Question for all you Tikka owners

[HellsCanyon]

Mike, have you seen the AICS bottom metal that Mountain Tactical released that is designed to allow up to 3.6"? Comes with an extended bolt stop (longer than the long action stop), needs a little milling on the front of the trigger block and front of the receiver's magazine cutout per the video on it.

But yes I concur its a great WSM platform with a LA stop. The billet mags mountain tactical is releasing fit a WSM body in the long action getting rid of the need to modify a factory mag.

Yes I've seen those. But I'll be 100% honest and say that I REALLY don't like the AICS mags for hunting rifles. Nothing uglier than a single stack magazine sitting 4" below the stock line in my opinion. I've also ran quite a few DBM's that those magazines rattle in. Not a fan of the noise, nor high profile of them. Not to mention the added weight of a single stack 5 round steel magazine. I'd be OKAY if they made a 3 round mag, but no one does at this point. This is the main reason I encourage a BDL type bottom metal and Wyatts box on most my Remington/Custom builds. 3.85" COAL and no extra weight.

Mike

 

[jmsdad]

Curtis Customs makes a 3 rd AICS magazine which is hangs 1/4" below the stock. But I haven't seen them in stock.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Curtis Customs makes a 3 rd AICS magazine which is hangs 1/4" below the stock. But I haven't seen them in stock.

Oh really?! I’ll check them out!


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[westcoasthunter]

Sounds awesome. What would it cost for the recoil lug and the action blueprinted?

 

[calico pig]

Curtis Customs makes a 3 rd AICS magazine which is hangs 1/4" below the stock. But I haven't seen them in stock.

I just bought two and they don't fit in my rifle as an AICS replacement. They advertise them as a true replacement option in 3 round. They are not. At least not for me. I have two brand new ones in SA if anyone wants them.

 

[wind gypsy]

A lot of people build off tikka actions as a cheaper alternative to a custom action because Tikkas "don't need any work." What kind of pricing are you looking at for trying them up? Just thinking if it's significant you might price yourself out of what people are looking for.

 

[HellsCanyon]

A lot of people build off tikka actions as a cheaper alternative to a custom action because Tikkas "don't need any work." What kind of pricing are you looking at for trying them up? Just thinking if it's significant you might price yourself out of what people are looking for.

For a tikka blueprint job I'll probably be charging somewhere in the $250 range. That's reworking all mating surfaces and adding the Rem style lug. It surely isn't a requirement but it'll be an option for those that want it. I don't think that blueprinting an action is a requirement for an accurate rifle 100% of the time. However if I'm dialing in the action to recut the face for the new lug, it's a good idea to touch up the threads and action lugs as well. They were all likely machined at the same time making them relatively parallel. If you change any one of those three surfaces, you have a high chance of throwing the other two out of alignment. Even if you dial an action in perfectly with the bolt raceway as is recommended.

Mike

 

[willicd]

For a tikka blueprint job I'll probably be charging somewhere in the $250 range. That's reworking all mating surfaces and adding the Rem style lug. It surely isn't a requirement but it'll be an option for those that want it. I don't think that blueprinting an action is a requirement for an accurate rifle 100% of the time. However if I'm dialing in the action to recut the face for the new lug, it's a good idea to touch up the threads and action lugs as well. They were all likely machined at the same time making them relatively parallel. If you change any one of those three surfaces, you have a high chance of throwing the other two out of alignment. Even if you dial an action in perfectly with the bolt raceway as is recommended.

Mike

i think one of the reasons a tikka shoots so well is because it DOESNT have a recoil lug sandwiched between the receiver face and barrel tennon face. if you want to improve something why not tig a steel lug to the receiver in its original location? putting a reminton style lug just leaves you open to stacking tolerances. no way around that!

 

[HellsCanyon]

i think one of the reasons a tikka shoots so well is because it DOESNT have a recoil lug sandwiched between the receiver face and barrel tennon face. if you want to improve something why not tig a steel lug to the receiver in its original location? putting a reminton style lug just leaves you open to stacking tolerances. no way around that!

I disagree for a few reasons. When youre talking precision ground recoil lugs, your surface finish is in the 1/10ths or even 1/100ths for parallel surfaces. I don’t know where everyone thinks it’s a bad design to have a Remington style lug. I can put a 1/10 thousandth indicator on my action face and it won’t move after I blueprint the receiver. You can hand tighten my barrels into the receiver and they an take quite a bit of
force to snap loose. Combine that with a quality ground lug, and a quality chamber you WILL increase rigidity and the recoil absorption capability.

