TIKKA T3 223 Lite

Jasonsmack

Jasonsmack

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225 rounds down the tube and still copper fouling. :mad: What the heck is going on?

The first 50 were Black Hills 75 grain. I cleaned the barrel every shot for the first 20 and every 5 shots for the rest. The gun shot like crap. I am pretty sure the barrel disliked the heavy bullets, it had an audible ring and some vibration while shooting. No pressure signs on the brass or primers though.

The next 50 were Black Hills 69 grain. I cleaned the barrel every five shots. It shot better but 2" to 5" groups at 100 yards.

The next 50 were light loaded by me and I coughed up for the David Tubb bullets in hopes of solving the accuracy and fouling problems. The accuracy improved as I went through the proceedure.

Then I went back to the Black Hills ammo but got some 60 grain V-Max this time. I will say the accuracy is there now. 50 bullets through the tube and it got lots of gophers and even a JackRabbit at 625 yards (after 4 shots). I was so happy until ....... I went to clean it and the barrel was full of copper. The patches would not go through the barrel smoothly. I had to soak it with CR-10 and brush it alot to get the copper out.

So last night I changed my rings to lower the scope, not related to how it shoots, just a personal preference. This morning I go to the range and sighted the gun in with the first five shots and shot a big fat fly off the target. I was getting some 3/4" bug holes so I am temporarily happy.

After my 25 shots this morning it is copper fouled again. :mad: I have never had a rifle foul up like this thing.

When is the fouling going to end? What is going wrong? I have not let it build up enough to see if it will affect my accuracy. Do you guys think it needs a good long day of gopher killing without cleaning it or would that make it worse?
 
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todbartell said:
BigRedd says shoulda got a chrome lined 223 WSSM Abolt
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I was going to buy another Savage, until I could not get my hands on one with a detachable box magazine. :rolleyes:

Are all the A-Bolt guns chrome lined bore? I have always wanted to try one out. The only Brownings I have are scatter guns.
 
I went through what you are going through with a T3 hunter in 300WM.That rifle would only go 12-15 rounds before it fouled so bad it lost accuracy.I was up over 200 rounds and pulling my hair out before somebody on here suggested JB Bore paste\Bore bright to polish the rough bore.I tried it and the rifle finally stayed grouping up tp 50 rounds without any accuracy lost.RB
 
That's not *terrible* fouling, I've seen worse. Some barrels seem to foul a lot, others not. I had a 22-250 Remington that wouldn't foul. Ever. 500 shots later - no fouling. I also have a 243 that'll foul like your tikka. It still shoots like a house on fire, so I don't worry about it much

The real question i show does it shoot fouled?

Also - try moly coating your bullets. It makes a real difference, though it won't completely stop fouling. And if the gun has a foul problem before, it'll still foul quickly with moly. Just not as quickly
 
Ruttinbuck said:
I went through what you are going through with a T3 hunter in 300WM.That rifle would only go 12-15 rounds before it fouled so bad it lost accuracy.I was up over 200 rounds and pulling my hair out before somebody on here suggested JB Bore paste\Bore bright to polish the rough bore.I tried it and the rifle finally stayed grouping up tp 50 rounds without any accuracy lost.RB
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50 rounds? That is about 3 and a half miniutes out here in gopher heaven! Just ribbing you. :p

It seems that the copper fouling is only in 8-10" of the barrel at the muzzle end of the gun. I dunno why.

I can get the copper out with the CR-10 easily enough. The polishing with the paste would surely help. The David Tubb fire-lap bullets sure helped with the accuracy and did prevent some of the fouling. I am betting there is no chance of me getting my hands on any bore paste to try out before the weekend. Maybe it is time for me to learn how to hand lap a barrel...

I have way too much time and money invested in this turd to just sell it off to some other unsuspecting individual. I am doubting that Tikka will get a second chance at my safe though. I hope the SAKO stuff is a bit better, I was hoping to scrape up enough for a TRG42 this fall.
 
Unless accuracy is dropping off with the fouling, you dont' have a problem.

