Thread: Rifle choice: $1600 budget

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Lets see the photos, the T3 I have here has the standard garden variety pressure points as have the three others I have worked on

I'm going with Chris w on this.
He would nearly seen as many tikkas as me!

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Iv had 3 new tikkas,first thing i do is slide 3 layers of standard A4 fax paper under barrel up to 1st connecting bolt or there abouts.All clear,no barrel grabbing sliding paper.Then i take stock off and give the channel a good fileing out with a 1/2round file on the ribs and inside the top of channel.I like good clearance around barrel.Very accurate rifles.

Originally Posted by Tahr

I've never seem pressure points in a Tikka barrel channel?? There are none on my current one. @Moa Hunter do you mean at the fore end like a Rem 700?

I only have experience with the T3 stock. Those stocks are divided into three 'section compartments' if you like in the fore end. The first two sections of the fore end have a criss cross brace pattern and the third and forwardmost section is open. Between the three compartments are cross braces that contact the barrel and apply pressure. They are not clear of the barrel, but are positioned and shaped to have contact. The fore end tip also has contact. The intermediate pressure point is cut out in the centre to take the sling stud nut but still makes firm contact on the sides. If the barrel is clear of these points and the rifle is unmodified perhaps the action is not sitting down correctly on the little aluminium recoil lug. Tikkas do shoot well for an out of the box rifle, I am just pointing out a quirk in the stock design that can cause misses if move from a bench to a Bipod

Originally Posted by andyanimal31

I'm going with Chris w on this.
He would nearly seen as many tikkas as me!

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But not Nigtforces

UPDATE:
So he is going for this in 243.

https://www.guncity.com/tikka-t3x-el...hreaded-349355

What scope recommendations? $1000-$1600
Hunting applications, within effective range of calibre/rifle.

the highest grade leupold he can buy no more than 3x at bottom and probably little point in above 12x at top end.....
personally I would be happy with a freedom 3x9x40 or 50 actually I AM happy with one LOL...

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

They shoot well because Tikka got the bearing points correct. Tikkas are pressure bedded, so they will shoot well in a given repeatable situation like a range, but in a different situation - over a log, bonnet etc can produce and unexplained WTF miss. They shoot even better in an aftermarket stock

This is 100% correct and thought this was common knowledge? Get away with maybe shooting a 223 tikka off a bipod like a varmint as not much recoil, but others you are better off over a pack or bags.

Have a Tikka in a Manners and had that bedded and free-floating same as a custom in a Ken Henderson, it has a alloy bedding block but I still bedded that as thought the action load wasn't spread out enough where it was loading on the bedding block.

Tikka's shoot well because they make great barrels and have amazing quality control, the action tolerances are also excellent.

Originally Posted by jackson21

This is 100% correct and thought this was common knowledge? Get away with maybe shooting a 223 tikka off a bipod like a varmint as not much recoil, but others you are better off over a pack or bags.

Have a Tikka in a Manners and had that bedded and free-floating same as a custom in a Ken Henderson, it has a alloy bedding block but I still bedded that as thought the action load wasn't spread out enough where it was loading on the bedding block.

Tikka's shoot well because they make great barrels and have amazing quality control, the action tolerances are also excellent.

Was the Ken H stock noticeably better after bedding?

Bush hunter Swaro Z3 3-9 x 36 4A reticle
Bush and extended (400m?) Swaro Z3 3-10 x 42 BRX/BRH reticle

The value of these is approx the same as a VX3HD

Originally Posted by rimubay

Was the Ken H stock noticeably better after bedding?

Yes is the answer, but I'm not sure exactly that was the issue? Was more of routine process of elimination. Rifle was double grouping, like stock was pinching. Talked to Ken about it and had never had any problems with the alloy bedding block stocks, just drop in and away you go. I sent down to him and got him to bed anyway and he was happy to do it at quite reasonable charge regardless, if that's what I wanted?

One of the other things it possibly could have been bolt release not quite fitted in correctly when reassembled and was pinching. Long story, short I had also been using RE26 in a suppressed 20 inch 22 Creedmore and had created a carbon ring. When I got rifle back I had also been doing quite a bit of research on this and took quite a bit of CLR to remove. I changed powder to RE16 and rifle has shot awesomely ever since.

So could of been any of the 3 things, I'm not sure? The bedding block stocks shouldn't require bedding, but I just like to in nearly all my rifles and I wanted to get more surface area on where action bares on the bedding block. That's why I like the old cheapy Ruger American's, they have an awesome bedding system.