When you look at the Tikka design it’s almost a miracle it shoots as well as it does. Really the only thing it has going for it is a robust and rigid receiver that will have very little flex. Small ejection port hexagonal shape....
Look at the receiver face, .060” measured mating surface and these things are torqued on TIGHT. I’ve torqued enough of them on to know the surface finished isn’t very good.

Heck it’s the only receiver I know that uses a loose recoil lug. It’s a slip fit, which requires a minimum .0005” clearance. Not to mention it only has approximate . 090” of lug contact.
Look at the surface finish of this HS Tikka stock.... easily a few thousandths surface finish irregularities there.

Face that receiver back to more than double the surface contact area, add a .250” thick ground lug sandwiched between barrel shoulder and action face with 100 ft lbs of force behind it, and a quality bedding job.... you get rid of what I consider flaws in the Tikka design. But that’s just my opinion based on what I know to make a quality shooting rifle.

Mike


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[willicd]

I disagree for a few reasons. When youre talking precision ground recoil lugs, your surface finish is in the 1/10ths or even 1/100ths for parallel surfaces. I don’t know where everyone thinks it’s a bad design to have a Remington style lug. I can put a 1/10 thousandth indicator on my action face and it won’t move after I blueprint the receiver. You can hand tighten my barrels into the receiver and they an take quite a bit of
force to snap loose. Combine that with a quality ground lug, and a quality chamber you WILL increase rigidity and the recoil absorption capability.

When you look at the Tikka design it’s almost a miracle it shoots as well as it does. Really the only thing it has going for it is a robust and rigid receiver that will have very little flex. Small ejection port hexagonal shape....
Look at the receiver face, .060” measured mating surface and these things are torqued on TIGHT. I’ve torqued enough of them on to know the surface finished isn’t very good.

Heck it’s the only receiver I know that uses a loose recoil lug. It’s a slip fit, which requires a minimum .0005” clearance. Not to mention it only has approximate . 090” of lug contact.
Look at the surface finish of this HS Tikka stock.... easily a few thousandths surface finish irregularities there.

Face that receiver back to more than double the surface contact area, add a .250” thick ground lug sandwiched between barrel shoulder and action face with 100 ft lbs of force behind it, and a quality bedding job.... you get rid of what I consider flaws in the Tikka design. But that’s just my opinion based on what I know to make a quality shooting rifle.

Mike


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youre lathe must have the very best bearings and be used in the most controlled environment to get .0000! surface ground lugs are normally .0002 or more "out" and i can guarantee your receiver face and barrel tennon arent .0000 to the actual center line of the bolt raceway because the mandrel you use to set up your receiver uses bushings that require a slip fit and cant be .0000 and is it incredibly unlikely the mandrel itself is .0000 soooooo, no matter how hard you try, perfect is unobtainable. the more surfaces you introduce to a joint, the further from perfect you become! why do all the receivers everyone seem so attracted to have an integral lug? tig a steel lug to the tikka and machine it and you have the integral lug. seems like a good idea to me. unfortunately i am not competent to tig weld the lug but i bet dan armstrong could do it without issue. i have no problem doing the machine work after the fact.

 

[HellsCanyon]

youre lathe must have the very best bearings and be used in the most controlled environment to get .0000! surface ground lugs are normally .0002 or more "out" and i can guarantee your receiver face and barrel tennon arent .0000 to the actual center line of the bolt raceway because the mandrel you use to set up your receiver uses bushings that require a slip fit and cant be .0000 and is it incredibly unlikely the mandrel itself is .0000 soooooo, no matter how hard you try, perfect is unobtainable. the more surfaces you introduce to a joint, the further from perfect you become! why do all the receivers everyone seem so attracted to have an integral lug?

Agree to disagree... have a nice day

Mike

 

[willidru]

Mike,

Your question about restocking if re barreling a tikka I would definitely. The tikka stock is one thing I don't care for on mine. If I didn't have a 300 WM limiting what I can do ammo wise, I would have restocked and barreled my tikka in the last group buy. I like the idea of the medium sized cartridges and truing with a lug for $250 sounds extremely fair.