Anybody Else Having Failure to Feed with Tikka mags?

[Kenny Hart]

Checking to see if this is a known problem with the Rokslide crew, or I've just had some bad luck. I have 3 different 223 4-round mags, one came with the rifle and two were bought independently of one another (MidwayUSA and somewhere else.) All Tikka factory, all bought in 2024.

It happens when the action is cycled and the next round needs to be pushed up for the bolt to catch the rim. They get "stuck" and don't lift. So it's not a factor of the mags not being seated, or that the rifle is in a Rokstok. I've watched the round in the action eventually rise after a delay, otherwise pressing down on them allows the rounds to "spring" back up into position.

I've confirmed it happens on 2 of my 3 mags pretty regularly, and will be extensively testing my 3rd one. I didn't have this happen to my recollection when I bought my rifle throughout the summer when I only had one mag, so I'm not sure the one that came with the rifle is malfunctioning.

The rifle itself has been excellent and the Rokstok is . I shot the crap out of it last summer and into the fall without issue, so I've reached out to Tikka and Beretta early this week but haven't received a response yet. Anyone else see this happening?

 

[SamsonMan22]

All of my 4 rounders are mostly reliable after stretching the springs but some still are not quite 100%. I have 4 of the steel lipped tikka factory mags and those have all been 100% with no spring work. I have three of the factory 6 rounders two that have never fed 100%, and somehow I managed to get another that actually works….so far.

The factory 223 mags have been nowhere near as reliable as the 308 mags for me, I don’t love them and only use my factory 223 mags for practice work now except for the steel lipped ones. I have gone to waters for my main hunting mags as they have all been 100% with quite a bit of use.

You can try stretching your springs some but even then the mags seem to wear and warp over time and don’t feed right anymore. On my 6 rounders in particular the feed lips spread apart and let the nose of the rounds stick up and the bolt can’t grab the case head on the way by.

 

[Kenny Hart]

All of my 4 rounders are mostly reliable after stretching the springs but some still are not quite 100%. I have 4 of the steel lipped tikka factory mags and those have all been 100% with no spring work. I have three of the factory 6 rounders two that have never fed 100%, and somehow I managed to get another that actually works….so far.

The factory 223 mags have been nowhere near as reliable as the 308 mags for me, I don’t love them and only use my factory 223 mags for practice work now except for the steel lipped ones. I have gone to waters for my main hunting mags as they have all been 100% with quite a bit of use.

You can try stretching your springs some but even then the mags seem to wear and warp over time and don’t feed right anymore. On my 6 rounders in particular the feed lips spread apart and let the nose of the rounds stick up and the bolt can’t grab the case head on the way by.

Thanks for the info...$170 magazines isn't what I wanted to hear, but if these continue to act goofy then I may just spring for one and see how it goes. Especially if they have a track record of being reliable.

I had heard about the 6 rounders not being nearly as reliable, but I knew I'd probably never buy one due to the extended length below the receiver. Never saw anything mentioned about the flush mags.

That's a bummer because everything else about the rifle is fantastic. I suppose having a few very nice mags to go with it wouldn't be too bad.

 

[Julius K]

I have the one 223 mag that came with my t3x. Does the same thing you described. Sometime I’m going to try the mountain tactical mag. But it does make me mad that this mag doesn’t feed 100%.

 

[kopmantrey]

@Kenny Hart look at the mamba mag for a tikka I finally gave up on the factory 223 mags(308ect are good) .

 

[RocketRob16]

Mine is the same way. I know it’s been talked about on here before in other threads. Seems as if aftermarket is really the only option for reliability. I have a Mambamag that has been great so far but I believe they’re done producing them.

 

[Brucebarker024]

I have a 223 10 round mamba mag I’ll sell if you’re interested. Been pretty good for the 100 rounds I’ve used it for.

 

[9.3koolaid]

The waters mags are worth it. Wish they were easier to get.

 

[The Harbor Master]

I had similar issues with a factory 6 rounder. Did some digging/reading, seems like a somewhat known issue with the .223 mags. Waters is the answer but damn they're pricey.

 

[SamsonMan22]

Thanks for the info...$170 magazines isn't what I wanted to hear, but if these continue to act goofy then I may just spring for one and see how it goes. Especially if they have a track record of being reliable.

