Help and advice on .223 Tikka T3 Lite problem

murphyc106

Hi, I have just started using my first centerfire rifle, many years with .22lr and .17hmr. I now have a .223 Tikka T3 Lite. I cannot get it zero'd. Every 3rd or 4th shot is nowhere near the aim point. Not even uniformly out it can land high,low, left or right and then shoots bang on again for the next two shots and then it starts again. I have taken the mod. off and the problem is still there. I have it on a rifle rest and still persists. I have taken the scope off and reseated the rings and scope and still the same issue. I have never had this issue with the rimfire. I am shooting at 75 yards, at this rate it will never be at 100 yards. The scope is a 9-24x50 Leapers. Shooting .223 Tulammo bullets. Any help at all please.....

virminhunter

I'd see if I could get a lend of a scope and try it with that to see if the problem persists, also I'd try a different brand of ammo and make sure your action screws are torqed(nice and tight) incase the barreled action is moving in the stock while your shooting.

johnfaul

first thing change the ammo if everything else seems good
then look at the scope and try to get another one to try out

garv123

The problem may and most likely be is that you are using crap ammo...

check out a review here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056668816
Also is it FMJ? if it is it wont be good for shooting foxes or even rabbits if you dont get headshots.

Try different brands of ammo and it will probably fix your problem. American eagle are the next cheapest to what you had and are soft point and could group well in your rifle.

The twist will also depend weather your gun will be better suited to heavier or lighter rounds.

Try new ammo before anything else.

lb1981

Hornady 55g or 40g will work a treat in that gun , it is what i use all the time on my Tikka ,twice the price of American eagle but you get what you pay for ,i used all tree on targets one day to compare them ,the hornadys are always on the button but the american eagle were dirt, you would get a flyer every so often about 5" or more from the poor group that they produce.
Get yourself a box and see how you get on.

steyrman2

murphyc106 wrote: »

Hi, I have just started using my first centerfire rifle, many years with .22lr and .17hmr. I now have a .223 Tikka T3 Lite. I cannot get it zero'd. Every 3rd or 4th shot is nowhere near the aim point. Not even uniformly out it can land high,low, left or right and then shoots bang on again for the next two shots and then it starts again. I have taken the mod. off and the problem is still there. I have it on a rifle rest and still persists. I have taken the scope off and reseated the rings and scope and still the same issue. I have never had this issue with the rimfire. I am shooting at 75 yards, at this rate it will never be at 100 yards. The scope is a 9-24x50 Leapers. Shooting .223 Tulammo bullets. Any help at all please.....

Hi i used some of that ammo last week and tbh it was crap groups were bad and the dirt of the barrel afterwards it is cheap ammo you get what you pay for try some decent ammo imo

clivej

Also as its a Tikka Lite don't put more than 3 rounds down range before letting the barrel cool down again.

dto001

I had the same problem on my marlin.308 and it turned out that the sight rail bolts were slightly loose so i tightened them up and used thread lock and it has been fine since!!

tac foley

clivej wrote: »

Also as its a Tikka Lite don't put more than 3 rounds down range before letting the barrel cool down again.

Best point here.

tac

garv123

I'd bet my left one he could throw hornady ammo more accurate than what he's using

homerhop

clivej wrote: »

Also as its a Tikka Lite don't put more than 3 rounds down range before letting the barrel cool down again.

have to disagree with ya there Clive, myself and Baz put 2 strings of 5 shot down mine and it handled it with no visible effects

dazed+confused

clivej wrote: »

Also as its a Tikka Lite don't put more than 3 rounds down range before letting the barrel cool down again.

Why not?

virminhunter

homerhop wrote: »

have to disagree with ya there Clive, myself and Baz put 2 strings of 5 shot down mine and it handled it with no visible effects

same here with a t3 lite in .25-06, it'd shoot sub moa 5 shot groups no problem and that barrel was hot.

tomcat220t

BARREL WALK is probably what Clive is referring to ..... happens when barrels with stress left in it, through the rifling process ...changes it poa when it get hot .

dazed+confused

And presumably then a light barel would be more susceptible to this than a heavy barrel?

tomcat220t

dazed+confused wrote: »

And presumably then a light barel would be more susceptible to this than a heavy barrel?

