I bought a tikka T3X in 243 Winchester just for the action on gunbroker and had it sent to Jeff Hayes to do a rebarrel and make a decent weight medium range hunting rifle specifically to do spot and stalk hunting in Hawaii nothing fancy. I went with a 1-9" twist 26" Bartlien stainless blank after he mentioned he had a reamer that had put out some great shooting rifles for himself and his friends. He is a great guy to talk to, he answered all of my questions and I felt confident after speaking to him. So I sent him my stock a B&C along with other parts to finish my build. It took 4 months and I had it in my possession. I made some light loads using 4 different types of projectiles settling on Nosler 140 grain accubonds. I then played with different powders and narrowed it down to 7828ssc. After a playing with seating depths I ended up having the most consistent and most accurate gun I ever shot. What made me super excited was the velocity 3246 FPS with zero pressure signs. I also shot some Nosler 140 ballistic tips and they flew in the same hole at 100 yds and 1/2" at 300 yds exactly like the 140 accubonds. For a pure hunting rifle I couldn't be anymore happier as my sons will enjoy this rifle for a very long time!! I'm so happy with his work I'm thinking of making another 280 AI so my sons don't have to take turns using it.
