Tikka 300 WSM magazine options for extra COAL

[goathunter]

I have mag length issues with my current 300 wsm so I always had in my head I would get a tikka and swap out the magazine and bolt stop and have the ultimate handloading setup. After further research I'm not so sure. I plan to stick with the OEM stock. Options I see are -

Tikka long action mag - too narrow, needs modification
Swap out long action internals into wsm magazine - requires modification , cutting
Hells Canyon Armory - only allows 2 shells with factory stock without shimming
Mountain Tactical SA - 3" COAL - how much does this buy you?
Mountain Tactical LA - I've read mixed reviews on how wsm feeds in the long action - nose dives, too far of a gap
Swap with AICS dbm - not really interested in this style of magazine release for a packing around hunting rifle, and the cost.

Anyone have experience? Other options? I was hoping the PRC mag would work but sounds like it is too narrow as well.

 

[Tullis94]

I don't have experience with the 300 WSM. However the 7 SAUM feeds from the regular long action magazines without any modification. Smooth as butter

 

[snowtoy83]

I have a long action bolt stop and a long action mountain tactical mag. It feeds and functions fine.

 

[MHWASH]

I've moved on to a mini chassis, but have a Mountain Tactical LA Gen2 mag I'd make a good deal on.

 

[goathunter]

I've moved on to a mini chassis, but have a Mountain Tactical LA Gen2 mag I'd make a good deal on.

PM'd you

 

[Tahoe1305]

I have mag length issues with my current 300 wsm so I always had in my head I would get a tikka and swap out the magazine and bolt stop and have the ultimate handloading setup. After further research I'm not so sure. I plan to stick with the OEM stock. Options I see are -

Tikka long action mag - too narrow, needs modification
Swap out long action internals into wsm magazine - requires modification , cutting
Hells Canyon Armory - only allows 2 shells with factory stock without shimming
Mountain Tactical SA - 3" COAL - how much does this buy you?
Mountain Tactical LA - I've read mixed reviews on how wsm feeds in the long action - nose dives, too far of a gap
Swap with AICS dbm - not really interested in this style of magazine release for a packing around hunting rifle, and the cost.

Anyone have experience? Other options? I was hoping the PRC mag would work but sounds like it is too narrow as well.

Dealing with same on my 7wsm. Pretty frustrating.

Tikka wsm is a bit short. Tikka PRC doesn’t feed quite right and sticks out. HCA only 2. Im going to try and modify one of the above to get what I need or just except 2.9” or so.

 

[sneaky]

What is the chamber like on your Tikka? Factory short throated or long on those 300WSM? May be a moot point to load them long and your chamber not handle them.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[goathunter]

What is the chamber like on your Tikka? Factory short throated or long on those 300WSM? May be a moot point to load them long and your chamber not handle them.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I don't have a tikka, planning on buying. I do have a sako and it has a longer than saami throat. Everyone says tikkas are the same. My whole reasoning is to be able to reach the lands, which i can't do in my current magazine with 180gr bullets.

 

[wirehead]

Tikka 300 wsm

I whittled, fiddled, ground, and epoxied a hell’s canyon until I could get 3 shells in with the bolt closed. It works but it was a lot of work.

might try to use Tikka long action internals with a 300 wsm mag with the rear block shaved out.

 

[Packmansion]

Tikka could really take over the 300 wsm market if they just made one in long action with a 1:8 twist. It would be game over for anyone else chambering the 300 wsm... Tikka does great stuff but I doubt they are the type of company that listens to anyone. They make great rifles, I never had an issue. I tried reaching out to their support via email. Never got a response back. Savage and Ruger respond in 48 hours, however ive had problems with savage and ruger hahaha. I guess they have to invest in customer service.

 

[goathunter]

Tikka could really take over the 300 wsm market if they just made one in long action with a 1:8 twist. It would be game over for anyone else chambering the 300 wsm... Tikka does great stuff but I doubt they are the type of company that listens to anyone. They make great rifles, I never had an issue. I tried reaching out to their support via email. Never got a response back. Savage and Ruger respond in 48 hours, however ive had problems with savage and ruger hahaha. I guess they have to invest in customer service.

I'd be happy with a 10 twist and just adding some COAL to the current WSM mag. But wouldn't complain about your suggestion either

 

[wirehead]

I'd be happy with a 10 twist and just adding some COAL to the current WSM mag. But wouldn't complain about your suggestion either

1:10” twist. 22” threaded barrel. 3.1” coal magazine… COME ON Tikka.

 

[Packmansion]

like the insurance of a 1:8, if I'm going to get a 3.4" coal might as well have the chance to take advantage of it.

 

[Oldffemt]

If anyone is interested, I have 2 or 3 of the HCA mags and their bottom metal if anyone is interested. I’m not on here much but Pm me and I’ll make sure to check back in for the next couple days.

 

[Oldffemt]

Tikka 300 wsm

I whittled, fiddled, ground, and epoxied a hell’s canyon until I could get 3 shells in with the bolt closed. It works but it was a lot of work.

might try to use Tikka long action internals with a 300 wsm mag with the rear block shaved out.

If be interested in seeing some pics of how you made it work if you have any.

 

[wirehead]

If be interested in seeing some pics of how you made it work if you have any.

