My journey into this stuff, a range diary with a Tikka

[louu]

Hopefully this is allowed here. I'm going to talk a lot about shooting and pretty much no complaining about the shit on the news so this is going to be different.

I'm also posting this in hopes of you guys helping me with all of my stupid questions here instead of starting more threads. Please feel free to critique anything I'm doing.

Ok I'll get this started by saying I'm new to this kind of shooting but not competitive shooting. I've been shooting uspsa, steel challenge and a ton of 3 gun since about 2012 or 13. I'm looking for something different this season so I figured I'd give this a shot (dad joke).

So I spent more than a few bucks on black Friday at MDT to get me started. Then I got a Tikka t3x in the roughtech stock. I guess it's a thicker barrel than the lite and it has a fluted bolt and barrel. Here's the completed rifle

 

[louu]

I have a set of the lower rings on the way as well as some more exterior weights. All of the interior weights are in there. I also installed the yo Dave trigger spring and that thing made the trigger amazing!

Another thing I did was made my own bag rider out of aluminum. I don't like the mdt bag rider because it's flat and looks to short.

I've always had A2 stocks on all my other rifles and like the angle on the bottom for shifting the bag forward and back for elevation. I'm going to get it powdercoated flat black and will probably get the chassis creacoated to match the scope next week.

 

[bgavin]

Nice

Can't beat a tikka.

 

[louu]

Now for some of my noobneess!

I made a really nice mount for the magnitospeed that bolts to the side of the chassis using mlok hardware. It's nothing special just a pice of angel iron chopped and ground up to resemble a Pic rail on the end so it uses the Pic rail adapter. Sorry I forgot to get a picture but I will next time.

I spent a lot of time learning and reading all the directions and stuff for all the various systems of this rifle but the one dumb thing I didn't do was read the scope directions at all to learn how to set zero.... Sooo my first range trip went like so.

I set everything up, got my targets all numbered for the different loads. Got the magnitospeed all set up. Had pen, paper everything I thought I would need.

I did the ol boresight before I put the bolt in by just turning the turrets. Then I fired a shot and measured it using the reticle, turned the turret and guess what??? I couldn't get the scope low enough and realized I forgot the Vortex tool and even if I did remember it I had no idea hot to use it lol. See I had a viper pst for a little while and on that scope ypu can just turn the turrets and me being a dumbass I thought this was the same. I ended up just firing 4 shots and called it a day instead of wasting the rounds I had.

 

[louu]

I forgot I wanted to post pictures of the assembly. It was pretty fun even though it only took about a half hour

 

[louu]

 

[LuvDog]

When you jump in, you do it with both feet. Nice setup

 

[louu]

I finally got to the range today and did it all right. I got the scope sighted in, in 4 shots. My first loads were 43 grains of varget behind a nosler custom competition 168 at 2.790. I settled on that length using Eric Cortina's jam method. Some guy was talking my ear off during my next practice target and I can't remember if I shot it 3 or 4 times but the group is probably the best group I've ever shot, at least that I can remember

 

[louu]

When you jump in, you do it with both feet. Nice setup

Thanks man. I feel like I still have a ways to go

 

[louu]

Here's where I'm at so far with load development I shot 16 rounds of the starting load total just to get it sighted in and get a feel for the rifle. I it grouped amazing basically one hole on 3 different targets but the speed was all over the place. Target #12 from above

, 9 and 10

 

[louu]

Now I went up .5gn to 43.5gn I know I had 1 flyer because I flinched a little. I do 6 loads at each charge weight

 

[louu]

Now I forgot to archive the data so shots 1-6 are at 44gn with target #2.

Shots 7-12 are 44.5gn in to target #3. By this time the barrel was getting pretty hot and throwing a mirage in the scope. I really should have stopped but I'm always short on time

 

[louu]

Finally I ended on 45gn of varget. The one on the left was definitely a bad trigger press and I was struggling with the mirage still.

