Tikka T3 Lite .300WM lightweight build weight questions

[ATX762]

In regards to GK Price's post I was reading Col Whelen's The American Rifle the other day in which he talks about how in 30-06 the available 150 bullets in the 1910's and 20's were very poor killers, and either broke up or zipped right through. He recommended only using 180gr bullets in the -06 Elmer Keith says the same thing 20 years later...they still had not quite got 30 cal bullets right...he did not trust the 30-06. Fast forward 80 years and we've got 223 bullets that will expand well AND punch through something the size of a deer...

 

[Wiscat]

I was thinking about going super light with my T3 300. Instead I just changed the stock for comfort, and had it ceramic coated. All in it weights 8#s 2oz w/sling. Fact of the matter, for me, I wouldn't want to go any lighter. It's about as light as I can get while still being "shootable".

 

[Appalaskan]

Also a 22" barrel is great but 300 WM or in fact in any belted magnum cartridge, you are really losing velocity when you go below 24", to the point that you might be better off with a non magnum caliber. Out of that 22" tube you are blowing a lot of unburned powder out the front in 300 WM.

Most folks as a rule of thumb stick with 24" ish in any belted magnum. It is just a lot of powder to burn in a shorter barrel. When you start trimming below that too much, a 300 win mag turns into a very loud, hard-kicking, expensive to shoot, 30-06. The larger bore calibers i.e. 375 H&H and 338 Win Mag are more forgiving to short barrels because of the bore diameter.

Also as you already are saying, you will need a suppressor or a muzzle brake! Even with a heavy 20 ounce scope, bringing the weight to about 7 1/4 lbs, my Tikka 300 Win mag super light kicked the same or worse than my 375 H&H.

My Tikka now wears a 7" suppressor and with the can in place (bringing total weight to just over 8 lbs) it's about like shooting a 30-06 with 180gr loads.

Just as a data point, that is the 24" factory super light barrel, now with a 7" titanium suppressor hanging off it...zero loss in accuracy, it was a half minute rifle from the factory and it's a half minute rifle with the can hanging off it.

Again...I am thinking you will save a lot of money just buying a factory Tikka super light and I doubt you will give up any practical accuracy at all (maybe like .15 MOA or less) and also, you will always get your money back out of a factory rifle and *never* get your money back out of a custom rifle you've built off a factory action. Again, coming from a guy who has a lot of custom rifles.

That said, maybe the fun is in building this rifle. Dumb question but the action holes in the blank Brown stock will work with the Tikka? Or are you looking at bedding pillars in the right spot? That's not hard but it's work and setup. Also it might be a bitch to get the bottom metal bedded in at the right height if you are not working from somewhat prefit stock. I bed a lot of rifles and getting the feeding right when you are not working with a good pre-fit stock is a biatch, sometimes, takes a couple bedding steps to get the height right, test the feeding, before you finally bed the bottom metal in. But again, if you love doing the work itself...

I hope I don't sound patronizing, because maybe you already know this shit. If so, my apologies. And take all of the above with a grain of salt. I've built a lot of rifles and lost a ton of money doing it and also put a ton of time into getting rifles to shoot well. So when i can buy an off the shelf gun that will do 99% of what I need...I very happily buy it and put the money into ammo and trips and the time into trips to the range or trips to the woods.

Regardless of my a-hole opinions...have fun with yer new project!!!!

Which can did you put on your 300wm? Still like it?

 

[Appalaskan]

Shoots like a Tikka. Not a target rifle, but the vast majority of loads will do under MOA for three shots off the bench, and good match bullets will do it for five. Shot a fair pile of animals with it from lynx to grizzly now with almost a dozen different bullets. Latest being a dall sheep at a touch over 400yds last week. I'd say the concept is sound.

Next mod is actually going be shortening the barrel and threading for a lightweight suppressor. Will add the 0.5 lbs back that I took off with the new stock, but should reduce the bark and bite a little and make it easier to shoot from those odd positions. I've found that the mechanical accuracy from the gun only goes so far when I'm rested on a tussock and shooting 25 degrees up hill so I'm trying to improve my ability to shoot it well rather than chasing the last 0.2" Suppressors are supposed to reduce recoil quite a bit along the with the obvious hearing benefit. TBD at this point, but it seemed to be the next step.

Did you end up chopping yours and adding the can? If so, how much did you take off and what can did you get? Thanks.

 

[Yellowknife]

Did you end up chopping yours and adding the can? If so, how much did you take off and what can did you get? Thanks.

Yes. Cut to 18.5" about three years ago and have used a Gemtech Tracker on it ever since. That can turned out to be a good match for a 30-06 and I've had no complaints.