Does anyone homeload for a Tikka T3 varmint .223?

[hodmedod.one]

A friend of mine bought a brand new Tikka T3.223 varmint. He has a Swaro scope on it.

 

He tried several different brands of ammunition and couldn'tt really find one that the rifle seemed to "like".

 

He asked me to try shooting a few targets with the rifle and to be honest the accuracy was poor for a brand new rifle. The scope has been back to Swaro and has been given a clean bill of health.

 

He has pretty much lost interest in it as it just isn't accurate enough.

 

Does anyone on here have a good bullet/powder combination that he can start from? I only reload for my .243 and .300 RUM but wouldn't mind loading some for him if he buys himself a set of dies etc.

 

He only wants the rifle for foxing so would like to end up with an accurate ballistic tipped load.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[MrCetrizine]

77gn Berger Boat Tail Target.

24.5gn Vihtavuori N140.

Remington brass.

CCI 400 primer.

 

Have won me all of the competitions at my club this year out of my 1:8 T3

 

No idea if they'd be suitable for foxes though.

[tisme]

Have you checked stock to barrel clearance, new they normally touch.

[ejg223]

Guess it's a 1/8 twist, they can be finicky.

My 1/8 lite only shot 55gr sp fiocchi around or under 1/2", Sako 55gr sp was around 3/4".

Anything else I tried was an inch or over.

Sold it.

edi

[markfromholland]

What brands and bullet weights did you try that were not grouping well ?

For instance i hear good things about norma vmax 50gr. in a tikka t3 in .223.

[DW58]

You don't say which twist it is - my Son has a Tikka T3 20" 1:8 Sporter which is an extremely accurate rifle, he uses Sierrs 69gr/80gr SMKs in front of N140 and is currently experimenting with Reload Swiss RS50 (aka TR140) with excellent results - I'll let him elaborate further.

[blackburnbuccaneer]

As stated above I have a T3 Sporter in .223 with a 1 in 8" barrel, I have found it to be very accurate with my handloads, however I have not used any factory ammunition in it to date. I suspect the 50gr V-Max from norma you speak of will not work that well due to the light short nature of the bullet.

 

As a starting point as others said you need to establish the twist rate, if it is a 1 in 8" it will most likely favour heavier/longer bullets in the 60-80gr range. I would have thought the twist to be too fast for most lighter factory loads in the 50-55gr range.

I have found a 69gr Sierra Matchking with around 25gr N140 and 80gr SMK with 23gr N140 to be particularly reliable loads, however the accuracy varies greatly depending on seating depth, I have found 10-30 thou off the lands to be the sweet spot in my rifle.

However as you state foxing as the main use I would suggest trying something along the lines of a 60gr Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint or a 60gr Hornady V-Max with your powder of choice - certainly no lighter a bullet.

[Montey]

I've got a 1in 8 twist 223 built by Dolphin Guns it shoots anything over 55g and loves black hills 60g which have Vmax heads Shot a 49/6 300y McQueens using HPS 77g Its the only rifle I haven't reloaded for! If I had to keep one rifle it would be this one.

[Barrelsniffer]

One of my 223s is the same mentioned above T3 sporter with 1/8 twist and it has been my dedicated NV rifle for many yrs now, i use home loaded 50gn vmax out to 300yds very accurate in my rifle, i've also another T3 which again was a 1/8 factory barrel and again i've used most bullets from 50gn vmax up to 75gn amax all great accuracy, i then had this one customised with new barrel ect so now have a 1/9 using 60gn vmax for most my shots at the moment.

 

If i use on a range or plinking steel gongs at range i tend to use 64gn bergers or 69 smk or HPBT

 

[Tony.H]

what twist is it and what factory loads has he had trouble with?

[ergid]

What brands and bullet weights did you try that were not grouping well ?

For instance i hear good things about norma vmax 50gr. in a tikka t3 in .223.

+1

[markfromholland]

What brands and bullet weights did you try that were not grouping well ?

For instance i hear good things about norma vmax 50gr. in a tikka t3 in .223.

 

i need to get back on my earlier stated phrase about good things from norma .223 50gr vmax in a

tikka t3 1-12 barrel.

i got one and tested velocity on this ammo, box states 1065m/s...........

average from my tikka was 985 m/s ............very bad grouping as this speed does not stabalizes the 50gr vmax bullit.

 

never again !

 

hornady superformance gave an average of 1045 m/s and grouping is much better.

[Elliott]

Been playing around with my new (to me) T3 Varmint .223 1/12 twist.

 

Tried loads of ammo and my last test showed Hornady Superformance 40 grain to be particularly good, although that was in pretty calm conditions. 3 shots on top of one another at 160 yards with one slightly pulled upwards. Upgrading my scope to a Vortex Viper 6-24x50 soon so hope to improve even more.

[bigyin]

My t3 lite is 1/12 and shot sako factory rounds (50 and 55 gr ) lovely but with

24 gn vit n133

52 gn amax its even better

[shotgun sam]

I have a 223 Tikka T3 in a 1/12 twist as does my son and uncle all 3 guns after load testing shoot fantastically accurate with

 

55 grain nosler ballistic tip

25 gn tr140 (similar to vit n140)

 

All in various brands of brass.

 

Has been tested of live quarry from squirrel to roe deer (legal to shoot roe in Scotland)

 

Sam

[markfromholland]

i now have 26 gr of n140 with a 50 gr vmax

boat tail.

gave 1060 mtrs/sec on our chrony

 

25 gr of n130 with a sierra sjp varmint 45gr

makes ragged holes on 100 mtrs.

have not yet shot through chrony