Help, first rifle; confused about accuracy!

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CZsp01

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Rifle Tikka t3 lite.308
Ammo: Hornlady critical 165 gr
Scope: Nikon prostaff 3-9*40 dnz 1 piece mount

Hey guys, I'm confused as to the accuracy of my rifle. First off I've shot 25 RD so far. I sighted it in fine but after that my groups get larger and larger. My first shot is always dead on but my 2-3 shots are off by 3" 1 to the left the other to the right. I figured it was user error so I cleaned and shot 3 shots again. 1st shot dead on, 2nd 6 inches to the right low 3 inches, 3rd shot to the left.

What am I doing wrong? I'm using a metal rest and a towel to absorb the recoil. Is the barrel too hot? Could it be fouling? The gun doesn't like my ammo?

Thanks
 
Could be fouling, maybe.

Could be you're canting the rifle slightly. That will throw shots off to the side, and it doesn't take much of a tilt to have a notable effect.

Could be parallax in your scope. When you're looking through the scope and you move your head very slightly, do the crosshairs center at a different location on the target?

My preference for testing at the bench has always been with sandbags. What I have found to be most important is that the front bag always be at the same location under the forearm. That give consistency in the pressure against the stock/barrel.
 
Have you let someone else shoot it? Have you tried other ammo? Thats a huge spread.. did you center by shot, or by center of a group? Pics of targets needed.

Is your scope base loose, or is the scope moving in the rings?
 
Check your scope mounts. Even a barely perceivable rattle can mean inches down range.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
 
How hot is the barrel getting? Many rifles (especially those with light barrels) allow groups to enlarge greatly as the barrel warms up. If you are trying to shoot small groups, allow the barrel to cool between shots (never too hot to hold your hand on it).
 
did you buy it new? can you slide a dollar bill between the stock and the barrel?
Did you use loctite and proper torque specs when you mounted the scope?
 
Thanks for all the great responses.

I never tried other ammo bc people with the same gun/model/caliber have had great results with it. I'll try some 150gr next.

The barrel did get too hot to touch but I did give it a few minutes to cool down, still warm though.

The mount was mounted by my cousin who has never mounted one before but he's pretty gun savy and not a fool to over tighten/ tighten unevenly. I will check this again, though. Do you guys recommend clear nail polish or some sort of loc tight?
 
I bought everything new, first thing I checked was to slide a dollar bill under the barrel.

Again, I really appreciate eveyones responses! I need to feel confident before deer season!
 
Well, if you are consistently getting a good first cold barrel shot that's the one which will take the deer or other game. So it seems that first and foremost test it by checking that your first cold barrel shot is good. Then sit back with a good book, walk around and see what the others are doing or knit some socks while you wait for the barrel to cool down almost to cold. Say a good 10 minutes. Then shoot again. If the rounds are within an inch or so of each other then it's likely not the scope or mounting.

Put a piece of masking or other tape on the scope tube along the edge of the front of one of the rings. Watch for a gap forming after a couple of shots. It's amazing how a scope can "walk" in the rings due to recoil. And if it is doing this then your accuracy is going to be VERY inconsistent.
 
First rifle??? I'd bet on shooter error before equipment. Ask an experianced shooter to shoot a 3 shot group. That will prove or disprove faulty equipment and show you what way to go. I've done this for people at our club that were having problems. My experiance would be 8 of 10 were the shooter. When shooting watch your breathing and trgger pull, they both have to be the same shot to shot to be consistant. Squeezing slowly through the trigger will give better results then 'pulling' it.
 
Well, first big boy rifle lol. I hope its just user error. I just think using a gun rest would eliminate most noob mistakes
 
I had pretty much the same results with a T3 of mine. First had a Zeiss 6.5x20 mounted in factory rings and then went with Warne rings with the same scope with the same poor results. Tried another Zeiss scope, a 4.5x14 with warne rings with same poor shooting. I tried several factory loads and numerous handloads and the rifle would only average 3-4 inch 3 shot groups. Wound up taking the rifle back to the dealer for a refund. I stir clear of anything Tikka now.

Wish you well with yours.........
 
Just a caveat, DNZ will not honor their warranty if Loc-Tite is used. Very doubtful you'll ever need it though.
 
The barrel did get too hot to touch but I did give it a few minutes to cool down, still warm though.
Click to expand...

If this is the case, i think you may be shooting too rapidly. Light profile barrels tend to string a bit with heating. If you're going for groups, wait a minute or two - literally, like count off 60-120 seconds - between shots. Then, i think if your scope is properly mounted and your technique is decent, your groups should shrink a bit.
 
I'd try slowfire for the next string. Double check everything, but I'm willing to bet the barrel is getting warm and stringing the shots. Very thin barreled rifles are known for it. Designed as hunting rifles, they are meant to be shot a round or two at a time. Weatherby is famous for that. Excellent hunting rifles, and very accurate if you shoot them slowly. Rapid fire from a bench, not so much.
 
My first shot is always dead on but my 2-3 shots are off by 3" 1 to the left the other to the right. I figured it was user error so I cleaned and shot 3 shots again. 1st shot dead on, 2nd 6 inches to the right low 3 inches, 3rd shot to the left.
Click to expand...

Classic symptoms of a defective scope.
 
I'm betting the nut behind the trigger is out of adjustment. "First big-boy rifle?" Yeah, it's the rifle, for sure! :evil: Give ol' Occam a chance, guys! I'm betting that the OP is anticipating recoil and flinching during trigger pull. The barrel absolutely won't warm up enough in three shots to cause accuracy as poor as the OP reports.

I don't know what "metal rifle rest" means, as it could mean a lot of things. I do know that shooting off front and rear bags will be more stable than a rifle "cradle".
 
A T3 generally shoot sub-MOA right out of the box, they are extremely accurate guns even though they are fugly, there are a load of people building long distance rigs on the T3 platform over here.
I second the notion to have a good marksman shoot your rifle and see what happens, it's always possible that you've got a lemon but I doubt it.
A single three-shot group shold make no difference to the barrel heat-wise, I can even get a fair three-shot group with my Heym combi with soldered barrels if I'm quick enough.

Borrow another scope and see if that makes any difference, your Nikon is a good scope but even top-end scopes can break down.
 
I bought some 150gr hornlady sst. I'll retighten all nuts.

One other thing I can think of is that my scope is so close to the barrel that it barely fits the lens cover. Could this be a problem?
All metal rest meaning a Caldwell rifle rest not the most expensive one but a more simpler design.

My lease is two hours away so I can't go anytime I want. Hopefully ill go this weekend. Thanks for all the help!
 
sight in the way you plan to shoot

If you are sighting in using a rest, do you plan to hunt with the rest?
Sight in the same way you intend to shoot.
My suggestion sell the rest or trade it for some ammo.
If you hunting blind has a place to rest the stock then practice that same way. If you plan to hunt from Prone practice prone.
In general, MOST people spend way to much time and effort getting the cross hairs (or sights) over their target and NOT near enough time on trigger control.
Dry fire A LOT. Get some A-Zoom snap caps. Load 1 live round mixed in with 3 snap caps. Mix them up and or have someone else load so you don't know which one is live and which shot will just go click.
Practice keeping the sights on target AS YOU SQUEEZE the trigger. Not a separate actions.
 
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