Tikka T3 .223 rem

ballistic

I bought a tikka lite in .223 rem. Its main use will be for foxes. I am still waiting on the liscence. What rounds do they shoot well? I am told that the 1 in 8 twist requires a heavy round? I am thinking of a 64 grain federal soft point or a 75 grain hornady. I know every rifle is different but maybe someone could give me some pointers??

Vegeta

ballistic wrote:

I bought a tikka lite in .223 rem. Its main use will be for foxes. I am still waiting on the liscence. What rounds do they shoot well? I am told that the 1 in 8 twist requires a heavy round? I am thinking of a 64 grain federal soft point or a 75 grain hornady. I know every rifle is different but maybe someone could give me some pointers??

don't need to go that heavy i have tikka t3 varmint and use 55 grain remington ammo (wouldn't go below that really) which i find very good for hunting, very suitable for fox.

the first box of ammo i put through the rifle was 45 grain remington ammo which was fine but groups were not as tight as the 55 grain

I have just bought hornady 55 grain ammo and cant wait to put it to paper to see what its like.

.243

ballistic wrote:

I bought a tikka lite in .223 rem. Its main use will be for foxes. I am still waiting on the liscence. What rounds do they shoot well? I am told that the 1 in 8 twist requires a heavy round? I am thinking of a 64 grain federal soft point or a 75 grain hornady. I know every rifle is different but maybe someone could give me some pointers??

vegeta right on the button on this one anything under 55 gr wont stabilize in a 1-8 twist so your best bet is to stay in the medium ,anyway .223 is cheap and cheerful so you might as well get as many different brands is you can and put them through it ,a friend of mine has a remmy in .223 and we've just nailed 2 foxes about 2hrs ago with the federal match bullets (about 12 euros a box) for target shooting,so your best bet is to experement on a clam dry day and take yur time

ballistic

Thank you for the advice.

Terrier

ballistic wrote:

I bought a tikka lite in .223 rem. Its main use will be for foxes. I am still waiting on the liscence. What rounds do they shoot well? I am told that the 1 in 8 twist requires a heavy round? I am thinking of a 64 grain federal soft point or a 75 grain hornady. I know every rifle is different but maybe someone could give me some pointers??

I have a .223 T3 Tikka which I use for foxes. I personal use Remington 55gr AccuTip BT, expensive at €30 per box but are extremly accurate. I use 55gr Remington UMC FMJ (€8.50)to zero (100m) the rifle and get target practice in as they have the same trajectory which is very handy.

Other Rounds I have tried.
American Eagle 50gr HP (€11.50) - Grouped well (ish) - 2 inches at 100m.
Remington UMC 50gr JHP (€10.50) - Grouped well - 1.5 inches at 100m.
Remington UMC 45gr JHP (€10.50) - Loose grouping 4-5 inches at 100m
Remington Match 62gr HP (€27.50) - Grouped well - 1.5 inch at 100m.
Hornady 75gr BT (€27.50 I think) - Grouped under 1.5 inch at 100m - A bit of overkill!
Hornady 55gr V-Max Moly (€27.50 I think) - used these for my first 10 shots haven't tried them since.

Vegeta

Terrier wrote:

Hornady 55gr V-Max Moly (€27.50 I think) - used these for my first 10 shots haven't tried them since.

Are these rounds that bad cos i get them for 20 euro a box???

Terrier

Vegeta wrote:

Are these rounds that bad cos i get them for 20 euro a box???

I just used them for breaking in the gun as the Moly coated round is supposed to be good for the barrel.. couldn't get any more of them to do a proper test.

ballistic

Vegeta wrote:

Are these rounds that bad cos i get them for 20 euro a box???

Where can you get the hornady 55 grains for that money?

Paul O' Halloran will sell the 75 grain hornadys for 25 euro a box or 115 per hundred, also 64 grain federals (soft point) for twenty a box or 87.50 per hundred. Connolys of goresbridge sell 55 grain soft points for 18 euro a box. Has anybody fired them?? Is there any such thing as a budget 55 grain hollow point???

Terrier

ballistic wrote:

Connolys of goresbridge sell 55 grain soft points for 18 euro a box.

What brand are these?

ballistic

Terrier wrote:

What brand are these?

sorry, they are Winchester

Vegeta

ballistic wrote:

Where can you get the hornady 55 grains for that money?

Paul O' Halloran will sell the 75 grain hornadys for 25 euro a box or 115 per hundred, also 64 grain federals (soft point) for twenty a box or 87.50 per hundred. Connolys of goresbridge sell 55 grain soft points for 18 euro a box. Has anybody fired them?? Is there any such thing as a budget 55 grain hollow point???

Ok just thinking about it now i got em for under 20 euro a box. I was charged like 80-84 cent a round for a box of 20. I got them off a gun dealer in new Market on Fergus in County Clare. The single cheapest/soundest gun dealer I have ever used.

My brother bought .270 ammo from him and he knocked 4 euro off each box of ammo from 24 euro to 20 euro.

I would seriously recommend him. I'll PM you his number if you like as it is worth the trip once or twice a year to stock up.

