New Barrel for Tikka T3 - .223 AI ?

[CaptNemo]

My little Tikka T3 Lite has the OEM .223 barrel with a 1-10" twist that I threaded the barrel 1/2-28 and put into a KRG Bravo stock.
Obviously, this limits the barrel in stabilizing heavy projectiles, how fast the barrel heats up and stiffness of the barrel when using a suppressor (POI Shift).
Shooting 5.56 spec ammo in this barrel leaves brass with faint ejector marks, so I'm "twisting the dragon's tail" shooting the higher pressure stuff in this chamber
With a new Barrel in 5R rifling in 1-7" twist with a larger diameter, it pretty much checks all of the boxes for my issues with the OEM tube on the barreled action
I'm going to keep the .223 Breech face bolt ( 0.378" dia ) with this action. I just bought 300 pieces of Lapua brass for this rifle, so .224 Valkyrie is not a viable option.
I have other .223 Rem rifles so the reloading dies I purchased 2 months ago will not go to waste.
I saw a 20 % discount code for X-Caliber barrels ( ACCURATE20 ) a couple of days ago and checked it this AM to verify that it's valid. - I have the barrel in my online shopping cart as I type this.

Here are my Questions / Concerns:
Should I have it chambered .223 Wylde or "Go Big or Go Home" and have X-Caliber ream it as a .223 Ackley Improved ?
Is 20" enough barrel length or should do a 22" or 24" tube ? - Keep in mind that the suppressor is 8.5" long

ETA: - I'm thinking Heavy Palma contour for the barrel to not be too obnoxious to deal with - It'll be a range trainer and predator / varmint rifle, but it'll be for short walks and not high altitude mountain hunting

Waddaya think ?

 

[Newbie2020]

My smith told me the shorter bbl kinda defeats the purpose of going to 223AI. He recommended staying 223Rem but extend the chamber for long projectiles and go with a 24” bbl. Lower ammo/reloading cost and longer throat life.

If you want max muzzle velocity from the 223AI doesn’t it make more sense to go 24”? Even though the extra length w suppressor is a pain.

 

[Newbie2020]

But I don’t shoot suppressed either....

 

[IowaGeologist]

I mean more velocity is more velocity, no matter if it's a 16" or 28". You'll see more benefit with a longer tube, but you'll still see a bump with the shorter barrels. Throw in the benefit of little to no trimming again for that Lapua brass and its a no-brainer, even for only a 50-75 fps gain.

If you're reloading, I don't see a single downside to the AI as you're still looking at a pretty long barrel life. If you run out of loaded stuff, throw in some factory Black Hills 77 OTM 223 and go to town.

 

[Prebanpaul]

Go with 223 match. You dont have to do anything with the brass just load the bullet longer. On a very very calm day, we have shot an 80 grain eldm out to a mile.

 

[Newbie2020]

Whoa

 

[260284]

What is it going to be used for? I have a varmint with the 23.6" barrel that I had threaded and I get 3000-3035 fps with 75gr ELDM suppressed. I have shot it in matches and so has my son, and more weight would be nice. It is a bit long for hunting, but I use it for calling coyotes. I have a 1-7" heavy palma bartlein blank in the safe that will be my next barrel for it. I am seriously thinking about having the factory barrel setback, chambered for 223AI, and cutting it down to 20" for a handier calling rifle. I will probably have the new barrel chambered for 223 Wylde or a match chamber that will handle the 75 and 80gr ELDM so I can shoot it in the 223 class if needed. I will finish it 24" or 26" for the extra weight. Going to have flats on both barrels so I can swap them in minutes without a vise like my 22BR-6.5 Creed match rifle.

The nice thing about AI is not having to trim brass and it will make up for the shorter barrel length if you go below 24".

My son hit 1400 with the factory Tikka barrel and the above 75gr ELDM.

 

[steve123]

I ran out of room in my 223AI with H-4895 and 75gr eldm, as the powder is at the shoulder, and am at 3003 fps in a 7 twist 28". I could compress the load and get more fps but I think going IMR 8208 using a max load I could get 3100 fps!

Same BC bullet in 308 would be going 2850 fps or so.

 

[260284]

I ran out of room in my 223AI with H-4895 and 75gr eldm, as the powder is at the shoulder, and am at 3003 fps in a 7 twist 28". I could compress the load and get more fps but I think going IMR 8208 using a max load I could get 3100 fps!

