Options for 243 with slow twist?

[TheCougar]

I’ve got an OG Tikka T3 SS in 243. I’ve never had it group well. My other rifles have been fine, but this one, the oldest one… just drives me crazy. I’ve tried a number of factory ammo options and never had success. I gave up on it for several years, but lately I’ve been troubleshooting and trying to figure out what is going on. First, I learned it’s a slow twist 1:10 and most of the bullets I’ve been shooting have been in the 90-100gr range. It’s probably going to get thrown in a Rokstok and see if it helps at all. I’m looking for options and ideas. I’ve got a 223, 6.5, and 7mm in the stable already. I’m not sure of my appetite for spending a bunch of money on the rifle unless it’s going to magically become a tack driver.

1. Try new ammo now that I know my twist is not 1:8. Only the super light varmit bullets (65gr) will stabilize, according to the Berger calculator. Perhaps this is why my groups have been so bad?

2. Sell it. I think it has maybe 200 rounds down the pipe and it’s in great condition, except for a scratch on the barrel. I’ve rarely used it. Mainly it’s been shot on the range trying to figure it out. Getting a few hundred dollars for it would probably be worth it.

3. Turn it into a project rifle. Rechamber it to some flavor of 6mm, maybe? With the slow twist rate, I may be forced to rebarrel it. I really don’t want to spend $1000 to upgrade a $400 rifle.

Open to any ideas here. Thanks

 

[blairmckenzie1]

I wouldnt look at it as spending $1000 to upgrade a $400 rifle.

Think about what kind of rifle you NEED.

You already have a great action to build upon. Prefits or custom barrels from 243 to 30-06 with a bolt stop change. Calibers galore really. Even more if you can track down another bolt with a magnum boltface.

Tikka triggers are great with a $30 spring change. So you are saving $200-$250 vs a Rem 700 trigger.

Unless you need a coyote/ground hog gun swap out the barrel and upgrade the things you want to as you go.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Any prefit should be around 600

Have it rebored by Jes to whatever you'd like

 

[Hnthrdr]

Kind of in the same boat, wish it was with a tikka action and not a savage action. I would vote for rebarrel to 6mm cm and maybe upgrade the stock, but those two things can run you $$$ 1000+ bucks, I would bet it would shoot pretty great though with good components. Outside of ruger and howa, no “cheap” 6mm cm exist

 

[Tmac]

A 243 with a 1 in 10 twist should stabilize 100 gr regular hunting bullets. Are you sure nothing else is going on? If it’s an early T3, and you have eliminated everything else, check the recoil lug. It’s a floating design, usually it’s fine, but they can fail to seat properly and need to be reassembled or bedded. I did have one T3 that after a lot of shooting got indented and the rifle shot poorly. Flipped the lug over and it was fixed. Has a steel one now. The T3’s lugs are aluminum. They put a steel recoil lug in the T3X.

 

[dirtytough]

@Justin Crossley has a regular T3 243. I believe he shoots the 95 Berger out of it. Everything I have seen it shoots fine with them.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I have an OG 243 T3 also and it shoots quite well. For the initial wave of brass and plinking I had bought a bunch of the midway dogtown ammo which is 70gr nosler varmint bullets in nosler brass (head stamped dogtown), that stuff shoots great and we can slap steel with it 500-600yds out. For hunting I loaded up 80gr barnes TTSX which shoot well also.

I'd love a 1:8 twist to load up 95gr LRX for hunting but we'll roast out this barrel first because its a shooter.

I need to work up another target load for once I shoot up all that dogtown ammo.

 

[Lawnboi]

The 90eldx isn’t a bad bullet. Wife and I hunted a tikka 243 10 twist for a year and I was happy with what it did for the 7 deer we shot.

If the barrel shoots I’d burn it up and swap to a 6 creed.

 

[hereinaz]

if you really want another rifle with the same bolt face, rebarrel with exactly what you want.

If not, sell it. You lived without it this long.

Put the money into upgrading something other than another rifle, like binos or spotter where another $700 makes a big difference. This is s missed opportunity for people to enjoy the good stuff when money is allocated shallow instead of deep.

If you want a RSS in .233 buy it with the money from selling.

Or, consider it to be a generously girthed .223 and shoot the 70-80 class of bullets really fast. Velocity makes up for a lot…

 

[KenLee]

I have ten or so 243s with 1 in 10 twist. Many 20 inch barreled youth rifles, but some full sized with 22 inch barrels. None are Tikkas. All shoot some combination of 100 gr old Hornady btsp, Hornady Whitetail, Winchester Power Points, Federal Power Shoks and Winchester Power Max bonded bullets just fine. If they didn't shoot good groups, they'd be long gone. Cheap ammo to have newbies shoot a good bit to get started. All those rounds are fine for whitetails for the 200 yard max I let them shoot. My grown son loves a 243 and has killed many whitetails out to 300 yards with both types of Hornady 100 gr.

 

[TheCougar]

The 90eldx isn’t a bad bullet. Wife and I hunted a tikka 243 10 twist for a year and I was happy with what it did for the 7 deer we shot.

If the barrel shoots I’d burn it up and swap to a 6 creed.

I’m not sure if the barrel shoots or not. It shoots like garbage for me, and I don’t know why.

 

[Lawnboi]

I’m not sure if the barrel shoots or not. It shoots like garbage for me, and I don’t know why.

I’d keep it around for the action if that were the case.

Try some Hornady precision hunter out of it.

 

[KenLee]

I’m not sure if the barrel shoots or not. It shoots like garbage for me, and I don’t know why.

Have you tried any of the factory ammo I listed?
Have you tried pulling the scope/mounts off and starting over with a known good scope and remounted/torqued mounts?

 

[TheCougar]

Have you tried any of the factory ammo I listed?
Have you tried pulling the scope/mounts off and starting over with a known good scope and remounted/torqued mounts?

Some, not all.

Yes on the scope. Multiple scopes.

What I haven’t tried is putting in a new stock, and dropping to a lighter bullet.

The plan is to throw it in a new stock, try some new bullets and see what happens.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

What bullets have you been shooting, the long ones? Some 90+ grain bullets recommend at least 1:9 twist.

 

[Wrench]

My 1:10 howa shoots a 103eldm and 105 amax pretty well to at least 400 at 3k asl.

 

[TheCougar]

I was hoping the bullet might be the problem, but I may have to look elsewhere.

 

[KenLee]

I was hoping the bullet might be the problem, but I may have to look elsewhere.

Barrels can definitely have a personality all it's own. Can't hurt to try some short lighter bullets. Long and lighter may not help.

 

[doverpack12]

I have a 10” twist 20” barrel browning AB3. I started with 65 gr vmax so I knew it shot well, then started looking heavier. The HSM loaded 85 grain Sierra BTSP game king shot well, 90 grain Sierra Tipped Game King I think was too long and shot giant groups, 95 gr Berger classic hunters said they would stabilize so I loaded some of those and it does shoot them great. That is what I am running with likely until the barrel goes out. I shot a bunch of other stuff looking for a load partitions, pro hunters, had some 95 gr Nosler BT that I never got to and decided I was tired of messing around so sold those before trying.
Dime to Nickel size 3 shot groups is the norm, shot my last 6 of this brass cycle the other day that were loaded for a few years and they held right at the outer edge of nickel size.