Slow TikkaBarrel

[chadrp]

Frank, you have mentioned several times that your Tikka TAC, 24in barrel I think, has a slow barrel on it and now you are going to rebarrel it.

My 24 in CTR shooting factory loads is producing the same speeds as yours which I had hoped would be faster also.

Prime 130, 2730fps at 40*
Hornady 140 Eldm 2640fps at 40*

I dont want to reload right now to get faster speeds.
What causes a new barrel to be slow? How will a rebarrel to a shorter 22in length speed it up to 2900fps, which you say is around what it should be, while staying with factory ammo?

I'm interested to hear the speeds of your new barrel.
Thanks

 

[6gunner]

Tag

 

[EmanP]

My 24" CTR is fully broken in and doing 2800fps with Prime which is slower than other 24" barrels. ELD-X is 2625 and 140gr ELD's are 2630. Definitely not what I was hoping for.

 

[Jeffd]

I have a CADEX 6.5 that will only get 2615FPS with 140 ELDM'S. I get over 2,700 on all my other 24" 6.5 guns. trying to figure it out.

 

[Lowlight]

It's a couple of different things,

Bore size, land & groove dimensions, etc. I think the Hammer Forged barrels tend to trend a bit slower.

I just dropped my Tac A1 off to MHSA today to have it replaced with the Bartlien,

 

[OG10]

Lowlight do you want to sell your old barrel , or anyone else with a low round count 6.5 creedmoor ?

 

[Lowlight]

Mine is a 260, if you want to buy it we can talk about it after the fact

 

[OG10]

Mine is a 260, if you want to buy it we can talk about it after the fact

Just let me know when your ready and we can work it out.

 

[chadrp]

Ok, interesting. Thanks for all the replies. I have a 24" 6.5CM PVA barrel on order from the pre order so this gives me hope that I will pick up some speed with it.

 

[Nathan11B]

Am I crazy for wanting to replace my barrel on my Bergara? It’s 22inches and only pushing Prime at 2735. Drives me nuts. 9 mils to 1k

 

[EmanP]

I just tested 2 20" Tikka's yesterday. 2700fps & 2735. Both barrels are fully broken in.

I also tried my own 24" Tikka out again and it dropped another 30fps to 2775. This is stupid slow. It was doing 2795 with zero rounds last Feb. It sped up to 2825 4 months later with over 400rds through it. 4 more months go by with twice the rounds and it's at 2805. Yesterday, 4 months later still it's now 2775!!! I just cleaned it last week and put 25rds through it afterward.

I've lost 50fps in the last 8 months and 600rds. Are Tikka barrels just crap? Have I already burned it out or is Prime getting slower?

 

[Lowlight]

They are accurate but slow,

I have not heard that Prime has slowed the load down. I get good results out of my Bartleins with Prime.

Tikkas appear very slow but with solid accuracy

 

[ViP]

They are accurate but slow,

I have not heard that Prime has slowed the load down. I get good results out of my Bartleins with Prime.

Tikkas appear very slow but with solid accuracy

So I was going to pull the trigger today on a 6.5CM CTR 24” rifle until I heard the podcast today. I am in Canada, and 24” CTRs are non-existent save for 1 store. This CTR is $150 less than an RPR. Am I better off getting the RPR?

This is my foray into precision shooting and even though I will likely shoot within 500m 80% of the time, I will be shooting out to 1,200m 20% of the time. What is an apprentice to do? I am sure no one has heard that question around here before...thanks.

 

[goosed]

So I was going to pull the trigger today on a 6.5CM CTR 24” rifle until I heard the podcast today. I am in Canada, and 24” CTRs are non-existent save for 1 store. This CTR is $150 less than an RPR. Am I better off getting the RPR?

This is my foray into precision shooting and even though I will likely shoot within 500m 80% of the time, I will be shooting out to 1,200m 20% of the time. What is an apprentice to do? I am sure no one has heard that question around here before...thanks.

