ngnrd
Member
Wednesday I bought a new blued Tikka T3 Lite in 270win that was on the clearance rack at a local shop. I don't know why it was on the clearance rack, but it was; along with a few Savages, and a couple of Weatherbys that also caught my eye. So after asking the HighRoad-ers to help me choose, I decided to buy the ugly Tikka with the black plastic stock for a paltry $350.
Well, after an obligatory scrub down, I headed to the "range" today. I put "range" in quotes because where I shoot isn't actually a range. Rather, it's a typical informal rural shooting area off of an old back road, with uneven ground and no built in benches to shoot from. So you have to remember to take everything you need with you. On this particular trip I forgot to bring my regular shooting table, and I had to make due with a cobbled together rest that was far from ideal. It was too short, and wasn't exactly rock solid. And, I couldn't use my Lead Sled (I did have one sand bag in the truck). But, the range is about a 30 minute drive from the house, and there's not much daylight this time of year. So, without my table and lead sled, and even though it was about 15 degrees (F), and there was about three inches of snow that I would have to deal with, I decided that the show must go on.
On to the range report... I had planned on shooting several different kinds of ammo (and I still will), but I just didn't have time today. After setting up a couple 100-yard targets and getting the chronograph ready, I began the process of getting the old Leupold Vari-X II 2-7x33 scope zeroed. I don't have a bore sight, so I just sighted down the barrel at the target and dialed the scope in as best as I could. When I was as close as I could get, I loaded up a magazine of 10-year old 150gr Remington CoreLokt green box ammo I had laying around.
After firing two rounds and not seeing where/if they were hitting paper, I walked up and checked the target. The shots were pretty well centered, but just above the paper - with only a quarter of an inch between them. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
I shot another 8 rounds of the cheap green box ammo, walking the POI down and settling just right of the center of the target before I switched to the ammunition I really wanted to shoot: Federal Premium 140gr Accubonds. I will be reloading for this rifle, but I like to know that I can grab a box of factory ammunition off the shelf and take it on a hunt if I have to. Besides, I need a baseline to compare to for the hand loads.
Here's a picture of a few notable groups with the Federal ammunition. The center group was the first, measuring 1.13 inches. The upper group was the final slow-shot, take-plenty-of-time-to-concentrate-and-focus group. It measures 0.60 inches. And the lower group was the last group of the day, fired as fast as I could reliably aim and squeeze. It measures a whopping 1.25 inches. My largest group of the day was 1.53 inches, and I think my fingers were numb when I shot it. (I had to warm up in the truck a couple of times just to function.) Of 6 groups, my average 3-shot group size was 1.11 inches, including two fast-shot groups as the light was fading. The final two rounds in the box were shot as very-low-light scope performance test shots, and aren't included in any of my data sets.
I must say that even though I don't think I'll ever see this homely black plastic rifle as a piece of fine art, it's definitely a shooter. It functions beautifully, and puts holes in paper right where you want them; even when asking it to perform right out of the box, from an unstable rest, with an old, relatively low power scope, in bad light, and low temperatures. Besides, I don't think I'll care if I get a few nicks and dings in it, and I'm sure the 4-legged critters aren't going to care that they weren't put down with a projectile that was loaded into an engraved receiver attached to a fancy piece of figured maple.
So, all in all, I'm impressed. This rifle is a winner. It's light, handy, accurate, easy to shoot, and has a very nice trigger. And it certainly seems like it would be a good value for twice what I paid for it (I still can't imagine why it was on the clearance rack...). I'm going to keep it for sure. And, I'm also pretty sure my go-to Remington 700 Mountain is looking at retirement before the next hunting season. (Although I might keep it around just to have something pretty to look at.) In the mean time, I'll be heading back to the range tomorrow with a few more boxes of ammo and a solid rest. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen the full potential of this little rifle yet, and I'm looking forward to seeing just exactly what it can do.
