Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Tikka and B&C stock...

OK, my Tikka T3 Lite 7mm08 shoots 1 MOA. I have only shot factory ammo: Remington Coreloks, Federal Fusion, and Winchester bullets. They all shoot the same, 1" MOA. I hear people talk about how their T3 clover leafs and it frustrates me mine won't shoot any better than 1". I let the pencil barrell cool between shot. Would installing a B&C stock with the full length bedding block maybe help tighten the groups up?

Anyone else have any thoughts or run into this...maybe have the barrell recrowned?

I'd try some premium ammo or handloads. Nosler accubonds have been easy for me to get to shoot well in the past, and performed excellent on game. I'd try something loaded with that bullet or a Sierra Gameking and see if it helps. MOA isn't bad at all for a light barrelled hunting rifle though, sounds to me like it may not need fixed. If it will do MOA with a high BC bullet at good velocity it will handle most hunting I'd need it to. For real long shots or high winds I'd want a heavier rifle with more velocity.

I would carefully clean the barrel (use a bore guide, be mindful of crown), ensure proper troque on the action screws, check torque on optics and try Federal Premium 140 BT.

If you see an obvious flaw that suggest a re-crown is needed I may go straight to that.

You did not mention how new the barrel is but in my experience SDs and group sizes settle down inside the first 20 rounds and good barrels really start humming at about 200 rounds.

Crop, I'd consider a look at the scope and its mounts. Just might be that some gremlin is causing a bit of drift in where the barrel is pointed and where the scopes X is pointed.

Well a t3 doesn't have a pencil barrel that is for sure. Make sure your action is tightened in the stock.. do not overtorque it just tighten it evenly. I got scary good groups with my 308 probably the most accurate rifle I have ever owned. I shot walmart remington corelockts and federal blue box thru it. You might have a problem with the scopes,mounts like someone else mentioned.

There have been close to 150 rds shot through the stock barrel. Also I have swapped out the original scope mounts with Talley 1 piece. I have also upgraded my scope since I bought it. I went from a Nikon Monarch to Zeiss Conquest. Same results. I also have a nice torque wrench to ensure proper torque.

That is a good idea to try some premium bullets. My brother-n-law is supposed to setup a reloading bench (he has all the stuff) and I already have 7mm08 dies.

What is the proper torque for the action screws?

50 inch/pounds is a good start.

Any hunting rifle that consistently shoots MOA with a variety of factory ammo is actually pretty darned accurate, and I doubt a new stock will be "Magic". For big game, I would rather have a rifle the shoots everything into an inch rather than one that clover leafs only one load. Do you shoot three, five, or ten round groups for testing?

If you're gonna give handloading a go try some Sierra Bullets,sometimes they're just the ticket.As far as the B&C stock IMO save your money.

I shoot 3 round groups. I guess I should try some 5 ground groups just to see.

With std factory loads 1" is very good but Federal is normally very accurate ammo!

Try some five and ten shot groups. If they're still 1", I'd say you've got a "keeper". It's difficult to consistently shoot really small groups with a light weight rifle with a "sporter" stock.

If you are going to use factory fodder, try Federal Premium ammo or Barnes Vor-Tx ammo. My 2 T3 7/08 really didn't shine until I rolled my own. The peculiar thing, is that both of my T3 7/08's have alot of headspace. All my Tikka wear their original skin, just some are painted... good luck...

Mark, are you talking headspace or freebore?

Cropsix, I agree with the others, it sounds like a good shooter. Describe your shooting technique. Are you using bags front and back? Are you disturbing the rifle between shots? By that I mean, do you set it on a rack to let it cool? You should not have to let it cool for the group, just shoot it. A three shot group should not be affected by heat. Five, maybe. the most important part is consistency. Every shot should be the same, from the way it sits on the bags, to the way you hold it. Don't use a sled type of rest, just use yourself. I have seen iffy results from using mechanical rests. It may work for you, but a good bag always works. Make sure you don't have a parallax problem. I had an old Burris 3-9 that had horrible parallax at 1-200yds. Little things like this will have an effect, enough to make 1/2" groups 1" groups.
Try something different and let us know how it works.

Thanks for the info fellas!!

JeffP40- it seems I would have to let the barrel cool on 3 shot groups or I would have a flier.

Sorry JeffP40..... I should of elaborated....for some reason with my 7/08 i was using once fired brass and found that I was creating the headspace by pushing the shoulders too far back. So.... I scrapped the brass, bought some new Norma, neck sized and everything was cool beans.