Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting tikka t3 and long range?

With the tikka I wouldn't want to shoot at game passed those ranges. But on steel I would definitely push to 1000yds or farther...

I agree. For animals, my loads start running out of steam for bullet expansion for truly longrange hunting but I know that some of the more experienced guys seem to be ok using them below recommended impact velocity.

I'm shooting 200gr Accubonds at 2900 fps from the 300 Win, and the 140gr Accubond at 2900 fps from the 270 Win. The 300 is good out to 800-ish, and a bit less for the 270. But the 270 recoils less and makes for a sweet practice rifle on rocks, steel, and dry dirt banks (can see the bullet craters).

After shooting at 800 yards, 500 yards almost seems easy (easy for me at 500 = hitting 8" steel quickly without a lot of fuss and set-up time). Previous to this my max distance was about 700 yards but I had done a bunch of shooting at 400-600 yards.

I've had four T3 Lites (300 WSM, 300 Win, 300 Win, 270 Win) and one varmint (223) and all have been very accurate and easy to shoot.

That's where I catch a lot of slack. Because I want a gun capable of killing at 1000 yards....it doesn't mean I'm shooting at animals at that distance. But with practice at those ranges and being comfortable with the possibly at killing game at 1000 yards, it will make 500 to 800 an almost easy shot. At very least a lot more comfortable.

A few questions for you guys shooting T3 Lites at longer ranges. What kind of groups are you seeing between 500 and 800 yards? Are you getting those results with an out of the box rifle, or have you bedded it or done other work on the rifle (not included trigger lightening)?

Thanks.

Sorry if I use this picture to much, I am usually to busy doing stuff to mess with pictures.

This is my Tikka .270 out of the box with factory ammo at 600. First three were using a ballistic program were a but low and I was just plugging in numbers provided numbers from the box of bullets. I checked the target and then adjusted up a bit more for the last 7. Roughly 3"x5" for the last 7 shots. This was either Federal Fusion or cheapo Remington green box ammo.

This one was the same rifle after dropping it into a BC stock and bedding it. Two head shots were 500 and 600 yards, the rest in the body where out to 1200 yards. Load was the 140 Berger at 3000fps. The high shot in the body was using 800 yard data for a 700 yard shot.

I've never shot groups beyond 400 yards. At 400, my Tikkas have been under 1 MOA (300 WSM, 300 Win) using 6x, 2-7x, and 4-12x scopes.

Generally, I shoot groups at 100 and 200 yards and then I don't chase groups beyond that. I find that I do better when I don't pressure myself for groups. Seems like I try too hard, and then do worse! I just keep track of "hits" and "misses", but am impressed with guys/gals that can shoot tight groups at longrange.

I usually set 1-gallon jugs filled with water out at various distances. At closerange, I limit my set-up time and focus on getting the shot off quickly. A hit is good in my book, so long as its basically where I was aiming. At longer ranges, I allow myself more set-up time and then check the jug for the spot where the bullet impacted. If its way off from my aiming point, I go back and correct whatever was wrong (i.e. holdover, drop chart, etc.) but I never really shoot for groups per se, just a "pass" or "fail".

The last two weekends I shot an 8" steel, dirt clumps, rocks, etc. at 500 yards. Hits were regular and misses rare with both Tikkas (270 & 300 Win), but I never really shot for groups there either. At 800 yards, I shot at a vertical dirt bank (very dry). I could see some but not all of the craters left from the bullet impacts. I also caught several of the dirt puffs through the scope. I don't know what sort of groups I shot but in general the impacts were within the area roughly the size of a basketball, or better. Probably not good enough for F-Class or a benchrest shooter, but pretty good for me with hurried shots! I was just goofing around and next time I'll set some targets out there and see what I can do by taking more time to set-up.

Excellent man! No way you shot that with a skinny barreled hunting rifle... grin

Not sure I understand the need to shoot game animals at long range but it is definately an impressive shooting feat. It is not hunting though, very rare a situation hunting were you can not get within 300 yards of an identified game animal. I can usually get within 100 yards of any North American game. I have two 270WSM T3's they shoot great groups from 100-300 yards. I handload them with 140gr accubonds.

The 'Long Range Hunting' Forum is a great place to talk about how close we get and how unethical it is to shoot over 300 yards.

Rene knows how to pick his forums/threads!

LOL. I have been going to active topics and didn't realize I was in a dedicated "long range thread". I am not used to how active this forum is. It is almost crazy busy here. I used to like long range shooting but slowly lost interest as hunting became more important. I have a 300RUM with 28" Douglas barrel that weigh's a good 11 lbs and that gun spits out 180 gr barns moly coated bullets at 3500fps and I once shot a 3" group of 3 shots at 500 yards with it. I thought that was pretty darn good for me.

dude seriously?? you must have never hunted in the mountains or the western US or the high deserts of the west either. animals don't stand around and wait to get shot. terrain is difficult and often noisy to cross such as rock slides etc. I archery hunt all the time where one does have to get within 100 yards and I can tell you every year a trophy buck would be on my wall if I had the distance of a rifle at my disposal at that time of the season.

Only because I had the black tactical socks on. White socks would have opened the hits way way up. On a side note flat dark earth socks will hold the same group and reduce comeups by 10%.

I've heard that flat tan will cut wind drift nearly in half? Or am I confusing that with ghillied scopes?

Dude, you've got to have a Tactical " Instructor's" belt on...color doesnt matter so much, as long as it matches your BDUs...

THEN you can shoot good....

Do I have to have facial hair? I notice that most bad to the bone "tactical marksmen" have equally badazz goatees and 'staches.

Well......duh....

You also have to get a Spyderco knife with that clip, and stick it in your pocket, clip showing....

It can also be a protech TR3. ;-{>8