Tikka build thread

[fillthefreezer]

Well, I've been confined to the couch a lot lately, changing diapers and making bottles, so figured I'd put a thread together covering the evolution and build of my tikka t3 sl in .300WM. I've got a couple changes to make to the load, but otherwise I see it just getting hunted, not tinkered with for the foreseeable future.

The first season with her. Topped with a cheapass vortex 4-12 and store bought 180gr accubonds
She took a couple animals in this form and saw a lot of hunts..


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[fillthefreezer]

The gun was light as all get out! A dream to carry, a nightmare to shoot.

Two years later I had benchmark thread on a brake. Huge improvement.

Now I began to shoot the rifle much more, which led me down the road of needing a scope with turrets. At this point, I also added a 20MOA rail and sent the bolt off for fluting.


Topped with a 4-16x50 in SFP with a MIL reticle, weaver tac rings and xtreme hardcore rail. Then had to add some cheek rise as well.


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[fillthefreezer]

Logan helped me work up a handload and dope to go with it, thanks again, for the help and always fielding my questions.

A 5 shot group he shot with it during development


It even got to tag along on its first OIL hunt, and got the job done. A single 190gr VLD at 407yds



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[h20hunter]

 

[fillthefreezer]

The multiple tones of stainless on the gun also started to bug me. The barrel and brake were different and the bolt different from both of them. So I had the barreled action cerakoted armor black. When I got it back, black on black was too much, so I began a paintjob on the stock.





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[fillthefreezer]

Ran her like this for awhile with good results






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[fillthefreezer]

The tikka has been a solid rifle, always exceeding my own accuracy capabilities as the driver, but we were getting closer. In the 300WM platform, the magazine length has been a limiting factor on OAL, and jumping them to the chamber over .250. Mountain tactical created a remedy for this using new bottom metal and an AICS mag.

190gr VLD at msg length and 200gr ELDX at the new length 3.600
I shopped glass, up and down. This is first and foremost a mountain rifle. And, I'm HARD on stuff. I wanted a bright scope, a great reticle, and no worries about its longevity.

I settled on a nightforce atacr. 4-16 ffp with mil c reticle.
Nestled into a McMillan gamescout stock now.




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[fillthefreezer]

I ran into a significant drop in pressure and speed with the decrease in seating depth, so I'll need to bump up my charges and she should be good to run.
Some other small details, the javelin bipod- it's light and I like it ok. Still not sure if I would just prefer the weight hit and run the atlas.
Triad stock pack, love this thing.
ARC rings, easy to install and seem very bomber so far.
Paul in eastern Oregon did my bolt, fast turn around and quality work.
Sawtooth rifles did the cerakoting and bottom metal machining. Again, great to work with.


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[Reidus]

How is the cheek height with the triad stock pack?

[fillthefreezer]

It's adjustable with Velcro strips, with low rings it's possible to get it high enough. With the McMillan's high comb, it's a very nice combo

[Angry Perch]

Is that a thumb dent in your Rainier can? I thought I was the only one!

[fillthefreezer]

Is that a thumb dent in your Rainier can? I thought I was the only one!

Haha 😂 It totally is. Habit I picked up from my dad

[Angry Perch]

Is that a thumb dent in your Rainier can? I thought I was the only one!

Haha 😂 It totally is. Habit I picked up from my dad

Every can of beer I've drank in the last 25+ years has had one. Ever since a guy in the back seat handed me a beer with one, and explained that it wasn't safe if the driver had to look down to see where the hole was!

[Angry Perch]

Oh, and nice rifle!

[tgray]

Great looking setup, couple questions.
Who did the cerakoting and are you happy with it?
Did the bottom metal from MT bolt right to the factory tikka stock or did you have to modify?
Thanks

[fillthefreezer]

Great looking setup, couple questions.
Who did the cerakoting and are you happy with it?
Did the bottom metal from MT bolt right to the factory tikka stock or did you have to modify?
Thanks

Sawtooth rifles/Matt yore did the cerakote. I thought his price was fair and the turn around reasonable. I would definitely use him again.
The bottom metal bolted right in, but to take full advantage loading them long it required some basic work.

[tgray]

Great looking setup, couple questions.
Who did the cerakoting and are you happy with it?
Did the bottom metal from MT bolt right to the factory tikka stock or did you have to modify?
Thanks

Sawtooth rifles/Matt yore did the cerakote. I thought his price was fair and the turn around reasonable. I would definitely use him again.
The bottom metal bolted right in, but to take full advantage loading them long it required some basic work.

thanks for the info

[milldozer]

Cool thread thanks for sharing. I have a very similar setup, but no bipod (yet). I have been considering both the javelin and atlas. How do you think an atlas would fit/feel on that rifle? Is weight your only reservation?

[fillthefreezer]

Pretty much. Also the atlas is pic rail mount only. It weighs 3x as much but is awesome to shoot off.

[fillthefreezer]

Ran a bunch of stuff over the chrono and shot a few loads for groups. I think I've settled on one. Loaded it up to shoot it and distance this week or next.
75.0gr H4381sc. 200gr ELDX. WLR primer. Norma brass. OAL seated at 3.599. 2890FPS.


Will be heading up to spot I can shoot it out to 750-800

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[fillthefreezer]

Couple shooting vids
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[fillthefreezer]

Going to resurrect my own thread here. I still have the old girl and she’s been a great companion. I changed very little other than some load data in the last 3 seasons, until now..

[Magnum_Willys]

Don’t leave us hanging..... not a rebarrel to a 6.5 cm?

