Tikka 7mm Magnum Build

Thought i might share something for everyone, might be helpful to some or might not,

I tend to do a fair amount of tahr hunting, probably most of my hunting the past 6 years has been tahr and hopefully will continue to be (thats another topic as we all know),

1 year ago i was hunting with my mate, me with my trusty 7mm08, yup a latte caliber that still manages to do the job, and him with his 308, last light, 400 yards away 4 bulls appeared out of scrub into a heavily broken/scrubby face, we closed the gap and by the time we did they never presented a shot, these bulls were some/if not the biggest bulls i have ever seen to date,

Anyway, couldn't help but think if we stayed that extra bit back and had abit more knock down we could of had one on the deck. Yes some may say shot placement etc and we would of had on them on the wall, but it only takes a bull a few steps and its impossible to find, so needed to drop on the spot

Next week i started looking for a new rifle set up, looked at the usual suspects, forbes kimber remington etc, tikka. Again calibers to suit, 280ai 300mag 7mmrm. The price for a kimber etc didnt really sit well for what i saw, end of the day i treat it as a tool for hunting and a boring old tikka is accurate enough, plus with the money saved i could buy a reloading kit

Purchased a
Tikka Superlite 7mm Magnum
Optilocks
Swaro Z5 3-18

Shot it as was for a few months
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Even shot a chamois at a whopping great 30 yards, the irony
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Around the imfamous lockdown i purchased a reloading kit and got a T1 muzzle brake added, probably one of the best things i have done, cant recommend enough,
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Started thinking with loads, found the 2217 powder and Hornady 162gr ELDx pretty good, no idea of speeds yet but wanted to get a feel for the process etc and have a chrono purchase coming up to continue,
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In the forum for sale area i happened to be there at the right time and forum member 308mate was selling a carbon tikka stock, grabbed that and a terminal ballistic bedding kit and got stuck in, would recommend trying this, this was my first time doing something like this and followed the instructions, the result is pretty good i feel,
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Will see how it shoots in a few weeks once lambing is over, by then should have a chrono so will really see what its doing

Those wondering about the bull tahr, i shot one (lets pretend it was him) from the same creek a month ago, 13inch with 10inch bases, using the new Tikka (before the carbon stock was on)
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Nice..

well done, what distance was the shot on the tahr ? Nice to see some decent bulls still standing after the Sage rage SAD missions

Cool little write up mate, thanks for sharing.

I have a mate based in Geraldine thats shot a few Bull Tahr out to 600 Yards with his Blaser 7mm08, he's handloading 162gr eldms in it at about 2700 fps.

But the 7 Rem Mag will of course do it better ;-)

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Originally Posted by GWH

Cool little write up mate, thanks for sharing.

I have a mate based in Geraldine thats shot a few Bull Tahr out to 600 Yards with his Blaser 7mm08, he's handloading 162gr eldms in it at about 2700 fps.

But the 7 Rem Mag will of course do it better ;-)

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@GWH At that speed you would need to run in front of the projectile sweeping like in Curling. :)

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Originally Posted by chainsaw

well done, what distance was the shot on the tahr ? Nice to see some decent bulls still standing after the Sage rage SAD missions

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Was at 350yards, started about 200 but never stopped walking until it was further out

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GWH

Cool little write up mate, thanks for sharing.

I have a mate based in Geraldine thats shot a few Bull Tahr out to 600 Yards with his Blaser 7mm08, he's handloading 162gr eldms in it at about 2700 fps.

But the 7 Rem Mag will of course do it better ;-)

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I possibly done it backwards and should of started with the reloading kit and my 7mm08!

Nice set up, good work:cool:

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Originally Posted by Southerner223

I possibly done it backwards and should of started with the reloading kit and my 7mm08!

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Nah you would have likely ended up where you are anyway. What youve got is the easiest way of getting a very capable and low weight long range capable Mountain rifle.

remember your ear pro
I still hear ringing from using my muzzle breaked 7RM chasing tahr

Good stuff, love stories like this.

Nothing wrong with a Tikka as there rather bomb proof and have great accuracy!

One thing I learnt with the magnum was “It rules with authority!”

Hot barrels!

Simple but damn effective! Nice

A good choice , that's a very nice bull. Hope there a few more around that escape the dreaded Sage slaughter campaign.

Bit of a boring update, some of you may of noticed the stock above doesnt have a recoil pad, the stocks come with a limbsaver, but i tend to find these to grippy on clothing etc and also far to thick for me, so i went and made one, i wont claim this idea, @Joe_90 let me know of it

Purchased a suitable pad material, splashed out
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Then urathaned to the stock and trimmed back with a sharp knife
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Yesterday went out and tested some loads over the chrono, got 2947fps average with 71grains of powder, happy with the speed, the groups appear to have opened up to an inch with the stock change, possibly could of been me as it was heavy drizzle so didnt exactly have a fun time, will load up 3 more at the 71grains and try on a more pleasant day

Jandals are great for resoling your slippers too. I like the recoil pad

Finally got it out on a decent night to test the accuracy improvement (if any) if the carbon stock and the bedding. Had done it a month ago but in very heavy drizzle and i wasnt having a good day with poor groups, so i reloaded some more and tested last night.

Powder weight next to the grouping, it appears the 70.5gr is now the favourite, its not super tight but more so than the other loads, its also possibly down to me. Was shooting off a bipod with no sandbag, just a rolled up jacket, so a typical hunting scenario essentially. Im going to bulk load and test over the chrono as it wasnt working for some reason (possibly to dark being twilight and cloudy??). From previously testing 69,70,71, this 71.5 so be around the 2900fps mark as such, or maybe higher?

Will post up results of the bulkload and sight in process as such at a later date, all and all its a pretty reliable hunting package and set up,

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Jandals are a great idea. I have shelled out good coin for pachmayr pads that are thinner and less grippy, as I don't like pads that grab clothing either. Now I find out I could have spent $3 at the warehouse.

Looks like a nice package. Perfect for it's intended job.

You could try adjusting the seating depth to see if that tightens that load up.

Would love to see a photo of the 13" bull with 10" bases. Never heard of a bull with bases that large before

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Originally Posted by hotsoup

Would love to see a photo of the 13" bull with 10" bases. Never heard of a bull with bases that large before

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Sorry for late reply, bull is the one in the first group, quite a wide spread on its horns to

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Following on with this, got out in the weekend with the rifle again, mate saw this stag from over 1km away, kindly let put in a stalk into it after an argument saying the other person should shoot. Had 6 hinds, got to 480yards and thought i could get slightly closer, down to 180 yards and a prone shot put this thing down.

So happy everything went to plan and to find it on public land, great feeling knowing the work and research etc has payed off and the reloaded ammo done its part!

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Sounds like a great hunt resulting in a ripper of a stag, well done!

@Southerner223 very nice looking stag, What else could you ask for nice stag, tikka rem mag, cactus pack and beautiful country :D
just going through the same process at the moment setting up a rem mag at the moment.

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Originally Posted by bigbear

@Southerner223 very nice looking stag, What else could you ask for nice stag, tikka rem mag, cactus pack and beautiful country :D
just going through the same process at the moment setting up a rem mag at the moment.

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Yea it all seemed to come together! I have 3 nights of gear in that pack for those wondering too, Cactus Huntaway, best pack i have owned, recently got a Foray but still prefer to take this away

That's a beauty of a stag alright. Good to hear the rifle is performing well. Now you can reap the rewards of all the work putting it together.