Tikka Accuracy Issues

[Thinkingman]

Dozens of Tikkas. Yes, I remove the barrel bumps out of each.



There is is nothing magical that happens between 100 yards and any other range to deviate the bullets off of their prior track Wind, and extreme velocity variations are it.


If you rifle is consistently shooting MOA at 100, than given the same conditions it will be MOA at 200.


You you have a couple of blaring things-

1) Three shots is not a group. Worse, “three shot groups” are more likely to lie to you, then give you credible information. Shoot a couple of 10 round groups at 100 yards with a dead on point of aim, point of impact (POA/POI) zero. Then, go to 300 and shoot a 10 round group without touching the turret. The 100 and 300 yard groups will be within .25 MOA of each other.


2) Leupold. More than any other reason, THIS is why people should use scopes and mounting systems that are absolutely reliable. Because when weirdness happens, you now have to add those two things into the possible cause pile.


3) Shoot from the same rest each time. If you repeat the 10 round groups from above but off of a pack instead of bags, your group will be larger. A single “good” group does not data make.





What I would I would do, in order-

Replace scope with a reliable one.... and/or-

Remove barrel bumps heavily, degrease, Loctite, and torque screws

Use sands bags to shoot 2x ten round groups at 100 yards. If still using the Leupold shoot another 20 rounds but dialing all the way up, and all the way down, shoot one round at zero, then up to 10 MOA and shoot another round. Do this for all twenty rounds. At the end, it is highly likely that the group at zero is 1.5 times the size of the initial groups and probably in a different location. The group at 10 MOA will most likely be 1.5 times the size of initial groups, and will not be 10.5 inches high of zero.


Doing the above will tell you two things- what you and the rifle are capable of group wise, and what your scope is doing on a base level.

I couldn't agree more(except for the stock contact).
Whenever I hear Leupold, I figure it's going to fail, if it hasn't already.
I have great faith in Nikon and Burris.
DNZ Gamereaper on a Tikka is like peas and carrots.

 

[Fatcamp]

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Not sure about that, but I do appreciate the advice, Form.

 

[Formidilosus]

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Not sure about that, but I do appreciate the advice, Form.

That’s great man. How do you like the setup?

 

[Fatcamp]

So far I've only put three rounds through it. For the first time ever I bore sited this setup by eye and it was almost dead on, maybe an inch high.

I've had the rifle for a year and intend for it to be a do-all rifle for antelope through elk. I think the Creedmoor is a little heavy for antelope, and a little light for elk, but is acceptable if used with discretion and out to 500 yards plenty. The biggest issue as I have seen you refer to is that it is so shootable. I can practice non-stop and never feel fatigue or pain which translates into consistency which translates into accuracy.

Overall I believe this is an excellent set-up, that will serve me well for years to come. I just never felt confident in the long term reliability of the Leupold that was on it. Not for the amount of shooting I intend to do.

 

[Outdoorsman12b]

Just updating on the results of this thread and input from members. Could not resolve the issues with the 270 and was spending more money on ammo than worth so ended up selling rifle and scope. Bought a new tikka t3 in 6.5 with a nightforce SHV. Finally got it out to the range yesterday with 1 box of hornady precision hunter. 8 shots to zero with lots of keyholes and touching at 100. Then confirmed 200, 300, 500 and 900 (those are whats available at my range) with the remaining 12 rounds based on the projected drop from the nikon ballistic program. It took 4 rounds to make a hit at 900 as there was about a 5/mph wind but connected on last round. I have never had a rifle this accurate within 20 rounds. Was shooting off sandbag and used rear rest.

Big thanks to all for the help with my former problem child and shout out to Form for the advice on reliable equipment.

 

[Wrongside]

Nice. Guess you got it figured out, one way or another.

Your Tikka 6.5CM experience also sounds very similar to mine. Mine arrived way behind schedule, like a few days before we left for a 9 day sheep hunt. I'd given up on taking it for the hunt, but the very first range day went so well- load work up and drops confirmed to 500M. Took less than 25 rounds and not a single 'bobble' or wondering 'what happened with that shot?'... I took it hunting.

 

[EmanP223]

The factory stocks are not the best. I put my 6.5 CTR into a Bravo and it's a 3/4 - 3/8" gun depending on me. My 30-06 T3x is much harder to get sub MOA and takes a lot of effort on my part and isn't consistent. I also need to wait 10 min between each string to get the pencil barrel cooled enough. I wish I could put it in another stock just to see if the accuracy I'm getting is due to the stock or the action/barrel itself. I'm not too thrilled with it's accuracy though.

 

[JeffRaines]

Nice. Guess you got it figured out, one way or another.

