thank you all for the help! I'll probably stick to 180 or 190 with the 06 and 200gr for wm

Hello
I am a newbie here but have 50 years reloading and shooting experience. I have several Tikkas- all stainless lefties. I regularly shoot 175 LRX and 180 TTSX in my 300 win into sub .5” groups when seated to maximum magazine length. No need to overthink this at all, Barnes bullets are happy to jump a looong way. My most accurate lightweight rifle is a NULA in 280 REM- it’ll group 145 LRX in the .2’s or less if I am having a good day. It’s mag length limited as well and I jump the 145 LRX .186” with great accuracy.

Don’t get hung up on minutiae here.
Your Tikka should group just fine for any practical purpose - even if it’s theoretically not perfect.

 

[Packmansion]

Hello
I am a newbie here but have 50 years reloading and shooting experience. I have several Tikkas- all stainless lefties. I regularly shoot 175 LRX and 180 TTSX in my 300 win into sub .5” groups when seated to maximum magazine length. No need to overthink this at all, Barnes bullets are happy to jump a looong way. My most accurate lightweight rifle is a NULA in 280 REM- it’ll group 145 LRX in the .2’s or less if I am having a good day. It’s mag length limited as well and I jump the 145 LRX .186” with great accuracy.

Don’t get hung up on minutiae here.
Your Tikka should group just fine for any practical purpose - even if it’s theoretically not perfect.

Thank you for this information. I will invest in reloading and find a good combo and evaluate then. Knowing what I know now I wish I would have just bought a big horn 700 receiver and built a custom rifle. I am pretty disappointed in the factory selections available. My tikka in 06 shoots great, I cant complain too much its just would be nice if tikka built their guns to the fullest. would be nice if tikka made something with 3.67" mags and if they barreled all their 30's with a 1:10 twist.

 

[Packmansion]

Hello
I am a newbie here but have 50 years reloading and shooting experience. I have several Tikkas- all stainless lefties. I regularly shoot 175 LRX and 180 TTSX in my 300 win into sub .5” groups when seated to maximum magazine length. No need to overthink this at all, Barnes bullets are happy to jump a looong way. My most accurate lightweight rifle is a NULA in 280 REM- it’ll group 145 LRX in the .2’s or less if I am having a good day. It’s mag length limited as well and I jump the 145 LRX .186” with great accuracy.

Don’t get hung up on minutiae here.
Your Tikka should group just fine for any practical purpose - even if it’s theoretically not perfect.

I looked into the 18- and 175 from barnes. I think I am going to start with these. I reached out to Barnes they said the 1:11 in 06 would be just fine for those. I will try to develop a load with one of these and see if I can just use it for everything.

 

[Wapack]

My t3x 06 absolutely pounds with factory hornady precision hunter 178's. I don't even bother to reload for it.

 

[Packmansion]

Well I just started on loading for my Tikka in 300 win. Wow! I got a .9" 15 shot group across 15 different load charges. Haven't even settled. I found a node a 3090 fps. The gun is a wood pecker. Next weekend I'll be finishing up the load. I settled on the 168 ttsx. I couldn't get 175 LRX at the box store and the bc between the 180 and 168 were almost the same plus the 168 just flies a good bit faster. Should give me an advantage on the pronghorn. Wanted a round to handle everything from elk and pronghorn and I think if I can keep up it's a 1/4" gun. All I can say is Tikka is the bomb. Would be nice to run 212 ELD-X in the mag but at the same time it a hunting rifle and a 200 ELD-X is probably a better fit anyhow. For now I'm going to focus on reloading for my 300 and 30-06 and one day way out when I'll probably get a 300 PRC or a 300 win in R700 platform just for kicks, maybe I'll be too busy bagging animals to care .

 

[brewster29]

Nice! I’m currently testing 200 ELD-X on mine. I can get very low SD numbers but I have not been able to shoot a group as small as the 175 LRX. I seat the ELD-X at max magazine length and they are about.100” from the lands. I do have a lefty stainless REM 700 in 300 WM to try next…it shot the Barnes very well.

