Forums › Forums › General Discussion › Tikka T3 Stainless Lite .25-06 Accuracy Issues
-
Tikka T3 Stainless Lite .25-06 Accuracy Issues
Posted by Mfloski on May 17, 2013 at 2:43 amSo I bought the gun listed above, put a set of Talley Rings and a Vortex Viper scope, torqued all screws to spec. Took gun to range with some federal premium and Hornady super performance both 117g. The shots were wild and I consistent, erratic and no better than 4MOA. Took it home very disappointed. Noticed the factory stock appeared to be making contact in a few spots on the barrel. I bought a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock and had the gunsmith install and bed it. Took it back to the range with high hopes, and the same ammo plus some Remington Core-lock 100g. Shot a 5 shot group with essentially the same issue. Erratic and wild, one shot would be high left then a bulls eye then way right…..etc. I let the barrel cool between shots till I felt about the same each shot.
Any advise?
Trooperdog replied 6 years, 10 months ago 12 Members · 14 Replies -
14 Replies
-
1 Bullseye
Tikka rifles come from the factory with a 3 shot-1″ accuracy at 100 yards guarantee. Send it back to be looked at. Contact Beretta to see where to send it and get a return authorization number.
-
15 Bullseyes
Al is right.
There is definitely something wrong with your gun.
Usually the reasons are:
-poor optic mounts (obviously not an issue when using Talley Rings)
-scope (we haven't seen a bad Viper yet even though they may be out there)
-recoil lug is dented
-action screws aren't torqued to specTry a tried and true scope just to rule out the optics as the problem.
Look at the factory recoil lug and see if it is dented – this reeks havoc with higher recoiling calibers which yours is not
The B&C stocks are OK at best. We have seen some huge QC issues with them typically in the recoil lug area. It could be that both the factory recoil lug and the B&C lug are not to spec.
You are probably already doing this but Tikka recommends around 50-60 in/lbs of torque on the action screws. Personally I have found my guns shoot best in the 35-45 in/lbs area.
Long story short I would start with the optics and once that is ruled out, have the rifle sent back to find out what is wrong with it.
I hate seeing unsatisfied Tikka Shooters
Jason
-
1 Bullseye
Hey Gents,
I was following this post for a while, just wondering if there was any resolution to the issue. Love my Tikka's and they are all “shooters”. Love the 25-06 (although I don't have a Tikka so chambered) and haven't had any problems with any of mine.
I never had any success with factory ammo… at all from any of my 25-05's. Mine (3 of them) just seem to love 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips over 52.5 of H4831SC. I am close to finalizing some load development of the 115 Berger VLDs over H4831SC. Looks like my Sako 75 really likes between 53.0 and 53.3 grains of powder and the bullets seated .020″ off the rifling.
How about an update on that Tikka?
Mike
-
1 Bullseye
Some rifles just don't like certain ammo either. Barrel twist plays a big factor. Poor mounting of optics, bad optics, bad rings, poor trigger control/follow-through, marred crown, stock rubbing, and many more possible things. I'd check all and try different ammo before sending back. I had a buddy chasing zero for a week b/c of a bad optic. Swap out for proven mounts/optics if you can and try a few different weights of ammo.
-
1 Bullseye
I am having similar issues with my SS Tikka T3 lite, 25-06. My groups are approximately 2″ (with mostly vertical stringing). Sometimes I can put a pair of shots right next to each other, but mostly the shots just dance up and down the paper in a 2″ tall, 1/2″ wide column. I reload and have tried numerous combinations of bullets and powder.
I recently free floated the barrel in the synthetic stock, because the stock's plastic webbing in the forearm was making contact with the barrel in several spots. It makes absolutely no sense that Tikka engineers would design it that way unless they knew there were significant issues with the plastic stock that needed to be compensated for in that way.
I am using the factory scope rings, but I have them thoroughly torqued down and am using a proven scope.
My current line of thought is to put a DNZ scope mount and to build a beefier wood laminate stock for it. Regardless I am disappointed in the rifle's performance, but absolutely love the feel of the action and trigger. So much so that I would rather just order a new Shilen barrel for it (maybe with a heavier profile) than mess with another make/model.
-Josh
By the way… am I the only one that has a nearly impossible time reading the verification letters when I try to post on this forum?
-
1 Bullseye
the stock's plastic webbing in the forearm was making contact with the barrel in several spots. It makes absolutely no sense that Tikka engineers would design it that way unless they knew there were significant issues with the plastic stock that needed to be compensated for in that
That's impossible, as the “webbing” is recessed under the barrel channel. That “webbing” you refer to is for strength. It may have been making contact somewhere, but it wasn't there.
