Tikka T3X Lite won't group...help

[huntoregon]

My brother in law has an elk hunt that starts next Saturday and he recently bought a Tikka T3X Lite chambered in 300 win mag. We mounted a Leuplod VX5-HD 3-15 x 44 scope in Leupold BackCountry 2 piece mounts. We have shot a few different types of factory ammo all 180 grain bullets to try and zero but this thing is all over the place. I see this rifle has a 1:11 twist, I would assume that should stabilize 180 grn bullets but I bought some 150 grain to try again tomorrow. I torqued the bases and ring caps to what Leupold recommended. We shot off sandbags from a table and prone off the ground. Then tried a lead sled prone. Inconsistent groups each time.

Any ideas or suggestions from some of you more experienced guys?

 

[gillettehunter]

You'll get plenty of suggestions from others, but here is a start:
Make sure action screws are properly torqued. Check base and rings screws. Switch out the scope and try a known good one. Change bullets. Probably a Hammer or 165 grain TTSX . Try another powder and maybe primer. Clean the barrel really well. I had a Tika over 10 yrs ago in a .300 WSM. 1/2 MOA until we got to about shot number 10 or 11. Then the groups opened up to 3 MOA.
I'd look at a different powder too if your still not getting anywhere with the other changes. Be sure and try some different seating depths with your bullets. Hammers are not too seating depth sensitive. The TTSX's often seem to like a long jump. Good luck
Bruce

 

[huntoregon]

He doesn't reload so we are looking for factory ammo. I know factory ammo isn't phenomenal but this thing is all over

 

[19 Badger]

Borrow a proven rifle and don't risk wounding an elk. After you get back, figure the gun out. Pretty late in the game now. There is nothing wrong with factory ammo, just have to find the right one for that rifle.

 

[General RE LEE]

Tikka barrels get hot fast and when they do can spray all over the place. I take 5 minutes between shots. My Tikka .270 can go from sub MOA to 3" pretty quick with some barrel heat. Also try other factory ammo. You can find drastic improvement of groups by changing ammo.

 

[MajorSpittle]

How bad are the groups. My '06 tikka t3 lite was shooting 1.5"+ groups with everything and it turned out I just needed to hold down pressure on the forearm when shooting cuz it was a lite rifle. Then it started shooting most everything under moa and some factory ammo under .5 moa. I put a witt machine muzzle brake on it and it is the most accurate rifle I have now.

 

[huntoregon]

How bad are the groups. My '06 tikka t3 lite was shooting 1.5"+ groups with everything and it turned out I just needed to hold down pressure on the forearm when shooting cuz it was a lite rifle. Then it started shooting most everything under moa and some factory ammo under .5 moa. I put a witt machine muzzle brake on it and it is the most accurate rifle I have now.

Typically between 2-3" at 100 yards. What do you mean by needing to hold down pressure on the forearm?

 

[Radman]

How bad are the groups. My '06 tikka t3 lite was shooting 1.5"+ groups with everything and it turned out I just needed to hold down pressure on the forearm when shooting cuz it was a lite rifle. Then it started shooting most everything under moa and some factory ammo under .5 moa. I put a witt machine muzzle brake on it and it is the most accurate rifle I have now.

Shoot 'em how you zero them!
Wasted a bunch of ammo on a friend's rifle before I realized that when I zeroed it I supported the barrel but when I targeted I supported the firearm. I immediately stopped switching & punched fewer holes ever since.

 

[blackburbot]

I had a 300win mag in a Sako finnlight, close to same issues. Multiple shooters in all weather conditions, -20F to 85F with what seemed like **** near every factory load. First 2 were touching at 100 yards, third was slightly off... Fourth was a bit further out. And everything thing would drift out to 1.5MOA or so. Let the rifle cool off, and yourself to cool off because you just dumped $1500+ on a rifle that says it's under 1MOA. Shoot another rifle or .22 to verify that you remembered how to shoot from the past 20years. Pick up the 300WM again and same spread pattern.

We, in our backyard wisdom, chalked it up to barrel heat. Let the thing cool down between shots and it was good. Treat it like a semi-auto and a $100 surplus SKS shot better. No matter how mad we were and swore that if I just slam another round down range it will start to group better, it didn't.

Take your time with it and treat range shots as you would hunting shots, similar form and shooting positions. And how often are you jamming 4rounds at a critter that isn't either on a full tilt run anyways

 

[7mmTikkaShooter]

Is it still the factory stock? I think Tikkas for the most part are wonderful but the factory stocks might be considered Tupperware by some. Maybe check to see how much barrel contact you're getting. I've found a fair bit of stock contact in the Tikka barrel channel, especially after 4-5 rounds when the barrel warmed up. Obviously that change in shooting condition could cause stuff to really open up. A little elbow grease and some sand paper or a dremel tool might be worth a try. I did see improvements in doing so, but eventually replaced the stock with a better one anyway. You should also double check that the recoil lug is seating correctly into the action. Maybe it's not quite right? Just a couple of thoughts. Easy stuff to check.

 

[mikepos]

I'm finding the same thing with my 300WM, both handloads and reloads. The barrel gets really hot really fast for sure, I only shoot 3 rounds each group and let it cool a few minutes between groups. Still only getting 1.5-2" groups, my only Tikka that shoots over 1" (100m). I'm loading H1000, really went bad at 83gr with 80gr Partitions so dropped back to 79gr to work back up then hunting season hit...
Seems like it will do around 1"-1.5" with that but will try other powder, maybe something faster like IMR4350 just to check. Short action length limits seat depth but all my other Tikkas and A7 like a big jump anyway

 

[rgvt4]

my tikka 300wsm did not like 180gr at all it shoots the 165gr very well I think it is the 1:11 twist but im not an expert at all. went from 2in to sub moa

 

[mikepos]

Could be the combo of 1:11 and 300 pressures, but My Sako A7RTpro 30-06 and a buddie's Tikka 30-06 both shoot sub MOA with the SGK and NP 180s. Also my 308 CTR shoots 175SMKs 1/2MOA. All have the same 1:11

 

[jstamper]

I'd check to make sure the action is seated properly on the recoil lug and re-torque the action bolts.

I've got a 223 T3 Varmint that goes from a tack-driver to a shotgun if the lug isn't down in its recess properly or if the action is seated on it in a bind.