Here is the deal. I have a Tikka rifle in 7mm rem mag. It is blued with a synthetic stock. I hand load for it, and have been able to get a few groups to pattern under 1”, but not very often. Most of my groups are about 1”-3” @ 100. I have been able to find a lot of loads that the gun hates, but I’m having hard time finding some loads that do real well. The gun seams to be very picky. Like today I shot some Hornady 120gr HP with 70gr of Reloader 22. They shot about 1” for 4 shots @ 100. Then the next group with 71gr shot about 2.5”. That is quite a difference. It does that with other bullets/powders, being very picky to what it likes.

My question is what sorts of things could a gunsmith do for this gun to help it shoot a little more consistently? The groups are not that bad, but I would like to be a little more confident out to 300-400 yards. I shot the gun at 200 yards the other day and got a 4” group. Not bad, but right after that this other guy at the range let me shoot his 22-250 and I shot a beautiful 1”, 4 shot group at 200! Sort of spoiled my day and made me more frustrated with my gun.

What could I have a gunsmith do to help me be a little happier with this gun? The trigger does not need any help because it is nice and crisp 3 lb. Also, with this being a Tikka, do I need to be careful where I send it? Tikka’s are somewhat new, should that matter? By the way I moved from Idaho to Denver, anyone know of anyone close by here?

monyhunter,

Without seeing the rifle, I cannot give you any recommendations.

However, I think you taking it to a good gunsmith might be a good idea. He will be able to tell you what might be done to improve the accuracy.

Generraly, flyers like these are cause by uneven stock contact most of teh time.

First, what are you going to use the 7 mag. for? 120 gr loads are for what? Maybe loads starting out with 140/145 gr. bullets going up to 160/175 gr. bullets would be a better starting place. If these loads won't work then find a smith. FWIW

For the time being leave your loads alone. Load up 20 or so rounds of 70 grains of RL and the 120 grain Hornadys. As you describe the problem I would suspect scope/scope mounting or bedding.

First check rifles front and rear action screws. Unless one or both is loose we can eliminate bedding for now.

Check scope mounting. Unless you find the mounting is loose, replace the scope with one you know to be working properly.

Wally

I have three 7s,and loading 120s i have had better luck with Imr 4350 62 to 63.3 gn and all
shoot under 1 inch at 100 . And rember when your groups start spreading back off the powder a little,sometimes slower is better but not allways!
One hole is what were shooting for!

reloaderlen

I am surprised your rifle does not shot better than that, I have a tikka in 25-06 and it shoots 0.6 moa out the box.
You qoute using 70 gr of rl-22, the max recommended load is 70.6 in the new hornady book.
Did you work upto this load?
I think if you started a lot lower you would have better results.
I had trouble getting 120 hps to shoot in my 25-06 so I changed powder and worked up slowly, 1 1/2" groups till suddenly consistant sub moa.
Give it a try, more powder is not always better.

The 120-grain HP load I used for my example was just the load I shot the other day. The gun does the same thing no matter what I shoot. It is just real finicky. It also cannot be the scope, because I just put a new 4x16 Sightron on it and it performed the same.

I keep a little book that has all of my load data on it for this gun. Here is a list of all the bullets I have loaded for this gun:
120 Hornady HP
139 Hornady interlocked BT
139 SST
140 Barnes XBT XLC (I did get a good group using Reloader 25, but I bet velocity was low)
140 Nosler BT
140 Combined Tech Silver tip
150 Nosler BT
150 Combined Tech Silver tip (the silver tips and BT’s seam to be the most consistent)
150 Nosler partitions (these bullets shoot bad, 2” is smallest)
160 Sierra HPBT Gameking (I can’t get this bullet to group under 2”, I have given up on it for now)

Powders I have used have been:
IMR 4350
IMR 4831
Reloader 22
Reloader 25

Basically my gun seams to be very picky as to what I feed it. I don't expect to have tiny little groups with everything. I am just wondering if taking the gun to a smith will help?

I would take it to a smith,have it recrowned,
action squared ,lug laped,glass beded and a
trigger job.Around here i can get all that done for around 125.00. if that dont help sell it or new barrel.

Don't go near a gunsmith. Your rifle is just fine.

You can look at the latest article on accurizing a rifle in the "American Hunter" or do a search for books on accurizing or gunsmithing at your library.

So are you saying I can lap the bolt lugs and bed the stock myself? If so I would be willing to try.

I'm sorry, but I do not understand! I read all the posts all day long about how people get stuff done for their guns from "gunsmiths" and then I get a few people saying all gunsmiths do is rip you off and cheat you out of your money.

sonofagun: I have no idea what your post was supposed to mean.

Sorry, double post.

[ 07-25-2002, 03:35: Message edited by: DLS ]

monyhunter'
Not all gunsmiths will rip you off, obviously some will.

A few things you can do are bed the action, bed action and barrel, free float barrel, add a pressure point to barrel, check scope mounts, change the scope, and try different seating depths on your reloads.

I wouldn't try lapping the lugs, unless you know what you are doing, have the tools, and have headspace guages.

A gunsmith can true up your action, rechamber, and recrown, probably for around $200. But you still have a factory tube.

I just traded a Milsurp for my friends Brand new Ruger 77 MkII in .223 that I would be happy to get your groups. I am going to get it rebarreled and actioned trued.

I think I will jump in and cite an article I read some time back. The jist of the article was that some barrels like a little bit of pressure at the forend. The author went around and around and could not get consistancy. he used paper strips to to shim the end of the barrel. he tried to gauge the pressure exerted buy pulling the strips out (business card stock I think) anywhy with 6 to 8 lbs of pressuer the groups closed. I suppose the pressure acted like a damper to the barrel vibration. I do not know how stiff your barrel is or how it is bedded, I assume it is floating in that synthetic stock. Just wanted to put it out there cause others have covered all the other logical factors. Best of luck, I hope you can dial it in with you wallet intact. JB

I am going to jump in and go along with JB Mauser. Try the bbl. pressure thing with biz cards or masking tape in bbl. channel.
Try more or less tension on the forward stock screw.
Try a pc. of cut up milk jug or credit card as a shim behind or under recoil lug.
I would be willing to bet it is something simple like this rather than a major problem.
Seems most of my customers want to do major surgery firts rather than try a band aid trick or two.
The recrown thing may in fact be the answer. Just look at the crown real good in a bright light with a glass and see if you can see something that would cause the bullet to fly crazy as it comes spinning out.
Tikka is a great brand and more shoot right than wrong. I am sure you have a problem but I bet it is more "something needs oiling" rather than "you need a new part here mister".