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  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 20, 2015 at 4:36 pm in reply to: Ammo Suggestions for .308
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    My 308 CTR likes the 165gr SST Superformance a little better than the 150's…give those a try if haven't already.  I've never had a group larger than 1″ measured from outside to outside (without shooter error) @ 100yrds.

    The Sierra Match King 168 actually shot the worst in my rifle out of the 2 boxes I've fired if you averaged the group size…Some groups would be 1 hole, and then another group would make you think you had put different ammo in the gun. Though it produced some of the tightest groups, it was not consistent enough to continue buying it.

    The Nosler 165 Accubond is my go to “factory” hunting ammo…its given me the best results at the range and in the field.  Its worth a try of you are looking go for something to switch it up.
    The best 100yrd factory ammo I have tried to date is the Nosler 150gr Match, but it did not do as well at 200+ yrds…. The Hornady 150gr match was a close second.

    There is no substitute for hand loading in these rifles…
    I just worked up and tested some 178gr amax loads for my CTR this past weekend.
    It likes 45.1gr of Varget, .03 off the lands = COAL of 2.87″
    Groups @ 100 where 1 hole or small clovers all touching.
    Groups @ 200 where a consistent .5-.75″
    Going to play around with the powder charge a little more at extended ranges to see what happens, but primers are starting to flatten a bit so its pretty much a max load already.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 20, 2015 at 3:57 pm in reply to: T3 lite and CTR stocks interchangeably?
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    I have both guns so I'll take a look tonight and report back.

    Even if it does fit, I'm sure the price will be ridiculous…
    I love my CTR but not really a big fan of bottom metal if you plan to use it for hunting applications…  The mag release is so well designed for quick release that it a constant concern if you are in the bush. It hardly requires any pressure to release the mag.  Not an issue when bench shooting but would not want to lose one of these mags in the woods, especially with the $200+ replacement cost…

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 18, 2015 at 6:24 am in reply to: 75 Gr A-Max loading info needed.
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    hey Dog, very interested in your research but instead of talking about mag length loadings can you tell us how far off the lands we are talking about to get the 75 amax to shoot well? 

    Have not measured to lands…and have never previously loaded to this cartridge length for any 223 before.
    Wish I had a better answer for you.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 18, 2015 at 6:10 am in reply to: 75gr Amax Range Test – TIKKA 223 Load data / 200 yrd groups
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    Just to answer your question from another post…I'm sure this will be asked.

    I have not measured to the rifling and backed the off bullet, measuring gap / jump to the lands… I was only trying to duplicate the cartridge length the shooter on the video was loading to.
    I made a dummy round to 2.46″ and  made sure it would cycle in my rifle before I loaded the test loads. It did, so I tried it and started with a .5gr lower charge and worked up to the load on the video of 25.5gr for accuracy.  I had loaded to 25grs before with a shorter cartridge lengths so I knew it was ok to start there.

    The bolt however is a heavier / sticky to cycle at 2.46″ so my guess is I'm just barely touching the lands.

    FYI – The scope is a big reason for the groups as well, 24X power as definitely helped my paper punching accuracy!  I normally have this scope on my 300WSM but switched it up for 223 load development.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 17, 2015 at 11:00 pm in reply to: 75 Gr A-Max loading info needed.
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes
  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 16, 2015 at 5:03 pm in reply to: 75 Gr A-Max loading info needed.
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    Varget and 75 gr A-Max bullets shot like crap out of my Tikka .223 TAC. Best of 10 powder loads was just inder 1 inch. Worst was about 2.5 inches. My buddy gave me some 70 Gr Bergers to try. All I can say is WOW. One load shot a 5 round group of .495 using Varget.. For me that is great. I guess I will be throwing away the remaining A-Max bullets.

    Its not the powder, Varget works…It's the COAL, the bullet is hard to dial in. 
    What was you test load data? I've found in my Tikka's I have to run them longer than the 2.39″ COAL Hornady suggest or its a hopeless test.  Its the hardest bullet I've ever tried to work with but it does shoot really well when it comes together.  We've found all the Tikka's we've tested liked the lower charges of something around 23grs of Varget and then you have to jump to around 25gr…nothing in between shot good groups, it was either a light or max powder charge. Most testing in a TAC and VARMINT, but even the LITE will shoot the same loads to almost the same accuracy.  On occasion we have had 1 hole groups at 200yrds…I stress on occasion, but its common to see 200yrd – 1/2″groups if reloads are perfect.

    I'm now loading them to 2.46″ and playing with 25+grs of Varget.  The extra over all length really does make a huge difference.  If you don't experiment with the seating depth you won't have success with this bullet.  Just loading various powder charges hoping the groups will come together is not enough.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 14, 2015 at 3:55 pm in reply to: 75 Gr A-Max loading info needed.
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    Any results Dog?

    No update…it was too cold to shoot here in Toronto this past weekend…  -21*C….
    Hoping to get to this weekend.  I'll report back as soon as I test the rounds.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 13, 2015 at 4:47 am in reply to: Tikka CTR 308 – Help with Sierra loads
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    Wish I could help you out.  I haven't used RE-15. 
    But, please upload any load data you work out with the Sierra's.

    I just ordered a pile of 178 & 208 Amax to work up some long range target loads.
    The CTR mag allows us to load to 3″ COAL so I'm pretty stoked to run some 208's through a 308!
    Going to test Varget first to see how it works.

