Slightly modified Tikka T3 6.5 CM

[Lost River]

I generally try to limit my shots within 500 with my .308s on elk, and I really work to avoid shooting that far if I can help it. Conditions have to be absolutely ideal. It seems the 400s are pretty typical for the late season hunt. The 155 Scenar has proven to be an exceptional performer on animals for me.


Terrain can be an issue though and the elk have learned to spook at anyone even remotely close.

Here is a pic of my dad and kid on one of our cows from a couple years ago. We got lucky and caught some down low due to the temps. You could not get even sort of close to them, as they were spooking and running over ridge tops

Fortunately that day the herd split and some ran within 3-400 yards of us and we filled two tags in about a minute or so. I was glad we refrained from dropping a 3rd elk*, as it ended up being a challenge just getting those two quartered up and back to the truck. * My daughter is not comfortable shooting at moving/running game, so I have advised her not to take shots she is reasonably sure she can make. These were not high percentage shots for a young shooter, so she made the correct choice to just watch.

The primary reason I use my little 20" .308 is because it is very light and handy for climbing steep hills. When I think I am not going to be doing lots of climbing, I will use my .300wm as I prefer it for extended range shots. It is a pretty basic setup. A T3 that is in a Micky stock and topped with a fixed 10X SWFA mil/mil optic. I am quite comfortable with a fixed 10x, and actually prefer it for hunting in open country. I am currently in the process of doing some bottom metal work on the gun, so as to run an AI mag, in order to run VLD projectiles in the rifle.

[Lost River]

The pic with the kid that was supposed to be posted above..

[Elkhitman]

My Tikka T3, started life as a .243 Win. I Rebarreled it to a 6.5 CM, chopped to 18”, Cerakoted, crowned and threaded, put it in a KRG Bravo and added a NF NX8 4-32 with the Tremor 3 reticle. I’ve hit steel out to 1150 with Hornady Match 147 gr.

[Lost River]

That is a superb setup! That piece of glass is one that I would love to have. NF optics are such nice pieces of gear to work with.

I went with a .260 before the 6.5 CM was introduced, but never spent much time with it. Much like the 6mm Rem vs the .243 Rem, Rem never gave it the proper support and another cartridge ended up bumping it out of it's way. Remington is famous for that. It is a shame, as the .260 AI is really where the sweet spot is in that niche. It still is for the handloader if he wants to get all the velocity he can w/o going to a mag bolt face.

Here is an old article for anyone interested. The punchline is that for example with 139 Scenars you are seeing a (roughly) 200 fps gain with 2601 AI over the 6.5 CM.

https://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek046.html


That said, with Hornady making such superb factory ammo, and so many companies making such good rifles, it is hard to really complain about where we ended up.

I am curious to see what I can do though since I have modded the T3 to run long loaded cartridges. Be interesting to see some #s . Not going to really hot rod it, as accuracy is far more important to me than velocity.

[Crews]

While we’re talking about Creedmoors and excellent Hornady ammo.... I usually use the 140 ELD-M’s because they’re cheaper. Much to my delight, I found that the 143 ELD-X has the exact same zero and dope matched up perfectly out to 600 yards.

Also, the 147 box ammo is ~30fps faster than the 140’s in the same gun. Interesting. Still, in normal rifles at normal velocities I’m not sure there’s a real world justification to move up any heavier in projectile.


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[OlongJohnson]

I went with a .260 before the 6.5 CM was introduced, but never spent much time with it. Much like the 6mm Rem vs the .243 Rem, Rem never gave it the proper support and another cartridge ended up bumping it out of it's way.

This comment in this thread got me thinking about the 6mm Rem AI again. Realized that a T3 in .243 punched out to 6mm AI with .30-06 mags would solve the OAL issue pretty beautifully. Only problem is the 1:10 twist doesn't really support the long bullets. Maybe a 1:8 pre-fit would be the way to go.

[Lost River]

Yep, I stuck a Lilja on my 6mm Tikka, and it is a pretty nice little package.

Modifying the bolt stop is brick simple. It takes very little time and then you can really take advantage of the action. For a 6mm/AI it really makes sense.

[Bratch]

The primary reason I use my little 20" .308 is because it is very light and handy for climbing steep hills. When I think I am not going to be doing lots of climbing, I will use my .300wm as I prefer it for extended range shots. It is a pretty basic setup. A T3 that is in a Micky stock and topped with a fixed 10X SWFA mil/mil optic. I am quite comfortable with a fixed 10x, and actually prefer it for hunting in open country. I am currently in the process of doing some bottom metal work on the gun, so as to run an AI mag, in order to run VLD projectiles in the rifle.

Can you elaborate on the 10x preference? I bought a used M40 clone a while back that has a Leupy 10x. I rarely shoot it but a buddy is getting big into long range so I may start shooting it more. I’ve considered swapping out to a variable but the 10x works fine.

[Lost River]

The preference is personal for a multitude of reasons.

One is familiarity. I was issued M24s with fixed 10s and they are pretty easy to make fast hits with. Speed and simplicity are factors
Obviously you need to know your come-ups, but once you do, you simply range your target and either do hold-overs, or dial your elevation turret, hold the wind and shoot.


Another thing is field of view. When used in the hunting field most deer,elk, coyotes can be seen, along with what is immediately surrounding them. This is a factor, as you don't want another animal walking in front of/behind your target as you are pressing the trigger.

10X provides plenty of magnification for big game. If you can hit man sized silhouettes at 1K during training, then making a clean shot on an elk or deer at 500, or 600 is really no issue.

Again the simplicity factor. I have the SWFA 10X on my 300 win mag set up to be 1 mil high at 100 yards on the load I was using. That puts the actual zero at .1 mil over at 300 yards. Knowing the size of an average set of elk lungs, given a typical broadside shot, I really don't need to dial until the target is closer to 400 and beyond.


With that said, 10X scopes are less than ideal as target scopes, as well as extreme long range target scopes. If I want to hit small steel plates at extended distances, I will take more Xs. More magnification also can allow you to see small details you may not be able to see with less. Plus if I want to shoot the smallest groups on paper, I will take a scope with lots of magnification. I may not use it every time, as sometimes mirage becomes a factor, but you have the ability to dial down and find the sweet spot.

However for a hunting rifle, 10X works fine for a lot of western open terrain big game hunting. It would be a poor choice for hunting in thick terrain obviously, but when your environment looks like this in WY, MT, ID, they are fine.





If I was hunting in the rain forest of the Cascades in the PNW, then it would not be ideal.

[TWR]

6.5 manbun that's too funny. I hated listening to anyone that had a 6.5 CM cause I just knew they were full of it, I mean we have the 260 so this ain't nothing new. Then I shot my 22-250AI against one at 900 yards, the 75 A max going 3450 fps looked better on paper but the wind got me. Moved to 1000 and I was looking for a 6.5 needmoor the next week.

Bought a Bergara Ridge SPR and stuck a 3-9 super chicken on it but this weekend I swapped it for a fixed 10x so I could take advantage of the parrallax adjustment. Made a big difference. I'm loading RL17 and 140 ELD-M's at 2700 fps in the 18" barrel. The Hornady ammo was only going 2535 fps and still made it to 1000. 147's averaged 2499 fps.

I like the mods you did to the T3 and the magazine trick has me thinking. Good to see you around, always love the pics of your area!