You can't go wrong as they are both great rifles.

Frank simply replaced his barrel because "barrels are like tires" in his words. A lot of high end competition shooters will burn out a few barrels each and every year so tossing one in the trash early cause it ain't doing what they want is no big deal. If you're not on the edge of being a high end competitor a slow barrel isn't a big deal.

Sure, with a slower barrel you'll have a tiny bit more drop/drift and you'll need to hold your position for an extra millisecond(if even that much longer), but those are non-issues and not even really negatives for a new shooter. As the "follow through - pause - release" routine while building up your fundamentals will take you longer than the time it takes the bullet to leave the barrel anyways. Drop/drift is a none issue with a good scope and some may even argue that more is actually beneficial for a new shooter learning to read the wind.

 

[ViP]

You can't go wrong as they are both great rifles.

Frank simply replaced his barrel because "barrels are like tires" in his words. A lot of high end competition shooters will burn out a few barrels each and every year so tossing one in the trash early cause it ain't doing what they want is no big deal. If you're not on the edge of being a high end competitor a slow barrel isn't a big deal.

Sure, with a slower barrel you'll have a tiny bit more drop/drift and you'll need to hold your position for an extra millisecond(if even that much longer), but those are non-issues and not even really negatives for a new shooter. As the "follow through - pause - release" routine while building up your fundamentals will take you longer than the time it takes the bullet to leave the barrel anyways. Drop/drift is a none issue with a good scope and some may even argue that more is actually beneficial for a new shooter learning to read the wind.

Thanks. Appreciate your response.

 

[chadrp]

So I was going to pull the trigger today on a 6.5CM CTR 24” rifle until I heard the podcast today. I am in Canada, and 24” CTRs are non-existent save for 1 store. This CTR is $150 less than an RPR. Am I better off getting the RPR?

This is my foray into precision shooting and even though I will likely shoot within 500m 80% of the time, I will be shooting out to 1,200m 20% of the time. What is an apprentice to do? I am sure no one has heard that question around here before...thanks.

I looked at the RPR before I went with the CTR and I have no regrets being a less experienced long range shooter. I liked the smoothness and feel of the CTR better than the RPR which is what most of my decision was based on. I had no idea when I chronographed it that it was slow, I just figured it was normal till I heard the podcast and asked. I will continue to shoot and use the CTR to learn from it as it is accurate and then rebarrel it when I'm ready to move on.

 

[6gunner]

I was out with my Tikka 6.5 and some Hornady American Gunner ammo. Says 2690 fps on the label. My Labradar had an average of 2440 with my suppressor. The barrel has just under 600 rounds. It's very accurate but slow. When I hit 1500 rounds I'm swapping it out.

 

[Tunnuh]

They are accurate but slow,

I have not heard that Prime has slowed the load down. I get good results out of my Bartleins with Prime.

Tikkas appear very slow but with solid accuracy

Frank,

I love the podcast, and its made me think of a few questions about your Tikka setup. Did you true the action, did mile high do it if so, and are you using the mil-c in the NF ATACR 7-35? I have a ctr ill rebarrel after this year and alreadyknow i want to try a gain twist LH and keep it 22" or 20" if the velocities are good in a smaller configuration. Thanks!

 

[Lowlight]

Not trued,

Mil R, not a Mil C

22" is nice

 

[Tunnuh]

Not trued,

Mil R, not a Mil C

22" is nice

Thanks for the info

 

[Jknox1030]

Not trued,

Mil R, not a Mil C

22" is nice

Frank,

Do you find the need to "true" your Tikka Rifles?

 

[Jrb572]

When I had my Tikka rebarreled severl smiths I contacted said that Tikkas normally do not need to be trued. I got mine back and just had the barrel installed and it’s extremely accurate.

 

[Lowlight]

I only have 2 Tikka Rifles, the T3x and Tac A1, both have been rebarreled and neither was trued