Why does my tikka Suck?

[TREE ‘EM]

Troubleshoot all the variables and if that doesn’t work have someone who knows what they’re doing recut the crown.

 

[wyosam]

I’ve got one that is finicky for action screw torque. The system that works for it is get the recoil lug settled, run the screws down to just touching, then smack the butt of the rifle on the floor or bench, snug them to 15ish inch pounds (front first), give it another good snack on the floor, then torque the front to 40, and the rear to 30. I always get return to zero and good groups. Groups open way up with more torque on the rear screw.


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[Harvey_NW]

My factory Tikka T3X shot 160gr Accubonds, 162gr ELD-X, and 168gr Berger VLD, all sub moa with H1000 and that was at the start of my reloading journey. I attempted a bed job and took the pressure points out to free float and things went haywire. Anchored it in a Bell and Carlson stock and brought it right back in. I think they can be a little sensitive to how they're secured, mine was anyways.

Side note; make sure your parallax is properly tuned and not just set to yardage. Horizontal stringing is usually an indication of that.

 

[RyanT26]

I would tighten the action screws to 40inch pounds. Shoot a group. Then increase actions screws by 5 inch #’s shooting a group each time until you get to 60 inch #’s. My .308 shoots great at 40 and 45 but at 60inch pounds is a 1.75 gun.
Your gun could line to be a little tighter in the stock.

 

[HighUintas]

Check your bolt lug contact

 

[sdupontjr]

Dont think anyone mentioned it yet or not, but, I replaced the trigger spring with an Elay precision spring for a lighter pull and now my .308 damn near shoots federal blue box and rem coreloks factory 150's in the same hole. My trigger was a little heavy and changing the spring definately helped my groups.

 

[Rich M]

You have 3 out of 5 touching - the others are from your form or something like that. In most cases those fliers are not the gun.

 

[Ross]

Try some Hornady 154 gr ssts they shoot solid groups in my tikka 7mm.....

 

[Wiscat]

I would agree that you should check action torque. All 4 of mine like 50#+.

Also, unpopular opinion, I see no reason to shoot 5 shot groups with an ultralite hunting rifle. My 270 and 300 tikkas will shoot 3 rds into .5-.75 moa. I have no idea how they will shoot 5 shot groups because IMO that is just burning a barrel in a hunting rig with no functional gain.

 

[derekbeaudry]

Overall I would say that Tikka makes a good rifle but in all the different ones i have had over the years i have had 2 that didnt shoot to my standards. 1 was a 338 federal and it was minute of a sheet of paper at 100 yards with about every thing i tried with it. The other was a 22-250 that wasnt terrible but it wasnt great. Either way rebarreling them fixed the issue. Its possible that every company makes a rifle that doesnt shoot so it could just be that simple. Good luck.

 

[RustyT]

Hi OP,
I see this thread is over 6 months old - did you end up having any luck? If so, what was the rectification?
I have a new T3x Stainless Hunter in 7mm RM (not sure if you get them in the USA, it is a standard T3x with Walnut stock.) It has similar issues to yours - will group a couple shots on top of each other, then spray one left by an inch or two.
I have mostly been handloading, and have found a single OK load for it (139Gn SST with a slightly over max load of RL22 @3.35 OAL), but am looking for other loads/info.

 

[Ffjmoore]

No, it never shoot well. I cut the barrel off and bought a different take off barrel. The new barrel did not head space so I never shoot it. I spoke to proof and they guaranteed their barrel would head space so I ordered one but it's a very very very long wait. I was concerned that it could have been the scope but I put it on a different rifle and it shot bug holes at 100 yrds easy. Sorry to be no help, I think I just had a bum barrel.

 

[RustyT]

That's unfortunate - sorry to hear it, but really appreciate the reply.

Very frustrating if I can't get mine to shoot - I had a Sauer S101 that didn't shoot as well as I liked (maybe 1.1-1.2MOA on a good day), that I Traded to get this!. Tried multiple shooters ETC with both rifles thinking maybe it was me, everyone has had same results. Starting to doubt whether the 7mm can be finicky as a calibre.

 

[Harvey_NW]

That's unfortunate - sorry to hear it, but really appreciate the reply.

Very frustrating if I can't get mine to shoot - I had a Sauer S101 that didn't shoot as well as I liked (maybe 1.1-1.2MOA on a good day), that I Traded to get this!. Tried multiple shooters ETC with both rifles thinking maybe it was me, everyone has had same results. Starting to doubt whether the 7mm can be finicky as a calibre.

