Lite Skinny Barrel Accuracy

transumer

transumer

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I have a .308 T3X SS Lite with a couple of 5 round mags. How many shots can one take before the skinny barrel warms enough to effect accuracy?

I know this is a hunting rifle but our club has a rifle night where one would have to take 10 shots within a relatively short amount of time. I am trying to solve my consistency issue. Most likely me but I wonder if this barrel is not designed for such action.

Thanks for all your advice.
 
My R700 Mtn Rifle in 270 will shoot 5 shots in sub-MOA with my reloads, allowing it to cool a bit in between the 3rd to 5th shots. After that it starts to open up.
 
it's designed as a hunting rifle the first three shots are the one's that count - so anything more than three in succession will affect accuracy. if you desire to shoot 5-10 shot strings then a not-so pencil barrel would be necessary.
 
The barrel will tell you how much heat it will tolerate before throwing shots. There is a direct relationship between how well the steel is stress relieved and how it acts as it heats. I assume the barrel is free floated.
 
Shooting long strings in short periods of time will not only affect accuracy, but will erode your throat and shorten the life of your barrel.
Every rifle is different, depending on the metallurgy and cartridge the rifle is chambered to. When shooting, if your barrel is getting too warm to the touch, imagine what it is doing to the inside of the barrel.
How much is your group opening up with over the string of shots, compared to your normal, slow fired group of 10?
Or is it the result of being rushed to take those 10 shots affecting your trigger control and shooting form?
As your barrel warms and expands, have you checked the floating of the barrel to see if it is starting to come into contact with the stock? Can you still run a sheet of paper down between the stock and the barrel?
Shooting it and giving it 2-3 minutes between shots keeps the temps down and will prolong its life (and accuracy).

Just some thoughts to ponder...
If you are wanting to spend more time shooting during these sessions at your club, you may want to use a different rifle for this, and use your Tikka in 308 for regular practice/shooting/hunting at different times.
For long shot string session, you may want to consider a milder load for your rifle, or a milder cartridge in a rifle with a heavier barrel, or even a carbon fibre barrel that dissipates heat more quickly than steel.
If you are thinking that you like your Tikka and want the feeling to be the same as your regular rifle, than look at another Tikka with a varmint barrel, mounted with the same scope as your 308, so that your trigger, safety and sight picture are going to be the same,regardless of which rifle you are shooting. This breeds familiarity, comfort and confidence!
 
I have owned several Remington Titaniums, the original model, not the POS Alaskan Ti. None of these rifles shot a tight grouping unless each shot came from a cold barrel.

I had a 30-06 that would shoot an 8 to 10 inch grouping no matter what we tried. I scrapped this one to build a 280.

I also had a 260Rem and a 270Win that proved better than the 30-06. Both of these rifles were sighted with a cold barrel shots. The first shot would hit the mark but if a follow up shot from a hot barrel was taken as though in a hunting situation, the second round would impact 2 inches to the right and a third shot would typically push another inch and a bit to the right and be 3 inches high. I loved their light weight, especially for packing above the treeline, but I really did not like the possibility of missing a follow up shot on anything beyond 200 metres.

I sold or traded off all of my fly weight rifles and went with a Sako 85 Finnlight in 270WSM. It is still a reasonably light rifle, shoots a beautiful tight cloverleaf at 100 metres with a hot barrel, and I know I can hit anything cleanly out to 700 metres. Longest field shot so far was 457 metres. I have no regrets in parting ways with the Titaniums and their crappy pencil barrels.
 
My Remington Seven's are good for 3 shots, the pencil barrels heat up quick, let cool, back in the stack..
 
Thank you all. I did notice errors sighting the tikka lite in. Shots 1, 2, 3 where all touching but shots 4, 5 were opened an inch or two. Some error is on my part for sure. Also, I shot each with :30 seconds cool down time between each. I used bulk federal .308 FMJ.

I am a lefty and tikka seems to offer rifles that fit well. I do like the lite for a hunting rifle and realize that this would not work for range play. My tikka is not bedded and a dollar bill slides down the barrel length and seizes about half way down the stock. Does tikka do this to support the weight of the barrel or should I aim for a fully free floated barrel even though it’s a lite?

I have noticed tikka stocks for sale on EE. Is it worth paying for a CTR stock, which should have more space for CTR bull barrel, that would free float the lite barrel?
 
transumer said:
Thank you all. I did notice errors sighting the tikka lite in. Shots 1, 2, 3 where all touching but shots 4, 5 were opened an inch or two. Some error is on my part for sure. Also, I shot each with :30 seconds cool down time between each. I used bulk federal .308 FMJ.

I am a lefty and tikka seems to offer rifles that fit well. I do like the lite for a hunting rifle and realize that this would not work for range play. My tikka is not bedded and a dollar bill slides down the barrel length and seizes about half way down the stock. Does tikka do this to support the weight of the barrel or should I aim for a fully free floated barrel even though it’s a lite?

I have noticed tikka stocks for sale on EE. Is it worth paying for a CTR stock, which should have more space for CTR bull barrel, that would free float the lite barrel?
Click to expand...

You may want to get a better recoil lug - and make sure that the receive screws are torqued to the right specifications -
 
Well - You were able to get three sub-moa shots using cheapo factory ammo, and not giving any substantial amount of time to let the barrel cool. Years ago, its was normal to provide a pressure point to support the barrel in the forend for light barrelled hunting rifles.
I would suggest that your rifle is shooting just fine, and perhaps better than you. Diddling around with the bedding may not necessarily improve things - using match grade ammo, or reloading to get a "tuned" load would be a good start.
Finally, letting the barrel cool sufficiently between shots is important, and should be investigated further. In my own experience, letting the barrel reach an equilibrium temperature between shots - whether hot or cold, gives the best repeatability. You can get two or three shots before the barrel warms, the you need to start applying cooling time between shots. I find that 2-3 minutes between shots will give a slightly warm barrel as measured by my wrist...
 
Thank you for that. I re-torqued the screws. They were around 55 maybe closer to 60 ft lbs. I torqued them to 48 ft lbs. Dollar bill still slides 1/2 way down barrel length. Funny part is my damn scope was loose. Real rookie here.

And just to be clear my range is only 50 yards so I’m not shooting that well but yes I bet the rifle is more accurate than myself. Either way I will let it cool longer between shots.
 
transumer said:
Thank you for that. I re-torqued the screws. They were around 55 maybe closer to 60 ft lbs. I torqued them to 48 ft lbs. Dollar bill still slides 1/2 way down barrel length. Funny part is my damn scope was loose. Real rookie here.

And just to be clear my range is only 50 yards so I’m not shooting that well but yes I bet the rifle is more accurate than myself. Either way I will let it cool longer between shots.
Click to expand...

Is this 50 yard range the one you are competing on? If so I'd be getting a T1x in .22lr and topping it with the same scope as your T3x. It will be much cheaper to shoot while having the same controls and handle nearly the same as your hunting rifle and will handle longer strings of fire better being a very moderate cartridge in a heavier contour barrel.
 
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