Tikka T3x superlite 7mm-08 accuracy issues

[davsco]

yeah i'd contact tikka. worse they can tell you to do is pound sand, but certainly hope they make it work. having just one brand/sku of ammo that works, wouldn't work for me. i absolutely love those bt's for deer but pretty sure they're nowhere near the top of the list for elk. def let us know how it goes and good luck! and the good news is, if they take the gun back now for a few weeks, you're not missing hunting season.

 

[Logan T]

It's too bad to hear about this issue with this rifle, as I was really looking at picking up this same rifle for my wife. Might be having some second thoughts now.

As far as those winchester ballistic silver tips.... that is what I have ran through my Tikka T3 300wsm since I've owned that rifle, so since 2006/2007. I am not a reloader, and I ran a bunch different ammo through my rifle back when I got it and they flew the best out of anything I tried as well. And the 150 grains are plenty for elk. They have killed 30+ elk between me and my friends/family using it, with the closest shot being ~35 yards and the furthest being 497. Other than my bull I shot this year- which was around 70 yards- every elk has died within several steps of bullet impact. And this years bull only went 40 yards, and that was amazing on his part, with the two bullets destroying his vitals like they did. Moral of all that story is I'd never even consider switching ammo and using anything but those bullets in this rifle. But to each his own.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

@ ndayton,. If you shot a one MOA group, you can BET that, the Tikka Factory ammo, will do the same or better! Sending the Rifle in to them is probably, a waste of time and the cost to ship, the Gun. You might call Nosler Tech support on Monday and see if they have had any particular bullet stabilization problems, in the 7mm-08 TIKKA as, they might have seen some success with the 140 or, 160 AB's. The 150 is a Bal Tip and they do tend to, separate Core's, at higher velocities but, probably would work fine at 7-08 vel's. Do NOT clean your gun between groups as, a clean Bore always has one or two "Flyers",.. til' "coppered up" ! You should be able to shoot about, 200-300 rounds thru gun without cleaning after bbl "Break in". George at GAP Precision shoots his .243's 500 rds before cleaning! The 140 AB's and Bal Tips both shot WELL ( same size group), in my .270 WSM . The groups were about 1/4 inch apart tho, so now, I only shoot AB's, even for practice as, the BC is slightly different than BT's and the POI is NOT exactly, the same, which becomes a big issue, at 400+ yards. Ask Nosler and ask Gunsmiths / other shooters, about the "best bullet/ Load", SOMEONE, knows ! The Winchester Ammo you shot, was it 150 grain Bal Tip's ? At what Velocity? I doubt if you would have any trouble killing Elk "cleanly" with, a 7mm-08 Bal Tip, at under 2,800 FPS!

 

[Ashy Larry]

Yea definitely skip the bore snake (forever if you're only shooting 40-60 rounds a year). Revisit the other load with a fouled barrel later.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

@ ndayton,.. I plugged in the 140 grain Winchester 7-08 Silver BT load, at 2770 FPS, Factory "stated" muzzle velocity with, a .454 BC and that load should Max out for Elk at 500 yards (still going, 1920 FPS @ 500) and should expand, FINE ! Nosler shows my .270 cal., 140's expand down to 2,000 FPS. A 400/450 yard maximum shot, would be better, tho!
If they "shoot",.. use em !

 

[ndayton]

I only used the bore snake once when I switched to test the Hornady ammo thinking it would help the barrel cool down faster, it didn't, other than that I just shot it let cool and then shot again 30 shots total with the last group being the Hornady measuring at almost 3 inches. I will call Tikka at least see what they say I'm not against shooting ballistic tips if they work just figure the gun shouldn't be that picky with ammo.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

You are right, the Rifle shouldn't be, that "picky" !!! I looked at my box of, .270 cal. 140 grain Bal Tip's and Nosler shows that, they should expand, down to 1,900 FPS, so that is 500 Yards, for your 7mm-08 load. There are still some things that, we don't quite know about, Rifle Barrels like, why one bullet shoots "well" and another, "stinks" and yet, some guns may shoot, several different Bullets, "well"! There are many things, "in play" when it comes to accurate, Rifle barrels like,.. twist rates, velocity, bore size, land with, throat/ bullet length, powder burn rate and the list goes on. There probably is, a real accurate, load/ bullet for your Rifle but, you'd probably have to hand load or, test a lot of Factory Ammo ! If the Win 140 gr. Sil Tip shoots, about a 1 MOA group, say a 5-6 inch Bench group at, 500 that would be good enough for Deer/ Elk hunting. Your group will open up a bit, using Field position methods (sitting, shooting over "Sticks" or, Prone with a Bipod / over a Pack). Once you shoot a lot of practice, at Hunting positions and different Yardages, you should have, more confidence in your Rifle and Load. Good luck !
PS; do you have a Bubble Level, on your Scope? What power Scope, are you using ?

