Tikka T3 Sporter .223 for F-Class

[warbird2006]

My wife shot couple F-Class matches with 223 cal rifles. She loves Tikka Sporter and so she will get one for this upcoming Christmas. It has fast 1:8 twist which should be good for heavy bullets.

I've read that that the loaded ammo with heavy, longer bullets will not fit the factory magazine and it will be difficult to load the rifle single shot.

Any suggestions? I will appreciate any comment.

 

[johnu]

Someone may correct me, but I think the Sporter has the same receiver as the T3 which only comes in one length - long enough for a 30-06 (or longer.) The magazines for the smaller cartridges have a block in the rear. You may be able to remove this and make it shorter, or use a magazine for a longer cartridge and either replace or modify the follower.

John

 

[mac86951]

not critical for the Tikka T3. F-class is 20+ round strings, so you aren't fitting 20 rounds in the factory mag anyway... single loading means putting the bullet in the rifle and closing the bolt on each shot. Not a problem for a bolt gun, but difficult for a direct impingement firearm like the AR15. The AR15 magazine also tops out at a COL of 2.260" which I belive the Tikka does not. It limits to ~2.300 or so. This still might be too short for the 77-90gr bullets used in F-class, but if you are single loading each shot it doesn't matter.

FYI my AR15s 223 Wylde chamber would like to have the COL at ~2.450" and the 75gr Hornady A-max which shoots very well needs a COL of 2.390" min.

I say that it isn't a problem if you just use the magazine as a follower and don't load from the mag. (up to you). a 77gr bullet does shoot from 2.260"COL, but you can benefit from more velocity and more powder by seating longer.

-Mac

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Sounds like the Tikka must be one of those hateful controlled round feed; only useful if you want to slowly load while standing on your head or if you're in Australia.

The 1:8 twist will be fast enough for 80gr bullets and those are really about the lightest ones you want to use in F-Class from 300 yards on. If the action is indeed a long action and you can fix the mag to make it longer inside, you should be good to go.

CRF, brrr. Yuck.

And Mac, why do you think it's difficult on an AR-15? My AR-15 based F-TR rifle is a dream to operate and it's fast to load and shoot, much easier to use prone than a bolt action. I can shoot an entire string in F-class without even breaking cheekweld. Try that with your bolt action.

 

[r bose]

If for some reason you MUST use ammo at "mag length" I'd try this. This past year several XTC shooters had very good success using the 82g berger bullet (bc is .445 if I remember correctly) seated to mag length. It works, I shot some during a rapid fire stage at 300 yards posting some very good scores during windy conditions out of my AR-15. If you call berger, they can give you mag length load data.

I'm not familiar with the Tikka rifle but this is a very good solution if mag length is required.

 

[DMC]

I use the 1:8T T3 Tikka Varmint 223 in local factory 300m comps, the problem you'll find is that all the T3's are short throated, I've shot the 75 AMax's with success ( loaded longer then mag ) but i'll now using 77 Nosler Custom Comp, these are designed to be shot at mag length These seem to be working well with BR4's and Varget, shooting a best of 1.00" at 300m in a comp from a bipod, which from a 100% factory gun and bipod i'm very happy with. I'd say the AMax's or the Berger's would be a better choice for anything longer then 300.
Shooting T3's as a single shot can be problematic as the loading port is fairly small and a long way from front of the chamber, however there are several single shot blocks / adapters that replace the mag and allow easy single round feeding, much easier on the fingers !

Safe shooting

DMC

 

[DMC]

+1 on what Dave said
Here are a couple of T3 Loading Blocks/Mag Adapters that work well

DMC

 

[DMC]

Not sure why pics didn't go with previous message ??

 

[DMC]

Here is one of the others

 

[Thauglor]

Someone may correct me, but I think the Sporter has the same receiver as the T3 which only comes in one length - long enough for a 30-06 (or longer.) The magazines for the smaller cartridges have a block in the rear. You may be able to remove this and make it shorter, or use a magazine for a longer cartridge and either replace or modify the follower.

John

You are correct. The T3s are all the same receiver length, just remove the magazine block and modify the bolt stop to allow the bolt to go back further and then you can load longer rounds.

Sounds like the Tikka must be one of those hateful controlled round feed; only useful if you want to slowly load while standing on your head or if you're in Australia.

The T3 is not a controlled feed. It uses a Sako extractor because it is essentially made by Sako (my barrel says Sako on it).

 

[yukonal]

A number of guys I shoot with tried the T3 Varmint in factory class and as DMC said single feeding isn't easy with a Tikka. The port isn't very big and to feed properly the round has to be angled up. The most successful approach was to take the mag out and single feed from the bottom with an AR-15 stripper clip. Sounds awkward but in reality it works very well.

That's bullship. I've fired over 1500 rounds thru my Super Varmint in F-TR competition. One round at a time. Never had a feeding malfunction, or a problem feeding thru the port.

The yellower follower is called a "Bob Sled". I use it, and it's an excellent product.

 

[sdbob]

Plus one on the bobsled for the Tikka, my tactical in.223 is the most accurate factory gun I own with 75 grain a-max's.

 

[warbird2006]

Thanks for all your comments.
I've installed loading block into the mag and shot 200 rouns 77gr SMK.
Feeds awesome, no problem.