Congratulations on getting the Tikka. I just got a stainless in 30.06 but haven’t fired it yet. Mounts and Burris Signature Zee rings are inbound now as I am setting it up with a Burris Ballistic Plex 3-9 for long range shooting.
You have a few questions and I will try and try and explain some concepts which will differ from what others have posted as follows:
Will the 1:11 twist stabilize 175 grain SMK rounds just fine out to 1000 yards? Is the Federal 175 grain SMK BTHP the right round to do it? Using the JBM calculator, a 155 grain A-MAX @ 2800 fps has about the exact same trajectory as the 175 SMK @ 2650 fps. Does that sound right, so I could use these two rounds interchangeably with the same 200 yard zero?
Yes the 11 twist twist will stabilize about anything you want to shoot. Check out
http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmstab-5.1.cgi
It is pretty self explanatory, just fill in the blanks and anything you get over 1 will be a winner for you.
You will note it asks for the length of the bullet and they also have that data for you to pluck.
http://www.jbmballistics.com/ballistics/lengths/lengths.shtml#Sierra
You will see they list the bullet length for the 175MK as 1.240 so plug this into the above program and you will see it will stabilize all the way down to 1000 fps when fired from a 13” twist rate barrel. If I were buying a new barrel I would go with a 13 twist. I have barrels at 13.8 and 14 twist and they stabilize a 168 just fine but nothing heavier.
As far as two different bullets using same 200 yard zero, I have had it happen but it is rare as bullet in bore times differ with different velocities and the barrel is moving before bullet exits and you also have a problem with different vibrations from different loadings. I think you will be better off using 175MKs for everything to keep life simple.
Will frequent shooting of light, fast loads (150 grains @ 2,850/2,900) wear down the stainless steel barrel too fast?
The rule of thumb is heavy bullets and slow propellants will eat barrels much quicker. Add in rapid fire and that doesn’t help the situation either. As well Vihta Vouri propellants are made from cotton linters and are cooler burning.l
Should I clean the barrel after each range trip, even if I only fire 10-15 rounds? Will a few patches with CLP do? Do I need a bore guide? Any particular cleaning kit or type of rod that you would recommend for this gun? I'm kind of new to bolt-actions incase you couldn't tell. For longest barrel life you should clean frequently and as soon as the last round is out the muzzle.
Consider this:
1. When you fire your rifle and look down the bore after shooting you will see dust like objects. This is carbon residue from the burning of the propellant.
2. What the hardest natural substance known to man? Carbon
3. What is added to steel/iron to make it hard? Carbon
4. It is well known carbide tool bits will cut most high speed and stainless steels and contains? Carbon
5. Diamond dust (carbon) is an abrasive that will remove material from most all metals and is used as a lapping compound as well.
6. When the rifle is fired the carbon remaining in the barrel after the first shot is soft for a period of time however as it cools it becomes quite hard. Thusly if you just put your rifle away you have left all the residue in the bore which will become an abrasive as it cools.
7. Left dirty and cooled down you now have a bore full of abrasive carbon dust which the next bullet downbore will have the abrasive embedded in the bullet jacket and you are from that point on lapping the bore which will cause premature barrel failure. By failure I don’t mean catastrophic failure but the internal dimensions will be changed as the abrasive residue removes barrel material thus the accuracy will deteriorate at an advanced rate. Basically the same principle as “lapping” a barrel is performed except the barrel will become larger internally the further down bore you go as it picks up more abrasive material as it moves along. Bing or Google “barrel lapping process”.
A one piece rod is close to ideal and also get a bore guide. I use Dewey one piece rods and bore guides. I make a carrying case from 1 ½” electrical PVC pipe and put a cap on one end and a clean out on the other. Makes a almost indestructible cleaning rod carrier that will keep rod clean and straight. Wad a old rag up and put in bottom to cushion rod handle when you drop it in for storage. Write your name and rod caliber with Sharpie permanent marker on outside.
As far as bore cleaner I use several. Ed’s Red known also as ER and you make it yourself. Obtain a 2 gallon fuel can, add 2 quarts Mercon Dexron Transmission Fluid, 2 quarts of mineral spirits (a high grade paint thinner) and 2 quarts of K1 kerosene but I also use off road diesel. It is an excellent bore cleaner and stays wet I know for 14 months left in bores. Excellent for locks, cable controls etc. I leave bores wet with it. I also store rifles muzzle down so excess bore cleaner runs out the muzzle and not soak into action area/bedding.
Some of the new miracle bore cleaners are actually too good as they leave a residue in barrel that is so slick the bullets tend to slide foreward when they contact the rifling destroying the bullet’s surface integrity.
Personally I do not know any top flight shooter that uses CLP in their match rifles and this includes the Army Marksmanship Unit and the Marine Corps Rifle Team nor Navy Rifle Team.
A number of folks now use Mobil 1 Synthetic Motor (0W-20, 0W-30, 5W-20 will do). Mobil 1 keeps carbon soft and is also excellent in gas systems for semi auto rifle with good results.
Grease Auto and Artillery GAA (military surplus is also quite good). I have found it in flea markets, surplus places etc. You can also use Grease, Aircraft Wide Temperature Range WTR with good results. If you have any friends that are aircraft mechanics it is known in the civilian world as Aeroshell 33. I grease my vehicles with it. It is available on ebay at times a well.
This is especially good for hunting trips as you can pre grease patches and carry in a jar. I cut military patches (2”X2”) in half and wrap them around a 6.5MM/270 plastic bristle bore brush which makes your patches last twice as long or you can use a 22 cal bronze brush and use the whole patch. Both of these will give you a snug fit in 30 cal bore. Note: You don’t put grease on patch like your wife puts icing on a cake. If you see grease glopped up on patch after you work it in put another patch with it and transfer the excess to another patch. In short you want a patch with grease and not grease with a patch! ! ! A bottle of bore cleaner at the range or out hunting will be spilled quickly.
The greased patches snatch up the carbon residue quickly and you will see your patches turn very black. Make about ten-twenty passes with each patch and change it out for the second patch and repeat. Then same for a third patch. On the third patch just remove and leave bore as is.
Check out this thread:
http://www.shootersforum.com/gun-cleaning/63278-besides-politicians-our-worst-enemy.html
I bought an EGW 1 piece Picatinny scope mount (for a 4-14x IOR Valada), which I heard is pretty high quality. Should I use blue loctite, and do I need a torque wrench?I use 222 Loctite. Can’t tell you anything about your scope selection. I use Burris,Leupold, Unertl, Lyman, NC Star (handgun scopes on rifles) and Weavers. Bear in mind there are lots of scopes out there that will not take lots of sight changes as the internal mechanisms are not designed for multiple changes like a target shooter requires.
I would estimate if you clean every 10 to 12 rounds while barrel is warm as outlined above you should get 10,000+ rounds on your barrel. Barrels are like wives, treat them well and ……………………………..
Also keep a round life log on your rifle. I go to Wally World and get the cheap bound composition books. I then take them to a print shop and get them to shear the books in three equal pieces leaving back spine in place. On the back spine I drill two holes about 2” apart and run mason’s twine cut about 14” long through the two holes and tie a knot in other end.
You can Prusik knot (one loop) the log book to your rifle barrel, trigger guard etc and keep a detailed log of all loads you try, how they work. Record round life etc.
