JA Outdoors

[catsfan20]

I have purchased a Tikka action from JA Outdoors for a build in the past and was happy with their customer service and the sale. They are now offering barreled tikka actions with carbon barrels from hells canyon armory or steel barrels from ace. Does anyone have any experience with the quality of their builds? The prices are hard to beat for a quality action with a custom barrel. More expensive than just buying a tikka rifle, but I’m going for a 20” 7 prc and don’t see that coming down the line from tikka anytime soon.

 

[grfox92]

You can buy a Roughtech Ember, fluted, braked, and stainless and put it in a McMillan, KRG, Manners, Bell and Carlson, just about any top tier stock money can buy and still be all in for less then one of their barreled actions.

I guess it's a good option for someone like you mentioned, wanting caliber not offered by Tikka, but it seems very pricey for my wallet, considering the options offered by Tikka and Sako.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[IrkedCitizen]

You can always hit up Unknown Munitions and see how much if you supply the action.

UM Tikka Custom Rifle - Unknown Munitions

UPDATED 08JAN2024– Tikka Rifle Build Time– 16 WEEKS Included Main Features: Tikka T3X Long Action- Right Handed Default, Left Handed available with 6 month lead time Built on the infamous Rokstok, made for us by Stockys FOREST– Graphite Black base with Barrett Bronze/OD Green/FDE Sponge SAND–...

www.unknownmunitions.com

 

[redneckbmxer24]

$1700+ for a "custom" Tikka barreled action with just a so-so quality barrel? No thanks.

For that price you could get your own Tikka rifle, part out the barrel and stock for $200ish, and have any number of gunsmiths install a Krieger, Bartlein, or a number of other better barrels and have money left over. Or you could get a PVA Osprey barrel and save another $200 or so.

Or better yet buy a custom 700 based action and get a prefit turned and have a better action all around.

Tikkas are nice but when you start talking that much money for a barreled action it's kind of stupid to stick with a factory action.

 

[catsfan20]

$1700+ for a "custom" Tikka barreled action with just a so-so quality barrel? No thanks.

For that price you could get your own Tikka rifle, part out the barrel and stock for $200ish, and have any number of gunsmiths install a Krieger, Bartlein, or a number of other better barrels and have money left over. Or you could get a PVA Osprey barrel and save another $200 or so.

Or better yet buy a custom 700 based action and get a prefit turned and have a better action all around.

Tikkas are nice but when you start talking that much money for a barreled action it's kind of stupid to stick with a factory action.

My other build has a bartlein barrel. It cost me 550 to have a local gunsmith chamber the barrel and install it on a tikka action.

I've never handled a custom action, but I don't know what they offer for the money over the priced of a tikka action with a fluted bolt. $1500 plus a trigger and bottom metal or $900 for the tikka.

Buying a tikka rifle with the fluted bolt and oversized knob would put me at 1200 or more minus the sale of parts puts it at $1000. So maybe the solution is to just go back to an action plus a Bartlein barrel and have my local smith chamber and install it. He charges $550 plus the cost to thread the muzzle and cost of cerakote.

 

[Tullis94]

I would go Tikka action and get a prefit from PVA, Preferred Barrels or Unknown Munitions. I seen somewhere that Unknown would be making prefits for tikkas and their vesper actions but it isn't listed on their website yet. If you were happy with the last barrel your smith chambered, and installed that would also be a better option than JA in my opinion. $1700 seems steep

 

[NSI]

My other build has a bartlein barrel. It cost me 550 to have a local gunsmith chamber the barrel and install it on a tikka action.

I've never handled a custom action, but I don't know what they offer for the money over the priced of a tikka action with a fluted bolt. $1500 plus a trigger and bottom metal or $900 for the tikka.

Buying a tikka rifle with the fluted bolt and oversized knob would put me at 1200 or more minus the sale of parts puts it at $1000. So maybe the solution is to just go back to an action plus a Bartlein barrel and have my local smith chamber and install it. He charges $550 plus the cost to thread the muzzle and cost of cerakote.