 

[Jevaughn0823]

Not bad groups, but your SD and ES are quite high. This will show up greater at longer range. You might want to examine your reloading process and see if you can get those numbers down.

 

[Punkur67]

Nice write up. How are you throwing and weighing your charges?

 

[louu]

Not bad groups, but your SD and ES are quite high. This will show up greater at longer range. You might want to examine your reloading process and see if you can get those numbers down.

Nice write up. How are you throwing and weighing your charges?

Yeah I can't believe it's that bad. I'm using the gem pro 250 scale and dropping them 1 at a time. It takes me about 30 minutes to roll 50 rounds.

I was looking into beam scales but it's about 50/50 info I've been finding as to it being for me.

I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the fx120i but I really don't want to spend that kind of money right now because I just bought all this stuff and another CK Arms 2011 and all the Christmas presents for everyone else.

 

[Punkur67]

Yeah I can't believe it's that bad. I'm using the gem pro 250 scale and dropping them 1 at a time. It takes me about 30 minutes to roll 50 rounds.

I was looking into beam scales but it's about 50/50 info I've been finding as to it being for me.

I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the fx120i but I really don't want to spend that kind of money right now because I just bought all this stuff and another CK Arms 2011 and all the Christmas presents for everyone else.

You will not regret the AutoTrickler. The best reloading investment i made. Makes precision charging fast and easy

 

[bgavin]

Yeah I can't believe it's that bad. I'm using the gem pro 250 scale and dropping them 1 at a time. It takes me about 30 minutes to roll 50 rounds.

I was looking into beam scales but it's about 50/50 info I've been finding as to it being for me.

I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the fx120i but I really don't want to spend that kind of money right now because I just bought all this stuff and another CK Arms 2011 and all the Christmas presents for everyone else.

I'm about to upgrade to a fx120 but have been loading with a rcbs chargemaster lite for several years and it works great for the money.

 

[louu]

I'm about to upgrade to a fx120 but have been loading with a rcbs chargemaster lite for several years and it works great for the money.

What's your es like on average? Years ago I had the Lyman version of that I think it was called the auto charge or something. What a POS that thing was, better off not even weighing anything lol

 

[KYAggie]

Nice set up! Last year, I came very close to pulling the trigger on the same rifle in 6.5 and dropping it in a KRG-B. Ended up going custom with a Origin action as I’ve not ever had a custom before. Still waiting on my Black Friday PVA barrel to get it up and running. The wait will be well worth it I’m certain, but waiting sucks.......even when it’s too cold out to shoot . Great to see what a tack driver that is! I would have been very happy with that set up I’m sure.

 

[louu]

Nice set up! Last year, I came very close to pulling the trigger on the same rifle in 6.5 and dropping it in a KRG-B. Ended up going custom with a Origin action as I’ve not ever had a custom before. Still waiting on my Black Friday PVA barrel to get it up and running. The wait will be well worth it I’m certain, but waiting sucks.......even when it’s too cold out to shoot . Great to see what a tack driver that is! I would have been very happy with that set up I’m sure.

Thanks bud. I wasn't really sure what rifle and setup to go with but reading all the threads on this forum led me to the Tikka. The guy on YouTube impact shooting led me to MDT that guy should be a used car salesman lol.

 

[408w]

Got to get the velocity spreads under control before you settle on a load. When shooting be aware of your grip tension, muscle tension in your arm and shoulder and how much you are pulling the gun into your shoulder this will also effect muzzle velocity. Also be aware of how long the rounds are sitting in a hot chamber between shots. Consistent will be your friend as you get further into the sport. I have never used Varget in my 6.5
I use h-4350 or one 4451. If you want more speed rl 17 is pretty sweet but can be temp sensitive.

 

[louu]

Got to get the velocity spreads under control before you settle on a load. When shooting be aware of your grip tension, muscle tension in your arm and shoulder and how much you are pulling the gun into your shoulder this will also effect muzzle velocity. Also be aware of how long the rounds are sitting in a hot chamber between shots. Consistent will be your friend as you get further into the sport. I have never used Varget in my 6.5
I use h-4350 or one 4451. If you want more speed rl 17 is pretty sweet but can be temp sensitive.

