Knowing your rifle/ammo/ optic system. And a case for cleaning and re-fouling

The newest light weight 7mm-08 A.I. has been fun to play with. It is a Tikka action, and a Tikka 7mm-08 factory 1:9 barrel, re-chambered for 7mm-08 A.I. Chopped off a 17", threaded and wearing a Tiger Shark suppressor. I found a good load, while fire forming, with 162 gr. ELD-X bullets, then found a good load on formed brass with the same bullet. So that lot of 100 pieces has two firings on it. A glutton for punishment, I decided to buy another 100 pieces of brass, and work up a load with 150 gr. ELD-X. I did that while fire forming, then went through the process on formed brass. The rifle really shoots well on formed brass.

On March 6 I worked my way all the way down the range with it, with a 20 mph wind 5 to 7 o'clock, 47F, DA -432'. DOPE and calculator were matching at 200, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 (300 was .1 Mil different from the calculator). On March 9 I shot it again, 63F, DA 740', but with an 8 o'clock wind 2-7 mph. Elevation ran exactly the same corrections as it did in a lower temp, lower DA, and completely different wind. So the rifle is shooting consistent in different temperatures and wind speeds and directions. Monday, It was 62F, DA 845', wind 8 o'clock 2-7 mph. First shot at 300 yards .3 low, dialed up .3, next shot .4 high. 400 yards, first shot, .3 high. That's it, something is up. So I decided it was time to clean. This barrel has shown me it likes to be cleaned every 100 rounds, and I was just past that.

Gunslick bore cleaning foam from chamber to muzzle, followed by dry patches until they were almost spotless. I counted 7 passes.

Shots are listed in order after cleaning. CCB is Clean Cold Bore.



Shot numbers in parenthesis are totals after cleaning.






After the 3 shot group at .35", I moved POI zero up .2 Mil and right .1 Mil on Monday. On Tuesday I hit center, cold bore at 500 yards.

I like it !!

Now, just set the zero stop and slip on the BDC turret, you're GTG !!!!

Oooooooo...BDC turret......

Very nice JG. Are you going to stay with the 150 gr for the added velocity?

I am going to load some 162's and some 150's and shoot them in the same wind. The 150's seem to be more wind sensitive.

Would expect the 150s to be more susceptible to the winds if they are lower BC. Like we have talked before let the rifle tell you when to clean. Next time it might go a few more or perhaps not.

Your bringing sexy back.....7mm-08

Like kmon1 says, I let the rifle tell me when it’s time to clean. Oddly however, the 223 should be telling me that, but isn’t. I’ll clean the bore anyway. Won’t take long.

I would expect that, yet the 150's are leaving 60 fps faster from the muzzle, than the 162's. The calculator says their drift is equal to 500. But that is not what my gut is telling me. Goes to show, yet again, you don't know how a load is going to really shoot, until you really shoot it.

Something tells me you will get to the bottom of this.

If you run a can or brake the crown can foul up and cause issues along with the rest of the barrel.

I have a headache

I have seen the carbon cake up 1/16" thick on the crown. I have scrubbed that off, but really, I have never had a rifle start shooting bad because of it. I just cleaned it off because it was bugging me.

Always bringing the A game fireman. Good shooting! Hoping to take your class this year finally.

Thank you sir. It would be a pleasure to have you come out.

While the day with me is inexpensive, the rest of your life is not.

Ask BigFitz, and Red Snake

I love your posts. So informative and great shooting.

Truth!