Thread: Tikka T3x Tac A1

Originally Posted by Eamonn

Thanks for this.

Greetings @Eamonn,
I suspect that your head may be spinning like a top by now. The first thing to remember is that if you persist with this hunting and shooting thing (and I suspect that you might) you will have many rifles, often several at the same time. This will be your first rifle so it needs to be easy to shoot and easy to feed. Some of the posts are talking about their ideal rifle after many years of shooting but you are not there yet. I would strongly suggest you follow your initial instinct and buy a .308 with a reasonable scope and a suppressor. The reasons are the available and reasonably priced ammo and the cartridge doing most things well. In a few years, once you have decided if you are a bush hobbit, tops hunter or target shooter you can buy a specialised rifle and scope to suit as you will know what you need.
My first rifle was a .308 and it is still here closing on fifty years later. QED.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by lau lau

Not sure how to tag, but where are you based Eamonn?
In Taranaki we have a few field shoots and long range shoots, you should come along to one and see what people are using and you'll be able to soak up some knowledge and experiance as well

Thats great advice. If you cant join a club try and do a course with Sparrowhawk or somewhere similar. The more experience you have the better decisions you will make when it comes time to buy. Its not hard to find a decent rifle, its going to be the scope and ammo that makes or breaks you.

@Eamonn

I am not having a go either, I will humbly admit there was a time once when I saw a Winchester 94 and thought it was an over/under. We all start somewhere. But I am curious to find out the reasons for your interest in long distance target shooting.

The main reasons I am curious is firstly it is generally something that people learn after they learn the basics, not something that people learn as a starting point. To say learning the trade with long range target shooting is sort of like saying you plan to learn to fly in an F16 jet and then use a Cessna once you have the flying mastered.

The second reason is that you present as quite committed to the concept despite (and I say this with respect, see start of post) having less than arm chair knowledge on many of the basic principles of ballistics or even shooting. Essentially (and again with respect) without the background, your reasoning comes across as misinformed.

The reason I point this out is that the long distance rabbit hole is much deeper than it looks to a lay person or even an arm chair expert. You would do well to understand the depth of the rabbit hole before you start throwing money into it.

Whilst I get and agree with the concept of buying good gear at the outset, there is a difference between good quality and fit for purpose. The Mk5 7-35 scope you are looking at, is good quality, but it has a limited application. It would cost >4.5k landed in NZ assuming you could source it. It only has one reticle available which is the Leupold CCH reticle ( https://www.leupold.com/reticle/cch/ ) this reticle is probably way more than what someone wants to deal with when they are learning. It is quite a specialised piece of equipment, it is the sort of gear that despite being good quality, will hold you back more than it will advance you. If I had a rifle with this scope on it,
I don't think there would ever be a time where I would use it in preference to a 3-9 or 4-12. You will likely end up buying twice if you buy a 7-35.

Long distance shooting isn't something where buying the most expensive gear with the biggest numbers automatically means you have the right kit and your good to go. There are plenty of cross compatibilities with rifles, mounts, scopes etc that aren't always compatible where you could snooker yourself before you even leave the house. Then there is the fundamental skills too.
These skills aren't achieved by default of having expensive gear, more often than not, what I see at the range, is skilled shooters with entry level rifles hitting targets much more consistently than those that have tried to buy their way to good ability buy spending big on gear.

Ultimately if you are keen on the idea, you don't have to have a good or valid reason, anyone who has done it will agree that there is a certain satisfaction in being able to reach right out and make first shot hits on far away targets.
I mentioned on one of your other threads, if you are really keen on long range shooting, buy and read one or all of Nathan Fosters books. Nathan can be described both figuratively and literally as 'The guy who wrote the book' on long range hunting and shooting.

You would also do well to find a club or mentor or both, I can't imagine anyone starting from scratch and becoming good at long distance shooting without any outside help that was not the internet. There are just too many subtleties to be aware of that only experience can bring awareness of.

Hopefully I have not taken any wind out of your sails with this post, that has not been the intent, it is more to help with some of the relevant realities you will eventually have to reckon with.

@Eamonn Go along to a local range or club for a day or two. See what they do and what gear they use. Look at and through as much different gear as you can. Ask a lot of questions, get your head around it all. THEN decide what you want.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....a-range-98064/

@Eamonn where are you based?

I've decided to go with a custom build. (image below as a close example). It's action with be a Tikka Super Varmint and with a 28" carbon barrel.



(1). If I suppress a 28" carbon barrel... that will affect accuracy negatively?

(2). If so... is buying a shorter hunting barrel for the suppressor doable?... and if so, what the best length so as not to have the suppressor affect accuracy?


The suppressor I am getting below...

https://www.silencercentral.com/prod...to%20300%20RUM.

Originally Posted by Eamonn

I've decided to go with a custom build. (image below as a close example). It's action with be a Tikka Super Varmint and with a 28" carbon barrel.

Attachment 235761

(1). If I suppress a 28" carbon barrel... that will affect accuracy negatively?

(2). If so... is buying a shorter hunting barrel for the suppressor doable?... and if so, what the best length so as not to have the suppressor affect accuracy?


The suppressor I am getting below...

https://www.silencercentral.com/prod...to%20300%20RUM.

Where are you buying that suppressor from? Importing from the USA?

A 28" barrel with a suppressor is ridiculously long, theres no way you'd be wanting to hunt with that.
A shorter barrel will be less effected by a suppressor, but a suppressor doesn't tend to negatively effect accuracy.

Why are you wanting to buy a Tikka Super Varmint to then replace the barrel? The barrel is a big part of the additional cost over a T3 Lite.
If you are commited to doing a semi custom Tikka build then I'd 100% start with a T3 lite, there's no point paying extra for the varmint stock or a heavy barrel.