Tikka 308 not grouping as Good as I would expect

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Wendyj

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I can't seem to get good clover leaf patterns as I expected this rifle should do. Tried to upload all five images but forum only allows 3. Others where worse. sad to say that Remington SPS had these beat. Coal of Nosler BT was 2.801. Coal of Sierra Game kings was 2.7 give or take. They don't seem to seat as consistent. I laddered up 6 different loads using benchmark IMR 3031 and Reloader 15. Latter seems to be more consistent. Tikka T3 Lite 308 win. Temperature 70 degrees. Winds 5mph in my face. Altitude 1012 ft. Humidity 20%. Wouldn't have taken 8 shot group but firing range was closing and I had 3 bullets left. As you can see they were flyers. Been shooting five and cleaning. Cooling down between shots by shooting 2 other rifles. Vortex 30 mm Viper 6.5x20x50 set on 18 power. 20 is somewhat fuzzy. Any idea how to tighten these up. Still new so I loaded first game kings per specs in Sierra manual. Going to be hunting rifle so 2.801 is max for my magazine. I'm doing something wrong but can't get to bottom of it. I expected 5 shot cloverleafs at worst. Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
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With light barreled hunting rifles it's all about first shot placement. They tend to not group as well as heavy barreled guns due to heating up faster. Try leaving the bolt open after each shot and waiting several minutes before the next shot. Groups should tighten up significantly.
 
So how many minutes before each shot? With 700 was shooting 3 shot groups. That's when barrel felt warm to touch. This one is fairly warm to touch after second shot. For some reason and not in these pictures I can't get groups out of Varget no matter how I ladder up. The reloader 15 seemed to do better today but not what I wanted. It's also really dirtier than the other powders. Takes lots of cleaning between groups.
 
Check to be sure the barrel is free floated. My last T3 Lite had some polymer touching the barrel a few inches in front of the chamber. Took the high spot down with sand paper and it made a difference. If that's not the problem, you might try another powder, but some of your groups might only need a little tweeking with the powder charge and/or OAL.
 
I can't tell if we're being jerked around here or what. For hunting bullets out of a light sporter profile barrel, there is absolutely nothing to complain about here. Those groups are all good.
 
Check to be sure the barrel is free floated. My last T3 Lite had some polymer touching the barrel a few inches in front of the chamber. Took the high spot down with sand paper and it made a difference.
Click to expand...

Some pressure up in the forend is pretty standard for sporter weight barrels; it's typically the surest way to the best performance. In OP's case (considering that the rifle shoots excellent), if it's taken out, my money would be on the rifle shooting worse.
 
30 cal. No I'm not jerking anyone around. Maybe they are not supposed to be any better. I do know the Remington 700 sps was shooting groups dime size. I doubt barrel was any thicker. Forearm and weight was different. Barrels on both 24 inches. If I am expecting too much then tell me. I'm not against criticism. I thought reloading was for extreme accuracy. For me it was price of factory ammo and to shoot more. I need some longer shots but have been working loads to group well at 100 first. They are surely going to open up at 200-300 yards or I may be wrong again. Still trying to figure out if 11 twist and these grain bullets are correct for each other. Rem 700 had 1-10. If you see powder grains I'm still on low to medium range with velocity and pressure.
 
The 2nd group (165GK w/ Re15) looks real good. It's almost a given that the 1st shot through a clean bore is going to be out by a minute.
 
Yeah, I hate cleaning it that often but trying to break the barrel in. I would say it's had enough thru it to be broken in by now. Reloader 15 seemed to do the best for me.
 
Clover leaf patterns are a dream. Not all hunting rifles are capable of one hole groups regardless of the brand or cost. Consistent groups like your Tikka produces is far more important that the group size anyway.
The ladder method tells you very little about how well one load shoots out of your rifle or a group size. Only tells you where a particular load hits in relation to other loads.
"...Check to be sure the barrel is free floated..." Guarantees absolutely nothing. Not all rifles like a floated barrel. You can try it, but it does not guarantee anything.
 
Honestly I think your best group was the IMR3031 load. Five shots touching with three in a vertical string is excellent performance.

I'm hoping the 3 were the first three shots from a clean barrel? And the rest were from the fouled bore?

Either way, I'd load up 20 of that load, and shoot 4, 5 shot groups out at 100 (clean) then 100, 200, 300 fouled.

Jimro
 
Jimro, I read that the range was closing and last three fired were flyers, sounds like someone got in a bit of a hurry....That 8Shot group is nothing to cry about. When I shoot a group like that Im tickled....aint no bench gun right?
 
The 3 outside I call the flyers was with a super hot barrel. Range was closing and I had 3 rounds left. Sent them through to see what the rifle would do. I didn't clean barrel before these 8 shots because I only had five minutes to go. All shouts are out of fouled barrel. I know I should have just bought 3 bullets home with me. Couldn't resist seeing what it would do if I really heated it up. Proof in the picture. No good. Usually not after 3.
 
Needlesly shooting through a hot barrel speeds erosion terrible, I wont do that anymore because it smoke a fine shooting barrel for me...slow down let her cool next time out.
 
I have found that load workups are not to be rushed. Just take your time and keep a barrel temp below that which would burn your hand, or even cooler would be much better. Patience.....
 
I think most of those show promise and are certainly capable for hunting use. Many new rifles need a few range sessions and a few dozen shots through a barrel to get best accuracy too. It also takes a few range sessions for a shooter to get the feel for a new rifle too. I'd not panic.
 
One thing you might try in order to confirm whether your rifle likes a free floated barrel vs a pressure point is to cut up some pop cans into squares of say one inch or so with a suitable hole that the action screw can pass through and use them to shim up the action. This should raise the action/barrel up high enough to keep the barrel from touching the stock.

Doing it this way will preserve the pressure point on the stock should you find your accuracy better with it.

The only rifles I own which did not respond well to free floating the barrel are my Ruger 10/22 heavy barreled rifles, and I suspect that a lot of that is because of a heavy steel barrel slip fit into an aluminum action. The single action screw does it no favors.

Another item you might check is to see if the stock fore end is too flexible and is hitting the barrel during firing.

I would also buy a torque wrench at the factory recommended setting for when you reassemble your rifle after cleaning. That way you are clamping the stock to the action in a consistent manner.

the 11:1 twist rate is fine for your 308 and should stabilize bullet weights up to 180 grains or more. My Remington 700 Varmint Synthetic in 308 Winchester uses a 1:12 twist and has worked for bullet weights from 125 to 180 grains. It uses a free floated barrel with an aluminum bedding block molded into the stock.

Its been my experience that Tikka rifles are generally pretty accurate pieces, so don't give up on it.
 
If those three flyers were from a hot barrel and a rushed shooter, I'd say IMR 3031 is your powder, you have your load, and the only thing to do now is go hunting.

Jimro
 
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