 

[Packmansion]

I've been very happy with this load in my Tikka. I'm using MT LA mags with an oal of about 3.381 168 TTSX, 77.2 grains H4831 SC. MV is about 3060. 0.262 moa. I could probably get better groups if I had a higher power scope. I never even did an oal test. Groups are very consistent.

 

[Vern400]

I'd try SAAMI COAL reloads before you start buying aftermarket bottom metals. I know some guys want to have the bullets jammed up close, but I've had great luck with my Tikka in 30-06 pushing 175 TMKs over H4350.

I realize most people on the internet can keep 0.5 MOA all day if they do their part, but that's ten shots with two different powder charges (0.5 grains apart) which is accurate enough to make me the limiting factor out to any range I'm going to be shooting at critters with my 30-06.

I assure you the half inch all day long is poppycock in most cases, and it starts with calling flyers. That's a good solid group you got.

 

[Vern400]

I don't know if you have a problem. And I don't know if 200 grain bullets are optimal for 30-06. If your gun groups why care what the bullet jump is? And if your bullet is eating case capacity, load at mag length and use a shorter boolit! There are people that swear up and down a 6.5 is the ultimate elk gun. Some say 243. Some say 223. I haven't heard 22mag yet. Not sure I agree on the "ultimate" part with any of them. Still, YOU got plenty of gun! You don't need super heavy bullets.

Guns are generally designed around SAAMI specs, but some makers chamber a bit more freebore than others. I had my R700 rechambered and rethreaded so the optimized accurate cartridge fits the mag. It's a 308. Mine strongly prefer very small jump.

The downside is there's no guarantee all factory ammo will chamber. Most will.

Don't make it too complex. Just make a great shot. Good luck.

 

[Packmansion]

I don't know if you have a problem. And I don't know if 200 grain bullets are optimal for 30-06. If your gun groups why care what the bullet jump is? And if your bullet is eating case capacity, load at mag length and use a shorter boolit! There are people that swear up and down a 6.5 is the ultimate elk gun. Some say 243. Some say 223. I haven't heard 22mag yet. Not sure I agree on the "ultimate" part with any of them. Still, YOU got plenty of gun! You don't need super heavy bullets.

Guns are generally designed around SAAMI specs, but some makers chamber a bit more freebore than others. I had my R700 rechambered and rethreaded so the optimized accurate cartridge fits the mag. It's a 308. Mine strongly prefer very small jump.

The downside is there's no guarantee all factory ammo will chamber. Most will.

Don't make it too complex. Just make a great shot. Good luck.

Depends on how you define optimal. A 30-06 with a 200 bullet has penetrating power. A 30-06 can very effectively sling 200 and even 220 grain bullets. Especially with the higher bc ELD-X and accubond bullets. For range 178-190 grain is probably best. Check out the Hornady or nosler reloading data and plug it into a ballistics calculator. It's amazing with the ol 06 can do.

 

[Packmansion]

I assure you the half inch all day long is poppycock in most cases, and it starts with calling flyers. That's a good solid group you got.

There are plenty of guns that shoot 0.5" all day. They have a 1" outside diameter barrel lol. Seriously though 0.5" groups are not uncommon but you are right "all day". I can get great groups of 3 and 5 but if I go to the range with 100 rounds and shoot 5 - 20 shot groups, my 3 shot groups start to look fake and my 0.5" gun quickly becomes a 0.9" gun. Part of this is just statistics. We lie to ourselves by shooting and measuring small sample sizes. If your sample size is too small it doesn't mean much. On the other hand most of us don't have the funds to spend $200 to accurately determine the accuracy of a load. If your gun is shooting under an inch consistently that is great. Most of us can afford lots of 223 however. Reloading with a 223 is a great way to explore data.