Why does my tikka Suck?

[ForrestHorsehunter]

I can't shoot three shots with Hornady ELDX without driving through a previous hole. I'm around .5 MOA out of the box with those.

 

[Nickoftime]

I have a Tikka 300wsm with custom reloaded 160gr Hornady bullets, and many times I could hit the same hole in three shots. The bullets are made for lever actions, but it was the best bullet for my gun. My father and I found on thing was the rifle liked the bullet to be close the lands of the barrel. Where it was snug closing it. Maybe testing different lengths of the bullet being set in the cartilage.

 

[Grisha]

I realize this is an old thread, but people Google old threads so I will add my experience for data. My 270 win t3x shoots about a quarter moa cold. Once the barrel heats up, forget it. First 3 shots today, copper Federals for CA.

The rest were garbage. I gave up trying to cool the barrel after a while and just left.

 

[Operator]

As for accuracy problems in your Tikka, I bought a used Browning A-bolt SS shot OK if 1.5"-2" groups are ok. I started cleaning it, powder fouling was not bad but it had a lot of copper build up, so much that I got my foul out bore cleaner filled the barrel set the cleaning rod in and turned it on. It took about 10hrs, pulled the rod out of the bore had a copper mine in it. Cleaned out the solution went out and it shot .5" to .75" groups, I guess the guy who sold didn't know how to clean a bore.

 

[brushape]

I have a super light 300 win I can’t get to shoot for shit I’ve tried a lot of loads and yes it’s braked and recoil is very manageable


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[Gila]

I have a super light 300 win I can’t get to shoot for shit I’ve tried a lot of loads and yes it’s braked and recoil is very manageable

There is a zillion and one things that could cause that. Most Tikkas in 300 win are very accurate. I have a T3X lite in stainless with a 10:1 twist and it shoots very well As most do. I would start with how your optic is mounted and then go from there. Nosler and Hornady fodder usually shoots quite well. I don’t use a brake, but most others seem to.

 

[JustMe7]

I bought a used tikka 7mm rem mag. Supposedly 40 rnd fired. I shoot some Barnes 139, 150 and 160 and was not impressed. nothing really close to MOA. So a did some load development with Barnes 145gr and still nothing good. Best i could get was good vertical dispersion but bad horizontal.
View attachment 242711

I took it apart removed the pressure point at the front of the stock and put it back together torqued to 45 in/lbs. Went and shot 3 round groups letting the rifle cool between each string. Still garbage shooting.
View attachment 242712View attachment 242713

Im not sure where to go from here. I was going to hunt with it and then re barrel later to possibly 6.5 PRC but I may end up doing that sooner if I cant get the thing to shoot.

To me the variables are the copper bullets, the stock/recoil lug or the barrel. Thoughts?

Not the first 7mm rem mag that made groups like that.
I’ watched a career reloader try to develop a load for a Ruger m77 tang safety rifle- it shot about like yours.

The top photo leads me to believe that the rifle actually shoots EXTREMELY well with that load, given the fact that there's virtually no vertical stringing, besides shot #5. There are two potential causes for the "wide" groups, in my mind.

#1, the spaghetti noodle barrel starts to string shots. There is really a high potential that this is the case. Tikka guarantees sub-moa 3 shot groups with good ammo, and outside that, the barrel heats up and starts to string and throw shots. I have a buddy that gets about MOA with 3 shots from his Tikka, then shot 4 is 1.25 MOA, shot 5 is 2 MOA, and so on. A hot cartridge like the 7mm rem mag burning lots of powder may just be heating up the barrel incredibly fast. Did you try waiting extended period of time between shots, like 5 to 10 minutes?

#2, the rifle is so light you may be flinching from the recoil. Nobody likes to admit when they're recoil sensitive, but I flinched until I was 24 and got my creedmoor and taught myself to shoot without any recoil. A Tikka is a light rifle, and even in mild cartridges it can kick alot harder than we realize. Are you torqueing the gun in anticipation of the punch? Is the trigger too heavy?

I will say, removing the "pressure point" in front of the chamber may have been a mistake. Tikka designed these guns to be shot with the pressure point, because the barrels are so thin, so you may have potentially done more harm than good by removing the pressure point. Someone else will probably know better than me, but those are my thoughts...

very good points. My Tikka rifles are very accurate.
If my tikka was shooting 1” I would not accept that .
Temperature plays a big role.
The 7mm rem mag is a hot one - barrel heats up quickly.

 

[JustMe7]

Even though I just sold a tikka purely due to lack of use, I do look with a real skeptical eye to used tikkas for sale.

Out of 6 calibers of tikka rifles I’ve owned, 1 had enormous recoil for a .270 win.. did not shoot horribly.
Not great.

The .243 with 75 gr Vmax was incredibley accurate. One ragged hole. With 100 grain it opened up a little. - still well under an inch.

The 25/06 Tikka Forest. Ok. Less than spectacular- not 25/06 accurate.

The .308 stainless tikka, one ragged hole groups. 150 gr SST.

