Tikka 243 load info wanted?

mosa

Active Member
Hello all I've just bought a tikka t3 laminate stainless and I'm looking for what recipe to use. I have a load of privi 100grn soft points but are tight on the downstroke of bolt. ? Gutted as I've got about 100. I will be looking for around 75 grn ballistic tips mainly for fox but I intend to be out quite often for roe in the very near future. I'm not looking for exact target placement but sub inch groups or as near as. I have the option to possibly get some made using varget and was thinking of 38.5 grains?
I would particularly like to hear what people use in the same gun if possible. Ps I e not shot it yet as still looking for scope & rings just wanted to get a head start thanks in advance of any replies
 
Hi,

The privi 100g is factory ammo I assume, that should not be tight on the bolt and should chamber fine...if not, you might want to check the rifle with some other factory ammo, and if it's the same problem, there's potentially a head-space issue with the bolt-action fit. Others will know better than I...

You say loads using Varget, the load is completely unique to your rifle, brass, barrel, primer combination, etc. etc. but for 75g BT's Hogdon recommends 36 to 38.5g of Varget and never to exceed that..therefore, I would say you should start nearer the 36g and go up in tests of 0.5g at a time, as 38.5g might be excessive pressure-wise for your rifle, and you'll never have a chance to spot the signs of excessive pressure before you get a bolt blown back in your face! LOL..(not funny really..)..esp. true if your bolt is tight on factory ammo!

if you're going to be taking roe, I recommend (very highly) 35.5g of Varget with Hornady 87g BTHP's. they will stabilise well in your barrel (1:10 20" ish), and penetrate with good expansion on roe, whilst being explosive enough for very effective foxing. The 87g is also a better weight for roe. Ballistic Tips come in either Varmint or Hunting types, if you go with the Varmint, it's not suitable for Roe, but if you go with Hunting, they will not be as great for fox as you'd imagine. Varmint BT's 'may' work on neck/head shots on roe, but are by no means recommended, and deffo not on Heart/Lung shots due to lack of penetrative ability.

Be careful with tight bolts, as just chambering a round might set it off I've heard,,may be worth having an RFD give their view.
 
If it helps i use Sierra 100g spbt with 44g N160 and cci primers in my T3 hunter, off a bench rest it will group a ragged hole but in any case a 1/2 inch group is consistantly achievable
, i have used these rounds on everything with great results
Tikkat3
 
I have some 75gr and 87gr vmax bullet heads I'm not planning on using if you would consider a swap, as it happens my rifle is ok with privvi . Could do some loads with vit140 for you to try.
 
It's a good idea to try and chamber another make of ammo - you could have got a bad batch although that would be a very rare occurrence.
It sounds like you possibly have a head space issue with your rifle. If it were mine I'd get the head space properly checked by a good riflesmith who has proper gauging kit before going too much further. Find out exactly what the previous owner fed the rifle with if you can. Did he reload for it?
Tight bolt closing is not what you want as PKL wrote.
I presume your rifle is second hand. - I certainly wouldn't expect a new Tikka to have this type of problem. More likely tight headspace is the result of bad rebarreling or "blueprinting" leaving the rifle outside standard specifications.
You can find the headspace standards from the SAAMI data that's published online and then you will be able to see how your rifle chamber / bolt combination measures up to that when your pet riflesmith measures it.
If the rifle is outside the SAAMI spec - I suggest you take it back and get your money back as it would be "unfit for purpose".
Just a final thought - Is the chamber clean and free from any debris????? Any bit of crud trapped there could give you the tight bolt symptom.
Ian
 
hello mate! welcome to the world of reloading!!!! may the nightmares begin!!!! lol
Fot the 75gr i am using v max with a h380 powder at 39.7 gr winni cases and cci br2 primmers, thats using a x bolt 243! and i clover leaf with this round! as far as varget goes for me it didnt work as it barley half fills the case so not receiving the best burn rate!!!( let the replys commence) but thats my OWN opoion... cheers stu....
 
from what I have read up on this, I have gone for N160 (mainly as I am tight and can use it in my 270 as well!!)
I am trying two bullets 87gn and 100gn.
not sure about the whole 100gn wont stabilise bit, they seemed OK when I put them through as factory ammo.

unfortunately the 100gn are the boat tail and the 87gn the flat tail, I wanted BT in both for easier seating
 
Hello all I've just bought a tikka t3 laminate stainless and I'm looking for what recipe to use. I have a load of privi 100grn soft points but are tight on the downstroke of bolt. ? Gutted as I've got about 100. I will be looking for around 75 grn ballistic tips mainly for fox but I intend to be out quite often for roe in the very near future. I'm not looking for exact target placement but sub inch groups or as near as. I have the option to possibly get some made using varget and was thinking of 38.5 grains?
I would particularly like to hear what people use in the same gun if possible. Ps I e not shot it yet as still looking for scope & rings just wanted to get a head start thanks in advance of any replies

I see a lot of these privi rounds being used on the range - basically due to cost I guess. Increasingly though these rounds simply wont chamber so while you can check out your rifle, I would do as one of the other posters suggested and try different ammo. I am in the North East as well so can let you try out some winchester factory rounds to check your gun out with if you like.

Ref using Varget, this has similar characteristics to Viht N140 and is considered too hot a powder for 243 100gr heads. I have run up some loads for a mate using Hornady 100gr spbt, 2.65'' col and 35.2gr N140. it works really well but is a fairly soft load. Reason being that even going up in 0.1gr increments, he was seeing pressure signs in his tikka long before 36gr.

For what it is worth, I use identical specs in my tikka but 43.1gr N160. Still a softish load but works for me.

When you get your rifle sorted out, drop me a note - happy to help if you need input.
 
I am trying two bullets 87gn and 100gn.
not sure about the whole 100gn wont stabilise bit


Sako/tikka, same barrel specs.
Sako market a 100grain softpoint.
Do you think they'd market the 100's if they wouldn't stabilise in their own rifles ? Lol
 
Sako/tikka, same barrel specs.
Sako market a 100grain softpoint.
Do you think they'd market the 100's if they wouldn't stabilise in their own rifles ? Lol

Yes I do !
There are plenty of rifles out there with 1 in 9 twist which will do the job better also there is a demand out there for the 100 or 105 grainers anyway irrespective whether or not they are perfectly stabilised.
Selling ammo like most things is `filling a demand` and if people want 100 grainers they are there to supply that demand.
There is something which I believe is called a `modified Greenhills formula` to find the best twist/bullet weight combination.
I believe the result for a .243 with a 1 in 10 twist was 85 grains or therabouts.

HW
 
32.5 grains varget cci primers 100 grain sierra prohunter ammo use it for munty fallow roe also taking the gonads of flys at 100 yards in my tikka 595 regards. Biker1
 
Hi Mosa,
Are you using privvy factory loads or are you reloading yourself using the cases and bullets.
I use the .243 privvy brass, AMax and Vmax with varget and get great results,tho i'm using a remmy sps with 1 in 9.125 twist. I als had a problem with tight rounds on the downstroke of the bolt, after 2 reloads, but found that i just had to bump the shoulder back a bit and they are now perfect.
Cheers, Fatty.
The best results were with 87g Vmax and 105g Amax. I found the main factor re the accuracy was bullet jump but this was in my particular rifle and what i personally found.
 
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