Your Tikka 6.5CM experience also sounds very similar to mine. Mine arrived way behind schedule, like a few days before we left for a 9 day sheep hunt. I'd given up on taking it for the hunt, but the very first range day went so well- load work up and drops confirmed to 500M. Took less than 25 rounds and not a single 'bobble' or wondering 'what happened with that shot?'... I took it hunting.

Sounds similar to mine.

3rd time out with Match 147s was getting first round hits out to 600 - first time shooting that far with this rifle. I was missing at 750(next available yardage) but that was more a problem with the scope/reticle than the gun(and probably some of myself as well). At 750 I was using the post of the BDC. Also this was on an 8" round steel plate.

I bought the rifle for hunting though, so 600 is my limit anyhow. Anything beyond that is just fluff.

 

[Rich M]

Glad you got that straightened out - nothing like a problem you can't fix.

Our mileage my vary with scopes and the whole Ford vs Chevy thing, but they should all shoot straight and hold groups. I've never had an issue with Leupold or Vortex - don't have any other scopes... Maybe I need a new gun.

 

[Macchina]

I know it's an old thread and you figured it out, but I didn't see parallax mentioned. Most hunting scopes are set at a 100 yard parallax and when you shoot beyond that your eye position affects POI. Maybe you are not using a constant eye location and it wouldn't affect you at 100 but would have an effect at greater ranges?

 

[0311grunt]

Hi folks,

I have used this site quite a bit over the last two years to outfit myself for backcountry hunting. One of the overwhelming themes is the recommendation of the Tikka T3 as a rifle. I purchased a Tikka T3X in .270 as a sheep rifle, and topped it with a Leupold VX3i 3.5-10 CDS.

At the range when I zeroed the rifle at 100 yards off shooting bags (front and rear support) I was astounded at the groups. 3 rounds almost touching with Hornady 130 SST Superperformance. 200 yards was MOA as well. I really thought I was on to something.

Later (another session) I moved to 200 and 300 yards shooting off my pack (Mystery Ranch Marshall) and things started to go astray. Rounds at 200 were consistently hitting left and low with a group of about 6-9 inches. At 300 I was hardly on paper, and these are sizeable targets. I was allowing 3-5 minutes between shots. Basically if the barrel is to hot to touch I don't shoot.

I have scoured the internet looking for similar issues and the only thing I have found is that the pressure point on the plastic stock can react quite badly to the heat and start throwing rounds. The rifle has less than 200 rounds down the pipe and I have already used copper solvent on bore. My shooting experience with bolt guns is definitely above average.

Torque settings on action screws is 45 ft/lbs. Mounts (Talleys) are at 25 ft/lbs for base and 15 ft/lbs for rings. Scope is level as I use Wheeler levels.

My question to the rokslide community is has anyone else experienced these issues with a Tikka? If so what was the solution?

Thanks in advance.

Hey buddy, I know this is an older post but did you ever figure out what was up with your Tikka? I too have a problem Tikka. Honestly it shoots like a 10$ BB gun. Everyone always asks about the usual....scope rings, scope, rest, pulling the trigger, blah blah. I am a very confidant shooter and have tried numerous loads and factory ammo but can't get it to group at any range 100 or more. I know Tikka is a great gun but I also know some can be a lemon. Do you know if Tikka will take it back for a credit?

 

[EmperorMA]

Hey buddy, I know this is an older post but did you ever figure out what was up with your Tikka? I too have a problem Tikka. Honestly it shoots like a 10$ BB gun. Everyone always asks about the usual....scope rings, scope, rest, pulling the trigger, blah blah. I am a very confidant shooter and have tried numerous loads and factory ammo but can't get it to group at any range 100 or more. I know Tikka is a great gun but I also know some can be a lemon. Do you know if Tikka will take it back for a credit?

Dude. Seriously?

If you bought a new Silverado, drove it 10,000 miles and decided you didn’t like it, would you expect Chevrolet to take it back and give you credit?

If you can identify a specific problem, I’m sure they’d take care of it on that specific rifle. But asking a company to take back used products for full credit is ridiculous. They couldn’t survive if they offered a warranty on “buyer’s remorse.”

 

[deerkiller]

Hey buddy, I know this is an older post but did you ever figure out what was up with your Tikka? I too have a problem Tikka. Honestly it shoots like a 10$ BB gun. Everyone always asks about the usual....scope rings, scope, rest, pulling the trigger, blah blah. I am a very confidant shooter and have tried numerous loads and factory ammo but can't get it to group at any range 100 or more. I know Tikka is a great gun but I also know some can be a lemon. Do you know if Tikka will take it back for a credit?

You probably took it out of the stock and didn't know you're supposed to CAREFULLY make sure the recoil lug is properly in the barrel recess when reassembling it …….

 

[deerkiller]

That’s great man. How do you like the setup?