I have bought remington 55gr remington hollow points for 12 euro a box in Steve's Fishing and Shooting in Limerick city

Terrier

Vegeta wrote:

I have bought remington 55gr remington hollow points for 12 euro a box in Steve's Fishing and Shooting in Limerick city

You sure these aren't 50gr HP?
I didn't think remington did a cheap 55gr round

Vegeta

Terrier wrote:

You sure these aren't 50gr HP?
I didn't think remington did a cheap 55gr round

I'll check the box when i go home and could indeed be mistaken. I'll let ya know

.243

a little bit of advice on those moly coated guys,there a great round but make sure you run the rod through when you get home(no matter how late the foxing outing is)as they generate mositure ,btw if you want cheap ammo try john greene in waterford

marlin

hi ballistic
I,ve got a t3 lite like yourself have it for 7-8 months now,like terrier I,ve found the remington 55gr accutips the most accurate and deadly on foxes too,
tried bullet weights from 45 to 64 gr but keep coming back to 55 gr as the best weight in my gun,the only bullets I found to perform as well as the rem accutips are sako gameheads 55 gr softpoint good value at 18 euro/20 but only managed to get 2 boxes from a small local dealer and he,s never had them in stock since
going to try hornadays 55 gr soon

ballistic

.243 wrote:

a little bit of advice on those moly coated guys,there a great round but make sure you run the rod through when you get home(no matter how late the foxing outing is)as they generate mositure ,btw if you want cheap ammo try john greene in waterford

Where is he in Waterford or does he have a shop? I know he makes custom rifles as I read about him in the Irish Shooters digest, but didnt know he sold ammo.

ballistic

marlin wrote:

hi ballistic
I,ve got a t3 lite like yourself have it for 7-8 months now,like terrier I,ve found the remington 55gr accutips the most accurate and deadly on foxes too,
tried bullet weights from 45 to 64 gr but keep coming back to 55 gr as the best weight in my gun,the only bullets I found to perform as well as the rem accutips are sako gameheads 55 gr softpoint good value at 18 euro/20 but only managed to get 2 boxes from a small local dealer and he,s never had them in stock since
going to try hornadays 55 gr soon

Thanks for the reply. Cant wait until I get it. I think I will zero with the umc 55 fmjs they seem to have more or less the same trajectory out to 300 yards as the balistic tips. I am putting a burris euro diamond 3-12 x 50 scope on it with the ballistic plex reticle it should be good.

.243

ballistic wrote:

Where is he in Waterford or does he have a shop? I know he makes custom rifles as I read about him in the Irish Shooters digest, but didnt know he sold ammo.

he's on hennessy rd which is close to the outgoing rd to cork,its not a shop more a workshop you may ring him first for directions if you dont get an answer try in 5 mins as the phone is beside the milling machine ive only got back this evening with my "weapon of mass destruction" till the rest of my tweeks come in (remmy 700 .243 ai ).hey was saying he had an ad going into the shooters digest this month his number is 086-3554425,btw if he isnt busy get him to get you out his 6.5-284 now thats a weapon !!!!!!!

thelurcher

Was reading up a fair bit on ballistics recently so don't know exactly where I read what - but isn't it bullet shape rather than weight that matters when it comes to twist/stabilisation?
I know it's obvious that the longer round is usually going to be heavier but that's not always the case.

Rew

Im pretty sure its weight mainly, shape does effect the trajectory and velocity though.

thelurcher

Found the post from another forum:

VLD means Very Low Drag, ie. long sleek pointy shaped bullets.

first off, it is bullet length that determines the required twist rate to stabilise that bullet, along with a host of other things such as altitude, temp, air pressure etc. etc. as a general rule, heavier bullets are longer so people tend to classify twist rates into the weights of bullets that can be fired.

over stabilisation of bullets is not a big issue that you should be too worried about. there is a school of thought that the bullet will be most accurate if it is just stable and no more, but this will not affect you in a hunting rifle. so if you had a .243 for example and wanted to shoot 65grain bullets with a 1 in 9" twist, it will work well enough.

a lot of factory rifles are marginal in terms of bullet stability when using the top end bullet weights in that cartridge. ie. 100 grain bullets in a .243, 120 grain bullets in a 25-06 etc. etc. they may appear to group ok at 100 yards, but they are probably on the verge of being stable. try them at 200 yards at sea level on a freezing cold day and they may not shoot worth a monkeys. you get the drift i am sure.

a 1 in 9" can be marginal for anthing more than 100grain bullets in a .243 cal. they may or may not stabilise the heavier 105plus grain match bullets. most target shooters opt for a 1 in 8" twist for these bullets. the bullet manufacturers will reccomend a twist rate for each of their bullets. decide what you might want to use and do some research to see what the makers suggest.

the question boils down to what you intend to shoot with it? if you want to stay red deer legal in scotland, using a factory bought rifle, .243 is indeed the min. it will probably shoot 100grain flat base bullets okish. if you want to err on the side of caution and stay legal in the sense that you want a 100grain bullet or heavier, then you may need to step it up a bit, and go for a 25-06, 270 (though you'd need your head examined if you want one of these) any of the 6.5's or a 308 or something......

what do you intend to shoot with it? a .243 is probably still the most common british stalking caliber. it will floor anything that walks about in this country, despite what many people say. if it was a factory rifle i wanted, and it was mostly roe and foxes, with the very occassional sika or red, then it would be a good choice. if it is predominantly the bigger stuff you are shooting, then i'd opt for a 6.5 of some description......

just some food for thought.

valamhic

There may be confusion about Ballistic's question. His Tikka t3 is in 1;8 twist which is very fast, do all those answering also have 1;8 twists? Earlier Tikka's t3s had 1;12 twist. and there were few complaints. Most CZ's in 223 have 1;9 twists. There is definitely evidence that 1;12 causes key holing in the heavier bullets. The longer the bullet, the faster the twist needed, but the best twist is the least to stabilise the bullet within the weight range intended to shoot. For long range work the heavier longer bullet will get out there and the fast twist is essential for that. However many would be happy with a 50 grainer in 1;12 twist, but the experts say, 1;8 will cover all eventualities.

Cass

Zombie thread. Nearly 10 years old.

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