Doh I totally forgot about keeping the same grip and shoulder pressure constant, thanks for reminding me. I know I wasn't loading the bipod consistently I was scratching the bench all up with the sharp feet on it. I hate it when people damage clup property and I felt terrible that I was. Next time I'm going to bring a pice of carpet and some clamps to protect the bench and get a better AND MORE CONSISTENT pressure and grip on the rifle.

I did remember not to chamber until I was ready to fire though so I guess I did a couple of things right.

I totally forgot to mention that this rifle is a 308. I went that route because the series I'm shooting this year only goes out to 700 yards and because I already had a ton of 308 components even about 800 pieces of matched brass.

My plan is to rebarrel it to a 6.5 next year but I will probably just end up buying another roughtech or a varmint complete rifle in 6.5 because they ase so cheap. By the time I spend all the money to buy the barrel and tools to change it I'll be at 1k.

I took the rifle back apart last night and dropped off the chassis and bagrider to get cerakoted to match the scope. I know I shouldn't be wasting money on looks when I really need a better scale but it was only about a hundred bucks for the cerakote job. I figured I'll probably suck at shooting this thing but at least I'll look cool doing it lol.

I'm talking myself into spending the money for the fx120i. Where is the best place to get it from? I don't want the hopper just the trickler for now.

 

[Heavyopp]

Louu — Your not the only non meth head in Jersey — I see you jumped in with both feet — I grabbed a Tikka this past spring too, .223 — actually just bought my 2nd Tikka this week here on the forum

I’m tying to learn some new tricks myself lately — you still make it up to OBRPC?

Jer

 

[louu]

Louu — Your not the only non meth head in Jersey — I see you jumped in with both feet — I grabbed a Tikka this past spring too, .223 — actually just bought my 2nd Tikka this week here on the forum

I’m tying to learn some new tricks myself lately — you still make it up to OBRPC?

Jer

How you been man? Yeah I've been going to OB for knock down and occasionally uspsa. I'm planning on shooting a lot of uspsa this year, I just got another limited gun so I'm gona shoot just that and PRS stuff this year. I had big plans for 3 gun last year. Spent the first 3 months of the year practicing hard and then all the matches got canceled, that killed my motivation for 3 gun. I had a good budget for last years season that never got spent so I bought all of this stuff. I just got the fx120i and that should be here tomorrow. I gotta get my rookie velocity numbers down.

You going to shoot the Mason Dixon PRS series this year? That's the only thing I could find out this way.

 

[Heavyopp]

I really didn’t have any plans to shoot prs — didn’t know there was anything close to us

Really setting up for woodchucks and yotes — as you know, not much in long range shooting within an hour of me — OBRPC is supposed to be building a 200 yard range this spring, who knows if they actually do — been talking about it for years now — said the covid shut it down for this past year — but even 200 is nothing to get excited about

Took the last few years off shooting, was chasing an issue with my son — he ended up getting diagnosed with MS a week before he graduated high school — he just turned 21 early this month — got the MS under control but it took the wind out of my sails for awhile

That certainly is a fancy scale — I’d be real curios how my 25 year old RCBS digital did against it — Maybe it’s time I upgraded

How about you — you end up getting married? Kids?

 

[louu]

I really didn’t have any plans to shoot prs — didn’t know there was anything close to us

Really setting up for woodchucks and yotes — as you know, not much in long range shooting within an hour of me — OBRPC is supposed to be building a 200 yard range this spring, who knows if they actually do — been talking about it for years now — said the covid shut it down for this past year — but even 200 is nothing to get excited about

Took the last few years off shooting, was chasing an issue with my son — he ended up getting diagnosed with MS a week before he graduated high school — he just turned 21 early this month — got the MS under control but it took the wind out of my sails for awhile

That certainly is a fancy scale — I’d be real curios how my 25 year old RCBS digital did against it — Maybe it’s time I upgraded

How about you — you end up getting married? Kids?

