Tikka T3X Roughtech 6.5 Creedmoor - learning to shoot

[hawlejr]

Do not use Unique or Trailboss in your 6.5 Creed, unless you are shooting greatly reduced loads with lead or cast lead bullets. Not likely! I'm attaching a burn rate chart. Burn rates are roughly the same across horizontal lines in the chart. You can see that Trailboss and Unique are basically pistol powders, and the H4350 you see extolled by the other shooters above is way down the list (horizontally speaking). Using those fast powders could be dangerous and are certainly way out of the norm for your cartridge. That said, I've had good luck with H414 which is the same powder as Win 760. As you'll see on the chart the burn rate is very similar to H4350. It is a "ball" powder and measures easily on most powder dispensers. Somewhere in that range is the right powder choice. Most of the powder manufacturers have a reloading section for popular calibers, so you should check them out, and also read a good book about reloading theory, practice and especially safety.

 

[FEENIX]

If that is not the best $20 you have ever spent it has to be close! This is a perfect example though of why the 6.5 Creed has such a big following. Affordable, EASY TO SHOOT, rifles make precision shooting much more attainable to the average shooter that doesn't have the certain 'obsessive compulsive' shooters gene some on this site and others seem to have.
Not to imply that FEENIX is an average shooter. The example is the $400 rifle putting 3 in .3 at 200. I will bet the results are different with a 30-06 in the same set-up.

Yes, Sir! I get lucky once in a while. I have admit, I would have never owned one just to try since I already have an 1894 Carl Gustaf in 6.5 X 55 Swedish Mauser.

Not .30-06 or same set-up but my troop has Savage 10 in .308 Win with similar result with Winchester Deer Season XP 150g at 200Y.

 

[Quintus]

Yes, Sir! I get lucky once in a while. I have admit, I would have never owned one just to try since I already have an 1894 Carl Gustaf in 6.5 X 55 Swedish Mauser.

Not .30-06 or same set-up but my troop has Savage 10 in .308 Win with similar result with Winchester Deer Season XP 150g at 200Y.

View attachment 579032

Nice shooting Sir, that's impressive! To the OP, don't feel bad if you can't shoot like Ed right out of the box. His results may not be typical!

 

[Rosebud]

I think you have picked the perfect rifle and cartridge for long range shooting. Ammo and components are available everywhere. The 6.5 CM is a very accurate and easy cartridge to shoot. Recoil is mild in most rifles, and this makes a difference in long shooting sessions. It won't be long before you are looking for somewhere to shoot a 1000 yards. Have fun. Rosebud! PS, this is a deep rabbit hole.

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

On the way to me Tikka T3X Roughtech 6.5 Creedmoor with a Trijicon HX 6x24x50

I want to learn precision shooting. I have other rifles including Drillings, and a double rifle, mostly collector antiques, but am now focussed on getting a good tech rifle. The TIKKA seems a good one to start.

I have a Forstner Co Ax press and want to learn using this along with the Tikka. All set up and ready to go. Bought some Winchester 129 grain ammo from Walmart. I have brass and match grade bullets coming from Graf & Son. A friend gave me about a half pound Trail Boss and another of Unique.

Maybe I need other kind of powder?
Don't know what other questions to ask?

Invest in good loading manuals from either, the powder mug's or Bullet mfg's. Get them in hard backed bindings.
Most all of the reloading info you will ever need are in these manuals. Don't rely on digital manuals. The paper manuals are what you'll want.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Long Range shooting.

 

[Bruce Hanson]

Don't throw away your Trail Boss it works great with 10.3 grains and Hornady 160gr round nose with a suppressor. It will give you 1020 fps from a 24 inch barrel. If you live above or will be shooting above 4000 ft elevation drop back to 10 gr Trail Boss and it will give you 975 fps.

I always hear people say you have a good eye for shooting. Most people have good eyes. It's not the eyes it's the nerves that allow a good trigger pull. Purchase some dumb rounds with the rubber primer pucket and practice dry fire. Then have someone load them mixed in your magazine and see what your follow through is like when there is no muzzle blast or recoil. Everyone is different and muzzle blast bothers me more than recoil. Now I seldom shoot my rifles that are not threaded for a suppressor.