Yea,it can occur more with lighter barrels .
It down to the quality of steel and rifling process.
Quality cut barrels are much less susceptible to this issue .

ejg

Would be good to know what kind of spread we are talking about.
5mm at 75yds or 5" at 75yds???
Barrel walking is mostly a smaller ammount, especially at that short range.
Could also be a loose lense in the scope. Had a Leupold once that did that to me.
edi

murphyc106

ejg wrote: »

Would be good to know what kind of spread we are talking about.
5mm at 75yds or 5" at 75yds???
Barrel walking is mostly a smaller ammount, especially at that short range.
Could also be a loose lense in the scope. Had a Leupold once that did that to me.
edi

Hi, at 75 yards the 1st and 2nd shots are either overlapping or 5mm max apart. The 3rd or sometimes the 4th can be anything up to 4 inches away and could be anywhere. Cannot use the gun other than on the range as the bullet could go anywhere. The scope is tight and uniform in the rings. I originally blamed the trigger until I learned that it's adjustable and is now nice and light so cannot blame it. The rifle was cleaned prior to using. Could it be the crown? Never saw this grief with a CZ:mad::mad:

garv123

murphyc106 wrote: »

Hi, at 75 yards the 1st and 2nd shots are either overlapping or 5mm max apart. The 3rd or sometimes the 4th can be anything up to 4 inches away and could be anywhere. Cannot use the gun other than on the range as the bullet could go anywhere. The scope is tight and uniform in the rings. I originally blamed the trigger until I learned that it's adjustable and is now nice and light so cannot blame it. The rifle was cleaned prior to using. Could it be the crown? Never saw this grief with a CZ:mad::mad:

As been pointed out in many posts by many people, buy a box of a premium brand of ammo and try it before you go wasting any more time/money

thats the group from another posters rifle with the same brand of ammo

tac foley

Mornin', Gentelmen. I don't have a Tikka T3 Lite, but I know a man who does, although it's in 6.5x55 SE.

Reading through all this again yesterday, and with his full co-operation [naturally, HE paid for the ammunition] we tried everything we could to simulate, as far as was possible, the problem that the OP is having with his near-identical rifle.

We fired slow groups.......five shots went into 3/4".

We fired fast groups........five shots went into 3/4".

We left it for an hour and snuck up on it when it wasn't looking.

Five shots - two slow and three fast - went into 3/4".

IF the crown was damaged - an easy thing to see, as it will look, well, damaged, then it would not group at all.

As for the opinion that the barrel may not have been stress-relieved after machining, I would tend to discount that. Having been to the Tikka/SAKO factory three times now, I can reliably state that EVERY barrel is stress-relieved as part of the production process - it is simply not possible for one barrel to get left out - there would be a large hole in the rack that would instantly get noticed by the skilled operators who actually place them one by one on the rack.

Many have already pointed out that you are using ammunition that is shi-, ahem, less good than most.

Try the proper stuff and then tell us what happened, OK?

tac - a shooter since 1952.

tomcat220t

Even the best custom barrel makers get the odd dud !
But from my understanding the tikka barrels are sako 85s :cool:
One cant assess how a rifle is best going to perform with cheap ammo .
As some guys say.... your problem is most likely bad ammo .
Scrub out your barrel and but a 30 euro box of quality ammo and let us know your results .
Best of luck either way .

tac foley

Perhaps I should have mentioned that Tikka and SAKO barrels are identical - maybe that didn't come across in my post where I wrote Tikka/SAKO factory.

tac

Jonty

I'd put money on the rifle being 100% sound. Its the dodgy russian ammo I reckon.

It always amazes me the way some people shell out serious money on a rifle and then won't feed it premium ammo. I recall a story about a clown who purchased a 65K BMW and when it was due its first set of tyres, he insisted on the cheapest crappiest tyres going on it. Well to cut it short, he ditched the beemer on a frosty morning and made sh1te out of it.

Moral of the story - don't be afraid to spend a few bob on the ammo.

virminhunter

tac foley wrote: »

We left it for an hour and snuck up on it when it wasn't looking.

got a laugh out of that thanks, often did the same thing with that thought in my head:D

Chesapeake

Jonty wrote: »

I'd put money on the rifle being 100% sound. Its the dodgy russian ammo I reckon.

Moral of the story - don't be afraid to spend a few bob on the ammo.

Agree, with the 222 if I want to shoot paper, bottles or just make noise I use S&B.
If I want to shoot groups or an animal I use Sako, twice the price, but 97% as consistant as a hand load. with the S&B you can hear and fell the over/under fill rounds in the box.

dazed+confused

OP Have you tried using better quality ammo yet?

The great people of people of boards have spoken, you came here looking for their advice. You must now heed that advice or forever walk in darkness!