Long Range Endeavor: Tikka CTR or Tikka TAC both in 6.5Cr ?

[Bergie]

I've decided I want a paper-punching 1,000 yard gun. I shot at the Atlantic Fleet Match earlier this month and when they had their 1,000 yard match, I didn't play because of a few factors (besides, I don't like borrowing guns). So being a Tikka fan for all my hunting rifles, I've narrowed down my choice to one of these: A) Tikka TAC A1 or B) a Tikka CTR w/24" barrel and maybe throw on a Manners stock.
With the 6.5 Crdmr round, are these the same rifle, but with different chassis? At first blush, it seems to be the same bolt, barrel, trigger, etc.
(My option C is to do a complete build for a 6.5x284 using Rem parts, Jewel, and Shilen, etc.)
Thoughts anyone?

[xd ED]

I am far from the broadest base of knowledge hereabouts, but from my limited experience, I think Tikka is an excellent choice for the basis for a competition rifle without really breaking the bank. It still won't be cheap, but offers great value with little, or no compromise.
If you're looking for something to shoot competitively, of your options, the closest I'd choose would be the Tikka chassis rifle in 308, and opt for a custom 30-32" barrel.
Done with the right load, you'll have >.5 MOA rifle.
I believe it would be the least expensive way to acquire a rifle capable of putting the shooter in the running at mid-long range matches.

If you chose to shoot F Class, FTR limits cartridge selection to 308, or 223.
Any other round puts you in Open Class, which gets into even more of an equipment race where these stock rifles wouldn't fare well.

I an not familiar with the match you mention, but locally, the mid, and long range shooting is highly competitive in the sling and F Class disciplines. I haven't seen any bone-stock rifles shoot great scores; good - yes.


I use a Tikka t3x as the basis for my FTR gun. I went that route on the advise of a guy who earned his Long Range High Master rating with one built for shooting F-Open(don't recall the round used).
I've pulled out some competitive scores with mine on occasion ...

Other than a Tikka, my next move would be a full custom action, which will add at least $1k to the price of the rifle above and beyond a Tikka based gun.

[Rip Van Winkle]

Hi Bergie,

If I were in the market for a long range rifle I'd take a look at the for sale sections of the National match and Long Range forums here.

http://www.usrifleteams.com/lrforum/
http://www.usrifleteams.com/forums/

As for cartridges, if I were to build a dedicated rifle for long range, I'd go with the venerable .308 Win. The reason being 2/3rds of the long range matches in this part of the country are Fullbore and Palma matches (308 only).

The 6.5x284 was a popular cartridge several years ago. What guys found was it was a barrel burner with only around a 800-1500 round service life. If I had the hots to build a rifle other than the .308, it would be either in one of the 6mm wildcats or a .260 Rem.

As far as the Tika goes, I don't know a lot about them other than they seem like a good solid action.

[Erud]

Bergie,
I believe that the Atlantic Fleet is a traditional Highpower type of match (shot from a sling) sort of affair, correct? If that's the case, are you looking for a rifle to shoot prone with a sling, or something to shoot off a bipod? If sling, I don't know if I'd recommend either of those stocks for that type of shooting. Not that they wouldn't work, but I think there are better choices for that. If it's meant for bipod type shooting, I'm already out of my depth and will slowly back away from the topic...

[UnaStamus]

The TAC A1 and CTR are both punching half minute groups with factory match ammo in various training. Doc Spears of Forge Tactical LLC has been extolling the accuracy of the TAC A1.

With respect to cartridge, I highly recommend your option of 6.5 CM. It’s one of the better cartridges out there for shooting. If you want to shoot in a specific match that requires something else like a .308, go that route. Otherwise, avoid .308 for a competition cartridge unless you are only competing against their .308s. The 6.5mm and 6mm loads are slaughtering the traditional cartridges like .308 in competitions like PRS.

[speedy396]

If you want to stick with Tikka, another option would be an Eliseo tube chassis. They make a version for a Tikka action and you may even be able to use one of your hunting Tikka actions. A smith could chamber couple of barrels in different calibers for what ever you will be shooting. This would allow you to select a match grade barrel in the profile and length best suited to the shooting discipline with a good chamber. Newer Tikka actions have a decent trigger and the bolts are pretty smooth. Tikka barrels are metric and some smiths may not work on them. I think this would get you a more competitive rifle at a comparable price to the factory tatical Tikka.

[Ghost]

I thought the 6.5 CM was designed more for the semi auto and .260 rem the better choice in a bolt gun? I think that it's a very minimal difference but that's the way I understand them. Also depends on if you reload or not, there's many more options in 6.5 CM than .260 in factory offerings.

[OldmanFCSA]

Get an ArmaLite AR-50A1 National Match and shoot big holes in paper at 1000 yards or 1760 yards or more out to 3520 yards in King of 2-Mile FCSA Match competitions. (http://www.fcsa.org)

[unfitmother]

Bergie, what scale do you use for reloading?

I ask because I didn't consider how important a good scale is for long range shooting until recently, and now I wish I had budgeted for a laboratory-grade scale before buying a $700 spotting scope.

I know that learning to read the wind will improve my shooting more than an expensive scale, but I wish I didn't feel so much doubt about the results of my most recent ladder test.

[goalie]

Bergie, what scale do you use for reloading?