I had heard about the 6 rounders not being nearly as reliable, but I knew I'd probably never buy one due to the extended length below the receiver. Never saw anything mentioned about the flush mags.

That's a bummer because everything else about the rifle is fantastic. I suppose having a few very nice mags to go with it wouldn't be too bad.

The waters is worth it imo. The factory tikka mags with the steel feed lips so far are proving to be just as reliable. They are around $70 if I remember right and came from the UK I think. They are my second pick and a good alternative to the waters because of price.

I have 2 of the new Mt. Tactical 223 mags, when I first got them I was not impressed. They plain sucked and were no more reliable than my 6rd tikka mags. I took them apart, stretched the springs, and smoothed up the followers. After some use they seem to be working very well now, they do chew up brass though which I’m not thrilled about. I can’t say they are 100% but after some break in they seem to be pretty reliable overall. They are relegated to practice as well just because I’m still a little skeptical of how long they will continue to work.

 

[SamsonMan22]

The waters mags are worth it. Wish they were easier to get.

For anyone considering waters mags the above comment is something I had seen before and I wondered how ordering was going to go. I didn’t find the experience with ordering all that bad, was pretty simple to communicate through email and I had them in a short time after sending the money. Yes there is not a page to add them to a cart and check out with a credit card but it’s not a big deal really he was a good guy to work with and very straight forward with instruction. I wouldn’t let the ordering process sway me from buying the mags, they really are great and just plain work like a mag is supposed to.

 

[9.3koolaid]

For anyone considering waters mags the above comment is something I had seen before and I wondered how ordering was going to go. I didn’t find the experience with ordering all that bad, was pretty simple to communicate through email and I had them in a short time after sending the money. Yes there is not a page to add them to a cart and check out with a credit card but it’s not a big deal really he was a good guy to work with and very straight forward with instruction. I wouldn’t let the ordering process sway me from buying the mags, they really are great and just plain work like a mag is supposed to.

Didn't mean to infer it was bad, just lengthy. There's a few options for payment and some take longer than others.

 

[SamsonMan22]

Didn't mean to infer it was bad, just lengthy. There's a few options for payment and some take longer than others.

Understandable, for me the easiest was to pay will PayPal and deal with the fees. IIRC I made my selection and paid on a Wednesday and had them the following Wednesday.

 

[ElPollo]

Checking to see if this is a known problem with the Rokslide crew, or I've just had some bad luck. I have 3 different 223 4-round mags, one came with the rifle and two were bought independently of one another (MidwayUSA and somewhere else.) All Tikka factory, all bought in 2024.

It happens when the action is cycled and the next round needs to be pushed up for the bolt to catch the rim. They get "stuck" and don't lift. So it's not a factor of the mags not being seated, or that the rifle is in a Rokstok. I've watched the round in the action eventually rise after a delay, otherwise pressing down on them allows the rounds to "spring" back up into position.

I've confirmed it happens on 2 of my 3 mags pretty regularly, and will be extensively testing my 3rd one. I didn't have this happen to my recollection when I bought my rifle throughout the summer when I only had one mag, so I'm not sure the one that came with the rifle is malfunctioning.

The rifle itself has been excellent and the Rokstok is . I shot the crap out of it last summer and into the fall without issue, so I've reached out to Tikka and Beretta early this week but haven't received a response yet. Anyone else see this happening?

So I had similar issues with both 4 and 6-round factory mags last year and reached out to Beretta USA customer service about it. The person I spoke with said this was a known issue that was due to a contractor providing bad springs. The recent scarcity of factory 223 mags gives me some hope that they are trying to fix the issue, but there has been no public recognition or communication about it. Since this is the gun I shoot the most, I bit the bullet and bought three Waters 6-round mags that are absolutely stellar. Form has said good things about the Mambas. They are cheaper, but are much larger. Wish I had a better answer for you. I hope Beretta/Tikka gets their together on this.

 

[LongWayAround]

My four round magazine feeds perfectly. My six round feeds about 60%.

 

[wind gypsy]

Tikka 223 magazine feeding issues

I had feeding issues with a relatively new t3x 223 and came to the conclusion that the magazine was junk. I googled up a metal one to find in uk they have steel lips on a plastic mag. Orderd a couple and when they arrived im quite impressed with the functionality. I wonder why tikka didnt...

rokslide.com