Free Float Barrel in Tikka Factory Plastic Stock

[Formidilosus]

Form, you think floating all the way back into the shank, or to the lug/receiver face, makes a real difference with this? Definitely see your point for floating the majority of the barrel channel to deal with different rests and pressure exerted out on the front end of the stock forend, but you really think floating an inch or two of barrel shank matters much? The stock and barrel are pretty darn thick and stiff back there.

No. I leave the shank, and will even bed it when/if I bed the lug.

 

[SDHNTR]

No. I leave the shank, and will even bed it when/if I bed the lug.

Yeah me too, but what this guy was asking was if he should grind/sand out material at the shank.

 

[Antares]

No. I leave the shank, and will even bed it when/if I bed the lug.

I'm curious about your rationale here given that chassis like the Bravo have no support/contact with the shank.

 

[Formidilosus]

I'm curious about your rationale here given that chassis like the Bravo have no support/contact with the shank.

On the factory stock I don’t freeflaot the shank as I’m not into doing extra work and the shank contact introduces no issues from what I have seen with dozens of tikkas and a whole lot of shooting and use/abuse. When I bed them, I do tend to spot bed the tang, lug and bit of the shank, as some (not all) tikkas in factory stocks even when torqued to 65 in-lbs will have a POI shift of .1-.3 mils when dropped. Bedding the tang and lug removes that. Bedding a bit of the shank is a hold over from other rifles, I’m not positive it matters (the most stable way would be to bed/glue the whole thing from tang to forend tip).

( edited to correct)

 

[dingle]

Possible for one of you guys to post a diagram of what you mean by "shank" and "tang" in this context?

 

[Antares]

Possible for one of you guys to post a diagram of what you mean by "shank" and "tang" in this context?

Tang on left. Barrel shank on the right. Stole this photo from @J&A Outdoors

 

[SDHNTR]

The tang (I love that word, lol) is the very back of the action. Where the rear mounting screw goes into. The shank is the fat part of the barrel closest to the action, before it tapers down.

 

[JGRaider]

I've been shooting Tikkas since 1998. I've never had to do anything to them to get them to shoot sub moa, easily, with factory ammo. Iv'e had 7, friends and family another 8-10. All shooters with zero mods.

 

[weisenbu]

Are there any potential downsides to fully free floating the factory barrel?

 

[Formidilosus]

Are there any potential downsides to fully free floating the factory barrel?

No.

 

[weisenbu]

No.

Thanks for that. I couldn't think of any. The main reason I did it was I figured it wouldn't hurt anything and only has potential upside. I had the rifle apart and was doing other work on the stock and figured it was now or never... Had the rifle been fully set up and shooting well, I would not have taken it apart to open up the barrel channel. Thank you again to all who have contributed to this learning experience for me!

 

[carsonkeys]

No.

Form, do you happen to have before/after photos of this free floating? Specifically interested in exactly what you’re removing.

I believe I know what you’re removing, but I’d like to be sure before taking a dremmel to a stock.

 

[weisenbu]

Form, do you happen to have before/after photos of this free floating? Specifically interested in exactly what you’re removing.

I believe I know what you’re removing, but I’d like to be sure before taking a dremmel to a stock.

My before and after photos are in this thread.

 

[carsonkeys]

My before and after photos are in this thread.

Yep, I’ll clarify that I was wondering about the bumps, etc. in the barrel channel.

 

[Formidilosus]

Form, do you happen to have before/after photos of this free floating? Specifically interested in exactly what you’re removing.

I believe I know what you’re removing, but I’d like to be sure before taking a dremmel to a stock.

Not before photos, just make this kind of gap around the whole barrel-






This one shows how far I took it back on this one.

 

[carsonkeys]

Not before photos, just make this kind of gap around the whole barrel-

View attachment 555497

View attachment 555498


This one shows how far I took it back on this one.
View attachment 555499

Thank you

 

[carsonkeys]

Not before photos, just make this kind of gap around the whole barrel-

View attachment 555497

View attachment 555498


This one shows how far I took it back on this one.
View attachment 555499

So, you’re removing the circled knobs and widening the barrel channel?

 

[weisenbu]

I widened the barrel channel and removed some material from the circled knobs. I didn’t remove them completely as they provide some rigidity/stiffness and I didn’t want to lose that.

 

[carsonkeys]

I widened the barrel channel and removed some material from the circled knobs. I didn’t remove them completely as they provide some rigidity/stiffness and I didn’t want to lose that.

You did a really nice job of keeping it uniform side-to-side.

Do you recall what dremmel bit you used?

 

[weisenbu]

You did a really nice job of keeping it uniform side-to-side.

Do you recall what dremmel bit you used?

I used a rounded nose sanding bit. I removed the bulk of the material with that but I got everything straightened out at the end using sandpaper wrapped around a popsicle stick. Worked better than I thought it would.