Pulling my hair out... is my long range gun damaged?

G

garn

Inactive
I just got a new Tikka T3 Hunter in .223 about a week ago. I was able to take it the range once, and it had outstanding accuracy, but that particualar range was limited to 130 yards.

I bought this rifle speciflcally for long range shooting at 400+ yards, but today I let someone handle my gun, and they banged it against a glass table, which had a metal edge on it. See the attached pictures for the results. Sorry for all the lint on the rifle.

My question is, how much will this hurt the inherent accuracy of my rifle (as in, if it were to be shot from a vice, not acounting for human error)? It was certainly sub-MOA when I shot it last weekend. 1 MOA of difference? .1MOA? .01 MOA?

This is really bothering me actually, since I've always heard damage to the front of a rifle kills accuracy. I'd hate to miss and wonder if I could have hit without these knicks...

Moral of the story is, don't let a stranger handle your rifle, I suppose.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, I don't know anything about this, since I'm always extremely careful with my rifles.
 

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Go shoot it, doesn't look like there's any damage to the inside of the crown where the riflings are, (you said that was lint) so,just go shoot that rifle and see for yourself..If you hunt you know its going to get banged up....
 
Not likely.

Actually, the "flat" on the edge of a recessed target crown-though yours is very small- is there for exactly what happened to you. It's designed to protect the crown.

Your "ding" borders on touching the inside edge, but it's small and insignificant.

I'm more surprised at the rough machining of the crown itself.
 
Welcome Garn, enjoy the forum. There is lots of great information here.

As stated above I doubt you're going to see any difference, the dings don't appear to be in areas that are going to matter accuracy wise. The only true test though is going to be shooting it so you'd better plan a trip ASAP to put your mind at ease:)
 
As stated by others the 'exit' hole is what matters, your gun won't shoot any different. .223 for 400 yards? Absolutely! We shot 200,300 and 500 meters for qualification yearly in the Marine Corps with very good accuracy. Wind drift will have an affect but that is true of all bullets/cartridges. I would highly suggest reloading for the .223. I have a Mini 14 with 1-7 twist and it shoots the heavier 75 grn bullets well, I have shot 3 shot/1 hole groups at 100 yards and the Mini series aren't expected to be near as accurate as your bolt gun, just saying.
 
I doubt you hurt your rifle. There is one nick close to the crown. If it doubt take a bore brush and run it in and out of the muzzle. It should remove any nicks you might have in the crown.

Having shot several across the course HP matches (200, 300, & 600 yards) plus some 1000 yard service rifle matches, I don't see any problem shooting a 223 at 400 yards.

Granted there are better rounds for 1000, but you wont have any problem at 400 yards.
 
On my screen you have two nicks not even remotely close to the bore, which won't affect accuracy in the slightest.
You also show one piece of lint right next to the bore, which will have no more effect on your shooting than a fly sneezing in Singapore.
Denis
 
What a Bummer. It's not that much of a problem, good to have a muzzle crowning cutter on hand for times like this. They cost around $50. from brownells. Put a bullet point first in the muzzel, check to see if it scratches the bullet where the ding is, if not your probably OK. The true test will be how it shoots, did you have any flyers in your groupings before the ding. Your crown should have a nice sharp edge all the way around. Good Luck, Hope I helped Chris
 
I will have to second what Grizz12 said, but I will give you 50..From what you have a picture of I see nothing that will hurt the accuracy of that rifle, I ding mine more than that when I yank it up a tree with a rope. I have a Tikka T3 lite in 223 and on a good day will put 3 in the same hole at 100 yds with handloads and have done the same at 200 and that day if I hadnt seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. Those Tikka's are shooters.
 
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