[ctwiggs1]

It's been over 15 minutes Scott.  Don't be a tease.

[fillthefreezer]

Don’t leave us hanging..... not a rebarrel to a 6.5 cm?

Now that’s funny! 😆😆


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[fillthefreezer]

It's been over 15 minutes Scott.  Don't be a tease.

Pics loading!


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[fillthefreezer]

I slacked on my shooting all winter in 2019 but finally got back out and after it this spring, but something wasn’t right.. none of my dope was correct. I ran it over the chrono and there it was, I had lost 200fps. Same lot of powder, primers, brass, etc. I was beside myself. I had just bought a heap of tags and had deposits down on a bush flight etc, and my rifle is failing.. I started running a new ladder test, trying to recover my velocity and hope it still groups. I got lucky there, it still shoots about as good as me. I settled on a band aid to get me through the season, right or wrong, someone more knowledgeable than me might comment. 79.7gr vs my previous 75.0 and I had my working load for the season.

[Alchase]

I slacked on my shooting all winter in 2019 but finally got back out and after it this spring,

I got all the way through this entire thread, thinking this sounds awful familiar 
Before I saw your comment on 2019, and looked up and realized it was an add-on to your 2018 thread! 

Is that a thumb dent in your Rainier can? I thought I was the only one!

Great thread, and worth reading through TWICE because I also thought I was alone in this world 

[JJB11B]

Is that a thumb dent in your Rainier can? I thought I was the only one!

same

[fillthefreezer]

Sorry for the confusion guys, but hope you’re enjoying it none the less.
August saw us in Alaska, a remote bush camp chasing Sitka bucks. On the 2nd morning I noticed my scope level had gotten whacked about 30° off level, I muscled it back into what seemed close, but realized despite everything, a minor equipment issue just reduced my effective range. It ended up not mattering and it put 2 bucks down. I knew I’d need to get back out before Idaho mule deer and check my level, as well as the zero, after the beating it took in the brush and alders. It was summer, nice weather, lots of family activities going on, so naturally I slacked on checking zero until October. Bad move!

[Magnum_Willys]

I slacked on my shooting all winter in 2019 but finally got back out and after it this spring, but something wasn’t right.. none of my dope was correct. I ran it over the chrono and there it was, I had lost 200fps. Same lot of powder, primers, brass, etc. I was beside myself. I had just bought a heap of tags and had deposits down on a bush flight etc, and my rifle is failing.. I started running a new ladder test, trying to recover my velocity and hope it still groups. I got lucky there, it still shoots about as good as me. I settled on a band aid to get me through the season, right or wrong, someone more knowledgeable than me might comment. 79.7gr vs my previous 75.0 and I had my working load for the season.

Thats a big jump even for shot out barrel - powder get humid ?

When my last barrel got to 900 rounds it all of a sudden started dropping velocity fast and took 4 grains to get it back up - both because of having to extend seating to reach new lands and due to bore erosion I assume.    Didn't like having to use an extra 4 or 5 grains of powder and assumed it was time to get a new barrel so did. 

[fillthefreezer]

So now in October, I figured I’d need to shoot a couple to re zero and check my dope at a couple longer ranges, just to have that killer instinct confidence rolling into mule deer season. Boy was I wrong. My zero was way off. Like 8” low. Come up .5 mil, now I’m almost 4” high. Wait a second, that should have only been 1.8in. With my values meaning almost nothing it took a long time to make the adjustments. I got it close to zeroed at 200 and ran out of light. I called NF later that week scathing. I had a patient CS rep, who took my abuse, I mean let’s face it, I spent a lot of money on a scope to not have these kind of issues. To paraphrase the reps response, “I don’t know where the problem is, but it’s not the scope. Take everything apart, clean, and retorque to spec. If you still have issues, were happy to take a look at it, but that doesn’t help you at all for your hunts”
So, that’s what I did. Stripped everything.
 


I wish I had found some culprit, but that wasn’t the case. But afterward everything tracked just like new. I shot a couple more deer, got everything butchered, gear cleaned, and some much needed time in with the family. Also ordered my new goodies.

Forgot to mention above, I donated my magazine to kodiak in August. I was never super happy with it, it fed well and I had no real complaints, but it had sharp corners that would sometimes poke, and it was loud if it contacted a branch. I ordered a p mag style one to replace it.

[fillthefreezer]

I ordered a new barrel, brake, and action wrench. When everything arrived, I enlisted the help of a friend that had a barrel vise. Removing the factory barrel proved to be a real chore, but it’s done and I’m excited to get back out and break in this barrel, run some ladders, and finalize a new load.








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[Magnum_Willys]

 Curious- On a typical rifle you send action and barrel to gunsmith and they ream chamber and cut barrel to give proper headspace ( ie using go/no go gauge). 

So on Tikka's you just bolt up a barrel and don't have to worry about headspace because all Tikka actions are the same ??  They don't look like a savage that are adjustable.

[fillthefreezer]

Correct, as I hear it there’s some actions that are concentric enough out of the box to not need a barrel nut or machining. Some others are defiance, Stiller, accuracy international, we’ll see, could be quite a game changer.

[Magnum_Willys]

Looked at the list of proof prefit barrels - a growing list of actions.  Big advantage sticking with one of those for sure - save $350 and couple weeks wait .

[Reidus]

Them factory barrels are a real bugger to get off. The blues ones seem worse than the stainless. They come off real easy when you cut a relief groove about 0.050 in front of the action.

[fillthefreezer]

I think reidus gets it



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