Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Do Tikka rifles cause velocity loss?

I have read and heard from various sources that some Tikka rifles record lower velocities than other rifles with the same length barrels. What do you Tikka owners say?

I bought a Tikka T3 Lite stainless .30-06 a while back.
Even though I handload I'm barely getting .30-30 velocity.
Weird.

P

Same here. I finally found a load with acceptable speed. I haven't been able to play with it much. I should say though that its my most accurate rifle by a long shot besides. My custom 338 edge that cost 10x as much

This thread may turn into a good one.

Who makes the fastest rifle????

My example of one, a .270 WSM, struggled mightily to get .270 Win speeds.
Read more reports about slow T3's than I have about any other rifle.
Including reports from the well respected writer/shooter Ross Seyfried.

It seems odd to me. I wonder if it is related to pressure some how. I know Sako had a bad bunch of barrel steel about 8-9 years ago.Maybe they do something to keep pressure levels lower. Don't know what it would be, and this is per speculation on my part. I have a Sako A7 in .270 win that shoots lights out, but I have never clocked it. I just have heard enough about this issue to ask. If it is only 50-100 fps I won,t lose sleep. I know I have heard folks Talk about having a fast barrel. In no way am I bashing Tikka / Sako, just curious. Goodshot

Clock that sumbitch and make a report.

Where the bloody hell is that rotten popcorn icon?

This could explain why they are so accurate, the bullets have more time to line up exactly where they want to go before getting to the target

Well I don't know...but if velocity is lower than another rifle with the same load then pressure must be lower too...so add more powder.

I worked with a friend looking for a moose load for his Tikka 06, we used mid range book load & upped the charge weight till we reached an acceptable charge that was accurate & called it a day.
I don't remember the exact powder weight but it was 4350 powder with 180 Horns averaging 2800fps, is that to slow!

I read on Kenny Jarretts site that guns with tighter tolerences will have slower velocities.

I own a Tikka myself in .338 Federal, have not shot it yet. just put it together about 1 month ago. I am not a speed freak , just wondering what other folks had found. I'm thinking about a Tikka T3 or Vanguard S2 in 25-06. I want everyone to understand I am not being negative about Tikka, just curious .....goodshot

Sako/Tikka laps their barrels and they tend to run out the tolerance so a 284 is really a 294 . Their barrels suck

My 6.5x55 is running about normal. Most of the numbers I read on the internet are speculation anyway. People follow a recipe in a book and assume their gun is shooting the same speeds.

To the poster getting 30-30 speed from an '06...you are doing something wrong. Try a different powder.

My .223 and .270 seem to be in line with what I would expect from their respective barrel lengths with no real surprises.

My T 3 Lite 270 is not slow.

I'm running 130 HSP or Rem C L at 3100+ with IMR 7828.

Bll lenght is 22 7/16".

edited the fraction.

I am getting expected speeds with both my 223 and 308 Tikka T3s

IIRC, the majority of the reports of slow speed in a T3 were the WSM's.

My 24" .270WSM T3 shot factory cartridges more slowly than my 24" .270 Win Rem 700.

I had to stomp on the Magpro in the T3 to best that .270 Win 700. And then only by about 40-50 fps.

The Ross Seyfried test I referred to was of three different rifles chambered for the .270WSM. The T3 was 200-250 fps shy of the other two. He did report that it was accurate however.

I can easily get into the mid 3200's with a 130 in my 24" .270 Win.

Actually, I have heard a lot of complaints over the years regarding WSM speeds in all makes of rifles. The 270WSM didn't accomplish anything the standard 270 couldn't do, other than limit the number of rounds in the mag.

I'll report on the .270WSM in a real rifle when I get my M70 so chambered up and running.

When the 270WSM first came out, Winchester was saying 3350-3400fps with the 130ge bullets. I don't think hardly ANY factory rifles ever made it to those velocities, if any at all.

This is my actual data from my Tikka T3s last weekend using a Pact chronograph. Temperature was approx. 70 degrees. Average velocity from 10 shot strings.

6.5x55: Norma factory with 120gr. BT. Factory velocity is listed at 860 m/s which converts to 2821 fps. My T3 averaged 2775 fps.

.308 Win. with barrel cut to 19 in.: Handload 165gr. Nosler BT using RL 15 powder. Nosler quotes 2820 fps. from a 24 in. barrel. My velocity average was 2601 fps.

30-06: Handload with 165gr. Nosler BT using H4350 powder. Nosler quotes 2872 fps. from a 24 in. barrel using 57.5 gr. powder. My load uses 58.0 gr. powder at a velocity of 2872 fps. Didn't realize the fps. number was the same till I put this info together.