I'm sorry bud you're getting ripped off. See BugHoles (Southern Precision).

-J

 

[wind gypsy]

My other build has a bartlein barrel. It cost me 550 to have a local gunsmith chamber the barrel and install it on a tikka action.

I've never handled a custom action, but I don't know what they offer for the money over the priced of a tikka action with a fluted bolt. $1500 plus a trigger and bottom metal or $900 for the tikka.

Buying a tikka rifle with the fluted bolt and oversized knob would put me at 1200 or more minus the sale of parts puts it at $1000. So maybe the solution is to just go back to an action plus a Bartlein barrel and have my local smith chamber and install it. He charges $550 plus the cost to thread the muzzle and cost of cerakote.

$550 just to chamber a barrel without doing muzzle threads is pretty damn high. I had a benchmark chambered, crowned, muzzle thread, and bead blast finished for a tikka for $400 this spring. Most are a little higher than that.

Brand new stainless tikka 6.5 creeds have been available online for like $730, might have to spend $900 on a magnum donor, if you want to spend another $300 for a fluted bolt version that's kind of silly.

$730 for new stainless 6.5 creedmoor
$380+shipping for benchmark blank
$400+shipping for machine work on blank
= a little cheaper than the JA barrelled actions and includes a tikka stock if that's of any value to you.

I don't think $1700 is a bad price if they do good work and the ACE barrels are solid (no experience there). I personally wouldn't pay good money for a custom HCA barrel. Done that and that barrel got pulled for a krieger after fighting with it a while.

 

[NSI]

$730 for new stainless 6.5 creedmoor
$380+shipping for benchmark blank
$400+shipping for machine work on blank (chamber and thread muzzle)
-80 stock
-150 barrel (assuming tools)
NET
$1280

25% margins for JA which is not awful, but I imagine their barrels don't cost as much.

-J

 

[redneckbmxer24]

My other build has a bartlein barrel. It cost me 550 to have a local gunsmith chamber the barrel and install it on a tikka action.

I've never handled a custom action, but I don't know what they offer for the money over the priced of a tikka action with a fluted bolt. $1500 plus a trigger and bottom metal or $900 for the tikka.

Buying a tikka rifle with the fluted bolt and oversized knob would put me at 1200 or more minus the sale of parts puts it at $1000. So maybe the solution is to just go back to an action plus a Bartlein barrel and have my local smith chamber and install it. He charges $550 plus the cost to thread the muzzle and cost of cerakote.

Your smith is charging you what many good ones charge for the full service including cerakote and threading. $350 for chamber/install, $150 for muzzle threading, and $100 for single color cerakote is pretty much the standard rates. +1 on Bugholes, Greg and Russ are awesome and have Kriegers, Bartleins, Mullerworks and other barrels on the shelf.

A Tikka action is not on the same level as a custom, they have much tighter machining tolerances. The reason a lot of smiths won't do a Tikka prefit without the action present (unless they've previously measured and done a barrel) is because those tolerances aren't quite tight enough. While they like up a good bit of the time, plenty of folks have had headspace issues with prefits for Tikkas. That's a non issue if you're having a smith chamber it for that action, but theres still other areas of tolerances that are inherent to accuracy. 700 based actions also have a lot better trigger selection, a far superior recoil lug system, and better options for putting a picatinny rail on the receiver assuming the one you order doesn't have one machined in.

For $1000 you can get a Coup De Grace or Origin. $900 for a factory Tikka action to begin a build vs $100 more for a custom is crazy. Yes you get a trigger but for $50 you can get an old style R700 trigger or a 40X and have a damn nice trigger that's at least as good as a Tikka. Or you can spend a couple hundred bucks on a triggerech special or diamond and have options that blows the Tikka trigger out of the water and any of its slim aftermarket options. Then you have all the chassis options with the R700 platform, and a much better selection of lightly used stuff on the market to save $$. There's at least 50 R700 style chassis that get listed up for every one Tikka. With a LA action you also have the benefits of the OAL of a 700LA over a Tikka too.

