Thread: .284 Winchester Super Bushpig Build

I've been a big follower of Tikkas having owned a few now and modifying them to my needs often reaming out existing chambers like one of my last Tikkas where a 7mm-08 was reamed out to a .280 Remington which has served me well though my favourite rifle is a Tikka .223 which I call my mouse gun but it drops deer (Sika & Fallow) like the proverbial.

This story started about a year ago when as many of you might remember Greg Duley posted an article on the "Super Bushpig) build he did around the .284 Winchester cartridge. Well, my good mate saw this article and wanted one so the gears of motion were all set and a Tikka T3 7mm08 was obtained.

The magazine which is a medium was swapped for a large magazine in order to fit the .284 Winchester.

.284 Case in Large Magazine


7mm08 case vs .284 Winchester


The rifle was then sent off Robbie Tiffen of Canterbury Gunworks who has done good work for me in the past where they reamed out the existing 7mm-08 chambered to .284 Winchester, fluted the bolt, installed the large bolt stop so the bolt could be pulled back all the way, put a half cock where the safety can be engaged and disengaged so you can unload the gun on a live round while the safety is engaged.



The action screws on the action were changed out to stainless ones aswell as stainless screws for the tikka rings.

I know what some people might be saying... why didn't you use optilocks or Talleys as alternative rings and to be honest I haven't had a problem with the Tikka rings to date so at this stage I can't see why I'd want to change.

When the rifle came back I was impressed by Robbie's work as its small things which really count.



On the barrel after reaming out the new chamber he threaded the barrel another 1/4-1/2 turn and stamped .284 Win on the barrel so all the stamping which says 7mm08 ins hidden under the stock... minor detail but a really nice touch.

We mounted a Leupold CDS VXIII 3.5-10x40 which is really nice glass and allows us to shoot out to some range as the 284 Winchester does pack some punch down range.



For the last touch we took the rifle into Darren at "DPT suppressors", Darren cut the barrel down to 16 inches, threaded and put on one of his over barrel suppressors which are light weight at just under 200 grams.



We obtained some .284 dies, but getting our hands on .284 brass was none existent so we got some 6.5/284 Lapua brass and neck sized the case up which is as simple as lubing and running the cases through the sizing die.

For powder there really is no other choice for the .284 other than Reloader RE 17 which gives you the best results

The last thing we did was put on a limbsaver recoil pad and we were ready to go.

With the first few shots I was pleasantly surprised at the recoil and down range power of the rifle shooting 140gr Ballistic Tips & 162gr Amaxs while the barrel was still being broken in.

I found the rifle shot really well with the BT's & Amaxs shooting groups as tight as 1/2 inch at 100 metres but I always find barrels need more than 20 rounds to be broken in with more the better and quite often its not until you've shot a good 100 rounds through a barrel that things start to settle in.

I have all sorts of 7mm projectiles here at home with 140 gr Ballistic Tips, 140 gr Accubonds, 162 gr Amaxs, 139 Interlokts, 140 Sierra Game King, 150 gr Sirocco's but I was keen to try some Sierra 150 gr Game Kings as I love a good lead tip.

One thing I found quite noticeable with this build is the .284 can sit all the way back in the "L" magazine of the Tikka with 162 gr A-Maxs extended all the way so your not limited by the length of the magazine like I was when shooting the Tikka .280

Everything shot well through the rifle but in the end I settled on the 150 gr Sierras Game King (#1913) as the go to projectile as it gave me nothing but tight, tight groups

When shooting the rifle down range I would also play with it by shooting some gongs where I found the punch factor to be quite high for a cartridge of its size.

While I haven't shot it that far with the longest distance to date being 300 metres, the accuracy has been under 3 inches at that range all shot off a bipod.

Now that the gun is back with my mate I took out my Tikka 7mm Rem Mag for a blast the other day and while it might rule with authority... it got me thinking... I'm missing that .284 Super Bushpig!

Theres one in tm with a bc stock for 1400 which not to bad with the bits and peices

I've got a 7mm08 with extended bolt stop and large mag, just waiting to be sent to the gunsmith, you've got me motivated on that one again....

What was the cost to ream out etc, also at what distance do you get the magic 1000ftlbs of down range impact??

If you launch an amax at 2900 it holds 1000 ft/lbs at 1000 yards (give or take for pressure etc) not saying you would get 2900 from a bush pig but gives you an idea, 2800 would still reach a long way out, the numbers however can be just that.... Numbers, I would say one of these setups would be a no nonsense 0-500 type setup that could go further in the right hands and conditions

yeh this would be ideal out to 700 surely, anything inside 600 is gonna be deathstarlaserd.