Sounds like a bedding issue. Did you take the barreled action out and sand a little off the sides of the stock up by the barrel shank? Easy fix, and works wonders.
-
1 Bullseye
That's impossible, as the “webbing” is recessed under the barrel channel. That “webbing” you refer to is for strength. It may have been making contact somewhere, but it wasn't there.
Sounds like a bedding issue. Did you take the barreled action out and sand a little off the sides of the stock up by the barrel shank? Easy fix, and works wonders.
Actually, it is possible, its just a difference between what the two of us are considering the webbing. Apparently you are thinking about the x-patterned ridges only, I am also including the lateral ridge of webbing that runs between the two x's. It's all a matter of perspective taking. I did sand all areas of contact for the whole length of the barrel, and the last time I shot the rifle (and still experienced these problems), it was with the barrel completely free-floated.
Since then, and since I made my original post in this thread, I removed the scope and the factory rings, finding that the small pin on the bottom of one of the rings (the one that sits in the hole on top of the receiver like a recoil lug) has actually started to egg-hole the aluminum hole it sits in, in the ring, and it is now sitting a a slight angle. This indicates that no matter how tight I thought I had tightened my scope rings to the receiver, they still moved. So I ordered a DNZ scope mount and a limbsaver recoil pad to a. provide a more rigid scope mount, and b. help mitigate some of the recoil (though I'm not really sure if reducing felt recoil on my shoulder will also soften the blow for the scope; it should soften the resistance to recoil for the whole gun, though).
Also, since my original post I measured the width of the recoil lug versus the width of the slot it sits in on the action. The aluminum recoil lug measured .006″ less than the slot in the action, and the lug already has some significant-looking imprinting on it from the action. Placing the lug in the slot by hand, there was very noticeable slop, or movement allowed in that space. Therefore I went ahead and ordered the steel replacement lug from the host site last night (and I already received a shipping notice for it).
I also have a pepper laminate blank on the way from Boyds. I'm going to give stock-making a shot. I'll update with pics as I go along. Hopefully I get a chance to do some shooting with the current and upcoming updates to the lug and scope mount to see if either of those were the culprits.
-Josh
-
296 Bullseyes
Hi
are you going to do all the mods in one go ?, or one at a time , if you do them all at once you might never know exactly what was wrong ! -
1 Bullseye
My 25-06 doesn't like Rem 100 or Hornady Superformance. Skip anything PRVI Partizan. For factory, the regular Hornady SST was good. The Superformance runs too hot.
-
1 Bullseye
Hi
are you going to do all the mods in one go ?, or one at a time , if you do them all at once you might never know exactly what was wrong !UPDATE: I went to the range with the just the new DNZ scope mount, steel lug, and recoil pad in. My groups with the 80gr Barnes TTSX was .5″ and the 90gr Sierra Blitzkings were .75″. I believe it was the scope mounts that made the difference. Still proceeding with the stock project next week.
-
1 Bullseye
Hi guys, I have a T3 lite stainless synthetic in 25-06. The gun shot under one inch almost all the time, but every once in a while it would shoot a flyer an inch out of the group. I took the stock off of the action and found out the gun is not free floated, there is a small pressure point about half way. After removing the pressure point I have had no flyers yet 20 shots later.
Hunting load is 100 grain TTSX, 57grains RL22, Federal 215 primers, Win brass.Good luck this fall guys, I hope this helped.
-
1 Bullseye
I've had a Tikka M695 .270 that has always been a tack driver. Decided to try a T3 25-06 for less recoil. Couldn't not get it to group no matter what I tried. Traded it for a T3 .270 and it's been as accurate as my M695 .270. So much for less recoil but at least I have two accurate Tikkas now.
-
105 Bullseyes
Hi guys, I have a T3 lite stainless synthetic in 25-06. The gun shot under one inch almost all the time, but every once in a while it would shoot a flyer an inch out of the group. I took the stock off of the action and found out the gun is not free floated, there is a small pressure point about half way. After removing the pressure point I have had no flyers yet 20 shots later.
Hunting load is 100 grain TTSX, 57grains RL22, Federal 215 primers, Win brass.Good luck this fall guys, I hope this helped.
I had a similar problem with a .223 T3 Lite…
It would always shoot fliers ruining some very tight groups. I had originally thought it was ammo but after some reading I discovered the topic of removing the pressure point in the stock. Some said it was there for a reason and others had gone ahead and removed it with good success.So, I said what the hell and got out the Dremel and removed the rib that was touching the barrel. I took my time and cleaned up the area with a buffing wheel and you would never know anything was touched or removed. I also gently sanded the inside on the stock all the way down the barrel length to the action and buffed the area as well. Now you can slide paper down to about 1-2″ from the action.