So, Formidilosus - I've a question I figured I'd pose here rather than start "another" thread - I clearly understand that you know your stuff and all the talk about the good and not-so-good scopes FOR DIALING is good intel that I do appreciate - I'm still a fairly simplistic shooter, although I'm not saying NEVER by any means to dialing, I use a scope on the lowest and highest setting only, just the way I've come to do it - Can you give us a quick tutorial based on your tests on which variables in the 2-3 x 10 range are most reliable ? I'm not necessarily speaking of optical quality as there is a good amount of subjective analysis there I think - Thank you in advance ….

 

[Formidilosus]

Can you give us a quick tutorial based on your tests on which variables in the 2-3 x 10 range are most reliable ? I'm not necessarily speaking of optical quality as there is a good amount of subjective analysis there I think - Thank you in advance ….

That really depends on use. Sort of.


How confident do you want to be that the scope will work correctly for “X” amount of rounds? Do you care about zero retention from impacts and drops? Any dialing?

 

[deerkiller]

That really depends on use. Sort of.


How confident do you want to be that the scope will work correctly for “X” amount of rounds? Do you care about zero retention from impacts and drops? Any dialing?

NO dialing (I believe what you've written on that topic) Otherwise, all of the above - I have Leupold VX3 3.5x10x40 on both my primary hunting rifles that are either on 3.5 or 10, never in between - I've not ever had a failure but don't really wish to worry about "when", I have a Swaro Z3 3 x 10 NIB that I could use if you were to tell me it was heads above the Leupolds - again, NO DIALING
Thank you

 

[Formidilosus]

So a 3-9x’ish variable with no dialing, and an extremely high likelihood of holding zero even in rough, frequent use?


If you weren’t willing to use say a SWFA SS 3-9x and not touch the turrets, than #1 without question the Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x’s. Next is the SHV 3-10x42mm. S&B classics and Summits are generally solid. Older Zeiss Diavari’s seemed to be much better than newer Zeiss. I don’t have enough use on them to say definitively, but the higher end models and the Artemis’s from Meopta have been decent as well.
I have not seen any modern model from Leupold, Vortex, Swarovski, Nikon, etc, etc. that I would term “durable and reliable” for the long haul.


With the 3-10x42mm SHV available with Forceplex reticle for less than $900, I can’t see choosing any thing else.

 

[TwoTikkas]

Ah the Holy Grail. Dead solid reliability. At the tail end of my bench rest shooting, folks were " Freezing " scopes. Immobilizing the internals with various injectable mediums. Then mounting in some precision adjustable hardware. Still not perfect. There is no practical hunting application for such silliness, but it demonstrates the lengths we have gone to in search of perfection. I suspect the search goes on.

Buy the best glass you can afford,without causing family hardship,and live within its limitations. In all honesty,here in the eastern deer woods,most deer could be taken with a good peep sight. Wide open spaces dictate a different approach. To my way of thinking set and forget, ballistic reticle models get the nod.

 

[deerkiller]

So a 3-9x’ish variable with no dialing, and an extremely high likelihood of holding zero even in rough, frequent use?


If you weren’t willing to use say a SWFA SS 3-9x and not touch the turrets, than #1 without question the Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x’s. Next is the SHV 3-10x42mm. S&B classics and Summits are generally solid. Older Zeiss Diavari’s seemed to be much better than newer Zeiss. I don’t have enough use on them to say definitively, but the higher end models and the Artemis’s from Meopta have been decent as well.
I have not seen any modern model from Leupold, Vortex, Swarovski, Nikon, etc, etc. that I would term “durable and reliable” for the long haul.


With the 3-10x42mm SHV available with Forceplex reticle for less than $900, I can’t see choosing any thing else.

THANK YOU for your opinions, they matter to me - I am really thinking now …. might just be best to go with a fixed 6X and be done worrying at all (and not break the bank) Leupold FX3 6X42 possibly ? or SWFA ? ….

 

[deerkiller]

So a 3-9x’ish variable with no dialing, and an extremely high likelihood of holding zero even in rough, frequent use?


If you weren’t willing to use say a SWFA SS 3-9x and not touch the turrets, than #1 without question the Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x’s. Next is the SHV 3-10x42mm. S&B classics and Summits are generally solid. Older Zeiss Diavari’s seemed to be much better than newer Zeiss. I don’t have enough use on them to say definitively, but the higher end models and the Artemis’s from Meopta have been decent as well.
I have not seen any modern model from Leupold, Vortex, Swarovski, Nikon, etc, etc. that I would term “durable and reliable” for the long haul.


With the 3-10x42mm SHV available with Forceplex reticle for less than $900, I can’t see choosing any thing else.

I'm expecting you to say the FX3 6X is a no go too which leaves me looking hard at the swfa 3 X 9 again as the hands down favorite for cost, reticle and reliability