Tikka Accuracy concerns

Mac_63

Mac_63

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I just bought a new Tikka Sporter 308 started a barrel break in, I fired 5 rounds of Hornady Factory ammo 150 grain. Thinking this should be a great way to see some out of the box accuracy,,to my disappointment the gun shot a 3 inch group nothing consistent at all. The scope was a high ended Nikon in EGW rings and a Leupold rail. All torqued and checked twice

Any one have any feedback or help.
 
My friends Tikka rifle is not very accurate with several brands of factory ammo he's tried,
I worked up a load for him that's reasonably accurate.

The magazine is too short, so you can't seat the bullet anywhere close to the lands.

I'm not a fan of the brand myself.
Expect to spend a few bucks trying to find something that works.
 
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Horses for courses. My Tikka .308 lurves Hornady 150 grain steel case. Sub MOA at 200 yards. But I shot a lot of other stuff to find that out
 
I will give the ammo a run, rather disappointing I owned two Tikkas before this one and they both shot like a laser. Back to the ammo and the break in then to the reloading bench
 
Try fgmm with the 175smk bullet. also check that rifle lug is seated properly. Check that the barrel is free floated all the way back. I would also loosen action screws, push back on action, then tighten screws to spec'd torque. If it doesn't shoot that, get on the phone to head office - they have a MOA guarantee with factory ammo.
I have had Tikkas that dont shoot.
 
My Tikka t3 ss in 7 rem mag was accurate from the beginning with everything...my 30-06 t3x ss needs 20-30 rounds fouling before it starts to group
 
5 rounds might not be enough. I had a new .22 that shot terrible for the first 200 rounds, then turned into a laser. Try different ammo as well. You say you checked the rings and base torque, did you remove the base and check for oil under the base? Have you checked the action screw torque?
 
Stop worrying about break-in, its BS. Just try different ammo and bullet weights, some guns also shoot better dirty, others like to be cleaned every 50rds. Some like a particular weight of bullet and hate another, point is, guns are like women, sometimes they make sense, sometimes they don't, sometimes they cooperate, sometimes they drive you insane and make you wonder why you took them out in the first place, not to mention all the money you've spent ;)

Patrick
 
I'd take it apart and make sure the recoil lug fit right , tourqued to spec on rebuild then trial and error test , try a different scope for example . It might be the Ammo of course , some bbls are moody
 
Did you clean the barrel before hand? Did you shoot prone, off a sand bag or bi-pod. My T3x (223) shot a 1 inch group at 200 yards (4 rounds) after I properly broke it in. Fire 1 round clean wait 5 min - shoot another etc for the first 10 rounds. Then shoot three round groups clean wait 5 min and repeat this three times.

The longest COAL I went with my reloads is 2.270 most if not all of them are just under 2.260
 
Keithjohn said:
I'd take it apart and make sure the recoil lug fit right , tourqued to spec on rebuild then trial and error test , try a different scope for example . It might be the Ammo of course , some bbls are moody
Click to expand...

FYI the receiver screws torq specs are 45 foot/lbs
Torg one at a time at five lbs intervals
 
Yea lol, I hope you mean inch pounds as well. But 5 shots is nothing to judge a barrel from, my brand new gun regiment is like this, take out of box, strip everything as far down as I can and am comfortable with, clean and packing grease or machine oil off the extrior, clean the barrel and a light oiling down it, clean bolt and bolt face, reassamble, torqure action screws to factory spec, and then start sending. If you feel you have to "break in a barrel" use your prefered method. I used to do barrel break in, but I did a ton of research and came to the conclusion thats there no actually science to it, most of what break in is the sharp edges and any slight burrs in the rifling getting polished off by the first bit of rounds and fouling up.
 
If a Tikka didn't shoot then it mostly had something to do with the bedding, recoil lug or action screws loose apart from scope issues. Sometimes something was stuck between stock and action. My T3's shot 168gr bthp really well Sako, Lapua or Hornady factory ammo. Also like 155, 168 A-Max/Z-Max. Fed 175 Sierra match were exceptional. Can't really think of anything they didn't shoot under say 1 1/4". To test a 308 I would use 168 Hornady match, if it doesn't group... fix the rifle.
edi
 
Mac_63 said:
I just bought a new Tikka Sporter 308 started a barrel break in, I fired 5 rounds of Hornady Factory ammo 150 grain. Thinking this should be a great way to see some out of the box accuracy,,to my disappointment the gun shot a 3 inch group nothing consistent at all. The scope was a high ended Nikon in EGW rings and a Leupold rail. All torqued and checked twice

Any one have any feedback or help.
Click to expand...

Before blaming the rifle, ammo or yourself Google "parallax free scope". If your scope's parallax is not corrected at the distance you are shooting it is VERY difficult to maintain tight groups consistently. That is why some scope come with a side "focus" or a front adjustable objective. It's not for a sharper image but to correct parallax.

If your scope is a fixed parallax, research its distance and tests your ammo at that distance but again Google "parallax free scope".

BTW, my T3x Batteu with a Leupold 2-7 x 33 groups sub-MOA with the cheap 150 gr Federal blue box ammo any time of the day.

Good luck
 
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