I bought holy cow’s Tikka, and it’s even better than advertised.

[Pharmseller]

I’ve been looking for a stainless T3 Varmint in .223 for a long time. I posted a WTB over at 24hourcampfire back in Feb and a guy sent me a message a couple of weeks ago that he had seen holy cow’s ad here. So I joined your party and made a deal with holy cow. Great seller.

HC said the rifle was probably unfired and I’m sure he’s right. Either that or someone went to a lot of trouble.



All of my Tikkas wear Limbsaver recoil pads so I put one on the Varmint. It keeps the LOP consistent. I installed a Yo Dave trigger spring as well as an aftermarket bolt shroud. Warne mounts and a Leupold FX-3 12x40mm AO Target and she’s ready for the range.

My 1-8” Tikkas all shoot the 75 grain ELDM exceptionally well. I’m hoping this one does, too.

Thanks again holy cow.



P

 

[Pharmseller]

Well, she’s a shooter. I started off with Pest Control, my 50 grain Ballistic Tip Varmint load.

Three shots on the left are the first three at 100 yards after getting on paper. Two clicks right are the two holes (three shots) just left of the red dot.
One more click right and the bull was gone.

Disappointed, though, that she didn’t like the 75 grain ELDM load. The good news is, I get to work up a load. That’s always fun.

Next up is to chrono Pest Control. I’m expecting 3400 fps.




P

 

[Mudflap621]

Beautiful rifle wish mine was stainless! Mine really likes the 77 SMKs.

 

[powdahound76]

And yes. Holy Cow is a solid member and good to do business with.

Nice rifle. Enjoy

 

[DeadAss]

i bought the spare 223 mag he had for your rifle. Great guy to deal with !

 

[Pharmseller]

Chronoed Pest Control today. Only four shots. 50 grain BT Varmint, 26.5 grains Benchmark (safe in my rifle, work up to it), average 3421. High 3450, ES 46. Kinda surprised by the ES being that high but this load chronoes 3400 in three other rifles. Pretty pleased so far.



P

 

[psdan000]

Beautiful rifle, love the setup. I know Dan personally he's a great guy. If I hadn't already had a Tikka varmint in .223, I would have bought this one off him, mine is not the stainless but the 1/8 twist and it LOVES the Sig loaded 77gr OTM, it literally puts them into a ragged hole at 100 yards, might want to give that specific ammo a try. You cannot beat these rifles for the money. Enjoy it!

 

[psdan000]

Also to add...dont see a lot of the Leupold FX-3's, I have one in 6x with a target dot (bought it from Holy Cow)...one of my favorite scopes, I have it on a CZ457 .17HMR and that combo is deadly around my yard for varmints.

 

[Pharmseller]

Also to add...dont see a lot of the Leupold FX-3's, I have one in 6x with a target dot (bought it from Holy Cow)...one of my favorite scopes, I have it on a CZ457 .17HMR and that combo is deadly around my yard for varmints.

I love the Leupold straight 12s with AO and target turrets. Too bad they quit making them. They’re hard to find now. All of my .223s wear them.

When my son started hunting I put a straight 6 on his .30-06. All the glass most hunters need.

 

[fanninland]

Sweet little rifles…mine’s not a varmint but the compact with an 8 twist. Really likes FGMM 77gr - it’ll get 5 touching if I do my part.

 

[kentuckyMarksman]

Mine is a T3x Varmint. It didn't like 75gr ELDMs, but likes the 75gr BTHP and the 80gr ELDM. It also does really well with the Gorilla 77gr SMK ammo.

 

[SONIC SAAMI]

Cracks me up,a firearm chambered in unarguably one of the most accurate cartridges ever developed for inside 300 yards and post and boast about its accuracy.

 

[Pharmseller]

Cracks me up,a firearm chambered in unarguably one of the most accurate cartridges ever developed for inside 300 yards and post and boast about its accuracy.

I‘m glad I could brighten your day.



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[Pharmseller]

Next stop, finding a replacement 75 grain ELDM load. I measured distance to the lands at 1.940”. I started there, then moved in to 1.900”, then in one more time to 1.875”. I already know that 25.0 grains at 1.915” is a no-go.

