cal30_sniper
Lil-Rokslider
I recently decided I was going to dip my toes into the Tikka game, after I found the clearance deals on Eurooptic too intriguing to resist. Up to now, I have a bunch of time behind various Mauser military and commercial actions (and derivatives) as well as a couple of custom 700s built on Defiance AnTi actions.
I wanted to start with a .223, since I was a little lacking in that regard. After looking at all the specs of the .223 models available, I decided the "Ranahan" was the one that was the best fit for me. It has iron sights, which I knew I wouldn't need, but also comes with a 20" 1:8" twist barrel with a 1/2-28 thread on the end. Since my other builds are gravitating towards 20", I figured this would be a better match for balance with the suppressor on the end, as well as tack on a significant amount of extra velocity (which the .223 can definitely use) on top of the commonly available 16.1" barrel models that also come with threads. As well, on clearance, the $699.99 price was pretty appealing for the features available.
I picked up the rifle a couple of weeks ago and spent a few minutes on the indoor range offhand at 25 yards just to check the function of everything. I found the iron sights surprisingly effective, and would definitely be interested in retaining them for something like a hog gun. After putting 25rds of 55gr ball down the barrel, I packed it up satisfied and brought it home to go under the knife.
One note, with the rifle in hand, I found the "sport" bolt knob that the Ranahan also comes with (which is just a plastic addition to the normal bolt knob) to be quite well thought out. This is doubly apparent now that I've handled other Tikkas without this add-on.
Modifications:
Back at the range on a calm 51 degree morning, I settled in to test out a few different types of .223 I had on hand and see what it likes. Results (groups and MVs gathered with a Lab Radar) below.
The Defiance groups for reference (AnTi Action, Rainier Arms 18" Barrel, Bergara MgLite takeoff chassis, Triggertech trigger, TenMile 3-18 scope):
I wanted to start with a .223, since I was a little lacking in that regard. After looking at all the specs of the .223 models available, I decided the "Ranahan" was the one that was the best fit for me. It has iron sights, which I knew I wouldn't need, but also comes with a 20" 1:8" twist barrel with a 1/2-28 thread on the end. Since my other builds are gravitating towards 20", I figured this would be a better match for balance with the suppressor on the end, as well as tack on a significant amount of extra velocity (which the .223 can definitely use) on top of the commonly available 16.1" barrel models that also come with threads. As well, on clearance, the $699.99 price was pretty appealing for the features available.
I picked up the rifle a couple of weeks ago and spent a few minutes on the indoor range offhand at 25 yards just to check the function of everything. I found the iron sights surprisingly effective, and would definitely be interested in retaining them for something like a hog gun. After putting 25rds of 55gr ball down the barrel, I packed it up satisfied and brought it home to go under the knife.
One note, with the rifle in hand, I found the "sport" bolt knob that the Ranahan also comes with (which is just a plastic addition to the normal bolt knob) to be quite well thought out. This is doubly apparent now that I've handled other Tikkas without this add-on.
Modifications:
- Removed front and rear iron sights. Each is held on by two slot-head screws. Thread appears to be either #8-48 or M4-0.5. I couldn't find screw blanks in either of these threads to try and fill the holes.
- Installed TBAC flash hider for my Ultra 7 can, rocksett and well torqued. Why is it they can't make these to fit a common wrench size?
- Installed UM Tikka Low Rings and Trijicon Credo 2-10X mil-reticle FFP scope. All screws cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and torqued to speck with a yellow oil-based paint pen. I run 3-18X Tenmiles on my 6mm CM Defiance and my 6.5CM AR-10, so I thought this would be a good match for the shorter effective range of the .223 while staying lighter with the same reticle.
- Reinstalled action in stock with cleaned threads and yellow paint pen. I went with 45 in-lbs with the plastic bottom metal.
Back at the range on a calm 51 degree morning, I settled in to test out a few different types of .223 I had on hand and see what it likes. Results (groups and MVs gathered with a Lab Radar) below.
- Hornady Frontier 5.56x45 55gr FMJ (5 sighter rounds from my surprisingly close boresight). MV = 3206fps
- Norma 69gr Golden Target .223 Rem. MV = 2773fps avg (later shots in my groups were all above 2800fps, probably the new barrel speeding up). Try as I might, I really couldn't get this stuff to group like I thought it would. Frustrated after the first two 10rd groups, I grabbed my Defiance 6CM and fired back to back 1.1 and 1.0MOA 10rd groups with 108 and 109gr Berger Ammo, so I don't think it was me. I do think the flyer that opened the first group up below was me though. Doubly frustrating, I took this round out to 300yds after zeroing at 100 and found the drop to be a good deal more than expected. BC doesn't seem to be near what's advertised for this round. 55yd LabRadar velocities also seemed to echo a much lower than advertised BC. I bought this ammo just to try out in this rifle, but doubt I'll be buying any more.
- Sierra 77gr HPBT Matchking Competition .223 Rem. MV = 2636. This was probably the best all-around load that I tried. I did 10 rounds from the bench, then 5 more into the same group from prone off the bipod (it actually grouped the last 5 off the bipod tighter than what I was previously doing from the bench, as evidenced by the expanded groups below). I would definitely order a lot more of this if it wasn't discontinued.
- Nosler 77gr HPBT Match Grade 223 Rem. MV = 2446. This is by far the most accurate ammo I tried (my 20" Criterion barrel ARs love it also) but as with the ARs, the velocity is pathetic. I'll shoot up what I have, but won't be buying any more of this.
The Defiance groups for reference (AnTi Action, Rainier Arms 18" Barrel, Bergara MgLite takeoff chassis, Triggertech trigger, TenMile 3-18 scope):
