Tikka shooters--ammuntion?

[Fish&Fowl]

For all you Tikka shooters, anyone have a certain brands of shells that seem to group well or ones to stay away from?? I just got a T3 Lite in a .22-250 and before I buy a bunch of shells I want to know if there's some brands to weed out.

I don't have much time to shoot it experimentally yet, but I did notice some Remingtons I shot seemed to jump all over even at 50 yards.

[swanlakebud]

I'm thinking that if it "jumps all over", you could have a bedding problem , or scope or mounts could be loose. Check to see if the barrel is free floated back to the action, if it isn't , make sure it is . That thing should drive tacks with most any brand , but it will prefer one bullet and the best way is to reload , and if that is not an option , experiment till you find what works best .I reload , and my 22-250 does not like Nosler ballistic tips , but loves Hornady 50 gr V-Max , go figure .

[Fish&Fowl]

slb,

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm almost certain it's not the gun or scope. I shot the last of some old Hornady Vmax shells my dad had and they were almost all touching, so I am for sure picking up another box of those to try. I've had really good luck with Winchester Supremes in my Browning A-bolt .280, and haven't had good luck with Remington shells in that either. I guess I'm basically curious to see what others shoot for factory loads and if they've had issues with any certain brand.

[stretch]

i shoot a tikka .280 and the the winchesters supremes and the federal premium shoot really good for me out of my gun. and out of my savage 22-250 the federal premium and hornaday v-max shoot really good for me.

[anyfishwilldo]

I will give a second on the Win Supremes. They are the only rounds I have fired through any of my 3 Tikkas. .270 WSM, 22-250 and the newest .243 for my daughter.

[Fish&Fowl]

Thanks guys...glad to hear they work. I just picked up a box of the Winchesters today to put to the test this weekend.

[rockman]

A little late to post now that you have bought some ammo, but I patterned both of my Tikkas when I bought them,and the winning ammo was Hornady Light Magnums.I have a 30.06 ,and a .270 Win. I fired ammo from Federal,Winchester,Remington,and Hornady.The light magnums gave me the best groups by far.Never had a problem taking down a deer with the Light Magnums.

[roosterslayer]

try the hornady 55 grain moly vmax. Heard veruy good results from some of my hunting buddies!

[SnoManX]

I only shoot Federal thru my Tikka 595 25.06 and T3 lite .223 - they seem to be the most accurate for me.

[Bad Catcher]

I have tried the Winchesters and Remmington and Federal ammo, and since I don't reload, I have found very good results for my T3 in the Fusion line for my 30-06.

[Fish&Fowl]

 Originally Posted By: swanlakebud

I'm thinking that if it "jumps all over", you could have a bedding problem , or scope or mounts could be loose. Check to see if the barrel is free floated back to the action, if it isn't , make sure it is . That thing should drive tacks with most any brand

After trying to slip a piece of paper all the way to the action, I noticed it stops about 4" short. I have been looking into this and it seems that most Tikkas do not have adequate "float" to get a piece of paper up to the action. Tikka claims a free-floating barrel.

I'm looking for opinions on the importance or benefit of a fully free-floating barrel. I know as the barrel heats it expands, and a floating barrel allows for compensation. Does it matter in hunting situations where the barrel will seldomly get very warm?? I checked both mine and my dad's Browning A-Bolts and they accept a piece of paper to the receiver with ease.

[swanlakebud]

Target shooters all have free-floated barrels cause they work better . You must remember that those are bull barrels also . If your Tikka is floated within 4 inches of the action , I would think that would be good enough for hunting purposes . What happens if you have a 'pressure point'on one side or bottom of the barrel , the rifle will string the shots in the group . I'm talking about pressure points further down the barrel channel . The target shooters only bed the action , and the full barrel 'floats'. We have a private range which we use a lot and in sighting in some of our huntin buddies rifles we see all sorts of things that can happen .We have seen some rifles that have the barrel contact the stock all the way out [mannlicher type ] shoot like a dream and others just spray them around .One of the guys just spread for the new Remington .223 with the triangle barrel and it shot very poor it had pressure point on each side of the barrel at the fore-arm end . My brother removed them , glass-bedded the action , and now it shoots all the bullets into one hole .You would think Rem would have done that from the start ?? Go figure.........

[Fish&Fowl]

Thanks slb,

I have been shooting old ammunition from a less-than-perfect rest, just more or less shooting to get used to the gun. I have the time today to buy some new shells and grab the gun vise to do some more serious shooting to see what it does. Just trying to get a few opinions on the floating barrel aspect.

[Fish&Fowl]

Well here are the results from today's shooting with the new Tikka T3 Lite .22-250. The top is Federal V-Shok at 100 yds. The first 2 shots were the ones in the bulls-eye, and were shot from a very clean barrel. As I shot more, they continued to climb. The squares are 1".

Is this something anyone has experienced?? The gun should be about 1.5-2" high at 100.

This is from some Winchester Supreme Ballistic Tips at 100 yds. I shot 3-4 Federals before shooting these, so the barrel was a little dirtier. Only 5 shots (all in the black)

[Jackpine Rob]

Which order were the shots in the second target? If your first shot was the one in vertical alignment 1 3/4 inches high, and the remaining shots drift slowly up and to the right, you have a heat/contact issue. That type of straight-line pattern usually indicates the barrel is making increasing contact with the stock as it heats, changing the harmonics.

Went through a similar issue with an '06 a couple of years ago, and fixed the problem by identifying the problem area in the forearm area, reaming it out with the trusty Dremel, resealing the wood, and trying over.

Years and years ago I had a similar issue with a varmint gun that I had purchased a synthetic aftermarket barrel for. In that case, the magazine opening in the stock wasn't perfectly squared, and when the gun heated up my groups went to heck. The first shot or two were always good - but after that look out! Let the barrel cool thoroughly after each shot, and see what happens.

[Fish&Fowl]

Actually with the Winchesters, the very middle shot was the last one I took, so they didn't continually go in a line in that order. However, the first 4 shots were fired one right after another, and the last one was after it cooled down maybe 3-4 minutes (it was about 35 degrees out).

I had asked about the importance of a floating barrel another post-I can only slide a piece of paper as close as 4" from the action.

[anyfishwilldo]

I am not entirely sure of the importance of how far the paper goes down the barrel, but I just checked all 3 of my Tikkas and the paper went to the end of the scope on all 3. Just for curiosity, I also checked my BAR 30-06. The paper only went about 1" down. That gun has for the past 15 years put patterns at 1" @ 100 yards. Weather that means anything or not I don't know I'm not a gunsmith, just a guy who knows his guns shoot very well.