If you had a well used action already sitting there you were wanting to use it would make a sense to rebarrel, but starting from scratch a aftermarket 700 based action is 100% the way to go.

 

[catsfan20]

I'm sorry bud you're getting ripped off. See BugHoles (Southern Precision).

-J

Total cost locally to have a barrel installed threaded and coated is $750. Using BugHoles it would be $625 plus shipping and transfer fees. I guess I'd save $100 bucks going that route instead of local.

 

[catsfan20]

It is seeming like I need to go through bug holes. I'm not going to complain about the performance of the 6mm creedmoor rifle my local guy built on a tikka action as its shooting sub 0.5 moa with factory ammo without even being broken, but I am not going to turn down saving money.

 

[NSI]

Total cost locally to have a barrel installed threaded and coated is $750. Using BugHoles it would be $625 plus shipping and transfer fees. I guess I'd save $100 bucks going that route instead of local.

"My other build has a bartlein barrel. It cost me 550 to have a local gunsmith chamber the barrel and install it on a tikka action."


So the Bartlein blank was 200 bucks? That's a good deal.

-J

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Total cost locally to have a barrel installed threaded and coated is $750. Using BugHoles it would be $625 plus shipping and transfer fees. I guess I'd save $100 bucks going that route instead of local.

I have an invoice in my inbox from less than a month ago for a shouldered prefit from bugholes. $325 for chamber an install, $100 for cerakote single color, $100 for 5/8-24 threading. Total invoice with a Bartlein blank and shipping was $965.

Add a Coup De Grace long action for $899 and you're at $1864 for a custom barreled action. If you have the action sent to SPR they'll index the markings and torque it on too so you don't even need to buy an action wrench or anything.

 

[catsfan20]

I have an invoice in my inbox from less than a month ago for a shouldered prefit from bugholes. $325 for chamber an install, $100 for cerakote single color, $100 for 5/8-24 threading. Total invoice with a Bartlein blank and shipping was $965.

Add a Coup De Grace long action for $899 and you're at $1864 for a custom barreled action. If you have the action sent to SPR they'll index the markings and torque it on too so you don't even need to buy an action wrench or anything.

What bottom metal and trigger did you put with that action? I’ve been looking at the Hawkins hunter with flush magazines for a while Incase I went away from tikka but have never found one in stock.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

What bottom metal and trigger did you put with that action? I’ve been looking at the Hawkins hunter with flush magazines for a while Incase I went away from tikka but have never found one in stock.

It's for a rifle in a MDT HNT26 and has a TT Special 2 stage. I also have a Manners Pro Hunter on order with their mini chassis and bottom metal.

Hawkins stuff is extremely nice, you can't go wrong with them either. I just like the chassis options over pillars and bedding for ease of slapping together. If you go with a more traditional stock just have it bedded.

 

[catsfan20]

It's for a rifle in a MDT HNT26 and has a TT Special 2 stage. I also have a Manners Pro Hunter on order with their mini chassis and bottom metal.

Hawkins stuff is extremely nice, you can't go wrong with them either. I just like the chassis options over pillars and bedding for ease of slapping together. If you go with a more traditional stock just have it bedded.

With the cost of bottom metal and bedding the cost of the hunting chassis options from mdt and xlr start becoming in the same
budget for sure .

 

[redneckbmxer24]

With the cost of bottom metal and bedding the cost of the hunting chassis options from mdt and xlr start becoming in the same
budget for sure .

Exactly, and if you don't like it for some reason you can sell either fairly easily for a minimal loss. With a bedded stock you'll take a bath on it and will be a hard sale if you decide to switch it up.