Thread: 24" Tikka 7mm PRC Terminator

A big thank you to Greg at Terminator Brakes, Ian Hughes at Hardy and Stu at Greystone Guns for helping put this tack driver together in a short space of time.

Build:
Stock - Hardy/Kroseg/Hi-Tec Carbon Fibre Tikka
Action - Tikka donor action
Barrel - 24" Bartlien 1:8 Rem Varmint
Trigger - Timney #430 2 stage
Suppressor - Greystone 5K
Current ammunition - factory 175gr ELD-X. MV measured at 38 round count was 2952fps. Suspect it is currently a few fps higher.

Purpose of this build was to provide me with a system capable of taking large bull tahr and red stags out to 1000m. As a result of previous injuries, I am bit sensitive to recoil, therefore I made this build a bit heavier than what others may have gone for. Greg was patient throughout and provided sound advice in regards to what would work best based on my personal situation and desired intent.



Initial observations:
- the balance wasn't quite right and the recoil profile was variable. This is was as a result of me selecting a heavy barrel and long suppressor, knowing full well it may be front heavy. However, once I inserted some lead sinkers in resin into the rear of the stock, it balanced out, recoil become more predictable and groups significantly improved.
- due to limited supply of ammunition, I kept my group sizes to only three rounds in order to get an idea of the rifle's precision potential. See images below.







Field results:

First hunt resulted in 3 x nanny tahr taken for meat from 450-540m. Two were front shoulder shots as I built up confidence in the system and the last shot was a neck shot at 540m. Sorry, no photos of this hunt.

Next was a mission with two close friends who have been after a 13"+ bull for a number of decades. First bull taken by friend No.1 was at approx. 990-1000m. First round hit behind the front shoulder and a follow up shot to make sure it stayed in place. This bull went 13 3/4".



Second bull taken by friend No.2 was at approx. 1000-1010m. First round hit bang on front shoulder and the animal dropped on the spot. This bull went 14 1/4".





What would I change or do different?
- I would consider putting a lower scope mount on the rifle in order to lower the scope height as I have already gone with the lowest scope rings I could find for a 34mm tube. I am nit picking here and probably won't change it.
- If I were looking to push past 1000m on game I would look to do hand loads as the MV spread was high (need to double check exact figure before posting). I will look to recapture MV spread and baseline around 150-200rds.
- Whilst the suppressor works really well, I am going to put a shroud on the suppressor as there is considerable mirage when doing more than 3 shots - eg. long range pest control.

In summary, whilst I have only put a three boxes of ammunition through this rifle it is by far exceeding my expectations. Many thanks to Greg, Ian and Stu for helping put this together!