Thread: What tikka to purchase

.223 is a good 2nd rifle caliber. 308 is a good first rifle caliber. Become competent with a 308 and as you gain experience and become reliable with your shots you will find that having a .223 as well will become attractive. Its a great "as well as" caliber, but not universally as useful like the 308.

I would buy new, but if your budget doesn't stretch that far there are often good Tikka 308's on the market at a reasonable saving. Don't skimp on a 'scope to buy a new rifle. 20" is a good barrel length for a 308 to add a suppressor to. I wouldn't go shorter - you are giving performance away for no good reason.

I'd love to see you guys in the bush up here with 20 inch barrels. Chink, chink, thud, snap, oh shit, I'm stuck again.

Originally Posted by MB

I'd love to see you guys in the bush up here with 20 inch barrels. Chink, chink, thud, snap, oh shit, I'm stuck again.

Ha. You reckon a couple of inches would make a difference? More deer have been shot with full length SMLE barrels than anything else You just gotta be careful where you wave the thing. Just like where you put your feet.

The "bush pig" trend amuses me. Most of them never go into the trees in their whole life

Originally Posted by Tahr

Ha. You reckon a couple of inches would make a difference?

It does. Anything that goes much above your head when on the shoulder is a pain in the arse. Obviously, you don't want the muzzle below head height for safety reasons. Carry the rifle you say? No, you need both hands to push or cut branches out the way and for climbing. Hunting in Northland is so much fun!

Originally Posted by MB

It does. Anything that goes much above your head when on the shoulder is a pain in the arse. Obviously, you don't want the muzzle below head height for safety reasons. Carry the rifle you say? No, you need both hands to push or cut branches out the way and for climbing. Hunting in Northland is so much fun!

Can't quite understand about the above your head I never use a sling they are more of a pain than a 20" barrel I hate hunting with one on my rifles.

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308 thru a 16inch barrel,just tooo noisy,18 inch quieter,20 in even quieter.

My 16" 308 with suppressor is nicely balanced for shooting and carrying. It propels a 168 ELD-M at about 2550 fps and has taken animals out to 440 yards (further than I would normally shoot). The 16" barrel may lose 60-100fps MV over a 18/20" but for the shooting I do that is neither here nor there. I don't find it loud when hunting as I am generally only firing one shot and always use hearing protection if sighting in. That said, if you wanted to go 18 or 20" with a suppressor or leave the barrel at the standard 22?" there is nothing wrong with that either.
Check out the 260rem recently posted in Show us your new toys. That is the sort of thing I consider an all-round working rifle that can do just about anything you would need it to in NZ.

A shorter barrel also improves 'pointability' on a suppressed rifle, nice when a snapshot is required! Caliber, noise increase, and loss of projectile speed all need to be considered when making the decision on just how much to chop off a barrel. My bush gun(7mm08) is chopped to 17" and my alpine/tops rifle is chopped to 22"(7mmRM), both suppressed and super nice to shoot. Both do their jobs well. I like suppressors with minimal weight, and "muzzle forward" length, for both 'carriability' and 'pointability'. I have Hardy and DPT and rate both in this regard.

Originally Posted by Trout

Cut no shorter than 20 inch -18inchs,18 deer didnt like my 308 out to 400yds last summer.Hornady Superformance 150gr,165gr SSTs puts them down in the longer range.WhiteTail 165gr sp better in the shorter range at $65pkt for Wtail,not a bad price.

Why no shorter?

Originally Posted by Shearer

My 16" 308 with suppressor is nicely balanced for shooting and carrying. It propels a 168 ELD-M at about 2550 fps and has taken animals out to 440 yards (further than I would normally shoot). The 16" barrel may lose 60-100fps MV over a 18/20" but for the shooting I do that is neither here nor there. I don't find it loud when hunting as I am generally only firing one shot and always use hearing protection if sighting in. That said, if you wanted to go 18 or 20" with a suppressor or leave the barrel at the standard 22?" there is nothing wrong with that either.
Check out the 260rem recently posted in Show us your new toys. That is the sort of thing I consider an all-round working rifle that can do just about anything you would need it to in NZ.

At 2,550 fps do you have to run ahead of the projectile with a broom like they do in curling?

Id suggest new if you can, then you know exactly what you've got, how its been treated, how much work its done etc. Warranty. I think that's worth the couple hundred you may save from buying used.

Originally Posted by Tahr

At 2,550 fps do you have to run ahead of the projectile with a broom like they do in curling?

Can tell you the same projectile at a mv of 2622fps is devestating at 400y on reds quick calculation suggests it would only be a difference of about 30ft/lbs if the mv was 2550 fps I reckon it'd go allright....its only hold over or dial that would be the difference.
No hate just my observation

Originally Posted by Tahr

At 2,550 fps do you have to run ahead of the projectile with a broom like they do in curling?

A bit like a mortar coming down from above.

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My 308 with its 18in barrel pushs Hornady Superformance 150ssts thru at about 2820ft/s,165gr at 2700ft/s.Stags at distance dont like them.

[QUOTE=25/08 IMP;1454209]A bit like a mortar coming down from above.

Sort of like an over hand right, give yourself an uppercut