Tikka 6MM ARC / 6.5 Grendel

[Juan_ID]

What are the specs on your barrel? I am looking at Preferred. I can't decide between a 1/8 or 1/7.5. Which factory ammo has been the most accurate for you so far?

It is a preferred prefit light Palma with a 1-7.5 twist with a “match chamber” that I had fluted by kampfeld because the barrel was heavier than I’d anticipated. The smith I had put the barrel on said it was a little long in the chambering, I haven’t messed with that any because it shoots reloads so well.
I only tried hornady match and precision hunter ammo when the barrel was new. Of those 2 the precision hunter shot much better, like .75” vs 3”. Not sure why mine didn't like the 108 match factory ammo but it will shoot multiple 108 reloads under .5” for 5 shot groups with both xbr and varget.

I have an Atlasworx CTR to AICS bottom metal on the way. I picked up a 6 ARC MDT metal magazine. The current plan is to have Kinport rifles open up the bolt face and turn the 10 round magazine into a 5 rounder.

Not a bad plan, I thought about going that route but preferred a flush mag for hunting so I opted for a factory stock and m mag. Overall very happy with the reliability up to this point.

 

[Jake Leibke]

It is a preferred prefit light Palma with a 1-7.5 twist with a “match chamber” that I had fluted by kampfeld because the barrel was heavier than I’d anticipated. The smith I had put the barrel on said it was a little long in the chambering, I haven’t messed with that any because it shoots reloads so well.
I only tried hornady match and precision hunter ammo when the barrel was new. Of those 2 the precision hunter shot much better, like .75” vs 3”. Not sure why mine didn't like the 108 match factory ammo but it will shoot multiple 108 reloads under .5” for 5 shot groups with both xbr and varget.


Not a bad plan, I thought about going that route but preferred a flush mag for hunting so I opted for a factory stock and m mag. Overall very happy with the reliability up to this point.

Anymore updates on this? Thinking about doing a 22 arc/ grendel.


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[lilharcher]

Tagging in…..I’m so wanting to build my son his first rifle on a Tikka, chambered in 6.5 grendel. Now I have all the info I need to do it.

 

[Juan_ID]

Anymore updates on this? Thinking about doing a 22 arc/ grendel.


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My wife shot a deer with it this year and it worked and cycled as it should. I unfortunately never got to get a shot with it.

 

[waspocrew]

Great info in this thread - I have a Howa Mini 6 ARC that I'm just not super happy with. Doesn't really love factory ammo. Hand loads are "OK" but still not super consistent despite bedding the Stockys VG and a Jard trigger.

Definitely considering going the Tikka route now.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I realize that this thread is about converting a Tikka to a 6.5 Grendel or 6mm ARC, but I wanted to put in a plug for just getting a CZ 527 instead. You can get the mini-Mauser action in either 6.5 Grendel or 7.62x39 (these are usually cheaper than the 6.5 Grendel ones). And it is an easy barrel job to convert the 7.62x39 down to 6mm ARC. The shooting ability is on par with any Tikkas I have seen or fired.

I need to finish validating it at longer ranges, but I finally broke out the Garmin while shooting my CZ 527 6.5 Grendel. I was getting an average of 2509.8 FPS (with a standard deviation of 10.3) from my 18" Pac-Nor barrel using the Hornady 123-grain SST ammunition. I have some of the ELDMs I need to try out as well, but I was very pleased with the precision with this load. Shooting from the bench, with front and rear bag, I consistently got under an inch for five-shot groups. If I can get that kind of precision from factory ammo, it probably isn't necessary to reload for it.

The next time I am down at the farm, I want to shoot some more SSTs and try out the ELDMs. If the ELDMs shoot as well as the SSTs did, I'll probably purchase a couple hundred more of them. I think I can expect better terminal performance from the ELDMs? Is that a false assumption? I haven't been blown away by the performance of the SSTs (and neither have the deer). One of the two went DRT, but I had to cut his throat to finish him. The other went down, but got back up and ran away (that was probably poor shot placement on my part, but at the time, I thought I had a pretty decent angle).

If I can build confidence in the bullets and validate my ability at those ranges, I think this could easily be a 300- or 400-yard deer rifle.

It is already my favorite "walking around" rifle. I got a nice offhand headshot on a groundhog at 80 yards.

Additionally, while I haven't heard great things about the consistency of AAC ammo, I shot some of the AAC 5.56 77-grain OTMs in my AR this week. In the 16" AR, I was getting an average of 2692.7 with a SD of 16.1. While not exceptional, that was good enough to convince me to try out some of AAC's 6.5 Grendel loads as well. So, I ordered some of that for higher-volume practice sessions. I don't need exceptional results to practice shooting from field positions at 100- and 200-yards. But I will report back my results once I get the range time in with it.