Same BC bullet in 308 would be going 2850 fps or so.

I am using Nammo 556 brass from PV, 24.9 of H4895, CCI450s, 75gr ELDM, and it is a compressed load for sure. I shot almost 1000 of them so far. Annealed, bumped the shoulders .002", and velocity dropped to 3005 fps from 3030 fps out of my 23.6" 223 Tikka 8 twist. I tried Varget and didn't get the speed I got with H4895. Haven't tried 8208.

 

[CaptNemo]

Throwing a bump at this one from 4 pages back after the weekend

 

[JaredCO]

I had a 223ai spun up for my tikka last winter. Krg w3 chassis and accurate mag. Fed like hot garbage. Shot well but the feeding issue was annoying. Had it set back and went 223 wylde. I’ve shot 75 elds well, ended up at 88’s, right at 2800 FPS. Shoots lights out and a 10th more wind than my dasher out to 800yds. It’s an absolute blast to shoot. Loading ammo on a xl750. Easy

 

[CaptNemo]

I had a 223ai spun up for my tikka last winter. Krg w3 chassis and accurate mag. Fed like hot garbage. Shot well but the feeding issue was annoying. Had it set back and went 223 wylde. I’ve shot 75 elds well, ended up at 88’s, right at 2800 FPS. Shoots lights out and a 10th more wind than my dasher out to 800yds. It’s an absolute blast to shoot. Loading ammo on a xl750. Easy

Did you modify the Accurate magazines to try and get it to feed ?
I have polymer MDTs for my current set-up.
I wonder if that would be enough of a change to get it to feed ?

 

[JaredCO]

I modified the mag to get more oal. Also tried the mdt to no avail. For me this was meant for simple and easy practice. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze with ai

 

[JaredCO]

Look at the wind data, that’s what counts

 

[260284]

I had a 223ai spun up for my tikka last winter. Krg w3 chassis and accurate mag. Fed like hot garbage. Shot well but the feeding issue was annoying. Had it set back and went 223 wylde. I’ve shot 75 elds well, ended up at 88’s, right at 2800 FPS. Shoots lights out and a 10th more wind than my dasher out to 800yds. It’s an absolute blast to shoot. Loading ammo on a xl750. Easy

1/7" twist for the 88s?

 

[JaredCO]

1/7" twist for the 88s?

7.5, 24" I'm at 6000+ ASL

 

[CaptNemo]

Update:
I called X-Caliber the second week of May and the CS Rep told me that they would be running a Memorial Say Sale, that I might want to wait.
Yesterday X-Caliber announced a 25 % off Sale on Steel rifle Barrels and 10 % on the Carbon Fiber Barrels.
I saw that and called Ron Allen @ Allen Engineering to see what barrel profile drawing to use with my AEM 5 to make it a direct fit ( No Tapered Sleeve ) with a muzzle device.
A couple of things I learned from Ron:
1) Use the Drawing for the AE 20 / AE 30 to profile the barrel correctly to match the SPR Step and Tapered Sleeve that was used on the USN Mk 12 Mod 0 & Mod 1 rifles.
2) Ron recommended using a 5/8-24 threaded Muzzle device - when they are machined, the exit hole is sized for a 22 caliber bullet, then opened up to match the intended bullet size.
With this knowledge, I spent a few minutes in AutoCAD drawing the different barrel profiles an figured that a Heavy Palma was going to be the best fit to profile down for the AEM 5 Suppressor I have.
So this morning I ordered a 22" Heavy Palma 1-7" 5R Twist with a .223 Wylde Chamber ( They Didn't offer a "Match" Chamber )
I'll install the barrel, shoot it a bit to check it out. If it's accurate, then re-profile the barrel for the suppressor - Order of Operations and all that.
Total cost- Barrel with a barrel nut, barrel nut wrench and shipping was $ 418.75.
I hope it's a shooter !

 

[CaptNemo]

Saw on Instagram that X-Caliber is doing another 25 % off sale for Independence Day - just an FYI.

I'm 5 weeks in on an 8 -10 week lead time on my barrel.
Hoping to get it on the earlier end of that time frame...

