General RE LEE
Well-Known Member
oh lol yep that's not what I meant. In my first pic I have 3 holes and 2 holes were actually 4 shots. Sorry I don't know my definitions.
Max Range for These Groups?
- Thread starter General RE LEE
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oh lol yep that's not what I meant. In my first pic I have 3 holes and 2 holes were actually 4 shots. Sorry I don't know my definitions.
It's not your fault; the term "key hole" is used both ways depending on who you talk to!
D
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MY 2 CENTS. A Tikka should shoot much better. No reason/need for a 145 gr bullet out to 400 for deer. Try some other brands of premium ammo with 130 gr. Clean rifle very well when switching brands.
VLD Pilot
Well-Known Member
Great advice. 120-140s are plenty for a .270 out to 400+ yards. That Tikka should shoot much better. Sounds like it's time for another load.
General RE LEE
Well-Known Member
Thank you. I own 3 Tikkas in 308, 270 and 6.5 Creedmoor and they all like a dirty barrel. I don't clean until groups open up. I don't do a full deep clean until after season.
This Tikka 270 does like Federal Premium 150 grain Sierra Gamekings a little better. Maybe 3/4" groups at 100.
VLD Pilot
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you have your load. 150s aren't too much bullet for any deer. I find the 140s to be the best weight to dump all the energy in the deer. Rarely do they exit but more often I find them in the opposite side hide.
Before you move on from that load try setting up better cheekweld, an amazing number of people don't get that right. Scope gets set in medium or high rings because of a 40 or 50mm objective lens and your eye floats around the eye box. Head position should lock in tight instantly.
That tikka should shoot better, and looking at your groups I suspect there could be some refinement your setup. Two snuggled together with left /right flyers would make me investigate technique.
As stated before, shooting at range is a must do.
That tikka should shoot better, and looking at your groups I suspect there could be some refinement your setup. Two snuggled together with left /right flyers would make me investigate technique.
As stated before, shooting at range is a must do.
General RE LEE
Well-Known Member
Yep I'm going to hit the range tomorrow. I am going to simulate my hold when shooting from a box blind which is fore end supported and left hand supporting fore end as well but no rear bag. I also am not going to shoot at full 18x. I am going to shoot 6x at 100 which is about the max magnification I like at closer range. I will see how she does. The good news is my 6.5 Creedmoor Tikka and 7mm STW Remington FS Sendero are a little more tight with groups. I just like the 22" barrel and feel of this Tikka T3 Forest.
Shooting paper at 100 yards and shooting animals past 200 yards are two totally different worlds. Animals move. If you are not PROFICIENT at farther distances on paper, in my opinion you have no right trying to take an animal past a couple hundred yards. I shoot 600+ yards a lot. I'm decent at it. I can hit a 2" plate consistently at that distance. I am not comfortable taking an animal past 350-400. I owe it to the animal.
These targets were your 100yd targets? or your 400yd targets? You have an approximate 2MOA at 100yds. Group 1 shows an elevation spread, Group 2 shows a windage spread. If that is truly the grouping of your rifle with this load at 100yds, then these spreads will increase with distance. The MOA's do not change with distance, the "inches" change. I shoot a SIG 970shr in .270Win. Shooting 150gr Nosler partitions with 51gr IMR4350, seated 0.020 off the lands, velocity chronographed at 2884fps. I have 0.5 MOA at 100yds on every group. I have shot and killed whitetails consistently out to 600 yds. My scope is also mounted on a 20MOA rail, so I can dial up quite a bit. The scope tracks consistently and always goes back to zero when dialed back down to my 100 yard setting. If you have a range to shoot at 400yds. put up a 36"x36" target, aim dead center 5 shots and see what your grouping is. 1MOA is actually 1.047" at 100yds. If you shoot a 1MOA at 100yds which is a 1.047" group, then at 200yds it is 2x1.047, 300yds is 3x1.047 etc etc. So with your 2MOA grouping its 2*1.047" = 2.094" at 600yds your spread calculates out to 2.094x6=12.564" . So at 600yds you could easily not hit the deer at all. Your Tikka is capable of much better accuracy than that.
The reason he stated to do a deep clean when changing brands, is some mfgrs use different alloy's in their copper jackets - sometimes these will "grab" at the other types of alloys and cause fouling and accuracy issues. This is good advice for anyone trying different bullets.
General RE LEE
Well-Known Member
Thank you. I did make a windage adjustment on scope between groups that is why there is a POI change on the target at 100 yards. I thought measuring groups it is the center of the holes between the two furthest impact points.
The Oregonian
Well-Known Member
In addition to seeing how it groups farther out, you also need to validate your drops as they don't always mirror what a ballistic calculator spits out.