****************************
On another subject, I was shooting over a chronograph to get a baseline for my hand loads (7 ft from muzzle). I started getting errors as the light faded, so I only counted the velocities recorded for the first 10 of the 20 shots fired with the Federal 140's. For those that may be interested, here's what I got with the factory fodder:
Remington 150gr CoreLokt, 10 shots
Average Velocity: 2750.6
Extreme Spread: 270
St. Deviation: 106.5
% St. Deviation: 3.9%
Federal Premium 140gr Accubond, 10 shots
(Advertised MV 2950)
Average Velocity: 3016.2
Extreme Spread: 110
St. Deviation: 38.3
% St. Deviation: 1.3%
Well, after an obligatory scrub down, I headed to the "range" today. I put "range" in quotes because where I shoot isn't actually a range. Rather, it's a typical informal rural shooting area off of an old back road, with uneven ground and no built in benches to shoot from. So you have to remember to take everything you need with you. On this particular trip I forgot to bring my regular shooting table, and I had to make due with a cobbled together rest that was far from ideal. It was too short, and wasn't exactly rock solid. And, I couldn't use my Lead Sled (I did have one sand bag in the truck). But, the range is about a 30 minute drive from the house, and there's not much daylight this time of year. So, without my table and lead sled, and even though it was about 15 degrees (F), and there was about three inches of snow that I would have to deal with, I decided that the show must go on.
On to the range report... I had planned on shooting several different kinds of ammo (and I still will), but I just didn't have time today. After setting up a couple 100-yard targets and getting the chronograph ready, I began the process of getting the old Leupold Vari-X II 2-7x33 scope zeroed. I don't have a bore sight, so I just sighted down the barrel at the target and dialed the scope in as best as I could. When I was as close as I could get, I loaded up a magazine of 10-year old 150gr Remington CoreLokt green box ammo I had laying around.
After firing two rounds and not seeing where/if they were hitting paper, I walked up and checked the target. The shots were pretty well centered, but just above the paper - with only a quarter of an inch between them. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
I shot another 8 rounds of the cheap green box ammo, walking the POI down and settling just right of the center of the target before I switched to the ammunition I really wanted to shoot: Federal Premium 140gr Accubonds. I will be reloading for this rifle, but I like to know that I can grab a box of factory ammunition off the shelf and take it on a hunt if I have to. Besides, I need a baseline to compare to for the hand loads.
Here's a picture of a few notable groups with the Federal ammunition. The center group was the first, measuring 1.13 inches. The upper group was the final slow-shot, take-plenty-of-time-to-concentrate-and-focus group. It measures 0.60 inches. And the lower group was the last group of the day, fired as fast as I could reliably aim and squeeze. It measures a whopping 1.25 inches. My largest group of the day was 1.53 inches, and I think my fingers were numb when I shot it. (I had to warm up in the truck a couple of times just to function.) Of 6 groups, my average 3-shot group size was 1.11 inches, including two fast-shot groups as the light was fading. The final two rounds in the box were shot as very-low-light scope performance test shots, and aren't included in any of my data sets.
I must say that even though I don't think I'll ever see this homely black plastic rifle as a piece of fine art, it's definitely a shooter. It functions beautifully, and puts holes in paper right where you want them; even when asking it to perform right out of the box, from an unstable rest, with an old, relatively low power scope, in bad light, and low temperatures. Besides, I don't think I'll care if I get a few nicks and dings in it, and I'm sure the 4-legged critters aren't going to care that they weren't put down with a projectile that was loaded into an engraved receiver attached to a fancy piece of figured maple.
So, all in all, I'm impressed. This rifle is a winner. It's light, handy, accurate, easy to shoot, and has a very nice trigger. And it certainly seems like it would be a good value for twice what I paid for it (I still can't imagine why it was on the clearance rack...). I'm going to keep it for sure. And, I'm also pretty sure my go-to Remington 700 Mountain is looking at retirement before the next hunting season. (Although I might keep it around just to have something pretty to look at.) In the mean time, I'll be heading back to the range tomorrow with a few more boxes of ammo and a solid rest. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen the full potential of this little rifle yet, and I'm looking forward to seeing just exactly what it can do.
****************************
On another subject, I was shooting over a chronograph to get a baseline for my hand loads (7 ft from muzzle). I started getting errors as the light faded, so I only counted the velocities recorded for the first 10 of the 20 shots fired with the Federal 140's. For those that may be interested, here's what I got with the factory fodder:
Remington 150gr CoreLokt, 10 shots
Average Velocity: 2750.6
Extreme Spread: 270
St. Deviation: 106.5
% St. Deviation: 3.9%
Federal Premium 140gr Accubond, 10 shots
(Advertised MV 2950)
Average Velocity: 3016.2
Extreme Spread: 110
St. Deviation: 38.3
% St. Deviation: 1.3%