 

[Boltyboi]

I am using Nammo 556 brass from PV, 24.9 of H4895, CCI450s, 75gr ELDM, and it is a compressed load for sure. I shot almost 1000 of them so far. Annealed, bumped the shoulders .002", and velocity dropped to 3005 fps from 3030 fps out of my 23.6" 223 Tikka 8 twist. I tried Varget and didn't get the speed I got with H4895. Haven't tried 8208.

What range of bullets are you able to load/ stabilize in the stock tikka chamber? 75s the largest?

 

[Baddog 0302]

Not to hi jack this thread BUT does the T 3 TAC offer the same "easy to change Bbl's' as the T 3 ??

 

[260284]

What range of bullets are you able to load/ stabilize in the stock tikka chamber? 75s the largest?

I haven't tried the 80gr ELDM, but plenty of people shoot them out of a 1-8" twist. I have a box to try, just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Boltyboi]

Not to hi jack this thread BUT does the T 3 TAC offer the same "easy to change Bbl's' as the T 3 ??

I dont see why not

 

[Baddog 0302]

I dont see why not

Been checking, PVA, and a few others offer "prefits"

 

[260284]

Not to hi jack this thread BUT does the T 3 TAC offer the same "easy to change Bbl's' as the T 3 ??

Barreled actions are the same as a CTR, but the TAC A1 has a different rail on the receiver.

 

[Baddog 0302]

Barreled actions are the same as a CTR, but the TAC A1 has a different rail on the receiver.

Will this require anything special for TAC A1 ?
I think in the movie "gone with the wind" one of the women said "As god as my witness I will _____________" I think I should hold off saying words to that effect about getting a 6 CM TAC A1

 

[260284]

Will this require anything special for TAC A1 ?
I think in the movie "gone with the wind" one of the women said "As god as my witness I will _____________" I think I should hold off saying words to that effect about getting a 6 CM TAC A1

If you are going to leave it in the TAC A1 chassis, it will be a barrel swap like any CTR. If you decide to use a different stock or chassis and sell the TAC chassis, sell the rail with it and get a 20 MOA rail. If you keep it as a TAC, get a 20 moa one piece mount that is AR height.

 

[Triggerf16]

I have a T3X in 223 that I re-barreled with a PVA shouldered pre-fit into 223 AI, 24” barrel, with a threaded muzzle. I picked the barrel up on sale last fall. I run the MDT 223 magazines with no feeding issues (2.450”) I’ve put that action into both a restocked and bedded laminated stock with CTR bottom metal, and into a KRG Bravo stock. Shoots great in both. Loves the 80SMK and 8208, nice easy load at 2890fps, loads well on a progressive press. Feeds very well with great accuracy.

 

[CaptNemo]

Got an email today with a tracking number from X-Caliber, FedEx predicts delivery on Tuesday the 28th.
I'll bring the a cleaning rod, patches, etc. plus the borescope to work on Tuesday and give in the once over.
Expect photos after it arrives.

 

[CaptNemo]

I received the barrel, cleaned the bore and then scoped it. The bore looks good, the chamber reaming looks good and even in both the groves and on the lands.
Separating the OEM barrel from the action was a test of perseverance, heat, leverage and finally a hammer blow.
This must have been one of the actions / barrels that were mated by the Finnish version of King Kong.

 

[CaptNemo]

I got the barrel threaded in, headspaced and the scope remounted with taller rings. The new barrel is a larger OD that the “Lite” profile barrel that was original to the action, ang the sun shield interfered with the new barrel

 

[CaptNemo]

Update:
This barrel is a shooter so far:
Bulk 75g Hornady HPBTs with a cannelure in front of IMR 8208XBR with a Fed 205m primer in Starline brass

77g Sierra Tipped Matchking
In front of AR Comp with a Fed Primer in Lapua brass

ETA: grid squares are 0.360” to match 1/10 mil at 100 yards.

 

[CaptNemo]

Pulled the barrel today and set it up in the lathe to cut and taper it to direct mount an AEM 5 suppressor that I bought for my Mk12 Mod0 clone.
Starting point:

Barrel in the steady rest - the through hole ID in the headstock is smaller than the barrel OD

Indicated the bore

OD Cut & Tapered

Test Fitting

Reassembled and ready for a range trip

 

[CaptNemo]

Here it is in action this afternoon:

 

[D̷e̷v̷i̷l̷D̷o̷c̷A̷Z̷]

Great thread. Sometimes I feel like the only
Man who takes a year to get a build right where I want it.