Picked up a Tikka T3 CTR in .260 remington a couple of weeks ago and finally got to shoot it yesterday. It was a chilly 34 degrees out.
Tikka T3 CTR .260 Remington
Atlas bipod
Leupold PRW low rings
Leupold Mark AR mod 1 6-18x40
It took about ten shoots to get on paper at 100 yards. I should have done a better job bore sighting it as to not waste my hand loads. The shot to the far left is one from sighting it in. I only fired 15 shots total as my wife and I had been shooting .223 earlier and we were getting cold and hungry.
The load is the picture was as follows:
Brass: Laupa
Bullet: 139gr Laupa
Powder: 40.7gr H4350
Primer: CCI BR2
COAL: 2.790"
I’m heading back to the range tomorrow to retest 40.7gr, 41.0gr, 41.5gr and 42.0gr of H4350. If I don’t see any pressure signs at 42, I’ll try a few at 42.5 and 43gr just to see what velocity I get from this 20" barrel.
11/30/2014 Update:
The weather was much warmer today, overcast but 61 degrees. Tested the velocity of my loads today. All of them grouped under an inch at 100 yards and no signs of excess pressure so I’m going to test 42.5 and 43.0gr of H4350 next to get more velocity.
I’m torn between the Element chassis or the KRG x-ray chassis in Sako green. I hope to get back to the range in a couple of weeks to do some more testing. So far I am very happy with my purchase.
I’m looking at options for a “do all” rifle. Want the weight down, “compact” will do the folder option with it. Want to do a FN build with the Element. XLR (Kyle) stated he would do the Element for a Winchester/FN if I had 20 interested parties. Had a thread on SH before the switchover and after a month, had two. I guess it’s like today’s society, perception of right and wrong and the belief that blemington is the best. Tikka/Element seems to be the next option or the Evolution chassis with receiver mod to the FN.
OP, I would do the Element, much lighter, cleaner and fitting of this rifle. It’s just the pack rat in me, but keep the original stock and mag in case you ever want to switch it back. How’s the bolt feel, trigger, etc?
Haven’t tested anything else yet. Honestly I probably won’t get to the range until Christmas. I’m trying to get a hold of some of the Laupa 136gr L scenar’s to test as well.
As for the 783, you can tell it is a low quality rifle but it actually shoots quite well.
Had a chance to get back out with the .260 today. Bad news is I somehow lost the nut to the strap on my Magnetospeed Chrono so I wasn’t able to get any data on today’s two loads. Good news is I still had fun and so far every load I’ve tried has resulted in groups less than 1" at 100 yards.
No signs of over pressure from either 42.5gr or 43.0gr of H4350. The group at 43.0gr is 10 shots.
I’m going to find a nut that will fit my Magnetospeed Chrono and test 42.5, 42.8 and 43.0gr of H4350 right after Christmas. I’m trying to see if I can get 2700 fps with decent SD and ES numbers.
Anyone else got any results to share regarding their .260?
Thanks, I loaded 42.5, 42.8 and 43.0 this morning and found a wing nut for the strap to my Chronograph so I should be all set to retest sometime this week.
Had a chance to get to the range this morning and retest for velocity. Cases are virgin Laupa with no prep and I did switch to Federal 210M primers. Bullet is still the Laupa 139r scenar with a COAL of 2.790".
Groups were nearly the same for each load. They are so close in size it really doesn’t seem to matter which load I choose. I need to work on getting the SD and ES down.
Loaded up 35 more 139gr Lapua scenars with 43.0gr of H4350. The wife and I had a blast smacking steel at 600 and 750 yards today. Time to get a 20 moa rail for the Tikka as I didn’t have enough scope for 1000 yards and we weren’t comfortable trying a hold over.
Coincidentally, I was on Tikka’s website a few days ago looking to see if they made rifles in .260 Rem, and was glad to see that they do. I was starting to look at CZ’s in 6.5x55, but would like a short action, 260, but CZ doesn’t make one, so that is why I was checking Tikka. This will be my next bolt gun. They are known for their smoothness, and accuracy, so I am not surprised at your groups. I also reload, so appreciate the data.
This gun just flat out shoots. The recoil is definitely less than my Remington 783 in .308. I think I’ll ask Santa for the Tikka T3 CTR in .308 for next Christmas unless my wife ends up wanting her own .260. She was super pumped after smacking steel at 600 yards with no effort.
I think I will really like the .260 due to its performance, and less felt recoil than a .30-06, 270, etc. The availability of .308 brass to reform, and reload is another plus. I see this caliber as my all around hunting rifle for just about anything out there in the lower 48.
I have a T3 Lite in .260 in a Manners stock that I use for my all-around hunting rifle.
I got an email from Tikka Performance a week or so ago advertising that they were going to do a Tikka group buy. One of the rifles in the program is a T3 CTR Stainless in .260.
Needless to say, I ordered it.
