Hi All, first off thanks for the advice and wisdom here. The archives and the current commenters are both great resources, so hoping to share a bit.
I've been planning an elk hunt in Colorado (Saddleback Ranch) for a couple of years, and I've been set on a Tikka in 284 Winchester for almost as long. My goal was a reasonably light weight, very accurate rifle that I could take an elk at 600 yds with. I asked the forum for help picking an FFP scope here, thanks again. I finally got a load dialed in so thought I'd post an update.
The X-Caliber prefit barrel I ordered was small-medium profile carbon fiber wrapped, 24", and it's great. The chamber seems well suited for heavies loaded long, the 168 ABLRs I'm using are ~20k off the lands at 2.500" CBTO (3.171" OAL).
I tried H4831SC and RL23, but H4350 was faster and easier to tune so went with that (though I didn't push the RL23 too hot).
Norma brass, H4350, Federal 210M, and 168 ABLRs a coarse ladder was getting:
52.0 gr - 2747 fps
52.5 gr - 2787 fps
53.0 gr - 2803 fps
53.5 gr - 2828 fps
54.0 gr - 2867 fps
There was some accuracy potential between 53 and 53.5 so I loaded a more fine ladder:
53.2 gr - 2829 +/- 6
53.4 gr - 2852 +/- 7
53.6 gr - 2856 +/- 7
Started seeing light extractor marks above there, so that's where I stopped. But the accuracy is awesome. All three print sub-MOA, but 53.4 appears to be in a node (note the 53.6 charge prints lower than 53.4) and makes a <1" group at 200 m so that's what I'm sticking with.
I've been planning an elk hunt in Colorado (Saddleback Ranch) for a couple of years, and I've been set on a Tikka in 284 Winchester for almost as long. My goal was a reasonably light weight, very accurate rifle that I could take an elk at 600 yds with. I asked the forum for help picking an FFP scope here, thanks again. I finally got a load dialed in so thought I'd post an update.
The X-Caliber prefit barrel I ordered was small-medium profile carbon fiber wrapped, 24", and it's great. The chamber seems well suited for heavies loaded long, the 168 ABLRs I'm using are ~20k off the lands at 2.500" CBTO (3.171" OAL).
I tried H4831SC and RL23, but H4350 was faster and easier to tune so went with that (though I didn't push the RL23 too hot).
Norma brass, H4350, Federal 210M, and 168 ABLRs a coarse ladder was getting:
52.0 gr - 2747 fps
52.5 gr - 2787 fps
53.0 gr - 2803 fps
53.5 gr - 2828 fps
54.0 gr - 2867 fps
There was some accuracy potential between 53 and 53.5 so I loaded a more fine ladder:
53.2 gr - 2829 +/- 6
53.4 gr - 2852 +/- 7
53.6 gr - 2856 +/- 7
Started seeing light extractor marks above there, so that's where I stopped. But the accuracy is awesome. All three print sub-MOA, but 53.4 appears to be in a node (note the 53.6 charge prints lower than 53.4) and makes a <1" group at 200 m so that's what I'm sticking with.
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