    I'll keep ya posted.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 12, 2015 at 8:00 pm in reply to: New guy with T3 Lite stainless .300WSM
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    Hey Bubba,

    Pulled some old range data on 150 Silver tops…
    Here are a couple 100yrd groups from my gun with the 150gr SilverTips (what I consider a rocket grenade for whatever you hit!)…This is me firing as fast as I can aim and get 3 down the pipe before the barrel heats up.  Its seems to be the best way for me to get a tight with my gun.  Sometimes you get a flyer but most times its produces the best groups this way. This is also after the muzzle brake install which I'm sure helped with the rapid fire.

    If you like the 180's, try these for accuracy as well…a lot of punch for a 150gr bullet.
    They scream out my gun @ 3350 – 3400fps depending on temps.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 12, 2015 at 1:31 am in reply to: hunter .243 and recoil issues.Moving to CTR , your thoughts?
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    Thats a great group!  Looks like everything is coming together nicely!

    I really like the brake, looks good. Does it still jump off the bags, or is it pretty much a push straight back now?

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 9, 2015 at 3:22 pm in reply to: hunter .243 and recoil issues.Moving to CTR , your thoughts?
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    No problem…

    I totally agree a brake is the only sure way of reducing recoil.
    I install radial brakes now because like you I had similar issues with the screws supplied with clamp on brakes.  If you are a hunter and bench shooter like me, you will at some point be putting them on or taking them off on a regular basis and after a couple times the screws start to wear.  The radial brakes are nice because its a quick easy off and on with no indexing but you do get debris blow back from them so when shooting from a bipod.  That's the only down fail in my opinion.

    Here's the brake I've settled on for my 308 CTR….it gives you the best of both worlds.
    It should screw on with no needed tooling to fit the CTR barrel dia…its 2mm larger in diameter so its not worth tapering it down, should look good as it is.

    PDF picture download below and here are a couple links to take a look…I already have their Quatro Max brake on my 300WSM and its a pussy cat now.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AoKPgg2QXk
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THt6ALCycm0#t=31

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 9, 2015 at 5:55 am in reply to: hunter .243 and recoil issues.Moving to CTR , your thoughts?
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    I have the 308 CTR, it does have a fair bit of barrel hop…you will need a brake on either the 260 or 308 versions to keep the target in the scope.

    Brake design / style  will also play a big part to reduce the hop and get the gun traveling perfectly straight back into your shoulder for target acquisition.  This gun has no weight in the front even with the semi heavy 20″ barrel…Do your research.l

    Do research ? WTF? There are none of these in the stores and limited experience with these even on the net. Now why do you think I would ask here ? Hello?

    Lol…I think you completely took my post the wrong way…”Do your research” meant try to figure out what type of brake you will be needing or looking for after you actually “get” the gun and start shooting.  You may have a totally different experience shooting your 260 versus me shooting my 308…there are a lot of brake options for the 5/8 threaded barrel.  If you didn't like shooting a T3 in a 243, going to a CTR in 260 won't improve your recoil experience.  One of the first things I've done with all my T3 guns is install a “Limbsaver” recoil pad and MT picatinny rail from Tikka Performance.  The Limbsaver really tames the rifle and makes a huge difference for bench and bipod shooting, its the cheapest mod you can do to improve your shooting experience.

    Thats why I asked OBLIVIOUS to report his info on a good brake, and results at the range after install…we all need more info like this.

    All factory Tikka T3 wood & synthetic stocks are the same core design…They all pretty much shoot the same, though the heavier varmint barrels are nicer to shoot from a bench or bipod, thats the biggest difference I notice is the barrel weight, not the stock being wood or synthetic. I have these models so I know how they handle and perform.

    T3 Battue 308
    T3 Lite 300wsm
    T3 Lite 223
    T3 Varmint 223
    T3 CTR 308

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 7, 2015 at 8:33 pm in reply to: hunter .243 and recoil issues.Moving to CTR , your thoughts?
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    I have the 308 CTR, it does have a fair bit of barrel hop…you will need a brake on either the 260 or 308 versions to keep the target in the scope.

    Brake design / style  will also play a big part to reduce the hop and get the gun traveling perfectly straight back into your shoulder for target acquisition.  This gun has no weight in the front even with the semi heavy 20″ barrel…Do your research.

    OBLIVIOUS…please update us on the brake you ordered and how it performs.  I'm trying to find one for my gun and any input / advice you have is appreciated.

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 7, 2015 at 4:50 am in reply to: 75 Gr A-Max loading info needed.
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    I'm gonna try to shoot this recipe this weekend on my friends property.
    I'll see how it groups at 200 & 500yrds and report back. 
    Only difference is brass…I'm using Hornady
    If it shoots sub MOA then I'll load more and try it at 800yrds the next time I'm out there.

    I've loaded:
    10 rounds @ 25grs
    10 rounds @ 25.2grs
    10 rounds @ 25.5grs

    I'll work up and see what happens…

  • Dog Down

    Member
    January 7, 2015 at 12:59 am in reply to: New guy with T3 Lite stainless .300WSM
    Tikka Shooters Forum favicon icon 105 Bullseyes

    I have purchased a good quantity of Win 180gr. Ballistic Silvertip and some 180gr. Federal and Winchester Power Point to start off with. I had thought of getting some Barnes, but it's not as available locally and I'd have to purchase online. Plus I figured the heavier 180gr. would be a tad better for Elk.

    All good choices…make sure you don't hit any meat & bone with the Silvertips… You'll be picking bone fragments out of your teeth when your eating your nice steaks!  But, I love reloading with the nickel plated brass!

    The Fed's are awesome especially if its the Trophy Bonded Tipped or the Triple shock barnes bullet.

    Let me know how each performs for you when you get to shooting.

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