Old tikka T3 light gone and new Tikka in its place
- Thread starter Wendyj
- Start date
Those are impressive groups. I had the Tikka T3 lite but was wanting a combo bench and hunting rifle. The heavier looking barrel is only 2 lbs more than the t3 lite I had in 308. I've put a layaway on a Rem milspec with 5 r filling in 308. I've heard so many good things I just didn't want to see this one get away at $700.00. I think that's a good deal since most on line are $900+. Mounted my vortex 6x20x50 on it and heading to the range tomorrow with some factory ammo to get some brass. Picking up dies next Tuesday. 8 twist. I'm hoping it's a shooter
I can't wait to start loading for this one. It done this with the factory Remington cor loc in 140 grain. Flyer on right was first shot at 100 before I turned 2 clicks left and put 3 more down range. It didn't care much for the 120 Federal Fusion. Looked like a stair step in groups. Nothing worth posting. They ranged around 1-2 inch groups. Now to find some bullets. Going to pick up dies Tuesday. I had no idea recoil was milder than a 243.
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My groups out of this don't match yours but I'm anxious to load for it. Got any recipes for that 200 yard group. I'm really curious of what bullet you are using. Most of all my primers now are cci br2. I have a box of cci 200 and 2 boxes of Winchester primers. Factory Remington and federal brass is in vibratory cleaner now.
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=Wendyj said:
Well, the one I posted was a keeper, of course. I don't think anyone could claim (with a straight face) their factory rifle can do that consistently. I've shot a number of 0.2MOA-or-better groups with this load and rifle, but I'm comfortable saying 0.5MOA is what it can do consistently, which is excellent accuracy for a factory rifle.
Wendyj said:
Just one. 40.8grains H4350 over a 140gr Sierra Match King in a Lapua case seated to mag length (2.85"). I typically use Federal Match primers, but standard CCI primers work well, too. If you're not using Lapua cases, you may have to bump the powder charge a hair, as Lapua cases tend to be thick, taking up case capacity. This load chronos at 2550 fps out of my CTR.
A friend of mine has the same rifle (also in .260), and has tried different factory ammo with it. Remington Cor Loc is a decent hunting round, but accuracy was so-so at best. Of the stuff he's tried, best results were with Remington Accutips, and Black Hills 139gr Scenar match ammo. The latter is about as good as my reloads, and chronos right about the same fps. Good factory ammo is darned pricey, though.
I appreciate that. I'm going to be shooting match ammo. Sierra or Hornady. Berger is pretty pricey but I would like to try some. When I bought the rifle Friday the gun store had one box of 260 and that was the cor loc premium priced out at $56.00 a box. I got them for $40.00 since I was getting the rifle. Found another store on the way to the range with one box of Federal Fusion. It didn't do very good with those. The 260 factory ammo cost close to my husband 338 ultra mag. Only caliber we don't reload for. He bought a box zeroed it in and went back and bought 20 more boxes all in same lot number. That Sendero is a one hole tack driver but I can't shoot it without flinching. Lapua brass is usually back ordered. Have you used Norma in it?
Wendyj said:
Check out Powder Valley for bullets and brass. Also check out Sinclair. Both list .260 Lapua brass as in-stock.
I've never used Norma brass, so I can't comment on it. I use Nosler brass for my 7mm-08 hunting rifle, and it seems fine. Still, for match-grade accuracy, I'll opt for Lapua brass if given the choice. Lapua's the only brass I've used in .260. It's good to go right out of the box. Pricey brass, but worth it to me. I anneal it after 2 shootings, so I'm hoping to get a lot of mileage out of it.
603Country
New member
My newest 260 brass is Lapua, but I'll just hold it till the R-P brass is at end-of-life. My Tikka shoots great with the R-P brass, which is highly prepped. If I didn't reload, I doubt that I'd have a 260. But...I do reload, and I shoot that 260 a lot. These days I'm using the 100 gr Nosler BT over 41.1 gr of IMR4064. That's close to max, so work up to it if you plan to try it in your rifle.
I had some Nosler brass till it started splitting necks. The Nosler is great brass, but doesn't seem to last as long as Norma and Lapua. If I had to pick between Norma and Lapua, I wouldn't choose. Either will do equally well, in my opinion and experience.
And perhaps I should mention that my rebarrelled 223, with match chamber, would not chamber a loaded round with Lapua brass. The case neck walls were the problem, being too thick. That came as a big surprise. I'm having the chamber neck opened up a bit, rather than turn the necks on a bazillion cases. If you get some new Lapua brass, and you have a match chamber, I suggest that you measure loaded rounds to be sure they have room when chambered.
I had some Nosler brass till it started splitting necks. The Nosler is great brass, but doesn't seem to last as long as Norma and Lapua. If I had to pick between Norma and Lapua, I wouldn't choose. Either will do equally well, in my opinion and experience.
And perhaps I should mention that my rebarrelled 223, with match chamber, would not chamber a loaded round with Lapua brass. The case neck walls were the problem, being too thick. That came as a big surprise. I'm having the chamber neck opened up a bit, rather than turn the necks on a bazillion cases. If you get some new Lapua brass, and you have a match chamber, I suggest that you measure loaded rounds to be sure they have room when chambered.
precision_shooter
New member
If you plan on cycling from the magazine and not single loading, I wouldn't buy the Berger bullets. They are great bullets, but in my experience, they like to be seated out touching the lands or very close to them, which will make the OAL too long to fit in the mags.