Forums › Forums › General Discussion › T3 Lite SS 7mm08 Extreme Long Range.
-
T3 Lite SS 7mm08 Extreme Long Range.
Posted by TorontoAlex on January 18, 2014 at 4:14 amI'm looking at the T3 Lite SS in 7mm08 for ELR application. My priority is light weight, low recoil, then accuracy at long range. I would mostly target shoot, and hunt occasionally. I have looked at Savages and even thought of the TC with interchangeable barrel (which seems nice but looks cheesy, and no aftermarket). Judging from the reviews, the Tikka seems to give me the best chances of being the rifle I want it to be both in terms of accuracy and reliability.
On my list is the Elite kit with steel lug, picatinny rail, limbsaver.
For my budget, and judging by the reviews, the SWFA SS 3-15×42 seems to be the perfect scope for my objectives.
I'd like to shoot the Hornady A-max 162gr, Sierra GameKing or Matchking 175gr. I will modify the bolt stop and magazine for oversized OAL. Will I have seating issues?
I wonder if anyone believes in the Tikka T3 Lites in stainless for 1000m cold bore shots? I would obviously break and copper the barrel thoroughly and built my load data for a couple of hundred shots before attempting this.
yukonal replied 10 years, 2 months ago 4 Members · 11 Replies -
11 Replies
-
1 Bullseye
First of all, you need a long bolt stop, and a long magazine, You're not going to be able to “modify” a magazine to fit those bullets, seated where they need to be seated.
Would I try it at 1,000? Yes. But I wouldn't have any great expectations. You need to keep the bullets supersonic so they're not keyholing at that range. That takes FPS. I love a 7MM-08, in fact I have several. But to accomplish what you are trying to do, I've built two .284 WIN's shooting Berger Hunting VLD's. See my Gun of the Month in “Recent Articles” on the homepage.
With a decent muzzle brake, the .284 has less recoil than a .243. And has the snort to shoot 1,000. Good luck with your build.
-
1 Bullseye
Thanks for pointing out the magazine issue. I do think you are wrong though. The magazine can be modified for longer bullets. So can the bolt stop. I wasent asking about that. I was just verifying (for those who reload) if i should expect any seating issues with longer bullets.
I realize the 7mm08 has low recoil. Its why i chose it over the bigger brothers. Shooting 162-180gr bullets will give me about 20 ft.lbs of recoil, which gets tiring at the range. Besides it comes in the ki basically free. Im obviously going to install it if it came free.
The 7mm08 can shoot an amax 162 to supersonic ranges of 1500m no problem. Its not just about “fps” numbers. The 7mm bullets on the market (when they return that is) have high b.c. Again, i wasent asking about that. I was looking to see if you guys had faith in the t3 lite at long ranges. Im talking about repeatability here. Ive heard many a story of .5moa
-
1 Bullseye
It seems you have all the answers. Good luck with your rifle.
-
1 Bullseye
I'm not trying to be arrogant here, but you were giving answers to questions that I hadn't asked ie. “You need to keep the bullets supersonic” and “You're not going to be able to modify the magazine.” Thank you for that, but with all due respect, that's not was I was asking.
The questions I asked were:
Will I have chambering issues with the 162gr amax?
Does the Tikka LITE have the precision to shoot cold bore at 1000m? -
1 Bullseye
Here is an example on how to modify the magazine:
And a good video on how to modify the bolt stop:
-
1 Bullseye
Well, having tried it, with what you describe, here is my findings. Yes it will work. On a scale of 1-10, with the setup you describe, it will be a 2-3. Been there done that, I speak from experience.
Yes, you need to/are aware that you need to lengthen things. It is so much easier to just go buy a mag than try that mod, that is, if your time is worth anything. The bolt stop you can just grind out to length.
Second, your scope mag is pretty minimal. I would suggest over 20x for 1000m.
Lastly, the light barrel will give you a couple shots then as it heats, it will get unpredictable at distance.
