With all the precision machine work finished there was only a few things left to do before I shoot the new 25x45AI. I torqued my barrel down to 70ft lbs. using a internal action wrench for Tikka's and a torque wrench....this is super easy and should come off just as easily next time!! 
Since I don't have a new chassis yet for the rifle, I borrowed the MDT LSS XL Chassis I used for my 6x45AI. They rifle builds look exactly identical! Better make sure I mark the barrels (which I did). So before I inserted the barreled action into the chassis, I replace the trigger spring with a reduced version (< 2lbs) from Mountain Tactical and the trigger is fantastic (Tikka really does build a nice receiver trigger combo), then it was off to the range! Here is my completed rifle on the bench!
I ran through a quick break in process to make sure i got all the metal and oil out of the barrel. This consisted of the following
1 Shot - Clean
3 Shots - Clean
5 Shots - Clean
Instead of wasting the rounds, I used the break-in cycle to fire form some brass and get the scope close by shooting clumps of dirt on the 100 yard backstop. It sure did feel nice! Super soft shooting with the ability to spot all my shots. My fingers are crossed! I took my first shot on paper and hit right at the 3 o'clock mark. I adjusted my scope and shot a group of 5 shots (still fire forming non-AI brass). Not bad for fire forming brass with a 26.5g charge of Benchmark. This is what I love about AI's...pretty accurate while fire forming. Probably right about 1 Inch @ 100 yards while fire forming and I didn't like the feel of the bipod, it was giving me some horizontal dispersion.
Now it was time to get serious. My first real group with AI brass. I made only a few loads, 5 at 28.0g and 5 at 28.5g of Benchmark. I can certainly do load testing later, this was more or less a functional test of my build. The first group was solid to say the least! My bipod undoubetly cause the one shot to error a bit. But still, the five shot group measured 0.620" and the four without the flyer were at 0.240"!
For the next group I decided to remove the bipod and just shoot off homemade bags full of sand. This felt better than the bipod. 28.5g of Benchmark and a the rifle didn't disappoint!! 0.359" five shoot group! Having shot a lot, I know this is about as well as I can shoot from this setup. If I had real benchrest bags this gun would be lights out. Unbelievable right out of the box! It should only get better from here with some load workup and a better bench setup. BTW the velocity was approx 3170fps for the 70g SBK from a 26" barrel. What a beast!
Needless to say, I couldn't be happier with this rifle. It turned out to be a real shooter (and I didn't have to pay a fortune). All the time and effort really did pay off!
So that's it, the party is over, I'm done! I appreciate everyone joining in on my build, I hope you found it interesting and entertaining. I may still Cerakote the entire assembly, let me know your thoughts on this. Still thinking all black will look pretty nice, but I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks for tuning in, I think I have a new favorite rifle!!
Ryan
Since I don't have a new chassis yet for the rifle, I borrowed the MDT LSS XL Chassis I used for my 6x45AI. They rifle builds look exactly identical! Better make sure I mark the barrels (which I did). So before I inserted the barreled action into the chassis, I replace the trigger spring with a reduced version (< 2lbs) from Mountain Tactical and the trigger is fantastic (Tikka really does build a nice receiver trigger combo), then it was off to the range! Here is my completed rifle on the bench!
I ran through a quick break in process to make sure i got all the metal and oil out of the barrel. This consisted of the following
1 Shot - Clean
3 Shots - Clean
5 Shots - Clean
Instead of wasting the rounds, I used the break-in cycle to fire form some brass and get the scope close by shooting clumps of dirt on the 100 yard backstop. It sure did feel nice! Super soft shooting with the ability to spot all my shots. My fingers are crossed! I took my first shot on paper and hit right at the 3 o'clock mark. I adjusted my scope and shot a group of 5 shots (still fire forming non-AI brass). Not bad for fire forming brass with a 26.5g charge of Benchmark. This is what I love about AI's...pretty accurate while fire forming. Probably right about 1 Inch @ 100 yards while fire forming and I didn't like the feel of the bipod, it was giving me some horizontal dispersion.
Now it was time to get serious. My first real group with AI brass. I made only a few loads, 5 at 28.0g and 5 at 28.5g of Benchmark. I can certainly do load testing later, this was more or less a functional test of my build. The first group was solid to say the least! My bipod undoubetly cause the one shot to error a bit. But still, the five shot group measured 0.620" and the four without the flyer were at 0.240"!
For the next group I decided to remove the bipod and just shoot off homemade bags full of sand. This felt better than the bipod. 28.5g of Benchmark and a the rifle didn't disappoint!! 0.359" five shoot group! Having shot a lot, I know this is about as well as I can shoot from this setup. If I had real benchrest bags this gun would be lights out. Unbelievable right out of the box! It should only get better from here with some load workup and a better bench setup. BTW the velocity was approx 3170fps for the 70g SBK from a 26" barrel. What a beast!
Needless to say, I couldn't be happier with this rifle. It turned out to be a real shooter (and I didn't have to pay a fortune). All the time and effort really did pay off!
So that's it, the party is over, I'm done! I appreciate everyone joining in on my build, I hope you found it interesting and entertaining. I may still Cerakote the entire assembly, let me know your thoughts on this. Still thinking all black will look pretty nice, but I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks for tuning in, I think I have a new favorite rifle!!
Ryan
RG