I ask because I didn't consider how important a good scale is for long range shooting until recently, and now I wish I had budgeted for a laboratory-grade scale before buying a $700 spotting scope.

I know that learning to read the wind will improve my shooting more than an expensive scale, but I wish I didn't feel so much doubt about the results of my most recent ladder test.

A beam scale is more than accurate enough to make world-class consistent powder charges. I use a trickler and it's not too slow.

I personally grabbed a Gen II Ruger Precision in 6mm Creedmoor from CDNN for 800 bucks shipped last Fall. Easy barrel change for down the road. I may upgrade the trigger, otherwise I'm just shooting it stock.

[UnaStamus]

I thought the 6.5 CM was designed more for the semi auto and .260 rem the better choice in a bolt gun? I think that it's a very minimal difference but that's the way I understand them. Also depends on if you reload or not, there's many more options in 6.5 CM than .260 in factory offerings.

The 6.5CM was designed for a semi-auto, but that is because the casing dimensions allow loads to be made with heavier/longer bullets and fit in a PMAG-LR. That being said, Johan Boden from Federal ammo said that they determined that the .260Rem was actually better for the semi-auto platform due to the shallower angle of the shoulder and overall design of the cartridge. It feeds more reliably apparently.

Regardless, the 6.5CM is being used extensively in bolt rifles in both hunting and competition. For the 6.5/.264 cartridges, it’s one of the best out there for commercial use since the ammo is plentiful and there are a myriad of loads. .260Rem is available, but not to the level of 6.5CM. Go to Cabelas or other places and you will find 3x as many 6.5CM loads as any other cartridge in that class. There are good arguments for the 6.5x47 Lapua, 6.5-284, etc as well, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter much. Variations of a theme.

[Ghost]

I thought the 6.5 CM was designed more for the semi auto and .260 rem the better choice in a bolt gun? I think that it's a very minimal difference but that's the way I understand them. Also depends on if you reload or not, there's many more options in 6.5 CM than .260 in factory offerings.

The 6.5CM was designed for a semi-auto, but that is because the casing dimensions allow loads to be made with heavier/longer bullets and fit in a PMAG-LR. That being said, Johan Boden from Federal ammo said that they determined that the .260Rem was actually better for the semi-auto platform due to the shallower angle of the shoulder and overall design of the cartridge. It feeds more reliably apparently.

Regardless, the 6.5CM is being used extensively in bolt rifles in both hunting and competition. For the 6.5/.264 cartridges, it’s one of the best out there for commercial use since the ammo is plentiful and there are a myriad of loads. .260Rem is available, but not to the level of 6.5CM. Go to Cabelas or other places and you will find 3x as many 6.5CM loads as any other cartridge in that class. There are good arguments for the 6.5x47 Lapua, 6.5-284, etc as well, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter much. Variations of a theme.

Seems like everywhere (on forums) that someone asks which to get they say the 260Rem for bolt and 6.5CM for semi. Thanks for the info. I chose the 6.5CM because Fleetfarm had 8+ offerings for 6.5CM and 0 or 1 for 260Rem.

[goosed]

I've decided I want a paper-punching 1,000 yard gun. I shot at the Atlantic Fleet Match earlier this month and when they had their 1,000 yard match, I didn't play because of a few factors (besides, I don't like borrowing guns). So being a Tikka fan for all my hunting rifles, I've narrowed down my choice to one of these: A) Tikka TAC A1 or B) a Tikka CTR w/24" barrel and maybe throw on a Manners stock.
With the 6.5 Crdmr round, are these the same rifle, but with different chassis? At first blush, it seems to be the same bolt, barrel, trigger, etc.
(My option C is to do a complete build for a 6.5x284 using Rem parts, Jewel, and Shilen, etc.)
Thoughts anyone?

Same trigger, action and barrel. Just different stock/chassis.

Tikkas are fine for starting out. Accuracy is darn good for a factory gun, but a lot of current barrels appear to be running slow (100-150fps). Not a big deal, you'll just have a bit more wind drift at distance.

I'm not familiar with the altantic fleet match... what's the course of fire?

6.5-284 can be a great cartridge and used to be fairly common, but these days the belly benchrest guys (f-class) who can pick any cartridge to shoot at 1000yds choose to go with something in 7mm (284 most common) far more often than anything else. While PRS shooters who shoot inside 600yds most often have gone the opposite direction and most are shooting little 6mm's. Something worth thinking about pending your goal is to win and not just have fun competing.

[Bergie]

Thanks to everyone who gave me their two cents- it does mean a lot to me and made me realize "I don't know what I don't know' ! I need to step back and assess my goal (ie FClass, PRS, etc.) *The Atlantic Fleet Match is for service rifle. But they had a 1k yard side-bar competition for people that brought their rifles. Part of what made me rethink my course is when unfitmother asked me what scale I was using for reloading.....that's my next endeavor! What the heck, it's just time and money..... (I keep telling my wife, I could be going golfing, etc and that'd cost me even more!)

[Erud]

If you are looking to get into NRA prone (sling) type shooting, we have a lot of options in this area. Feel free to pm me if you are looking for info. Here’s a good calendar of local matches:

https://lifeofashooterswife.com/rifle-s ... -schedule/

Lots of other related info there too.