204Ruger

Hi,

I'm in the UK, where nearly every Tikka T3 imported is a 20" barrel, I had one for a short while but was disappointed that I was only getting 3850ft/sec (maximum) from 32gn Hornady factory ammo - it was astonishingly accurate though. After a long search I've found a varmint barrelled T3X, with a 23.5" barrel, its 1Kg heavier, but I'm not over-fussed about the extra weight. Should be collecting the rifle in a week or so.

Just wondering if anyone on here also has the longer barrelled varmint T3X, and if so what MV they are getting? Tables show that a 23" barrel should produce just over 4000ft/sec, however I know from experience that no two barrel brands are the same, and MV can be drastically different for the same length.

Most of my fox shooting is at night (rabbits and hares also), I always use NV and accurately determining distance with NV isn't easy, knowing that I've got a virtually flat trajectory out to 250 yards from a 4000ft/sec bullet makes life a lot easier for those humane head shots.

Cheers!

Chris

I have a T3 Hunter in .204 and will measure the barrel length tonight. I just got my son a chronograph for his birthday and hope to try it out this weekend. I'll report back as soon as I shoot as I'm wondering what the MV's will be also. I have some 32 gr. Hornaday factory ammo to compare with some reloads I did last weekend. I loaded up some Berger 35 gr. with Varget powder in different weights and also did some Varmegedden 32 gr. with BL-C2 powder. Randy.

chris,,,,, what do you use for night vision, t y

Dronepro 10x, it's fantastic. But I spot using thermal.

Picked up the 23.7" varmint T3X today. The rifle doesn't have a muzzle thread yet so I can't use a moderator (suppressor) at the moment, so just the one shot tonight, not ideal but will test properly later in the week.

3993ft/sec

So that's around 50ft/sec per 1" of barrel.

Will be interesting to see just how much you will actually gain. I would venture to say you will be in the 3940 range. It will really surprise me if you get over 4000 fps. Let us know when you have it up and running, with the 23.5 barrel and what you do. Bill K

you might try a load using H-4198 and 32 grain hornady v-max bullets. in my .20 practical using 24.1 grains with a 22" bbl chronographed 4043 fps. this is a .223 case necked down to .204 and very accurate in my t/c venture. this rifle comes from the factory with a 1 in 10 twist rate. in my .204 ruger savage model 12 with a 26" bbl and 39 grain sierra loaded with 25 grains of H-322 puts 4 rounds in a .188" group. i get wonderful accuracy using H-322 with about any load combination.

OK, chrono results, using 32gn Hornady Vmax factory rounds. Couldn't do any more today as its way too noisy for my farms without a moderator, off to the gunsmiths next week to get that muzzle threaded. I recon the satin stainless finish is going to mar pretty bad though in the lathe or steady jaws.

3993 ft/sec
3990 ft/sec
3988 ft/sec
3971 ft/sec
3991 ft/sec
3968 ft/sec

Average over 6 shots: 3983 ft/sec

This rifle is ridiculously accurate, I was only shooting at 80 yards as it was getting foggy, and raining, but once dialled in with the first 3 shots was a ragged one hole group with the final 3.