This is the only time I've chronographed these loads from my rifles. Different conditions would I'm sure change the data. From this instance it would seem velocity from my T3s are running what they should be.

That's great to here that most are getting normal speeds out of the T3. I still have to decide which rifle I want to go for . Thanks to all who have posted. Goodshot

I don't doubt that.

Mine is 3100 PLUS, in 22" and the Tikka is 22 7/16".

I'm satisfied with 2" less bll length.

My Tikka in 7mm-08 launches 140 Ballistic Tips at 2898. That was a couple of weeks ago, it was about 80* when I was shooting.

Dale

If I have to, I'll gladly sacrifice a few fps for the tack-driving accuracy of my Tikka......

Boy, I'm glad I don't have to worry about things like this. Things were better before the affordable chronograph. Both ammo manufacturers and hand loaders could claim any velocity and almost no one could prove them wrong. Ignorance was bliss.

I think the number one cause of velocity loss is chronographs... I lost an average of 150fps on most my loads as soon as I bought one.....

Just so you guys understand, I am not a speed demon either. Accuracy is paramount , practice, practice, practice in hunting positions, not just off a bench. The only reason I brought his up is it makes little sense to me. I don't sweat over 100 fps......I rarely load Anything to max........I load for what shoots the best which in Most all my rifles is a touch under max. I own two Sako products, one T3 waiting to be shot and a Sako A7 in 270win that shoots great with 130 grain Sierra game kings. Enough said ! Goodshot

All my Tikka's are safely shooting 75-100 fps faster than max load listed in Sierra, Nosler, and Hornady manuals.

Example:
.223 shooting 80 gr Berger VLD...2875 fps. That's PUSHING an 80...

You got that right.

So you just have to shoot hotter loads in a Tikka to get normal velocity?

All rifles are not built the same. Some come from the factory with exceptional chamber to bore alignment and some do not. Exception chamber to bore alignment is key to exceptional and consistent accuracy with a large variety of loads. ( Hint) Exceptional chamber to bore alignment also produces less pressure. ( Hint #2 )

Shod

If their barrels suck, I'd love to see a good barrel shoot. Both of my tikkas shoot better than almost anything I've owned and I've owned some very pricey stuff. On a side note, any gun can shoot slower. I had a win m70 that shot 150fps less than it should have. Got pressure signs when I tried to run it up to where it should have been. Still killed animals the same.

Yep......I'd take a 284 barrel that shoots 3" moa any day over a 294 barrel that shoots 1/2" moa. If your willing to throw in a pretty wood stock and a pair of pink panties I'd go as far as 5" moa.

Shod

That's a load of horsechit anyway and anybody who's ever actually lapped a barrel will tell you so. It'd take damn near forever to remove that much steel by lapping.

Why is humor so hard...

From my experiences with Tikka I'd say whoever said that absolutely no friggin clue as to what they were saying!

Dober

Ross Seyfried has no clue?

My own experience over the chronograph with my own T3 told me exactly what Ross Seyfried said to be his experience is true.

Both my T3 and Ross' were chambered for the .270WSM. Ross actually tested three different rifles chambered for that cartridge and found the T3 to be 200-250fps slower than the other two.

Ken, was the throat exceptionally long in your T3?

You know Tanner I can't recall how long it was but with OAL at mag length I wasn't touching the lands.

I wonder if that was the culprit. Did it seem like you ran into pressure while going slow, or could you have stepped on the gas?

I feel like sometimes book loads and QL are like Parlay, not rules, more like guidelines...

Okay that was dumb.

I stomped on the Magpro and other powders trying to best my .270 Win speeds.
I eventually did beat it by ~50-75 fps but I was at the very ragged edge with flattened primers and slightly sticky bolt lift.

In fairness, that particular .270 Win was exceptionally fast.

Very interesting. I guessed that most guys seeing anemic speeds were running low end charges, but I know you aren't one to do that...

Interesting I say!

I have 2
270 wsm 3160 fps with 140 AB
30-06 165 partition at 2880

Bingo....this can vary a bit even among barrels from the same maker,as no two barrels are precisely identical;internal dimensions,bore smoothness,number of lands, and condition are among those factors that play a role in delivered velocity.It has to do with the resistance the bullet encounters with its' passage down the bore.

Never owned one,but this is not unique to Tikka's.

Tikka owners with "slow" tubes should slug and measure their barrels.

There ya go ! !

Some yrs ago, a friend bought a brand new Ruger 77 7mm RM.

Believe me when I tell you WE swapped, checked, changed EVERY component over plenty of time.

That particular 7 RM would NOT beat 270W vel.

JW