Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 75 Eldm advice in a 1-8” Tikka

Looking for recipes for my Superlite .223.

I have Varget, H4895, Benchmark, and TAC. I use CCI 400 primers. I call load long, into the lands if need be.



Thanks,


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Tag

I have a Tikka 1-8" twist 223 also.

Playing with 65 gr SGK first, but would also be interested in 75 gr data.

Ain’t much to tag into just yet. I shoulda posted in Hunting Rifles.

I’ll post my experience as I go along. So far, I’m using Mountain Tactical mags so I can seat into the lands. Using the Sharpie method I get square marks at 1.931” BTO, which corresponds to a COAL of 2.467”. I’m going to start with Varget.




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With the 75 amax I've had good accuracy with 25grains of varget or rl15.
24 grains of tac has done well too

The best velocities came from 26 grains of leverevolution and accuracy was excellent as well

Are the Amax and Eldm similar enough in bearing surface to use similar recipes?



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I shot 5-600 of them last spring between two Tikka's. BC's look great, but I never tamed them. Thought my gun needed bedded! The norm was finding what I thought was a sweet spot with a 1/4" group and the same load would shoot 3/4" the next time out with everything being the same. Both of my rifles did this. I shot it more in my Superlite than my CTR, and finally settled on 23.6 grs of Varget, CCI 450's in a IMI case. That was a 3/8"-1/2" 3 shot group most of the time, but again I shot some .1's and .2's with that bullet that next time around would double ( open up) or even triple the next time out. My CTR was best with Lapua brass, 24.4 grs Varget, CCI 400. About the same accuracy. I ran the loads to 25.8 or so which is a heavly compressed load in my case. I'll not waste another dime on them for making tiny holes.

I took the 73gr Berger out a few times, and promptly dumped the ELD's for the most accurate bullet I've ever shot! Not the best BC compared to the new 75's and 80's , but boy do they shoot! My .02

25.5 grains of Varget at 1.930” gave me 2976 fps. A little crunchy on the seating but not much. Primers look like this:




Bolt lift was fine.



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25 grains gave me 2916 fps and these primers:




Bolt lift was fine.




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24.5 grains gave me 2873 fps and these primers:









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Mix all the primers together and it’s hard to tell which is which.

cci 400's shouldn't be used in anything that operates over 40,000 psi, but I've used them in a pinch too. 450's, br4's and 7 1/2's are tougher, and will crater less than the thin cupped 400's.

Source?

I haven't shot any elds as I'm sitting on a mountain of amaxs but buy looking at the amax next to the eld I think you will be fine.

How did your varget loads group?

Dunno yet. Today’s exercise was just a pressure/velocity test. Three rounds at each charge weight.





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The Amax and ELD are very close. I think my seating depth was changed like .013-.014" or so when I made the switch. The ELD had to be run that much longer to have the same jump to the lands as the Amax. To be honest, I didn't shoot the 75 Amax for very long, but that is what I recall.


Your primer crating is the same that I have observed with CCI400 primers. One of my bolts is quite bad and will get the fix. The other is noticeable but I'm going to live with the crating.


I shoot the same load as Dude in my standard 223. 26.0 lever which gets me 2970 fps in a new 26" tube. I expect my speed may increase as I get more rounds down range.


Good luck!

According to several sources, primer appearance is a poor indicator of pressure. The bolt lift is easy and the fired cases re-seat into the chamber without effort. Velocity is a little high compared to Hornady #10, but close to Hodgdon using Varget and 75 gr JLK VLD.

Remember I’m seating way long, too.





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That’s a pretty extensive write up. Thank you for sharing it.

Yessir. A friend & I shot a lot of the 75Amax over the years. When I ran out of the old Amax, the ELD was sub'd in. Accuracy was the same, but the ELD shoots a little flatter at long range and slips the wind slightly better. So far so good with the 75ELD.

Looks like I need some CCI 450.





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Grovey, thanks for the reference. That's interesting as I have shot lots of .223 loads with CCI 400s without a problem. I do stay away from the Rem. 6-1/2s.

I have too, even after I knew better when in a pinch. It's actually probably a good thing on the first firing of new brass. Reason being... If you have alot of headspace or if the 450's aren't seated to the bottom of the primer pocket you can have some failure to fires with the harder cups. Been there myself.

Here’s my write up:

I’ve been searching for quite some time for a better load for my 1-8” Tikka Superlite .223. My go-to load, named Pest Control, features a 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint at 3400 fps at the muzzle. Scary accurate! The problem is the ballistic coefficient. At just .238 this bullet drifts off like a 14 year old boy in math class. Shooting at marmots in any kind of wind is a learning experience.

So I tried Nosler’s 69 grain Custom Competition, 70 grain RDF, 80 grain ELD Match (ELDM), and maybe a couple others. Different powders, primers, COAL, you name it. Nothing shot even close to Pest Control.

