SmallCaliberCentral

well i'm up a running with the new tikka.loaded up 12 bullets 4 weights 3 shot groups

24.8 shows promise though fps was slow at 3300 so was thinking of moving on from 25 carefully to see if i could find a second sweet spot.not bad for the first batch in winds gusting from 15-20 mph and 0 to half value

What was the power and bullet for this load?

sorry can't believe i never added that.siera 39 blitz and rl10x

well got out again today to do a bit more testing.being a tight git i thought i would try using h322 with the vatmint grenades as it had sat on the shelf and needs using.i stuck with 10x for the 39 sbk.
got the new tikka out


set out a target at 100 yds


and here were the results


first the sbk 39s what can i say from 24.8 grn of 10x through to 25.4 every thing was under half inch,nothing special but i was shooting in 15-20 mph head wind and have not touched seating depth as yet so to me the sbk just want to work and once tuned and on a still day will yield some good tight groups.

then the varmint grenades.between them and the h322 i was laughing my butt off as they danced around the target grouping never sub inch and went where the heck they liked.

onwards with the sbk it is then i do like it when a load has a big accuracy node if i go with 25.2 i have room either side if the powder measure is .2 of a grain out.

zx10mike wrote:
onwards with the sbk it is then i do like it when a load has a big accuracy node if i go with 25.2 i have room either side if the powder measure is .2 of a grain out.

Agreed, I analyzed your groupings before reading your post, I had 25.2 as well. I ended up seating the 39 sbks to 2.260". Groups were cut by about 1/3" from 2.25 to 2.26. When you land on your seating depth, I'd be interested to know.

I shot the 39 on pdogs this weekend in 5-15MPH winds at ranges from 200-400 yards. Was dialing a tad over a full minute on the 400 yards shots and those bullets did outstanding in the wind. I use to put the 204 away when winds got near 10mph for anything much beyond 250-300 yards, but it just kept on going and hitting dogs. Shot every last 39 I had loaded up.

toasty in that wind if i was honest that was about as good as i can shoot.i have a silencer due this week wich might tighten things up a tad too.will try seating as they are again with different seating depths next outing. and post findings bud.did you alter your seating 10 tho at a time or less?

zx10mike wrote:did you alter your seating 10 tho at a time or less?

I did .010" from 2.200 to 2.28. There was another decent node at 2.2, but the 2.26 was the best. I have it on my list to go back and check 2.255 and 2.265. I have consistently shot around .5" groups at 100 yards with this gun, but was shocked to see that group shrink in half on a round robin test including the cold bore shot. I retested the load and got another .3" group on a 25 shot fouled barrel. Took me almost 3 years, 4 bullets, 3 powders, 2 primers and about 200 rounds to finally get what my gun likes. Guess I should have bought a cooper.

round robin test?

zx10mike wrote:round robin test?

Just means how I shoot my groups while doing load development. For different charges, I will shoot 1 shot of one charge, then move to the next charge and shoot a shot, then the next and so on, then come back for the 2nd shot of the first load charge and so on. I do this with seating depth as well. I feel like it removes some variables like shooting fatigue, barrel heat, etc..., however I think it adds some variables specifically related shooting form. I found, if you can shoot a group round robin, it will look as good or a little better for consecutive shots.

ahh get it yep that is a good way to do it.