Tikka Not Grouping??

[Jack321]

What's up everyone based on a ton of reading from this forum, I ended up buying a 300 Win Mag Tikka T3x and putting a NF SHV 4-14x on the top of it. Took it out to the range and put some plane jane Federal 180 gr thu it to get it on paper.

I then tried a total of 3 loads:
Remington Core Lokt, 180 gr
Federal Terminal Ascent, 200gr
Federal Blue Box 180gr

All three were shooting 1.5-2" groups.

I shoot enough to know it could be the ammo, or I have to break the barrel in, as it's only got basically 20 rounds thru it.

But I have to admit, I was a little less than please.

Now also, bear in mind, I'm no schmuck either, I have several rifles that shoot suv-moa and most are plane jane Rem 700s, or Savage 110s.

This was my first crack at anything other than "good enough."

I wanted this to be THE rifle for me and willing to spend more coin than I'm used to.

Is it all in my head? Im going to continue other loads/bullets.

But I'd be lying if I said I felt a bit let down and was expecting nice little clover leafs.

I'd fire two rounds close and 0.5" apart, and then the next one would be 1-1.5" away! Like holy crap! Did I pull that shot? Then I'd repeat and try again.

My buddy who also is a heck of a shot, same thing for him. Two close/touching and then a flyer.

Maybe a warm barrel? Maybe the ammo? Maybe not broken in?

Base, rings are all loctite, torqued and leveled.

Talk me off a ledge here boys!

 

[JF_Idaho]

Checked the action screw torque?

 

[eric1115]

Any chance barrel is not fully free floated and is making occasional contact with stock?

 

[blick]

Try some more testing to see if it's a repeatable pattern. Shoot a 10 shot group at a controlled pace, then shoot a 10 shot group two at a time completely letting barrel cool in-between. If the 10 shot strings and the two shot holds good it could be a heat problem. Chase stock to action interface 1st then barrel. If no pattern or random chase scope mount then ammo.

 

[JollyRoger]

Check action screw torque
Check that the barrel is floated
Shoot a 10 round group with the best ammo you can find
Record yourself or have a friend watch you shoot. A 300WM in an 8.5-9lbs package is a hard hitter and that means something on target. I had the same type of thing with a Tikka 7mag years ago.. but it was all me. Once I stopped flinching and did the fundamentals better things magically tightened up.

 

[Gila]

Checked the action screw torque?

I have owned a number of T3s and T3x over the years and everyone of them was finicky with ammo. The ammo that my 300 win mag shot the best was Nosler Trophy Grade with 180 gr Accubonds. Twenty rounds is definitely enough to “season” the barrel. Definitely need to torque the action screws correctly on a 300 WM. If the action is moving around the recoil lug then you might have to take it apart and mate the lug to the action. The easiest way to check is if the barrel is free floated most of the way back toward the action. I bought another t3x a few months ago and found that the action screws were just above finger tight! Not good. I would torque to about 42 lbs on both action screws once you have checked recoil lug alignment. Obviously the scope mounts need to be checked as well.

If you don’t want to take it apart, Tikka guarantee is one MOA for a 3 rd group…so you could take it in for warranty service.

 

[Gorp2007]

I’d make sure the barrel is fully free floated, then next time you head to the range with your friend, bring a set of snapcaps and have your friend load the mags for you. That’ll help diagnose whether it’s you or the rifle.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

What is the most shots fired per group?

 

[Gila]

Check action screw torque
Check that the barrel is floated
Shoot a 10 round group with the best ammo you can find
Record yourself or have a friend watch you shoot. A 300WM in an 8.5-9lbs package is a hard hitter and that means something on target. I had the same type of thing with a Tikka 7mag years ago.. but it was all me. Once I stopped flinching and did the fundamentals better things magically tightened up.

I put on AICS and a lot of other after market crap on my 300 WM so it weighed almost 12 pounds. Shot very well at the range but was like dragging a boat anchor out hunting. I took off most of the extra weight and lightened it up but the recoil was so bad it rattled my teeth. I had to have dental work done. It was accurate though. Needless to say I no longer have a 300 WM.

 

[Gila]

I’d make sure the barrel is fully free floated, then next time you head to the range with your friend, bring a set of snapcaps and have your friend load the mags for you. That’ll help diagnose whether it’s you or the rifle.