My Tikka shot pretty much everything I fed it when it was assembled correctly. It would do the exact same thing when it was not though. I found they are very sensitive to being seated against the recoil lug and torqued correctly, and if you have the aluminum recoil lug it will get peened and cause that as well so I recommend the steel or Ti version. I would take it apart and degrease everything. When reassembling make sure the lug is seated properly in the channel, apply blue loctite and snug the action screws, drop the rifle on the butt a couple times, then torque to 35-40 in/lb. I shot 160 accubonds, 162 eld-x, 168 ABLR, and 168 VLD in front of H1000 and had no problems getting any of them sub MOA.

 

[JeffRaines]

I'll state that some rifles never shoot well. I've fixed more than a few that suffered from this issue. Most were re-barrelled. Oddly enough, all of these, as I think about it, were purchased USED. Hmmmm.

I try to buy everything used - but a rifle isn’t one of them. People don’t normally sell good shooting rifles unless there’s something else going on.

Now in some cases, you have guys dumping big cartridges because they bought too much rifle and those may actually shoot fine, although they’ll report that the gun doesn’t shoot worth a shit.

 

[Wapiti1]

I try to buy everything used - but a rifle isn’t one of them. People don’t normally sell good shooting rifles unless there’s something else going on.

Now in some cases, you have guys dumping big cartridges because they bought too much rifle and those may actually shoot fine, although they’ll report that the gun doesn’t shoot worth a shit.

Very true. Too much gun is a great way to get a good rifle.

I'll add to my original comments that most of those that wouldn't shoot had an identifiable reason. Poor bolt fit, crooked chamber, crooked threads in the action, heavy machine burrs or marks on the locking lugs, and the number one reason, crap stock fit.

That said, I have gone through a lot of used rifles, and ones that wouldn't shoot are well outnumbered by those that shot at least to the standard of the time they were made in.

Jeremy

 

[RustyT]

My Tikka shot pretty much everything I fed it when it was assembled correctly. It would do the exact same thing when it was not though. I found they are very sensitive to being seated against the recoil lug and torqued correctly, and if you have the aluminum recoil lug it will get peened and cause that as well so I recommend the steel or Ti version. I would take it apart and degrease everything. When reassembling make sure the lug is seated properly in the channel, apply blue loctite and snug the action screws, drop the rifle on the butt a couple times, then torque to 35-40 in/lb. I shot 160 accubonds, 162 eld-x, 168 ABLR, and 168 VLD in front of H1000 and had no problems getting any of them sub MOA.

I hear what you are saying, I shot it once, true'd the scope up, and it wasn't great. I found the stock was lightly touching the barrel, as it wasn't centered in the channel, I took it apart, put it up against the recoil lug (butt on the ground) and torqued (35in-lb IIRC) I will do it again before going back to the range, and check scope rings ETC. This is my second Tikka, my 308 Lite shoots absolutely everything I put in it, even cheap factory, under 1MOA. Was hoping this would do the same.
Do you mind sharing your loads - especially for the ELD-X and 160 AB? My next problem is 162 SST, also using H1000 (AR2217 in AU). And have 2 boxes off the AB I am not yet willing to waste until I figure the rifle out. Feel free to DM if you don't want to share publicly.

 

[TxxAgg]

I've sold a lot of rifles (probably 30) just because I like to try new stuff. I've never sold a lemon...but I've never owned a lemon.

Regarding Tikkas, it seems like every time someone has a lemon it's a 7 mag or 7-08.

Of the 9 Tikkas I've owned and another handful I've messed with, I torque the action screws to 55 inch pounds

 

[Harvey_NW]

I hear what you are saying, I shot it once, true'd the scope up, and it wasn't great. I found the stock was lightly touching the barrel, as it wasn't centered in the channel, I took it apart, put it up against the recoil lug (butt on the ground) and torqued (35in-lb IIRC) I will do it again before going back to the range, and check scope rings ETC. This is my second Tikka, my 308 Lite shoots absolutely everything I put in it, even cheap factory, under 1MOA. Was hoping this would do the same.
Do you mind sharing your loads - especially for the ELD-X and 160 AB? My next problem is 162 SST, also using H1000 (AR2217 in AU). And have 2 boxes off the AB I am not yet willing to waste until I figure the rifle out. Feel free to DM if you don't want to share publicly.

I lost my old notebook in a move and I don't remember exactly for the 160/162, but I wasn't very experienced at the time and wouldn't exceed book max. I remember with the 168 I settled on 69.5gr.

 

[RustyT]

No worries Harvey, appreciate your input.
TxxAgg - I can try going higher in torque, might try 45 when I redo it. I was a little hesitant for fear of crushing the stock slightly - everything I have read says to keep them under 40 or so in a wooden stock. My Lite I torque to 55 or so.
Interesting the only issues I have read about with Tikka are also 7mm calibre's, and also the odd one in 22-250 I think it is.