Tikka 223 problem

[Moosehunter]

Maybe @Formidilosus can help here as well as some of the other "experts".
Little rifle history...started life as a 6.5 then swapped out for a stainless factory 223 takeoff. Had kampfeld screw it on for me. Has about 500 rounds down the tube. No cleaning, just shooting. Had it for about 4 months maybe.
Attached is a photo of what the brass looks like when it comes out...and I mean every piece. It's got worse over time but it's never shot great. And now it's shooting like crap. (2.5-4" 10 round groups regardless of load).

 

[wind gypsy]

What is this picture intended to show? A slightly out of round case mouth? If so, I cut the ejector spring a little on my 223 tikka to avoid that because it dented the shit out of them.

I don’t know why it’s shooting like crap.. have you tried cleaning it?

 

[Moosehunter]

Sorry I didn't get more specific. That is what I'm noticing. And that probably is the problem. I suppose the ejector is pushing so hard it just dents it on the way out? Never really thought of that. And I just cleaned it today. Didn't have time to shoot it. According to @Formidilosus if you have to clean there's a problem...who knows. We're all just random people on the Internet.lol
Ya literally can't get it to shoot. Idk

 

[Timberline001]

The dented case mouth is common with tikkas and doesn’t have anything to do with accuracy. Have you checked your action screws and scope rings? Sounds like something is lose and getting more lose.

 

[Moosehunter]

I checked everything today. Um rings, swfa 6x, action rings torqued to 65 inch lbs. Cant seem to think of anything else. It shooting a cone. Just a very large cone. I can kill stuff with a 3" cone. It's just not what I like. I've shot a lot of 1" 10 round groups with my 6.5 Tikka. Just not this one.

 

[wind gypsy]

I suppose the ejector is pushing so hard it just dents it on the way out?

Yes, dents them as it pushes on the action before getting to the port. Seems more notable on 223s. Mine were frequently dented much worse than the one in your pic.

 

[Moosehunter]

Wow I'm a noob. That makes sense tho. Thanks for the response!
Hopefully I'll figure out the accuracy stuff.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

What ammo are you using? If it's handloads, what's your loading process in full detail?

I chased my tail hard on a Tikka 223, even rebarreled it, and the root cause was the heap of LC brass I was using. Spent a stupid amount of time and $ when I should have just bought a bag of Starline.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Hopefully I'll figure out the accuracy stuff.

If you’ve checked everything on the rifle/scope, buy a couple different boxes of factory ammo to see if you get any different results.

Or else try some different powders if you are confident it isn’t part of your loading process.

 

[brockel]

Have you tried a different scope?

 

[Fireflyfishing]

I don’t know why it’s shooting like crap.. have you tried cleaning it?

Agreed.
I suggest you start by cleaning it very well. Try a good carbon cleaner to remove built up carbon and a possible carbon ring.

Did you just slap the barrel on there without checking headspace?

 

[Jason Snyder]

Did you just slap the barrel on there without checking headspace?

He said in his first post Kampfeld installed it. They aren’t exactly a fly by night operation, and I would assume the work was well done.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

He said in his first post Kampfeld installed it. They aren’t exactly a fly by night operation, and I would assume the work was well done.

Copy. Not familiar. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Moosehunter]

What ammo are you using? If it's handloads, what's your loading process in full detail?

I chased my tail hard on a Tikka 223, even rebarreled it, and the root cause was the heap of LC brass I was using. Spent a stupid amount of time and $ when I should have just bought a bag of Starline.

Was using cheap brass
The last 40 rounds or so were new starline.
I'm not %100 my loading is super refined. However I've hand loaded for years and never had a problem. Doesn't mean it isn't what's happening.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

Was using cheap brass
The last 40 rounds or so were new starline.
I'm not %100 my loading is super refined. However I've hand loaded for years and never had a problem. Doesn't mean it isn't what's happening.

Out of curiosity, what is the load?

Barrel is completely contact free by a good margin? Have you tried any factory ammo in it?

 

[Pickettpuncher]

Make sure both bolt lugs are engaging and not just one. A buddy had that issue, lapped them to where bolt engaged and it fixed his

 

[gbflyer]

I would consider the barrel as the issue, given that it is a “factory take off”. That generally means that someone had a problem with it and pawned it off on someone else instead of throwing it away. Kampfield has a good reputation, however I doubt he has the capability to measure the bore diameter from end to end like a barrel maker does. So he did his best with his part, but the barrel quality is out of his control.

Pitch that goat stake in the trash and get a new barrel. I’d wager that will solve your accuracy issue. Good handloads shoot great in a good barrel. Bad handloads shoot fine in a great barrel.

 

[norenorse92]

My CTR barrel in 223 has the same thing actually, I use the LC brass too. T

hat barrel has 2500 odd rounds on it and is a hammer. Legit sub 3/4 moa for 10rd groups.

I found that loading the bullets touching lands helps a lot with the long throat of the factory tikka barrels.

 

[Moosehunter]

I've tried 5 different loads or so with 3 different powders
Tac,varget,reloader15
77tmk and 80 eldm
It was also a new takeoff from j&a

 

[Jason Snyder]

What’s the barrel twist rate?