Tikka T3X: Excessive throat

[Tahoe1305]

A few of their cartridges are long throats. It’s a curse if you only shoot factory but a blessing if you hand load and can get them close to the lands.

It’s kinda a wildcat at that point (will be longer than SAAMI) but will fit more powder at safe pressures and result in more performance. I’m guessing will make the 7-08 into closer to a AI (within 100fps or so possibly).

Not my thoughts, this guy seems smart on it though:

Effects of Cartridge Over All Length (COAL) and Cartridge Base To Ogive (CBTO) - Part 1

Many shooters are not aware of the dramatic effects that bullet seating depth can have on the pressure and velocity generated by a rifle cartridge. COAL is also a variable that can be used to fine tune accuracy. It’s also an important consideration for rifles that need to feed rounds through a...

bergerbullets.com

 

[Dave Thomas]

Most factory rifles have long throats. In my Tikka 7mm08 I had a lot of jump with factory mag and 140 sgk's. I loaded some long and did a seating depth test and found it shot the same as it did with a lot of jump so I just loaded them to fit the magazine. It did shoot good so I didn't worry about it.

 

[burborg]

Most factory rifles have long throats. In my Tikka 7mm08 I had a lot of jump with factory mag and 140 sgk's. I loaded some long and did a seating depth test and found it shot the same as it did with a lot of jump so I just loaded them to fit the magazine. It did shoot good so I didn't worry about it.

Yeah, if I could get mine to shoot for $%*& I wouldn't have worried about it either. Not to mention that I was so shortsighted that I didn't realize I could have single fed longer rounds to see if I even had a reason to buy a longer mag.

I'm often smart in hindsight but always dumb in the moment.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

A 1.1” group with factory ammo is not bad. Plenty accurate for a hunting rifle.


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“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[burborg]

A 1.1” group with factory ammo is not bad. Plenty accurate for a hunting rifle.


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“Keep on keepin’ on…”

Those were LRX handloads. Accuracy is 2 moa or worse with factory ELDX.

And I do thoroughly clean my bore before shooting copper. And I do fouling shots. And I can shoot sub moa with other rifles.

I bought a pound of Big Game powder which is recommended by Barnes. I tried 0.025" and 0.050" of jump, and they shot worse than 0.100" of jump. I'm planning to load up more rounds to test next week. 0.100" of jump to find a good charge weight, and then do jump tests. Don't know is I should stop at 0.150" jump or go all the way down to 0.200" jump.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Those were LRX handloads. Accuracy is 2 moa or worse with factory ELDX.

And I do thoroughly clean my bore before shooting copper. And I do fouling shots. And I can shoot sub moa with other rifles.

I bought a pound of Big Game powder which is recommended by Barnes. I tried 0.025" and 0.050" of jump, and they shot worse than 0.100" of jump. I'm planning to load up more rounds to test next week. 0.100" of jump to find a good charge weight, and then do jump tests. Don't know is I should stop at 0.150" jump or go all the way down to 0.200" jump.

How many other factory loads did you try?

I never have bothered to do seating depth tests. That’s not the most likely thing to get better groups. Pick a variety of different bullets and test which ones shoot best before you waste time, patience, and components trying to get a certain bullet to shoot well.


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[burborg]

How many other factory loads did you try?

I never have bothered to do seating depth tests. That’s not the most likely thing to get better groups. Pick a variety of different bullets and test which ones shoot best before you waste time, patience, and components trying to get a certain bullet to shoot well.


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“Keep on keepin’ on…”

I had great luck with seating depth tests at 0.005" intervals loading 140 gr Speer GD over H4350 in my 6.5 CM Weatherby Vanguard. Results were repeatable as well. I used 5 shot grouos to work up my load. Then I loaded to the longest length that gave me acceptable accuracy per Cortina's "Stop chasing the lands" video, and sighted in my rifle with the final load. I sighted in using 3 shot groups and had an average group size of 0.68" and SD of 8.

I need to clarify some things from my previous post because I am a terrible writer.

The 1.1" to 1.5" groups were during a ladder charge test in the Tikka 7-08 loaded to standard magazine length, or about 0.100" jump. After receiving my M+ magazine, I took the best charge weight from that test and loaded out to 0.050" and 0.025" jump. The groups opened 2.1" and 1.9", respectively.

So, in my personal experience, experimenting with jump is fruitful. It can change velocity and SD, but usually you can tune those back in to spec with slight powder adjustments.

Just my 2 cents. YMMV.

 

[V00D00]

I’ve loaded for rifles that didn’t want jump, rifles that wanted jump, and rifles that shot no matter what you loaded. Figured out what she likes

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I recommend reading Form’s thread about reloading. It is very similar to the method my dad taught me, but with more rigorous and statistically meaningful group sizes.

Painless load development (mine)
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...t-(mine).238400/&share_type=t&link_source=app

For my 6.5 CM, tomorrow morning I will be testing six Hornady factory loads ranging from 120-grain ELDMs to 147-grain ELDMs (no monos). Whichever bullet weight/type generates the most potential precision will form the basis for future bulk ammo purposes and potentially reloading experiments if I can’t get acceptable 10-shot groups with any of the factory offerings.


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“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[Short Track]

My Tikka 7mm-08 loves ELD-X #1; American white tail #2; and Coreloks #3.