Learning to shoot again. Tikka 6 br and.......

[joshb]

It started with a move then Covid then an addition. I just haven’t had the time to relax, reload and shoot for about a year and a half. I’m rusty and I’ve forgotten a lot of the fine points. I built a 6br repeater with a Tikka 595 action. 8 twist, .268 neck. First time out I had sticky bolt on the first lite load shots doing a load work up. I put it away a year ago and finally got it back out, last week.
I broke down the loaded rounds that didn’t work last year, using Viht 135, CCI 450, 85 grain Sierra MK. I had thought the powder choice was wrong so I used Varget, this time. I measured every aspect of my brass and found the problem. I had broken the rule “New gun, New brass” and used turned brass I had used in my Bat 6 br. Half of the brass was pushed out to .472 at the .2 line, which was too big for the new Tikka chamber. I tried a couple different dies and found joy using a Newlon 30 HBR die. It sized the bases to .470-.4715. They fit, so I loaded with Varget, CCI 450s and Sierra 85s. Loaded necks were .265.
Off to the range and I shot these. Wind was gusting to 50 but the range is bermed and heavily treed. First 50 shots thru the new barrel, so I was just looking for a starting point.
The third shot at 30.7 blew a primer so I stopped. The first two primers were only slightly flattened. Might have been a loose pocket I missed.
I just loaded another 50 at 29.5 to test seating depth off the lands.
It’s back to basics, clean out the cobwebs and learn how to shoot again.
I also just loaded 500 rounds for my new Glock 35 in 40 S&W on my RockChucker to get my arm in shape. 6.7 grains Power Pistol and a 150 FMJ for a lite target load.

 

[JimSC]

Josh if you are looking for a 100 - 300 yard load see if you can scare up some Berger 68 or 80 gn flatbase bullets. I shoot the 68's with VV 133 and the 80's with IMR 8208. Both shoot best ( sub .5 MOA out to 300) with mild mid range loads. For me Varget works better with 105 - 107 boattails and again I look for a middle node. That's with Savage actions using aftermarket stocks and barrels.

edit - BTW nice looking rig you have there, and down here we call 50 MPH gusting winds a tropical storm and sit at home

 

[nakneker]

Great looking rifle Josh! Hows the feeding?

 

[std7mag]

Welcome back to the fold!
I'm still in the learning to shoot stage...
Have a pretty good ( i think) mentor in JEFFPPC.
Now i need to learn to actually listen to what he's saying.
Stuborness is a bad thing sometimes.

 

[ebb]

I also haven't shot for some time. I went out to a friends in Labelle FL and shot last week. I felt like a mule on roller skates.

 

[joshb]

JimSC: I have a couple thousand Berger 65 and 68s. I could try some but I bought 5k of these Sierra 85 MKs to use for this project. I made the stock thinner, lighter and bought the Remington Varmint contour barrel to keep the weight down. I wanted a “walking around hunter” .
I ‘m saving those Bergers for the 6PPC shooting. I have a couple new barrels for my Panda and Bat actions. I just bought an 8 pounder of H322 and I have some 8208 XBR. I might try those to slow my Varget use. Thanks!
Naknecker: She feeds fine! The gun was a 22-250. I monkeyed around the magazine by adding a spring under the front of the follower and it did the trick. Unlike my Tikka 223, it doesn’t need a custom follower to feed single rounds. I can drop a round in the port and close the bolt.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Welcome back to the fold!
I'm still in the learning to shoot stage...
Have a pretty good ( i think) mentor in JEFFPPC.
Now i need to learn to actually listen to what he's saying.
Stuborness is a bad thing sometimes.

Your going to listen?

 

[rjtfroggy]

I know where you are coming from, I haven't fired a shot since the beginning of Jan. and have the first match of the season on the 15th&16th. I am hoping the muscle memory comes back during the warm up relay.
Weather isn't to promising for the next week, and I don't know if my abdomen will hold up for the entire match but I will do what I can to stick it out for the entire match.

 

[K22]

Marksmanship is a perishable skill, at least in my case. I've been side lined with a sprained knee for a few weeks and the lousy weather here hasn't helped either getting to the range to do some practice.

So yesterday I go to the range to do some practice off my shooting sticks, 5 shots at 100 and 5 shots at 200 yards after about a month layoff. 100 yards went ok, not great but 200 was a mess. Good news, I called the bad shots and knew what I had done wrong.

Dry firing practice in the basement with sticks does help but until recently, I couldn't bent the knee too well. Need to get back on it hopefully in time for the first cut of hay the end of the month for some ghog hunting.

 

[JimSC]

Marksmanship is a perishable skill, at least in my case. I've been side lined with a sprained knee for a few weeks and the lousy weather here hasn't helped either getting to the range to do some practice.

that will do it, had almost the same experience. Turned one my ankles into gravel a few of years back, took me 6 months and even then had to take my daughter with me to set up targets. Good part was that 6 months of sitting at home I knew my run and gun pistol days were history and gave me the inspiration to really focus on mid and long range

Just hang in there Josh, it will come back

 

[K22]

that will do it, had almost the same experience. Turned one my ankles into gravel a few of years back, took me 6 months and even then had to take my daughter with me to set up targets. Good part was that 6 months of sitting at home I knew my run and gun pistol days were history and gave me the inspiration to really focus on mid and long range

Just hang in there Josh, it will come back

Thanks for the encouragement - still pissed at myself for being so careless and not paying attention which caused the sprain.

Last spring, in the middle of the pandemic, I had double hernia surgery and it was late June before I could get hunting again - now this knee thing this year. Seems like the varmint hunting gods are against me.

 

[std7mag]

Your going to listen?

I hear ya!