My God Jerry that's terrible, I hope he gets better. Those were some fun matches watching him beat up on you. Yeah we are married and have a 3 year old and I can't wait for her to out shoot me. We're talking about a second kid, maybe...

I think the Mason Dixon series is the only rifle matches around here. They are pretty far, New Holland PA, some place in Maryland and the final match is in central PA. Definitely call me if you go so we can squad together.

 

[louu]

Well the money keeps falling out of my pocket, I'm gona staple it shut pretty soon. I got my scale, the wife signed for it and I hope she didn't look to closely at the box because the super nice Canadians were kind enough to put the recipt on the outside of the box with the price showing! One cool thing is it only took about 5 days to get to NJ from Canada.

Now I'm gona do it right for the first time in my life and read the directions.

I also gout my chassis cerakoted to match the scope. I think it looks amazing and I can't stop staring at it. I'm gona use these lower scope rings but I have to mill off the last three nubs on the picatinny rail to clear the zoom ring. The caps are just loosely on there.

I'm not planning on running a cat tail so that won't be a problem.

 

[louu]

So I went full hillbilly and ventured into a harbor freight and bought a backyard mill set up.
It actually worked great! Way better than my usual method of attacking everything with a Metabo.

I'm really happy with the results

Turns out the paint from my Harley matches pretty closely

 

[louu]

Some bad lighting pictures of it finally finished.

Im going to try to get to the range tomorrow and test out the new loads made on the new scale.

 

[rookie7]

@louu nice job on the milling.

Why didn't you just move the scope back to clear the rail? Then add length to the chassis LOP?

 

[louu]

@louu nice job on the milling.

Why didn't you just move the scope back to clear the rail? Then add length to the chassis LOP?

I tried it but I have a long neck and I'm 6'. I have this problem on all my rifles to get proper eye relief. I have the buttstock adjustment all the way out. I'm finally at the point where I'm tired of spending money on this stuff because I spent a ton and I didn't want to buy a spacer that's probably over a hundred bucks.

I did get out to the range yesterday and tested the 10 loads I made on the new scale. I think my SD is still shit but didn't look at the data closely yet. I'm gona check it pretty soon

 

[acudaowner]

did you start your diary with a log that read dear diary today I fondled my hot gun while at the range to the dismay of other people who had mix jealousy and disgust in there hearts . While I was touching the trigger I could see the burning lust in the eyes of others lol like the prick that wrote this Becky is so going to be jealous at school when I show her the pictures I made yea that will get her day one winds from the south east teasing my hair @ 5-13 mph the temp was -20 but my heart burned hot . ps congrats on the nice looking gun may it serve you well for many years to come .

 

[Druid54636]

I like that you chose to mill the back of the rail. That is what separates men from boys.

 

[louu]

did you start your diary with a log that read dear diary today I fondled my hot gun while at the range to the dismay of other people who had mix jealousy and disgust in there hearts . While I was touching the trigger I could see the burning lust in the eyes of others lol like the prick that wrote this Becky is so going to be jealous at school when I show her the pictures I made yea that will get her day one winds from the south east teasing my hair @ 5-13 mph the temp was -20 but my heart burned hot . ps congrats on the nice looking gun may it serve you well for many years to come .

Haha, good one. I wish this forum had a section for range diaries I read a lot of the ones on Brian enos forum but they are all pretty much the same because uspsa is so simple there's not much you can do. This (PRS or whatever it's called) kind of shooting is so different in so many ways I think it would be pretty interesting to see everyone's different ways goin about it.

I like that you chose to mill the back of the rail. That is what separates men from boys.

Thanks man, I've been messing around with the Bridgeport at work and it's actually wayyy easier than it seems at first glance. You can make some amazing stuff on one of those. Unfortunately it's a nuclear electric factory so you can't bring gun parts in there to work on. I've been looking into buying one but we're thinking about moving out of this shithole new jersey and I don't want to move a Bridgeport twice. Next house, definitely getting one!