Then I started researching the 75 ELDM with a BC of .467. Using my Mountain Tactical magazines I could load into the lands if I wanted. So that’s where I started.

*****THE FOLLOWING LOAD DATA IS SAFE IN MY RIFLE, NOT YOURS. START LOW AND WORK UP TO PUBLISHED MAXIMUMS*****

I found load data online suggesting 25.5 grains of Varget as the max. Utilizing the Sharpie method I got square land marks at 1.932”. I selected three seating depths and three powder charges, and loaded 5 rounds of each. The BTO lengths were 1.930”, 1.915”, and 1.899”. The Varget charges were 25.5, 25.0, and 24.5 grains.



I chronoed the 1.930” lengths and got 2976 fps at 25.5, 2916 at 25.0, and 2873 at 24.5 grains. Then it was off to the range.

The longer loads shot consistently better. I won’t bore everyone with the details, but I found a fairly good load.




Five shots you can cover with a nickel.





Even with a penny.





I think I’ll load a few more.






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Nice work!

Accuracy load chronoed at 2934, ED 20.

BC is .467. I’m pretty pleased.



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You might try some CCI BR4's, for accuracy they have beat every other primer in my rifle, a little more $$ but well worth it!

You think I can improve on five shots covered by a penny?

I like your optimism!




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In My Tikka .223 I loaded the 69 gr. Sierra TMK with max loads using varget and r15 the varget shot about 3/4 of and inch the r15 shot about a 1/2 inch.

Always worth a try.......

Keep an open mind. The first two are 3 shot 75 gr eld groups from my superlite before I gave up on them. The last is a 5 shot group on the right was with a berger bullet.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/13656485#Post13656485

My skill as a shooter precludes this sort of accuracy.





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Let the BR4's and the rifle do the work............

Lapooey,400's,Lever' and a Smooch.

Hint...............

I hate to admit it, but I’m not Looney enough to chase accuracy past a penny. I’d rather devote my time to loading. I have a rat shoot to prep for.



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My dad has the same model that I do, so I took it with me today when I did final sight in with my Superlite. His rifle hasn’t been out of the safe for two years. It was last sighted in with Pest Control, 50 gr Ballistic Tip Varmint at 3400 fps MV.

The black in the center of the bull is 1/2” wide. I couldn’t see the first shot. Thinking that I missed high due to seeing the dirt move behind the target, I selected a white spot on the paper near the bottom of the target. The bullet hit right where I was aiming. Could it be?

After the second shot I saw a bit of a smudge just outside the bull at 4 o’clock. Hmm. I threw the third shot right and it really goofed up the group.





I think I’ll keep it.




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Rats are in trouble, those rifles are shooting really well!

Nice...

I joined my brother at the range this morning, he brought his T3 Varmint. His Tikka shot my ELDM load into a little under a quarter for 5 shots at 100 yards. It chronoed 2953 FPS, ES 19. One of his shots hit the exact velocity as one of my shots, 2943.

Not bad, three Tikkas with the same load.



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Damn cheap Tikka rifles...might as well call them Finnish Remingtons.

By the way, I own 223, 22-250, 257 Roberts, 260 Remington, 308 & 300 BO T3 & T3x's.

75 grain ELDM
25 grains Varget
CCI400
1.915” bto
2934 mv

The pic with this data disappeared.




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recently, since Benchmark is so cheap at Bi Mart... I've been stocking up...

but pulling out the old Savage BVSS in 223, with a one in 9, I've been experimenting with the 73ELD, and also the good old 75 BTHP Hornady.....S& B primers...Remington Brass.. used before..

Friday at the range, it turned in a 28 to 30 caliber one hole group at 200 yds...for 10 shots..

load was 24.5 grains of Benchmark.. yeah, I know, a grain over book max on reload manuals..
but seems Benchmark always turns in the tightest groups, the harder its pushed in most of my uses..

Primer pockets are just as tight on the next reload as the previous...so the brass is handling it okay...

ain't a Tikka like your question, but submitting it, just in case the example might work for ya..

What’s the velocity?

I do love Benchmark.

Pharm,

haven't chrony'ed it.. but roughly in the 2900 fps range... 26 inch barrel on the Savage....

grovey,

Actually CCI 400's are "rated" (if you can call it that) to 50,000 PSI, the maximum average SAAMI pressure in the .17 Hornet and .222 Remington. (The .22 Hornet's MAP is 49,000 PSI.)

50,000 PSI is close to the equivalent of 45,000 CUP.

Mule Deer, I did not know that CCI 400s had a pressure limit. Are they ok for the .223 Remington in a bolt action? I've got a bunch of them.

Update, I was shooting little rocks with this load at 675 yards with my new Tikka T3x Varmint. Scary accurate. I named the rifle Land Whore.




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Love a happy ending....that is pretty darn sweet there Pharmer...

what kinda scope in ridin up top?

Leupold FX3 12x40 AO Target. All three of my Tikka 223s have the same scope.




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