I have shot deer with everything from 223 to a 300 Win Mag, to my falling block 45/70 pushing a 405 hard cast to 2150 fps. I have a number of 308 Win, and three 6.5 Creedmoors. The Savage 10BA Stealth is most common in my truck when looking for coyotes at long range or backup in deer season. It carries a 26 inch Criterion barrel. It's very accurate, but still my 300 custom with a 28.5 inch Bartlien barrel outshoots every rifle I own.

This target I dialed up to better see hits at 100 yards and I didn't adjust for wind because I wanted to see what the drift was. I use this as an example because it's the only oic on my phone and I'm 850 miles from home. The load is 210 Berger VLD Hunting over Retumbo and 3060 fps out of the long barrel.

 

[Old Rooster]

Youtbe is your friend.There are many video's about how to become a better shooter.
Here is just one,

 

[William W.]

On the way to me Tikka T3X Roughtech 6.5 Creedmoor with a Trijicon HX 6x24x50

I want to learn precision shooting. I have other rifles including Drillings, and a double rifle, mostly collector antiques, but am now focussed on getting a good tech rifle. The TIKKA seems a good one to start.

I have a Forstner Co Ax press and want to learn using this along with the Tikka. All set up and ready to go. Bought some Winchester 129 grain ammo from Walmart. I have brass and match grade bullets coming from Graf & Son. A friend gave me about a half pound Trail Boss and another of Unique.

Maybe I need other kind of powder?
Don't know what other questions to ask?

You only have pistol powder.

 

[skipglo]

Great start with the gun....neither powder as mentioned....H4350 no.1.....staball 6.5/Varget no.2
143 eldx IMHO is most accurate seating C(ase) O(ver) A(ll) L(ength) 2.80 41.5 grs. H4350

 

[HRM Johnny]

Do not use Unique or Trailboss in your 6.5 Creed, unless you are shooting greatly reduced loads with lead or cast lead bullets. Not likely! I'm attaching a burn rate chart. Burn rates are roughly the same across horizontal lines in the chart. You can see that Trailboss and Unique are basically pistol powders, and the H4350 you see extolled by the other shooters above is way down the list (horizontally speaking). Using those fast powders could be dangerous and are certainly way out of the norm for your cartridge. That said, I've had good luck with H414 which is the same powder as Win 760. As you'll see on the chart the burn rate is very similar to H4350. It is a "ball" powder and measures easily on most powder dispensers. Somewhere in that range is the right powder choice. Most of the powder manufacturers have a reloading section for popular calibers, so you should check them out, and also read a good book about reloading theory, practice and especially safety.

Thanks for the chart.

 

[tooth doc]

The original load released by Hornady for the 6.5 Creedmoor was 41.6 grains of H4350 with the 140 grain A-Max and was printed on the box.
I'm partial to Berger Bullets since I'm the head engineer at Berger and se hundreds and hundreds of tests shot day in and day out, both with our bullets and our competitors bullets in our 300 meter test tunnel. There are several good bullets that will shoot sub 1/2 MOA but when you stretch them out to long range, the Bergers pull ahead of the pack. That is because of the consistency of the BC. They simply hold a tighter vertical dispersion at 1000 yards because the standard deviation of the BC is less than 1% of the BC. No other bullet I have tested that is appropriate for long range will do this and the 140 grain hybrid target and Elite Hunter are among the best of the best. There are many short low BC bullets that will make 1% or less but not with a BC above .32 G7.
This won't matter much as learning your rifle but will make a great deal of difference once you have mastered your rifle, and wind reading skills.
I'm obviously biased because I work for Berger, but I'm also a Distinguished Rifleman and always interested in helping new shooters learn what I have learned.

cant beat Berger for target shooting and are pretty good for hunting. myself I prefer mono's for hunting, ie, barnes and hammr

 

[Rosebud]

One place to look for cheap, Or some what cheap bullets is Midwayusa. Com. Look for their Factor seconds. These are 1st run bullets from Hornady and Sierra. They will say match for target bullets, otherwise they are hunting bullets. The dull looking one in the pictures are Hornadys, shiny ones are Sierra. They shoot great,usually the only thing wrong with them is cosmetic. Blemish looks on the finish,"stains". Or a little too much lead exposed on the lead tipped one. I just shot a 1\4 inch group Sierra tipped match kings from their blim line yesterday, posted the pictures on the forum about White River primers Vs CCI 200.if you're punching paper or ringing steel they work great.