The 7mm-08 well under an inch with 139 SST’s, one hole group with 140 nosler accubond.

30/06 tikka !! I never saw a 30/06 that I could like.. changed out the recoil pad. Shoots one hole groups with factory 150 gr power points.
Less felt recoil than any other 30/06 plus the most accurate by far 30/06.
My tikka rifles review.
Out of the 6.
The .243, 7mm-08, 30/06 and .308 were Amazingly accurate.
The .270 win and 25/06 ; calibers I’ve had great success in other rifles were pretty poor to me.. although they were not terrible and would both shoot 3 shots under an inch.
If I owned a rifle that I could not get to shoot under 1 moa - I would not own it for very long.

 

[Leatherneck]

My 2 cents,

1) My Tikka T3x .308 loves 150 gr Hornady Whitetail. Did not like Fusions very much.

2) May want to research Rokslide for a few articles for tips on shooting lightweight rifles. Some suggest that we should not be shooting these like a sniper rifle,. Instead, we should either apply downward pressure on scope or firmly grip the forearm while sighting in and shooting. I think even Kimber recommends this for their lightweight rifles.

 

[JustMe7]

My 2 cents,

1) My Tikka T3x .308 loves 150 gr Hornady Whitetail. Did not like Fusions very much.

2) May want to research Rokslide for a few articles for tips on shooting lightweight rifles. Some suggest that we should not be shooting these like a sniper rifle,. Instead, we should either apply downward pressure on scope or firmly grip the forearm while sighting in and shooting. I think even Kimber recommends this for their lightweight rifles.

Hornady whitetail is a good round
My .308’s don’t care for fusions
My .270’s love the fusions…

 

[Turkeytider]

Just for fun, take your question over to Sniper`s Hide.

 

[Ffjmoore]

I spun on a Tikka barrel and it did not head space with the gauges I had. Spoke to Tikka they had me put tape on the no go gauge to increase the length and told me it was within Sami spec. So the chamber on this one is on the long side I guess. Probably why that take off wouldn't fit.

Either way I got it pretty dialed with Barnes lrx and was able to get this buck at 365 yards. And another doe at 260.

 

[Gila]

Tikka chambers are a horse of a different color. I wanted to see how far away the lands where on my 300 win mag. Found out it has a giraffe throat. However with the shorter bullets, it is still amazingly accurate. From what I suspect the free bore actually has a longer cone and with more of an angle than other chambers. However there is no way for me to measure that and I doubt Tikka will give that info out. But I really don’t know. My .270 T3 was finicky about ammo. Settled on the Hornady Custom lite magnum. When Hornady discontinued that ammo, went with the Superformance and it shot well.

 

[manitou1]

I also had a TIkka 7RM that would not shoot. I came to the conclusion that God hates 7mm.

HAHA! Sorry, that's not much help. To be honest I also had a Tikka 300 WSM that would not shoot under 2" with LOTS of different reloads, scopes and shooters. Sometimes you just get a crap barrel.

Yeah, but He LOVES those that shoot 7mm more than anybody else... 'cause we are doing the Lord's work.

 

[JustMe7]

My 2 cents,

1) My Tikka T3x .308 loves 150 gr Hornady Whitetail. Did not like Fusions very much.

2) May want to research Rokslide for a few articles for tips on shooting lightweight rifles. Some suggest that we should not be shooting these like a sniper rifle,. Instead, we should either apply downward pressure on scope or firmly grip the forearm while sighting in and shooting. I think even Kimber recommends this for their lightweight rifles.

The funny thing is I’ve seen people shoot like this.
In honesty though, I never liked ‘lite’ rifles when I was young. I typically carried a Wood stock , 26” barrel, Remington.
Switching to ‘lite’ rifles after spinal surgeries and Degenerative disc disease, had its learning curve.
I was not too proud to seek out advice and sought to learn.
I love my tikka lite rifles.

 

[JustMe7]

Even though I just sold a tikka purely due to lack of use, I do look with a real skeptical eye to used tikkas for sale.

You have any other tikkas sitting around getting no use.. I would take them off your hands!

 

[z987k]

You have any other tikkas sitting around getting no use.. I would take them off your hands!

I've got a custom barrel that needs to go!

 

[JustMe7]

I've got a custom barrel that needs to go!

What caliber?

 

[JustMe7]

I realize this is an old thread, but people Google old threads so I will add my experience for data. My 270 win t3x shoots about a quarter moa cold. Once the barrel heats up, forget it. First 3 shots today, copper Federals for CA.

The rest were garbage. I gave up trying to cool the barrel after a while and just left.

That’s the way they are supposed to shoot!

 

[JustMe7]

I can't shoot three shots with Hornady ELDX without driving through a previous hole. I'm around .5 MOA out of the box with those.

I’ve had reasonable success with Eld-x , 143 gr. 6.5cm
But the rifle shoots 129, &125 grain Winchester better.
I do want to try 145 eldx in .270 win.
154 eldx in 7mm-08