Some times "It just Is What it Is"!

[diego-ted]

The Tikka below was my first precision rifle, bolt action. I choose the Tikka because of the Sako barrel and the butter like action. I make the claim that this was the last 308 Varmit sold in the US of A. Any how, this was the first load I developed when I took up this sport. It's 45gr of Varget in Lapua brass pushing a 178 Amax, seated 2.112 to the ojive or Tikka magazine length. The target on the top is the 5shot result of the load. I used that load for shooting in the local 300 yard palma match and to ring still out to 1200 yards. Up until now I have about 1700 rounds down the tube.


Well wanting to see if I could improve on a load now that I know a bit more, I started a charge test with the Varget and the same load produced the same results, as shown by the target from today. I will take this test a little further and load closer to the Lands and see if I can tighten up the group a bit. The tikka lands is about an 80 thou jump.




Diego

 

[butchlambert]

So put 5 groups on one piece of target paper and post it.

 

[Dans40X]

butch,
TactiKool painted equipment & their operators aren't capable of such a task!

 

[ChrisT]

Hey the rifle isnt my cup of tea but good on ya,looks like it works for you,what are the groups like at 300?



Regards Chris.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Good looken scheme on that bang stick..

Ray

 

[butchlambert]

My point is and it is about group pics that are printed on this site and others. I can hand pick groups that I have shot over the years that will blow your socks off. You know it proves nothing unless you have at least 5 groups on one sheet of target paper.
I'm not trying to take anything from anybody, but as you will see the serious shooters see a lot of good groups, but not at one time. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I disregard one small group.

 

[diego-ted]

Last time out with this rifle at 300 yards, 15 shot group. Hey Butch, take a breath! LOL I don't have nothing to prove, it is what it is! the groups were shot more than 3 years apart. Sheeezzzeee



Diego

 

[rminut]

I can only take so much and calling a 300 yard match anything related to Palma is just a bit too much. Laying down at 300 with that thing is about as far from a Palma match as a person can get.

honestly if you want to shoot with the Palma team then sling up a 308 with iron sights and shoot Palma or at least learn when to apply the word.

 

[butchlambert]

Last time out with this rifle at 300 yards, 15 shot group. Hey Butch, take a breath! LOL I don't have nothing to prove, it is what it is! the groups were shot more than 3 years apart. Sheeezzzeee



Diego

Did you read all of my post or just enough to get your panties in a wad?

 

[DickE]

Well, I say congratulations. Glad you could put something together and come out like that. Well maybe it can or can not do that all day long, it really doesn't matter. When one can achieve some groups like that, one fells pretty proud, and would like to do a little bragging. And one would expect a somewhat different reply than what I see here. It is really too bad, what ever happened to encouragement and comrade-re. Give the guy a break fellas.

 

[Raythemanroe]

I'm with Butch, but still like the scheme of the thing.. 3 shot groups should be illegal unless your tuning. I thought five was good until some folks said they shoot ten.. Now I'm behind the eight ball again..

Ray

 

[Eddie Harren]

More, "Flip, Flop & Fly".

 

[Erud]

Nice groups. Can you elaborate on what the 300 yard "Palma" match would be that is shot with a scoped rifle from a bipod?

 

[diego-ted]

Last time out with this rifle at 300 yards, 15 shot group. Hey Butch, take a breath! LOL I don't have nothing to prove, it is what it is! the groups were shot more than 3 years apart. Sheeezzzeee



Diego

Did you read all of my post or just enough to get your panties in a wad?

No Butch, I read it and I fly Commando so no panties here!! LOL, These were not cherry picked groups as you insinuated, they were just the ((5)) shot groups that formed up during development. The gun does shoot tight groups, next time out I will shoot a set for you.

As for the match, it is a reduced palma. We shoot Service rife, Open and F\TR using the same rules as any other match. The match is 3 rounds of 15 shots for record. The match is shot prone. It is a lot of fun but for those of you that take a 300 yard match lightly, come on down and show us how it's done. I would love to see your cleans at 300, you should be able to do it with ease!!. We have some pretty good shooters that partake in our little event.

Diego

 

[Billinoregon]

Diego, which scope do you have on your Tikka?

 

[Road_Clam]

Interesting info. I too am experiencing the same inconsistiant groupings. I typically load 10 rounds, shooting 2 individual 5 shot groups, keeping the best 3. I allow a barrel cool down after the first 5. I am observing on many of my tests a kick-arse tight group of .4" , then the next group will yield a 1.2" ? Many times my first group is poor and my second group is awesome, so all I can do is blame my own finger. All's I can do is log my findings, keep shooting and generate averages while working towards that magical perfect recipie for my specific rifle.

 

[diego-ted]

Diego, which scope do you have on your Tikka?

The scope is a Millit LRS, it is not high end by.any means but it has served this rifle well. It tracks good and holds zero and has a huge amount of elevation. The glass to my.eyes is pretty good.

diego

 

[mgx1138]

Tough crowd, Ted . I'm completely with you on how easy it is for the internet crowd to pick apart your post, and yet totally miss the entire point.

As far as why it's called a "Reduced Palma" match, who cares? I don't know and it doesn't concern me in the least. That's what it's called. It's a great match, a great group of folks, and a lot of fun to shoot. Aren't those the real reasons many of us participate in competitive shooting? No one is making any claims whatsoever that it's a regional or national level match. It isn't.

As far as being easy, it's amazing how many first time shooters we have that come out and think they're going to clean up because it's at 300 yd, then end up getting their asses handed to them. For the F-Class shooters, the 10-ring is 0.9 MOA, the X-ring 0.45 MOA, hence the "Reduced" I assume. F-TR and F-Open are not separated. and we have some F-Open shooters that are VERY, VERY good. If you drop more than 1 or 2 points and shoot less than 30 (or more) X's out of 45 shots, you're not going to win. It's that simple. Shooting a .223 or .308 F-TR gun makes that even a little more challenging.

What amazes me most is that this forum used to be a great community made up of people that love to shoot, regardless of the discipline. More and more, I see it becoming like other forums...where there is only one way to do things, and every other way is wrong; where civility and encouragement are becoming replaced by incessant bickering, uncivil behavior, and disrespect. It's sad, really. People here that may look down on our little 300 yd Reduced Palma match are actually missing out. It's one of the most enjoyable monthly matches I participate in.

I will cast another vote for online civility. Correct misinformation as necessary, encourage new shooters, make friends not enemies.

 

[DickE]

YEAA!

 

[Syncrowave]

I don't know my Palma from my foot-a, but that paint job is KEWL.