The barrel is free floated as mush as possible without removing more of the stock.Took the gun shooting and was very pleased with the range session. No random fliers as before and groups stayed tight, only me the shooter being the issue of they opened up. Was able to keep Hornady 53gr Super Performance in consistent groups averaging 1″ – 1.5″ at 200yrds using a shooting rest / bag combo. The gun would not shoot this consistent before, there would always be that one flier after a few shots that would drift 2-4″ outside a nice group.
I would suggest this simple stock modification to anyone having similar issues with fliers.
I'm shooting a Tikka T3 Lite .223 / Prostaff 3.5 x 14 x 40mm combo…we were coyote hunting this past week and it was a slow day so we hung several 8″ balloons from 200 – 450+yrds, around the frozen lake bed we were hunting. Nikons BDC reticle worked amazing!!! I had the print out for the low temp weather we were in and the gun had no problem popping balloons. We had 1 guy who had never shot far before and was hitting at 400yrds , he was pumped! The longest shot of the day was by my friends 12 year old son, 455yrds on his second try…he loves shooting my Tikka. Considering the slight cross wind, the 53gr ammo shot very well but we had to hold for varying wind drift… so I would think we were shooting pretty much at max range for accuracy with this round in any kind of wind condition.
Note: Its worth the effort to plan ahead and calibrate a chart based on the correct conditions. Its the difference from “high fives” and laughs to being the worst shot in the group.
We also found after zeroing at 200, adjusting the scope or fine tuning for dead on hits at 300yrds or 400yrds (meaning your first or second circle) makes the entire reticle more accurate for all shots at 200, 300, 400, 500, & 600 yrds… -
6 Bullseyes
All,
The contact point in the stock is correct. I recently purchased a T3x less than a month ago. Synthetic Stock in 270 Win. Top her off with a DNZ Game Reaper and a Vortex DBHP4-16×42. Torqued, Lapped, Leveled and laser foresighted and off the range I went. Shot 40 rounds of factory (Win/RP) 130 grains to bring the scope in and then some. Best grouping I could muster at 100 yards off the sand bags was 2″ with out the fliers that occurred at a 2:5 ratio. Hit my loading bench and cranked out a box of 50 of my favorite load, which by the way shoots 3/8″ clovers at 100 yards in my Mannlicher Schonauer. (56grains of H4831SC w/Nosler Accubond 140gn. .020 off the grooves). Took her out again and got the same results.
Upon deeper inspection of this new rifle I found the following:
1) Dollar Test: Slid the bill between the barrel and the stock. It stops 3-1/2″ from the action.
2) Radius in the barrel approx. 6-3/4″ from the action.While the radius is likely a machining error that got past Q&A, the touch point of the stock on the barrel is not. It is a purpose built feature that Tikka designed in to put additional tension on the stock as it is prone to cracking, as in the Sako A7. Below is the following from Beretta USA (Tikka's Parent Corp).
Your concern of the stock and barrel making contact closer to the action is actually how the synthetic stock models are designed. There is an “X” shape cross-brace in that area which provides rigidity for the stock. It was found that without this, there is flex within the stock which causes accuracy loss.
In either case, the rifle is guaranteed for a 3-shot group of 1 inch at 100 yards within the warranty period. We will inspect your rifle and perform an accuracy evaluation most likely. In situations where the barrel is no good, and the rifle is within warranty, you would simply receive a new rifle. We do not have the ability to re-barrel, as SAKO/Tikka do not allow us to perform this procedure – they state that if the barrel is worn out, or “bad”, the rifle requires replacing, which within warranty would mean at no cost to the customer.
I have always felt that a fully floated barrel was one of those foundational elements that was the first requirement for accuracy in rifles. Clearly, Tikka has a designed in contact point with the barrel, which is neither floated nor bedded. So it seems to me that they are taking a gamble on when, where and to whom this situation will manifest itself. As the physical aspects of the situation make the accuracy guarantee impossible (for those with synthetic stocks)…Perhaps that wood stocks are not affected.
Hence the rifle is going back to Beretta USA for their tech's….I say techs because if your read the above quote, they do not do real gunsmithing work there…-to validate my claim. I will repost once that is done. My humble advise, exercise caution when buying these Tikka's. If you get a bad one, they can only replace it. Hopefully you get a good one.
Log in to reply.