 

[V65Magna]

I would just call Tikka and see what they will do about it. You have tried enough different loads to say the rifle is not shooting to their standards. One of the reasons you probably chose to buy a Tikka is their 1 MOA guarantee, you should use it. Just call them, send it back, and have them fix it. I have found when a rifle doesn't show signs of good accuracy right off it never will.

I agree. Tikka should address this. They are foolish not to, unless they want the bad press out there. I was thinking about their T3X A1 myself in 6.5 Creedmore, so I hope I don't hear any more unfavorable reports. There are always gonna be lemons no matter what but most companies worth their salt strive to avoid it. There are just too many choices out there. Good luck.

 

[davsco]

looking at winchester's ballistic silvertip site, guess i am surprised to these recommended or at least suitable for elk at 270 win and up (but not for 7mm-08 although we all know shot placement counts more than horsepower). learned something new today!

http://www.winchester.com/Products/rifle-ammunition/Advanced/Ballistic-Silvertip/Pages/default.aspx

 

[dkynoch]

If you have to use the BT's it is not the end of the world. I actually like Ballistic Tips better for lower intensity cartridges like the 7mm-08. Some of the "tougher" bullets don't expand very rapidly at lower velocities.

I have a 7mm Rem Mag Tikka T3 lite. It shoots around 1/2 MOA, but with 3 shot groups. I shoot several 3 shot groups over several different range sessions with the same target print out and superimpose them over each other to see that my point of impact is consistent. This usually makes sum of all the groups about 1 MOA. I think this is a better test for a hunting rifle.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Idaho Lefty]

looking at winchester's ballistic silvertip site, guess i am surprised to these recommended or at least suitable for elk at 270 win and up (but not for 7mm-08 although we all know shot placement counts more than horsepower). learned something new today!

Yup, I noticed that, too ! The OP should be "good" to 500 Yds MAX with that load, on an Elk (W/ good shot placement) as the bullets should be, going over, 1,900 FPS at 500. Speed is nice but,.. Accuracy,.. KILLS !

 

[Idaho Lefty]

AGREE with dkynoch on this, too ! I can't use, the Bal Tip's in my .270 WSM at, 3,150 FPS, in case I have a close shot ( under 200 Yards) due to excessive, Meat damage, at high Velocity,.. I like to eat, my Elk ! I use Bal Tip's at 2,600 fps for Deer, in my 7X30 Waters T.C. SS carbine, tho !

 

[Shooter760]

Ndayton...I know this post is kind of old, but did you ever get any resolve from Tikka? I just picked up a T3x superlite in 270 win. And I can’t get the thing to shoot 1moa. I have been out on 2 range sessions with 12 different types of factory ammo and the best I can get is 1.5” at 100 yards. I let the barrel cool between strings, pulled the action and got it torqued to spec, scope and rings are good to go...the thing just won’t shoot. I’m about to try and send it back, but wanted to see what the turnaround time is and if they were able to fix yours? Thanks!

 

[Kimber7man]

The Tikka accuracy issues I’ve seen were caused by the action not being seated correctly onto the recoil lug in the stock. Just a sample of two that shot much better after reinstalling correctly on the stock.

 

[Shooter760]

I made sure to double check the lug when I took it all apart and retorqued the action screws. Did the whole bang the butstock down on the bench before tightening.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I didn't read through all the posts, so I apologize if this has already been covered. I have a T3 Lite also chambered in 7-08 and it easily shoots sub MOA using 120 grain Barnes TTSX factory ammo, but the groups open up considerably with Hornady Superformance ammo. Anyway, you might want to also give the Barnes a try also, if you haven't already.

 

[WJS23]

My 7-08 shoots 139 superformance GMX under 1moa but the other superformance load shoots maybe 1.5 -2moa

 

[deerkiller]

just jumping in on this one …. they way the stock / action / recoil lug system fits together can sometimes be tough to get back together properly, it will seem like the action's back in the stock but the recoil lug will actually not be in it's slot, you sometimes have to "feel it" and it takes a bit to get it right, some are more difficult than others - I have a new one right now that is a real bugger to get to "click" in correctly, you should realize it when it happens …. one of the first Tikka T3's I bought used a long while back (used 270 WSM) came to me out of packaging put together like that, when I properly put it together it turned out to be one of the most accurate rifles I've ever had in my hands, got it for $350 -

 

[Dave47]

I have a tikka 270 that shoots great and has since I took it out of the box. On the other hand I have a ruger 22-250 that I’m feeling your pain on.

 

[Kevin87]

My Tikka 7mag doesn't like the ELD-X bullets for some reason. If you reload, try Berger 168 gr Classic Hunters.