Tikka doesn’t free float all of the way back. There is a short “bed” in the stock to keep excessive torque off of the recoil lug…it works though, all of my Tikkas have been good shooters out of the box.

 

[Gorp2007]

Tikka doesn’t free float all of the way back. There is a short “bed” in the stock to keep excessive torque off of the recoil lug…it works though, all of my Tikkas have been good shooters out of the box.

Not doubting your experiences, but lots of others see improvement when they take that nub out. I also haven’t seen any aftermarket stocks that include a pressure point, so I don’t believe they’re essential for accuracy. I’ve taken them out of all mine (3 factory stocks to date) to no ill effect.

That being said, I’d definitely do the snap cap test before removing stock material. I know plenty of good shooters who aren’t at their best behind a lightweight magnum.

 

[pharmfisher]

IMO that's crap ammo. I have limited experience but every one of my guns and my hunting buddies guns wouldn't shoot that ammo any better than 1.5". Try some Hornady match or precision hunter.

 

[KenLee]

Make sure you drop anything you're after with the first 2 shots. Problem solved!
Seriously I don't use Tikkas, but 2 friends swear by the cheap Hornady Whitetail ammo from Tikka 300 win mags.

 

[Gila]

Not doubting your experiences, but lots of others see improvement when they take that nub out. I also haven’t seen any aftermarket stocks that include a pressure point, so I don’t believe they’re essential for accuracy. I’ve taken them out of all mine (3 factory stocks to date) to no ill effect.

I don’t doubt that at all…in fact that is good to know. I am not a fan of Tikka’s recoil lug setup But that is what we have to work with. LRI will weld a recoil lug on the Tikka action:

GUNSMITHING SERVICES: Tombstone Lug Retrofit on Tikka Actions (inlcudes lug)

The addition of a tombstone type recoil lug to a Tikka action is born from the experience and painful lessons learned on an international level. I once watched a close friend have his dreams and hard work shattered at the World Fullbore Championships due to a rifle that failed to manage recoil...

www.longriflesinc.com

 

[KenLee]

IMO that's crap ammo. I have limited experience but every one of my guns and my hunting buddies guns wouldn't shoot that ammo any better than 1.5". Try some Hornady match or precision hunter.

I'm gonna piss the bed with this response. I keep cheap blue box Federal, Core-lokts and Hornady Whitetail ammo in every popular caliber on hand for every popular caliber...except PRC, I'm not that evolved yet. I zero approximately 25 new rifles every year for myself and others. If rifles shoot like crap, I try these 3 to check groups. 90% of the time, one of these 3 cheapies results in groups under moa. For the other 10% that are failures, I send folks off to my favorite gunsmith and/or tell the owner to send the rifle back to manufacturer, depending on how bad the groups are.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Is it braked? The 300wm in a tikka Superlite is a bitch to shoot. I had one and absolutely hated it.

 

[11boo]

I'm gonna piss the bed with this response. I keep cheap blue box Federal, Core-lokts and Hornady Whitetail ammo in every popular caliber on hand for every popular caliber...except PRC, I'm not that evolved yet. I zero approximately 25 new rifles every year for myself and others. If rifles shoot like crap, I try these 3 to check groups. 90% of the time, one of these 3 cheapies results in groups under moa. For the other 10% that are failures, I send folks off to my favorite gunsmith and/or tell the owner to send the rifle back to manufacturer, depending on how bad the groups are.

I don’t shoot nearly that many different rifles, but core loct and that cheap federal shoot very small groups in my cheap RA.

 

[pharmfisher]

I don’t shoot nearly that many different rifles, but core loct and that cheap federal shoot very small groups in my cheap RA.

You both probably have more experience than I do. I have just found federal blue box and core lokts to be no better than 1.5" ammo out of my Ruger American, Smith Wesson mp10, Browning x bolt, and Tikka t3x. Hornady precision hunter has shot an inch or better in all of these guns. But again my sample size is small. My point is maybe try some more ammo before taking a Dremel to the stock or doing something even more drastic.

 

[Jack321]

Is it braked? The 300wm in a tikka Superlite is a bitch to shoot. I had one and absolutely hated it.

Nope, it's a stainless, no thread, no brake.

I'm going to check the action screw torque, and check next Thursday at the range.

Any good videos to explain where to go to check these things out?

 

[wind gypsy]

I wouldn’t put that much thought into the first 20 rounds.