Thread: T3 tune up

Originally Posted by RichieRich

Hey guys i'm hoping i could get a bit of advise from the collective.

After playing with my brother-in-laws long range target rifle over the weekend naturally i went to bed that night wanting one.
However by the time i woke up i had decided that it probably would be best to put my time and (very) limited money into my hunting rifle and get familiar shooting it 1st.
I've got some basic ideas about what to do but i'm hoping someone out there might have a bit more experience with this kind of thing.

I got a Tikka T3 lite SS .270, my ideas are:
Limbsaver recoil pad
Burris fullfield II balistic plex (3-9 or 4.5-14)
Bed the action ( it already has a free floating barrel)
Improve the half cock

Would shortening the barrel for Hardy can affect the accuracy out to 350m dramatically?

I'd love to spend $1000+ on single components but $1000 - $1500 is my limit (at the moment)

Any advice is appreciated

RR

Change one thing at a time before you spend the dollars.

Suppressor ... yes
.. your ears will love you for it. I've just got two from greystone guns for my tikkas (223/243)
.. you may or may not then not need a limbsaver after getting a suppressor.

Scope ... yes - spend as much as you can afford on a scope with a lifetime warranty .. Leupold as an example. I've just replaced the shitty misty tasco on my 223 with a Leupold varminter. you will NEVER EVER regret spending money on good waterproof optics.

Half Cock ... no
The juries out on the advisability of modding the T3 for half cock. What I most often hear when I speak to gunsmiths about it is "It was never designed for one" . Forcing a design feature into an incumbent design seldom works out well. Sometimes does, though, so I may yet stand corrected.

Bedding .. maybe later

when you start making changes to your setup, make them one at a time, and evaluate before and after the change. give yourself time to get used to the change. its big money you're spending, so don't rush it.

If after that you've got your basic setup shooting ok with factory ammo, and you want more accuracy, then I'm afraid you need to start thinking about reloading.

As you have seen - the forum is a great place to get advice. read it all and sift it weight it a 1000 times, then decide. Not saying people are wrong (although some are), but they all have their own perspectives (which is the fantastic thing) and that dictates the advice they give.

Tim

Upgrade from the Tikka rings to something like Talley"s or Optilocks aswell.

Gonna have some 1" optilocks up for grabs soon for a good price