I would try it at 400-500 first and you'll see what your setup will do – you will see quickly that shooting to 1000 isn't as easy as the internet makes it out to be.
Good luck! -
1 Bullseye
Oh yes – and bed the rifle and ss lug. That will get you closer. Also make sure you can get 300+ inches (depending on what load shoots best)with your scope via turrets/reticle, or both. And if you want consistency, put a metal trigger guard on, and if you don't have pillars, put them in. This will give your action screws very precise torque = which equals consistency.
For 1000, you need minimum 0.5 MOA consistently, prob closer to 0.25. That means fire a minimum 1.5″ (.5moa) group at 300yds consistently and repeatably. If you have 1.5″ group horizontal, thats good. If it is 1.5″ vertical, thats going to complicate things. 1.5″ vertical at 300 will translate to a lot at 1000. Altho it all depends on what you want to hit at 1000 – a 8″ gong, or a 2'x2' gong….
As for the load, the G7 bullets you choose to use will be on the outer edge of what the chamber/rifle lands/case capacity can work efficiently with. You may find a 150gr SMK may work better. the 168 might be too long for optimal use.
Again, if you haven't done it before, 1000yds, its not as easy as it seems. Actually its rather humbling unless you have a rifle/scope/load combo thats made for that type of shooting. The weak link in your setup is the chosen rifle/scope, not the 7-08 caliber choice… Remember, It (and you)has to be a 200-300 yd tack driver first, and long distance gun second. If you can't hit a quarter 5/5 times at 200yds, you won't hit squat consistently at 1000, cold bore or hot bore.
Accuracy at long range is a combo of many things, not just buying a hunting rifle and hoping it shoots 1/2 moa out of the box. I won't even get into shooters technique for long range – and no, technique is not just sitting at a bench and pulling the trigger! Add a slight breeze, and it complicates things more.
FYI I have had 6 t3's, and not one would be considered an adequate LR rifle – but they are wicked hunting rifles. Only 2 were consistent MOA guns out of the box with no mods.
I do think the 7-08 is a better choice for this than the 308 (which is a common 1000yd caliber).
-
1 Bullseye
I have a Stainless Lite in 7mm-08 but I haven't worked up any loads for it yet, I've been waiting nearly 6 months for a Bell & Carlson Medalist from Stocky's, Lord help me if I don't like it. That's what I get for taking them up on their backorder policy. Once I get the barrel/action mounted in what should be it's permanent stock I will start working up loads and post them as I go. I also have a long action bolt stop on the way from Roedale, I tried doing the mod myself, but I just wasn't satisfied with the results, (not quite reliable feeding which was just unsat). For what shipping from Germany costs I probably should have just bought myself a long action Tikka, ughhh. So, for what it's worth, I will be able to seat bullets out as far as the chamber will allow.
-
1 Bullseye
I don't know where you are located, but Brownells, and this website, here in the USA, sell all that stuff.
-
1 Bullseye
I'm in the States, but for some reason I got it in my head to order the B&C stock in brown instead of black, so it was a special order (arrived today actually, ordered in August). The long-action bolt stop listed on Brownells is back-order available, so based on a sort-of generally negative feeling about back-orders I've recently developed, I paid or the Roedale (which arrived on Mondy). So now all I have to do is go start getting a load dialed-in. I've got my first test batch worked up already, 154gr Hornady Interbond over Norma MRP, seated at 2.932″ COAL, (if I'm remembering that correctly, don't have my reloading book in front of me). I should have loaded SST's first, but I didn't, so I'll throw away some Interbonds to start with. So I should be putting out a long-action 7mm-08 report pretty soon. Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm guessing anyone who wants to shoot 7mm-08 long range should probably consider adjusting to long-action.
-
1 Bullseye
I didn't know Brownells had them backordered. I have one in the toolbox…just in case. 😉
Log in to reply.