No images at the moment but I think I can explain the challenges and generally how I resolved them…

For starters, the guy at Hell’s Canyon told me that some Tikka’s had pillar lengths that would cause the magazine to only support 2+1 and that a shim under front of bottom metal would help. The folks at HC were great. With this, I was willing to give it a go.

The challenges:

1) the magazine onLu supported 2+1. That is, I could not load 3 rounds in the magazine and close the bolt or, likewise, install a magazine loaded with 3 rounds. This was a classic situation of 50 lbs of potatoes in a 25 lb sack With the sack being the magazine well.
2) installing the (empty) magazine took too much force. It did not latch smoothly, like the Tikka factory magazine.

Again, the guy I spoke with (super helpful) at Hell’s Canyon was upfront about these potential issues. I am not unsatisfied in my purchase.

solutions:

1) I had to allow the follower to extend further into the magazine well. To do so, I used a combination of a belt sander and flat file to reduce the thickness of the follower and aluminum magazine base. This created another problem… the depth of the blind hole pockets on the underside of the follower and on the aluminum magazine based were decreased and the springs would not stay seated during operation. A good dose of 5 minute epoxy solved this problem. Note - the two coil springs have different springs rates. Save yourself some time and do not get them mixed up.

2) I removed material from the magazine latch to move the latching edge towards top of the magazine. This reduced the force required to latch the magazine but still not to the point where it latched as easily as the factory Tikka magazine. I’m happy with the latching.

One could also put a thin shim washer between the bottom metal (plastic) and bottom metal well to move the bottom metal away from the chamber… the shim was probably 0.025“. This was at the recommendation of the guy I spoke with at HC. during my trial and error, this seemed to help both problems.

So far, the magazine has functioned well with no issues… but I also recognize the risk I run having hacked up an otherwise well built magazine.

I also made a Franken-magazine by removing the rear spacer piece from the WSM magazine and replacing the WSM follow/spring with a Tikka long action follower/spring. It works ok… every now and then the rounds in the magazine do a nose dive and bind up. I think the issue is the length of the feed lips… the edge where the feed lips open up needs to be moved towards the rear about the thickness of the rear spacer… maybe I might get around to tinkering with this again soon.

 

[Oldffemt]

thanks for the explanation. I’ll have to take a look at mine. It’s so close to locking in with 3, I may be able to get away with just shimming the bottom metal.

 

[wirehead]

thanks for the explanation. I’ll have to take a look at mine. It’s so close to locking in with 3, I may be able to get away with just shimming the bottom metal.

I think shimming is a good first attempt.

Does yours require more force to latch than factory Tikka magazine?

 

[wirehead]

No images at the moment but I think I can explain the challenges and generally how I resolved them…

For starters, the guy at Hell’s Canyon told me that some Tikka’s had pillar lengths that would cause the magazine to only support 2+1 and that a shim under front of bottom metal would help. The folks at HC were great. With this, I was willing to give it a go.

The challenges:

1) the magazine onLu supported 2+1. That is, I could not load 3 rounds in the magazine and close the bolt or, likewise, install a magazine loaded with 3 rounds. This was a classic situation of 50 lbs of potatoes in a 25 lb sack With the sack being the magazine well.
2) installing the (empty) magazine took too much force. It did not latch smoothly, like the Tikka factory magazine.

Again, the guy I spoke with (super helpful) at Hell’s Canyon was upfront about these potential issues. I am not unsatisfied in my purchase.

solutions:

1) I had to allow the follower to extend further into the magazine well. To do so, I used a combination of a belt sander and flat file to reduce the thickness of the follower and aluminum magazine base. This created another problem… the depth of the blind hole pockets on the underside of the follower and on the aluminum magazine based were decreased and the springs would not stay seated during operation. A good dose of 5 minute epoxy solved this problem. Note - the two coil springs have different springs rates. Save yourself some time and do not get them mixed up.

2) I removed material from the magazine latch to move the latching edge towards top of the magazine. This reduced the force required to latch the magazine but still not to the point where it latched as easily as the factory Tikka magazine. I’m happy with the latching.

One could also put a thin shim washer between the bottom metal (plastic) and bottom metal well to move the bottom metal away from the chamber… the shim was probably 0.025“. This was at the recommendation of the guy I spoke with at HC. during my trial and error, this seemed to help both problems.

So far, the magazine has functioned well with no issues… but I also recognize the risk I run having hacked up an otherwise well built magazine.

I also made a Franken-magazine by removing the rear spacer piece from the WSM magazine and replacing the WSM follow/spring with a Tikka long action follower/spring. It works ok… every now and then the rounds in the magazine do a nose dive and bind up. I think the issue is the length of the feed lips… the edge where the feed lips open up needs to be moved towards the rear about the thickness of the rear spacer… maybe I might get around to tinkering with this again soon.

I did not mention… me must either install a long action bolt stop or file the SA bolt stop back to the LA mark. I filed mine - worked great but it’s necessary to file the flat at a 0 or slightly negative angle.

 

[Oldffemt]

I think shimming is a good first attempt.

Does yours require more force to latch than factory Tikka magazine?

I’m out of town for a couple days but I think they seat pretty easily with the factory bottom metal from what I remember. As long as there’s only 2 in the mag or the bolt is open. I remember being able to get it to latch with 3 down and bolt closed if I gave it a healthy whack to seat it. Snow just melted here and that rifle hasn’t come out of the safe since last November!