I'm kinda shocked that someone woudl fire lap a barrel after so little experimentation, actually. Could just be that the twist rate isn't good for heavy bullets or that a certain bullet design works better for you.

But liek I said, unless you lose accuracy with fouling, then why bother cleaning it?
 
shoot some 52 - 55 grainers and watch your accuracy improve. the barrel twist is not fast enough to stablize the heavy match stuff. shoud have went to a savage if you were after accuracy with heaby bullets.
 
fail to see the big deal. all rifles copper foul. all of them. if they didn't they certainly be magical, I'd say you notice it more because of the color of the barrel more than anything. shoot it until it starts to suck, then clean it. other than that lieave it alone.
 
WHOOPS.

I guess I am at 265. I shot 40 rounds of Wolf 62 grain stuff through it too. They shot poorly also but that should be taken with a grain of salt, they never shoot very good in anything. They are a cheap plinker.

I had no accuracy at all before I fire lapped it. My best group of five was still over 2". The patches were almost impossible to push through the barrel before the lapping. Now they are fairly smooth until the copper builds up a bit.

I really want to stick with the heavier bullets. I thought that you needed somewhat heavier bullets in a 1 in 8" twist barrel. I have worked my way down from 75 grain to the 60's. If I go to a lighter bullet than the 60 they will not accurately reach the longer distance targets we see out here on the prairies.

I was hoping to cure the fouling problem before I spend a bunch of time changing powders and velocities in hopes of finding a sweet spot. Yes I am being picky but I already have 2G in this rig. I am used to the Savage rifles, no problems or fouling in any of them to date. They shot good out of the box no matter what I fed them. Unfortunately the availability of Savage rifles with a detachable box magazine in 223 (or any other caliber) is scarce or non existant.

Maybe my dreams of a light contour barrel and a 1 in 8" twist with a heavy bullet is just not a reasonable demand. I know my AR with a 1 in 8" twist is a laser with anything from a 60 grain and up. It is has a bull barrel on it but I thought that the same twist rates of the guns would be a reasonable reflection of what to expect from the Tikka. I know I was wrong now and hopes of shooting the same loads through both the guns is probably in the crapper.

Live and learn. :)
 
Slavex said:
fail to see the big deal. all rifles copper foul. all of them. if they didn't they certainly be magical, I'd say you notice it more because of the color of the barrel more than anything. shoot it until it starts to suck, then clean it. other than that lieave it alone.
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Maybe it is not as big of a deal as what I first thought.

I will say that I can shoot 250+ through my AR180 and AR15 with way less copper trace than this gun gets in 25 rounds. They have never had to be soaked with CR10 overnight to get the copper out either. I have never owned a bolt action 223 before this Tikka.
 
gunpro said:
shoot some 52 - 55 grainers and watch your accuracy improve. the barrel twist is not fast enough to stablize the heavy match stuff. shoud have went to a savage if you were after accuracy with heaby bullets.
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I am in agreement with the Savage comment, I was just in a real need for a detachable magazine for the gophers and coyotes.

I called Hornady and they said the 60 Grain V-Max should stabilize fine in the Tikka, and they really do OK now. They actually told me they should stabilize in anything up to a 1 in 12" but I imagine that is a bit of a stretch.
 
I thought that if you left CR-10 for too long in a barrel it could harm it... am I mistaken here? My tikka cleans in a few wipes with CR-10...
 
Yeh "overnight" was a stretch of words. I did fill the barrel with it and plug the ends with a pencil and leave it for about 20 minites. It still took alot of scrubbing with a bronze brush to clean it up. I know people that have used the CR-10 and left it in the barrel of a 22 for hours and never had a problem with erosion. I do know what the directions and cautions say on the bottle, there must be a reason for it.

The foaming bore cleaner from Gunslick usually is enough to clean any copper from my guns but it does not get the copper out of the Tikka.
 
I have this same rifle with a stainless barrel...hardly fouls at all. If I clean it thoroughly it takes several shots or more to tighten up the groups.

I shoot mostly 45 and 55 grain stuff (all factory), but can get an inch at 100 yrds. regularly, and I'm not that good a shot.
 
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