Fix old or buy new?

[dontbelievethisnonsense]

Long story short I'm bit disappointed with my current rifle. Tikka T3 in GRS laminate stock, 6.5x55. Basically lite barrel heats up too fast, accuacy isn't too good. On top of that GRS stock is slippery as hell. It's supposed to be hunting rifle for anything from grouse to whitetail. Long range shooting is more recreational / way to practice for hunting. In current condition I'm not getting the accuracy or repeatability I want so I've been considering few options
1. Get the barrel replaced with slightly heavier profile and buy new stock/chassis.
2. Buy second barrel for Blaser R8. Probably 20.5" semi-weight in 6.5Creedmoor or 6.5x55
3. Ditch the old T3 and buy T3x UPR that basically has all the goods from point 1. but forces me to switch to 6.5CM.

Not really particular between swede / breedmore but switching would leave me with about 600pcs of brass, dies and almost full jar of VV N560 that apparently isn't best for CM. Also any of these would mean getting rid of the GRS stock and bipod fitted to it, good excuse for upgrading to Atlas CAL as well though.

R8 with two barrels would be pretty sweet setup and it should work great for my purposes, then again if they cost 1250€/piece and I can expect 2500 shot barrel life out of it, that's literally 50 cent / shot for barrel. Anyone know how much this can be stretched out with milder reloads or is there difference between swede and creedmoor?

 

[Diablo]

If you like that cartridge, why change?

You can correct "slippery" stock by having some checkering done, or addition of stippling.

Barrel heating up too fast depends on your rate of firing, amount of powder burning, and barrel thickness, surface area available for heat dissipation, ambient temperature, etc.

Have you considered other factors for accuracy problems, such as the trigger on your Tikka, or a barrel bedding problem? Have you tried different bullet weights to see if one performs better? Setting the bullet out to just "kiss" the lands when chambered?

Check your scope mounting to assure that potential error source is eliminated.

And try another scope, just to assure it is not the problem.

After all the usual troubleshooting elimiates possible sources of error, then consider rebarreling, get a good barrel, choose a good gunsmith, and get it done (progress !!!)

Rebarreling should also allow the gunsmith to check and true up the action if needed.

If you already have the Blaser, and like to toss more money at it, then sell the Tikka and get another barrel for the Blaser.

You will probably see a lot of love for the 6.5CM on this site, and it performs very well, but availabilty of brass for the 6.5x55 may be much better depending on where you are located, given its legendary service in Nordic regions, both for the military and for hunting.

Should be some others on here that could offer adivise about the 6.5x55.......my only 6.5 currently is the 6.5-300WSM which has more case capacity, but allows running the "heavy" bullets.

 

[epoletna]

You say your barrel heats up, so I presume you're target shooting and not hunting, where you would probably have few repeat shots. Is there any reason you cannot slow down your shooting so the barrel gets so hot? Or use a small fan to blow ambient air through the barrel to cool it between shots?

OTOH, if you're just looking for an excuse to buy another rifle, don't let us stop you!