 

[Heavyopp]

Lou — that scale — did you buy it from ce products? Did it come with the calibration weight or did you have buy that extra? How about the wind screen— did that come with it?

Since you posted about it a week ago I’ve been thinking its time for a new scale myself — not gonna go auto throw/trickle but having the option to add later on is a bonus

Gun looks great, was just telling Jake about it and showing him the pics — we might want to take a ride south and get behind that thing and see how that chassis fits

 

[308pirate]

I tried it but I have a long neck and I'm 6'.

Be careful with lowering the scope as much as possible.

I'm not as tall as you but I do have a long neck. I always followed the old wives tales about mounting the scope as low as possible and always building the lowest prone position I could.

Then I could never figure out why I could never get comfortable behind the rifle.

In frustration I bought a set of extra high rings and pulled the bipod legs out one notch. Boom instantly more comfortable and consistent.

Just sayin...…….

PS...… I miss Doodie

 

[louu]

Lou — that scale — did you buy it from ce products? Did it come with the calibration weight or did you have buy that extra? How about the wind screen— did that come with it?

Since you posted about it a week ago I’ve been thinking its time for a new scale myself — not gonna go auto throw/trickle but having the option to add later on is a bonus

Gun looks great, was just telling Jake about it and showing him the pics — we might want to take a ride south and get behind that thing and see how that chassis fits

Yeah I think it was ce or And, isn't it the same place? It came from Canada. Was just over $500 with the discount code Cambridge. Yeah it came with the calibration weight and the wind screen but I'm not using the wind screen and don't have any trouble without it. I'll probably upgrade later to with the autotrickler, it's super easy to add. You can also just get the trickler without the hopper on top and hand dump the big part of the charge and let the trickler do the fine tuning. Doing it that way also uses the Bluetooth.

Thanks man it shoots great to. You guys are welcome to shoot it anytime, I have a range not to far from the house in Quinton that goes out to 200m.

 

[louu]

Be careful with lowering the scope as much as possible.

I'm not as tall as you but I do have a long neck. I always followed the old wives tales about mounting the scope as low as possible and always building the lowest prone position I could.

Then I could never figure out why I could never get comfortable behind the rifle.

In frustration I bought a set of extra high rings and pulled the bipod legs out one notch. Boom instantly more comfortable and consistent.

Just sayin...…….

PS...… I miss Doodie

I still had to raise the cheek piece up to the number 1 position do you think that would still be good? I don't have much time on this rig, all the rounds are documented here except for the last 14 so I'm guessing around 60 - 70, I'm still figuring out what comfortable is with this thing. One thing I don't like is how wide the cheek rest is. I wanted it centered because I read that the MDPRS matches make you shoot both strong side and weak side (witch is retarded for rifle matches) so I wanted to be able to see weak side. I guess if I can't find a slimmer cheek rest I'll just shift it to the right and deal with not being able to shoot weak side.

I miss doodie to, I wish everyone from enos would just go there. This place is a close second to doodie though lol.

 

[Heavyopp]

Yeah I think it was ce or And, isn't it the same place? It came from Canada. Was just over $500 with the discount code Cambridge. Yeah it came with the calibration weight and the wind screen but I'm not using the wind screen and don't have any trouble without it. I'll probably upgrade later to with the autotrickler, it's super easy to add. You can also just get the trickler without the hopper on top and hand dump the big part of the charge and let the trickler do the fine tuning. Doing it that way also uses the Bluetooth.

Thanks man it shoots great to. You guys are welcome to shoot it anytime, I have a range not to far from the house in Quinton that goes out to 200m.

Just ordered the scale — happy to see it should be less than a week out — $500 even unless some sort of tax at the border

I’ll talk to you soon about coming down — Did you get snow that far south? I can bring my tikka in .223 — thats in a krg bravo — kinda airsoftish feel to the bravo, I wanted to try it and couldn’t find anyone who had one so I bought one — Jake has a RPR in .243

 

[308pirate]

I wish everyone from enos would just go there.

