Remounting Tikka Stock to Action

[Kraze]

Just curious what the "proper" way is to mount a Tikka T3x stock back to the action once it's been removed in regards to the recoil lug?

The reason I ask is I just removed my T3x SL 300 Win Mag's action from the stock to install a different trigger spring, and I noticed the top of the recoil lug had some metal taken off. And when I say the top, I mean the very top (wish I would have taken pictures before reassembling it all). So to me, it looked like the recoil lug wasn't seated all the way into the slot on the action, allowing the action to ride up over the top a bit during recoil, shaving off material. So when I reassembled it this time, I first removed the lug from the stock, flipped it around so the worn part is to the rear now, and then put the lug into the slot on the action (making sure it was fully seated there) then dropped the stock on to the top of that and torqued the two action screws to 45 in/lbs with some blue loctite on them (although the manual calls for something like 63 in/lbs).

I know the T3 had some issues with the recoil lugs, but I thought they fixed it in the T3x. I'm wondering if it was possible for my recoil lug to be pushed too far into the stock, causing it to not seat fully into the slot on the action?

For reference, here's a picture from the Mountain Tactical site showing stock T3 aluminum lugs that have suffered some deformation, and on the bottom left one, I made a red line to show about how high up the wear on mine starts:

 

[Idaho Lefty]

If that, is all the farther, your lug is going into, the Slot on the Action I'd say you have, a "problem" ! I own a T3 .270 WSM Tikka that, I pulled the old Aluminum Lug out of and replaced it with a Steel one,.. the Aluminum one, was "marked" like the Pic's you show. If you continue to shoot the Gun with that small of an "engagement" it could, crack your Stock ! Your "lug" may be, SHORT or, the "Slot" in the stock,.. IS too deep! Do you have a friend that, you could "Mike" his Lug's length, to compare ?? If the slot is "shallow" you could make a "shim" to out of steel or, brass to, raise it up,..HIGHER ! Beretta sells New Steel replacements for about $25.00. But maybe going, to a Gunsmith or, calling Beretta about, the "problem", FIRST, is the way to go ?? I would NOT shoot, the Gun until, "fixed" !

 

[Kraze]

Unfortunately I don't know anyone else with a Tikka, so I can't compare against another one. But I decided to pull it apart again and take a closer look at the recoil lug this time.

Now that I looked at it closer, it's clear that it has good engagement, at least some of the time. I've had the stock apart a couple times and have fired it in between these times, so I'm wondering if it's possible that one of the times I put it back together, the recoil lug wasn't fully seated into the action slot? I just assumed that the recoil lug and the slot in the stock would be the perfect height for the lug to fully seat into the action, but maybe not.

Anyway, here's some pictures.

This is the recoil lug after removing the stock:

I then tried pushing down on the recoil lug to see if it would go in any further into the stock, and it did but only a very small amount:

Here's the recoil lug. You can see there's marks from what looks to be good engagement, and then a lot of wear towards the top of the lug where metal has actually been removed:

And this is the way I've mounted it the past two times, with the action upside down and the recoil lug firmly seated in the slot, then dropping the stock on top of it to ensure the recoil lug remains fully seated in the action: