I think it shows potential

Short Round · #1 07-06-2007, 08:35 PM

Went out yesterday and got a new Tikka T3 lite stainless in 7mm Rem mag, then spent the rest of the day making ammo and today shooting it off.

I think I may have found a shooter: these targets are scans of a series of Reloder 22 under 139 gr Hornady interlocks with WLRM primers.

Just ignore the little holes -- some kid shot up my target.

The smallest group -- extreme upper left of the last picture -- goes into .467". I would say that the entire series averaged moa.

Also made some reduced loads with H4895 and 120 grainers, that one is the left hand pic

That middle group is half an inch.

The velocity needs a bit of work, but wasn't too bad. A little bit more screwing around and I think I'll have something here.

Oh, and Dunezilla, it was a pleasure meeting you out there.

packhuntr · #2 07-06-2007, 09:08 PM

Hey, nice stuff Shortround. Some real impressive groups for an out of the box rifle. I have a Tikka 695 chambered in the 7 as well. Not nearly as good of an action in mine as the T3, but after a bunch of gunsmithing, and three grand later, im covering my 3 shot groups with a nickle. I dont reload though, but when i was shooting those groups i was feeding her 150 gr Sierra Game King SPBTs in Federal Premiums. Got a little expensive at nearly 60 dollars a box. I am in serious need of a reloader, or a wife that will let me have one. Im not askin for a girlfriend here, just a reloader. Seems ive got issues and im about to go off here, its getting late. Feels good to look at a hum dinger of a group through the spotting scope. I used to know what that felt like, before this whole baby thing came along, and i somehow ended up shooting box after box of crappy ammo, and still havent found something it likes. Hope the wife reads this

..... Anyways, good luck with the new rig Short Round!!!

keep a strain on er.

Short Round · #3 07-06-2007, 09:21 PM

Thanks! I'm pretty stoked about it, and more than a little nervous. All my shooting today was from a weighted rest, so I still don't know what kind of a chunk she might take out of me when I turn her loose.

The limbsaver pad helps, though.

catnthehat · #4 07-06-2007, 11:03 PM

Looks good!
With a Limbsaver it shouldn't be too bad.

try it off hand and kneeling, and see how thee point of impact looks.
I'm not sure if you are aware, but the point of impact will likely be a bit lower without the rest due to the way the rifle reccoils off the bags as opposed to recoiling off your fore arm .
Cat

Dick284 · #5 07-07-2007, 04:24 AM

Yup it sure looks like your on to something.
Congrats on finding a shooter.
And good luck on furhter load development.

Dunezilla · #6 07-07-2007, 05:57 AM

Yes it was nice to meet you to Short Round. That is a fine looking rifle, and just what.... 6.5lbs. Oh and thankyou for the use of the ear protection....man I also forgot my rifle rest as well. At least I got to test out the 150s....but thier not for me.

Short Round · #7 07-07-2007, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick284

Yup it sure looks like your on to something.
Congrats on finding a shooter.
And good luck on furhter load development.

Thanks Dick -- I did a search on handloading for the 7 on CGN, and saw your thread about your 7mm under-performing velocity wise. You ever get that thing shooting up to speed?

I haven't done enough load development yet to know, but I was a bit more than 100 FPS slow at max charges using the RL22, so I'm thinking I may have to do some tinkering to get the full potential out of this gun, and was wondering if you managed it with yours.

Dick284 · #8 07-07-2007, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Short Round

Thanks Dick -- I did a search on handloading for the 7 on CGN, and saw your thread about your 7mm under-performing velocity wise. You ever get that thing shooting up to speed?

I haven't done enough load development yet to know, but I was a bit more than 100 FPS slow at max charges using the RL22, so I'm thinking I may have to do some tinkering to get the full potential out of this gun, and was wondering if you managed it with yours.

Did finally manage to get about 2950 out of 160 Accubonds and a heap of H1000.(PM me and I'll give you specifics)
I sold it and bought a BLR in 358, hows that for opposite ends of the spectrum.

Short Round · #9 07-07-2007, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick284

Did finally manage to get about 2950 out of 160 Accubonds and a heap of H1000.(PM me and I'll give you specifics)
I sold it and bought a BLR in 358, hows that for opposite ends of the spectrum.

Thanks, but I'm probably going to go with the TSX 140 grainers for everything in this gun. I've got sheep to chase early on this year, and elk at the end, and I don't want to have to re-zero. I'll just have to do some experimenting.

Dick284 · #10 07-07-2007, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Short Round

Thanks, but I'm probably going to go with the TSX 140 grainers for everything in this gun. I've got sheep to chase early on this year, and elk at the end, and I don't want to have to re-zero. I'll just have to do some experimenting.

Good man your following the K.I.S.S philosophy.

7 REM MAG · #11 07-07-2007, 08:50 PM

good to see another tikka and 7 Mag out there lol. What kinda velocities are you getting with your loads? im starting to reload again for my 7 mag and need to start from scratch with barnes and hornady interbonds. thanks for the info

Short Round · #12 07-07-2007, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick284

Did finally manage to get about 2950 out of 160 Accubonds and a heap of H1000.(PM me and I'll give you specifics)
I sold it and bought a BLR in 358, hows that for opposite ends of the spectrum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7 REM MAG

good to see another tikka and 7 Mag out there lol. What kinda velocities are you getting with your loads? im starting to reload again for my 7 mag and need to start from scratch with barnes and hornady interbonds. thanks for the info

Here's the results for the RL 22 :

66gr 2880/2840/2830

67gr 2883/2885/2887

68gr 2943/2967/2948

68.5 2955/2962/2966

69 3001/3008/3017

69.5 3074/3030/3027

70 3089/3088/3079

70.5 3110/3140/3119

I haven't typed up the results for H1000 yet, but they maxed out at 72.5 gr and 2950fps.

The RL 22 stuff is about 130fps slow, according to Lyman -- the primers were getting pretty flat, but no other pressure signs, and each .5 grain increase was still translating into a decent increase in velocity, so I'm not sure if I'm at max or not.

But since this load is just for practice, I'm not really planning on pushing it too much. When I start loading up the TSXs, then I'll really start trying for speed. I just kinda want to start figuring out the tendencies in this gun before I start spending a dollar every time I pull the trigger.

Edited to add: Also, I don't know if the mag is really short on the Tikka, but with the plastic tips on these bullets I had to seat them way the hell off the lands. Fortunately, the gun doesn't seem to care all that much.

7 REM MAG · #13 07-07-2007, 09:02 PM

thanks a lot for the info i think im goin to load RL22 as its what ive used for all my other reload projects. the only thing ive managed to load up for my 7 so far has been a bunch of 100gr hollow points goin nearly 4000 fps with 76gr of RL22. They make shooting gophers too much fun lol

Short Round · #14 07-08-2007, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dunezilla

Yes it was nice to meet you to Short Round. That is a fine looking rifle, and just what.... 6.5lbs. Oh and thankyou for the use of the ear protection....man I also forgot my rifle rest as well. At least I got to test out the 150s....but thier not for me.

No prob on the muffs, man. I'll probably see you out there again sometime.