Barrel Vise Recommendations

[wind gypsy]

I had that one or one like it, but the bushings were straight. It’s a good one.

You really need the contoured bushing for Tikka factory. Do you know if he can make contoured ones?

he charges $5 more for tapered bushings, not sure if you'd need radiused vs tapered?

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[Lawnboi]

Been happy with my sac bravo, but I’m not breaking tikka barrels off all the time either.

 

[NSI]

The SAC alpha hinged vise is without peer in its class. They will send you a lite tikka-specific bushing. Combined with a PRP wrench this is the answer for frequent barrel removals.

-J

 

[Kurts86]

Having used the wheeler engineering vise and having broken a Viper top plate you are working on borrowed time until you have a custom bushing barrel vise. If you do get a viper at least get the python variant or the sporter top plate.

 

[wyosam]

I use the brownell’s vice. I’ve had no issue with factory tikka barrels or anything else I’ve clamped in it.


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[solarshooter]

I've done 4 factory Tikkas with my Viper. My recipe is:

• Clean and dry, no tape/sugar/etc between the vice and the barrel
• Tighten the #^&$ out of the top clamp piece incrementally, drawing it down uniformly on the shank and tapered section of the barrel. Bias towards getting a tight fit nearest the action thread. I grease the threads on the vice studs to help me get more preload.
• Heat the &%*@ out of the action with a torch, focusing on the tenon thread area. I'm talking a minute or more with a propane torch. Remove heat and install the external action wrench pointing up at 12 oclock.
• Use a metal sledge to hammer the action wrench loose. The sharp impacts and shock help to break the threads loose. I also sometimes have a partner tap around the threads on the action with a metal hammer for the same reason to shock the threads loose. It's important for the vise to be securely bolted to a STIFF bench for these shocks to be effective.

Last 2 I've done come off on the first try following these steps. First 1 took an hour of trying different things until I got to this procedure. All I can say is go tighter, use more heat, and hit harder, and the barrel will come off. I think risk of damage with this procedure is still quite low. And I have not marred a barrel yet either (all stainless however).

 

[Castle Rock]

Mount your vise vertically on the front face of the bench, it is so much better to use that way.

 

[TxLite]

It sounds like viper will replace my top plate under warranty. But I still am undecided between the SAC bravo and the viper hd (Python or whatever it is).

I spoke with SAC today and the bravo sounds like exactly what I want from a quality standpoint, but man the price is hard to swallow over a $50 viper hd top plate.

The hd is supposed to be 1/8” thicker than the standard so less likely to bend, and is also narrower for use with carbon barrels.

 

[Lawnboi]

Struggle with the viper till Black Friday. Then buy the sac, they always have a decent sale…

 

[Carl Ross]

I was taking a factory Tikka barrel off a few weeks ago, in a hurry at the end of a long day. Wasn’t sufficiently focused and ended up TIGHTENING it by ~ 10 degrees before I realized I was being a dumbass (I had witness marks to confirm). Went much easier turning it the right direction. Was using a Ross Vise on both the barrel and action, my own design, wish I still had a stash to offer for sale but I haven’t had any made for a few years.

 

[Nine Banger]

I'm going to fix this but we have an SAC barrel vise coming.

As @hereinaz has said the Viper vise isn't a good choice for Tikkas.

This one has removed 7 factory tikka barrels and 1 howa and put 10 or so back on.

I had spinning for the first time on an install yesterday.

Installing is usually a low abuse situation but the last factory barrel we did must have galled the threads or I did it getting the install yesterday to stop spinning.

 

[Wrench]

Get some soft lead flashing and use it instead of bushings. It will squish out after it makes a perfect 100% contact bushing. When you are done, save it.....fold it in half and use it again. I have been using the same lead for 20 years.

 

[Nine Banger]

Dropping this in here.

This is what you need to keep a Viper on the road for tikka factory barrels.

 

[satchamo]

Viper is ok if you’re willing to cut it in half per @hereinaz suggestion. Otherwise I’d spring for a sac style that puts all the clamping into the chamber area of the barrel.

 

[43.6N]

I use a viper and also struggled to get a good enough grip on a tikka barrel.

I ended up just shimming the barrel taper with 4 popsicle sticks. They deform enough when the vice is cranked down to basically form a collet.

Since using them, I’m 4/4 barrel changes on both t3 and newer t3x actions.

 

[TxLite]

I ended up buying a SAC Bravo. Haven’t had a chance to use it yet though. Seems well built

 

[blacktail434]

I had that one or one like it, but the bushings were straight. It’s a good one.

You really need the contoured bushing for Tikka factory. Do you know if he can make contoured ones?

In your experience, does the Tikka bushing for the SAC vise work on the PBB Hybrid lite contour?

 

[hereinaz]

In your experience, does the Tikka bushing for the SAC vise work on the PBB Hybrid lite contour?

Yes, 100%. PBB Hybrid Lite is essentially the same factory, because it is made to fit in the stock the same. It’s the taper that is modified to allow 5/8 threads.

The SAC vice and inserts are the way to go, 100%. Has pulled off dozens of barrels for me.

But, you tighten it down absurdly tight as @NSI says.

Only other solution I had was to use two viper vices. One on the far end and a sporter version on the muzzle side. It was as consistent as the SAC. It is the system that I use for everything else, like Howa and Remington.

 

[blacktail434]

Yes, 100%. PBB Hybrid Lite is essentially the same factory, because it is made to fit in the stock the same. It’s the taper that is modified to allow 5/8 threads.

The SAC vice and inserts are the way to go, 100%. Has pulled off dozens of barrels for me.

But, you tighten it down absurdly tight as @NSI says.

Only other solution I had was to use two viper vices. One on the far end and a sporter version on the muzzle side. It was as consistent as the SAC. It is the system that I use for everything else, like Howa and Remington.

Picked up a Bravo on BF sale and just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Thank you.