I have had this Tikka T3x in 270 win for about 9 months w/o a hiccup. Shoots several loads at half MOA, and i am very happy with it. The other day, I had a bullet get stuck in the chamber. Powder everywhere, several words were said, etc. I have never had this happen before. I always take several measurements with the stoney point kit, and go 10-20, or whatever thousandths off the lands and record the group difference on most all of the rifles I work on. This Tikka, I kept 20 thou off for the OCW tests, and was saving the depth tests for later on.
Anyway, I went to remeasure the distance to the lands, and my numbers were all over the place. I ran several patches of WD40 down the barrel in an effort to save most of the fouling, but still remove whatever was causing the bullet to get stuck, even though it was 20 thou away. Still no luck. I called Hornady and Sierra, they had never heard of this either. So, that was one nightmare I went through.
The second nightmare, was the exact same thing happened to by Kimber Montana in 243 win with a Douglas barrel on it! And On the same day! Again, I cleaned all of the powder out, put several patches of WD40 down the barrel to save the fouling. That didn't help. So I brought out the JB Bore paste and Bore bright. Now I am back to getting constant reading with the Stoney point Case Length Gauge.
The Kimber measured 2.992'' to the lands. the Bullet seating depth was set at 2.966'' off. So my question is, how does a bullet get stuck in the barrel being .030'' off?? What type of dirt or fouling would cause this? I have been doing this stuff since the 70's. Not as much as I have been for the last 15 or so years, but dang! It's not like I have been hunting in a desert with 50 mph winds, or in anytime type of dirty environment. And most of the time i keep tape on there end of my barrel.
So For now, and to bring an end to my nightmare, I just loaded at Sierra's and Hornady's suggested OAL's and call it good for now. What do you think happened? Thx.
Anyway, I went to remeasure the distance to the lands, and my numbers were all over the place. I ran several patches of WD40 down the barrel in an effort to save most of the fouling, but still remove whatever was causing the bullet to get stuck, even though it was 20 thou away. Still no luck. I called Hornady and Sierra, they had never heard of this either. So, that was one nightmare I went through.
The second nightmare, was the exact same thing happened to by Kimber Montana in 243 win with a Douglas barrel on it! And On the same day! Again, I cleaned all of the powder out, put several patches of WD40 down the barrel to save the fouling. That didn't help. So I brought out the JB Bore paste and Bore bright. Now I am back to getting constant reading with the Stoney point Case Length Gauge.
The Kimber measured 2.992'' to the lands. the Bullet seating depth was set at 2.966'' off. So my question is, how does a bullet get stuck in the barrel being .030'' off?? What type of dirt or fouling would cause this? I have been doing this stuff since the 70's. Not as much as I have been for the last 15 or so years, but dang! It's not like I have been hunting in a desert with 50 mph winds, or in anytime type of dirty environment. And most of the time i keep tape on there end of my barrel.
So For now, and to bring an end to my nightmare, I just loaded at Sierra's and Hornady's suggested OAL's and call it good for now. What do you think happened? Thx.