LOL...……...no

Too many thin skinned dipshits starting with the man himself.

Just make sure you keep the taller rings. Eventually you might find yourself wanting them.

 

[louu]

LOL...……...no

Too many thin skinned dipshits starting with the man himself.

Just make sure you keep the taller rings. Eventually you might find yourself wanting them.

Thanks man will do

 

[louu]

Allright Allright Allright

I made some good progress but not without one final kick in the nuts.

I finally have some proof that it wasn't a waste of money buying the fx120i. I loaded up 6 rounds at 44.5gn and 6 rounds at 45gn. The first 5 shots at 44.5gn were all within 19 FPS but then the 6th shot was wayyy off

I think I'm going to go with that charge because the 45gn load had a higher ES. I think my biggest problem is these bullets are junk. I may switch to the berger 155.5 but it's getting to late to start all over again because the match is in a couple of weeks.

I also got a brake on there finally. I got the EGW spacecomp. What a difference this thing makes. It barely kicks now. The brake did change my zero though so I have to go to the range again and fine tune it, gotta make more ammo first obviously. I may try to shorten up my OAL a little and see if the groups tighten up.

 

[louu]

I had to make a new mount for the magnitospeed with the brake. I had it mounted on the side before but I think the brake would have killed it so now it's on the bottom

It's also more convenient because I don't have to remove a weight to put the chrono on

 

[louu]

Couple of beauty shots

 

[Average guy]

Good write up. Keep the updates coming. Your velocity might stabilize some more as you get 150-200 rounds on the barrel and it’s fully broken in.

 

[louu]

Good write up. Keep the updates coming. Your velocity might stabilize some more as you get 150-200 rounds on the barrel and it’s fully broken in.

Thanks man, I didn't know about that. I'm shooting my first match this Sunday so that should easily be 100 rounds. The next match after that is 3 weeks later so hopefully I'll do more testing between the two if I have time.

 

[louu]

I ignored that slow shot in my last chrono session and averaged the 5 shots at 2712 fps for my speed for the kestrel

 

[LANCER]

Allright Allright Allright

I made some good progress but not without one final kick in the nuts.

I finally have some proof that it wasn't a waste of money buying the fx120i. I loaded up 6 rounds at 44.5gn and 6 rounds at 45gn. The first 5 shots at 44.5gn were all within 19 FPS but then the 6th shot was wayyy offView attachment 7592127
I think I'm going to go with that charge because the 45gn load had a higher ES. I think my biggest problem is these bullets are junk. I may switch to the berger 155.5 but it's getting to late to start all over again because the match is in a couple of weeks.

I also got a brake on there finally. I got the EGW spacecomp. What a difference this thing makes. It barely kicks now. The brake did change my zero though so I have to go to the range again and fine tune it, gotta make more ammo first obviously. I may try to shorten up my OAL a little and see if the groups tighten up.
View attachment 7592130

Noslers are most definitely junk. I have not found two that matched in weight nor dimensions, but they do ok at mid range. Berger 155.5 fullbores are my go-to for 1000 yards and perform better at long range than 175 match kings in my opinion. I run the 155.5's at 44.5 gr. Varget, 2750 fps, Starline brass, and forgot my COAL, but they have a healthy jump. 3/8" MOA out of a 22" Proof Carbon in a Tikka T3x also. Nice setup.

 

[louu]

Noslers are most definitely junk. I have not found two that matched in weight nor dimensions, but they do ok at mid range. Berger 155.5 fullbores are my go-to for 1000 yards and perform better at long range than 175 match kings in my opinion. I run the 155.5's at 44.5 gr. Varget, 2750 fps, Starline brass, and forgot my COAL, but they have a healthy jump. 3/8" MOA out of a 22" Proof Carbon in a Tikka T3x also. Nice setup.

Thanks man I'm probably going to order some soon. Any idea witch ones are better the 155 hybrids or the 155.5 fullbores? I know you run the 155.5s just wondering if you have any experience with the 155 hybrids.