Two charge weights of Varget, 25.0 grains and 25.5 grains. Five rounds each at each charge weight and seating depth for 30 total rounds.

I might get to the range this week. I have TAC to try if Varget doesn’t pan out.

The BT Varmint load (Pest Control) is a great fallback but goes subsonic around 750. The ELDM stays supersonic past 1200 with way less wind drift. And I have a bunch of them.




P

 

[Pharmseller]

The middle depth, 1.900” at 25.5 grains Varget, is the deal. Four shots under .4”. I held one back to help make more. Need to chronograph next.



P

 

[psdan000]

Cracks me up,a firearm chambered in unarguably one of the most accurate cartridges ever developed for inside 300 yards and post and boast about its accuracy.

Cracks me up! Imagine this guy that has nothing good to say who replies on your post just to belittle you to make himself feel like he has a big pee pee. If you have nothing nice to say....well you know the rest. I personally enjoyed you post Pharmseller, don't let guys like this bring you down.

 

[Pharmseller]

Cracks me up! Imagine this guy that has nothing good to say who replies on your post just to belittle you to make himself feel like he has a big pee pee. If you have nothing nice to say....well you know the rest. I personally enjoyed you post Pharmseller, don't let guys like this bring you down.

It takes a lot more than some faceless a-hole to even make my radar.

 

[Highbrass]

Any rifle that shoots as good is worth a brag ! I built a Savage 224v that shoots like yours. It loves 88ELDXs & Varget.

 

[Pharmseller]

Any rifle that shoots as good is worth a brag ! I built a Savage 224v that shoots like yours. It loves 88ELDXs & Varget.

What’s your twist rate?

 

[Highbrass]

5R/ 1~7 from X-Caliber w Lil bastard

 

[Pharmseller]

5R/ 1~7 from X-Caliber w Lil bastard

88 grains is beyond my 1-8”, unfortunately.

 

[Highbrass]

yeah this is 224 Valkyrie

 

[Ndbowhunter]

88's made round holes on target in my 20" 8 twist tikka 223

with how short the throat is, not worth the effort over what a 75 eld does

 

[eklarsen]

Pharm,
Nice to see you get around, haven't see you since you bailed on the old ifish, or went to prison or whatever. I see your still have your Tikka addiction running hard.

 

[Pharmseller]

Pharm,
Nice to see you get around, haven't see you since you bailed on the old ifish, or went to prison or whatever. I see your still have your Tikka addiction running hard.

As hard as ever, brother!

I pared a few off this year but then bought a couple more. It’s a sickness!

Got this guy this past August with a Tikka in, you guessed it, 7mm-08.



Yep, the mods at ifish finally had enough of me pointing out their hypocrisy so they booted me. I joined some fine company in that regard so I don’t feel bad.



P

 

[jLorenzo]

The middle depth, 1.900” at 25.5 grains Varget, is the deal. Four shots under .4”. I held one back to help make more. Need to chronograph next.



P

Need some pics

 

[Pharmseller]

Hit the range today with more choices. I brought some 1.900” as well as 1.895” and 1.905,” looking for a little tighter performance. My timing sucked, however, as the wind was blowing pretty hard. Oh well.

The 1.905” loads weren’t as good, but the 1.900” load was a bit over .4” in the wind. The 1.895” did just a hair under .5”. I didn’t shoot much.

Quarter-inch squares, 1” sticker.

1.900”

1.895”

I chronoed both loads. 1.900” averaged 2924 fps with an extreme spread of 42. 1.895” averaged 2896 with an ES of 5. Not too shabby for just the second outing.




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[huntnh]

That’s good speed out of a tikka. Iv noticed the 75s like to close to the lands if you mags will let you if not they work pretty good at .65 off in my tikka

 

[Pharmseller]

COAL is 2.430”.

If my math is right I’m about .045” off.

.65” off would be short indeed.

G1 B.C. Is .467, so 2896 fps at the muzzle carries supersonic (1,125 fps) clear out to 1,350 yards. That’s a lot farther than my scope will adjust, and A LOT farther than my skill level.