[J]

How do you know how much shooting I do and what I find to be acceptable levels of accuracy?

As you have elevated yourself to the position of Tikka superiority and nobody else can express an opinion as you preach to your congregation, I'm going to withdraw.

I think I'll go to the range and stop wasting time on this forum. Evidently all it needs is you and your “ragged holes.”

[J]

I bought 2 from Mike Lucas last year. Bit slow on communication, but no problem. They are very good quality and I wouldn't have anything else now.

[J]

Here's the link to the Terminator brakes:

http://www.shoot-long.com/products/long-range-accessories/terminator-muzzle-brakes/

[J]

If you want a brake go with a Terminator T2 or T3. They are made from titanium and reduce recoil extremely well.

Fluting the bolt will save an ounce or two and is poor return for the cost, but if you want to do it, go with Long Rifles Inc as their work is superb and it costs only $45:

https://www.longriflesinc.com/collections/gunsmithing-services/products/copy-of-gunsmithing-services-m700-bolt-fluting-1

For ammo, I used Hornady 178 grain A-Max home loads when I had a .30-06. I prefer heavier projectiles in that chambering as they hit hard and have better BC.

I'd go with the 20 MOA rail as there are no negatives to doing so, but it gives you additional adjustment if you want to shoot at longer range.

[J]

Regardless of whether it's planned or not, why advise a new, young owner to make alterations to his rifle before he's even fired it?

Here's another universally accepted fact – if it shoots, leave it alone.

[J]

Shoot the rifle first and see how it goes. If it shoots well out of the box don't grind the pressure point lugs away as you could ruin the accuracy. They are made that way on purpose and the warranty will be voided if you remove them. Removing them could improve accuracy a little, but it could also ruin it. Why do it if the rifle shoots well?

[J]

Hi n4rod,

Congratulations on your first Tikka, and in a good chambering too. I like the old Rem 700s, but the newer ones aren't a patch on the 595. I would clean the bore with Boretech to get all of the carbon and copper fouling out of it, which could take some time. You will then probably need to fire a number of shots again before you reach copper equilibrium and the rifle shoots at its best. 7mm-08 is very popular here in New Zealand, and is an ideal whitetail and Mule deer chambering. I hope you enjoy it.

Good to see another vet on here. I'm retiring in 10 days after 23 years in the British Army and the Royal Air Force Regiment, with 3 tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I spent the last 3 years working with the US Army at Fort Leonard Wood, MO as an exchange officer. Fun times.

[J]

If you want to read-barrel the best solution is to have 100 thou machined off the face of the receiver to remove the small progression. You can then have an integrated recoil lug fitted and bed the action to hold everything in place.

Long Rifles Inc in SD did mine and the workmanship is superb. Mine's a .300 Win Mag with a Bartlein light Palma 1:10 barrel and LRI's own recoil lug, with an integrated muzzle brake. I bedded it myself into a McMillan A3 and also inlet for an Atlasworxs LA DBM, which is compatible with AI mags.

If you want an M24 profile barrel, I would bed an inch or more of the barrel parallel beyond the lug to help support the weight of the barrel and decrease the risk of stressing the receiver.

[J]

A Japanese company buying ARM is not necessarily investing in the UK, it's much more likely to take profits out of the UK. They bought it cheap too as the Pound is worth buttons.

Anyway, the public had their say and we are on the way, so I hope their faith pays off.

I may be off, but my work pension will be paid in Pounds so it very much affects me. For the record I was planning to leave well before the Referrendum was even a policy.

I expect the few Brits on here have had their say and the US and other members will have little to no interest in this, so I'll bow out.

[J]

Which businesses, and how much does the FTSE effect your day to day life (unless you work in the Stock Exchange)?

[J]

That's a nice chamberings for sambar mate. I'm having a week or so after a stag next year in the Mansfield area with a mate, which I'm looking forward to very much. I'll have to make do with my mere .300 Win Mag or. 7mm Rem Mag peashooter.

[J]

Thanks  I'll look it up.

I'm also going the recommend the series of books on rifle maintenance, long range cartridges, shooting technique etc by Nathan Foster in New Zealand. Look him up at ballistic studies.com

The books are easy reading, no bullshit and will make you a better shot and your rifles more accurate.

His website has great info of all kinds and the books are superb.

[J]

I'm going to express a minority view that this is not a good thing. Blind optimism that “it will be alright” is based on nothing other than the hope that this will come to pass. The economy is on the way down, the pound is at lower levels against the USD that at any time in the last 30 years, and investment in the UK is down. Scotland will now push for independence, which will save England from having to bankroll it, but will also induce instability and further decrease investment in England from overseas. The areas that voted to leave are the very ones that will suffer the loss of EU funding the most.

As for the impact on gun legislation, I doubt there will be much difference. British politicians are city dwellers with little to no idea what goes on in the countryside. They have an anti-gun agenda that will not be diminished by being out of the EU.

Now, I know our US friends almost universally believe that this is a good thing, but they take a view based on their own politics, geography and Second Amendment rights, which is perfectly understandable, but the world here in Europe is very different. I just served for 3 years with the US Army in Missouri, so I have a good grasp of US views and politics – I'm not being critical at all here; it's just different.

As for me personally, I'm off the New Zealand next month on retirement from the military (Army and Air Force for 23 years). I really hope things work out for the UK, but I fear it will be painful and will take longer than most people think. Still, that is the will of the people, and the die is set.

Sorry if my views don't accord with everyone else, but that's what forums are about. I'm mostly going hunting (with no need for tags and seasons), and I think we can all agree that that is a good thing.

Cheers

[J]

After some less than complementary reports about CDI (including my gunsmith) I went with an Atlasworxs DBM. The quality is very good and it is AI mag compatible. It will need inletting like the CDI, but is not hard to do. I did mine in about 2 hours with a very small file.

[J]

7mm-08 would be my choice – less recoil than .308, better ballistics and plenty of killing power.