Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting T3 243 with 2 jobs: How to get there?

Interesting picture of the Tikka out of the stock. What does the stock look like? does it have bedding blocks similar to the Ruger?





The reason I ask is, obviously, the Ruger has no recoil lug - the design renders the recoil lug superfluous.



OP,

Sorry about the thread hijack - you've been here long enough to know that's the way of the 'fire.... For your stated needs, I would load the Scenar's and shoot it as is till the barrel is done - I like every advantage I can get, but 600yds is well within that combination's capabilities. I have no problems making good hits to 500 with my Montana in 7mm-08 shooting 120TTSX's, which obviously give up a lot in ballistic capability to the 90grn Scenar 's. Most hunting combinations will work to 600yards to bang steel.

To address another point about spotting your own hits, in my experience that's almost as much a function of magnification as it is recoil. I can usually spot my hits at 500 w/ my 6.5 pound 7mm-08 and its 6x scope. I can usually do same w/ my 8.3 pound 6.5 Creedmoor at 300 w/ scope set to 6x. Turn the mag up to 9x and I start having difficulty picking up hits at even 500 with the 6.5CM

David

Today I boresighted my T3 w/naked eye, old school, fired one shot, moved POI, then fired 3 shots. Old brass, maybe fired in another gun, dumped powder, grabbed a random load, no load work or seating depth work.

I went ahead and skipped the middle 8 pages of this thread OP, but to your original question about what's to like about a 10 twist Tikka T3 ss 243:

I bought one a few months back, had to give $600 for mine so congrats on the deal you found, mine is my truck gun. I already have an 8 twist rem 700 to play with 105 amax and such, so I just wanted a good shooting but economical carry gun for coyotes and pigs of opportunity. The first load I tried, 85 sierra gameking hpbt over varget, has shot so well I haven't tried anything else.

I would try it if I were you before changing it up, it might grow on you. If you do, you could try berger 95 classic hunters. Decent BC and I know they'll stabilize in a 9 1/4 twist, so they might in the 10....

I wanted a tikka 243 bad but the 10 twist killed my mojo also. I then thought about a TC venture compact, wtf a 10 twist also. Ended up getting a 10 twist anyway but in Gods caliber, 308. If they would make the tikka in a 8 twist they couldn't keep them on the shelves.

Amazing folks think a 10 twist is ineffective when they dump game at ranges greater than 90-95% of where hunters take shots in the field. If they were that bad, they would not be mfg, sold, or used.

Couple of groups fired by me today using my T3 243 SS at 200 yds, out the box - just turned down trigger, old brass, formed to a former chamber of another rifle...no load work. Hair under 3/4" for 95 NBT, and hair over 1.0" for 87 Vmax. My Dakota 6BR shot those 95s into 1/2" - needless to say, the Dakota was MUCH more expensive...and it was a very nice rifle, as is the Tikka

I helped a hunting buddy move. He had over 2,000 pounds of reloading stuff. That was not a problem. He drove the biggest moving van we could find. I was driving the truck pulling the trailer that had the engine blocks and heads. If you are going to hoard, hoard reloading, not engines, not tires, not boats, not cars.

90 Scenars shoot fine in my 1-10" Montana.

'Max' load of H4350 in Lapua brass.

The BEST feature about Tikkas is they piss people off. Comparing them to a custom chunk is even funnier. Action length is another hoot. So friggin what. I've yet to see what is "lost" since the damn things go about 7# all done. Oh, maybe the accuracy suffers. Yeah, ive read about the lug dents on heavies and its a 5 minute swap out. Four of those minutes being walking to the fridge for a beer. Then the plastic mags, function suffers. Plastic TG, reliability suffers.

There have been too many threads about failures to even list.

They only piss off the people who actually know what they are looking at and are able realize how ridiculous it is for the price

I've owned many rifles, OEM, and full blown customs.

No Flies on a T3, if one is brutally honest about facts, and performance........

I've never understood the argument "It pisses you off that my X dollar rifle outshot your XXX dollar rifle..."

I've NEVER given 2 chits about that. Ever. A Bolt owners say it, apparently Tika owners say it etc.

Maybe I'm old school - I just don't care what a person paid for what makes them happy.

Happy is happy - doesn't matter how much someone spends to get there.

Well at least Tikka ain't recalling millions of rifles for schitty engineering...

Plus, how in gods name is a company in Finland which makes a rifle with excellent designs, superb barrel and trigger supposed to build it and import it for the same price as a Rem 700 or RAR (for those who think they're 'overpriced')?

If I add just the price of a Timney to the Rem I can already buy the Tikka....

They say it because proving a rifle's accuracy is not possible over the internet.

It is the only straw they have to grasp. Every budget rifle fanboy of every budget rifle brand does it..........

I know what I'm looking at.... and I like it.... look at it again.... right next to the custom Rock/Manners/Timneyed stick. I'm not diluted, I know there are some compromises in both rigs.



I haven't spent a single minute "working" on anything on the Tikka. No bedding..... no barrel channel work.... no re-crowning.... no mag-box modifying.... no "load development". Nada, I bet I have 15-20 hours fhugkin' with the Rem..... I bill clients $85-$105 an hour (and pay Tanner $7).... So, I can love a $450 rifle that requires no work to shoot 1/2-3/4 MOA..... over a $1500-$2000 rig that requires an additional $800 of my time to do the same......

What should you get for $450-$500?

For $500 from Remington you get:
A schitt stock
A schitt trigger
A schitt finish
And an accuracy crap-shoot

Apparently you don't remember the recall on Tikkas? They were blowing up.

I think you already answered your own question about the price . Obvious compromises have been made.

Although I will add, that for less money I would happily take a Vanguard/1500. And contrary to what some will tell you, they shoot every bit as good as Tikkas. Just ask their owners. Most accurate factory rifles made

Talked to a local lady, in person, which I have know from the past, her husband has a lawsuit right now b/c his Rem 770 or whatever newer model they came out with the past few years, BLEW UP and Shrapnel did great damage to his face and I maybe eye(s).

Carry on........

Well, guess I'll have to stick to my overpriced, compromised, poorly engineered non shooter....

All stooped over the hood of my Jeep off a rolled up coat (I'm 6'1--thats a lot of stooping).

.308 with 155 Skinners and .223 with 75 Amax. All three shot groups.











And it appears to extrapolate fairly well...

Just under 600 yds same setup...

More internet groups. Wooohooooo.

Priceless.

You do realize that every owner of every budget rifle on the internet attempts justification of their budget rifle purchase the same way, right?

See similar groups posted from every brand of rifle out there on a daily basis.

So what does it prove? Nothing.

I have claimed multiple times that Tikkas shoot well. And that so do many other brands..........

Proves you're butt-hurt over the level of accuracy and performance obtained for 1/4 the cost of your rifles......