Tikka Magazine Question.

[grfox92]

I bought a T3 in 300wsm used at a gun shop. That gun is now, bolt swapped and has a 6.5 CM CTR barrel screwed onto it.

It has been setup as a match gun in a KRG Chassis, but ill be hunting with it this year in a factory Tikka stock.

I realized that I dont have a .308 magazine for it, but for the hell of it I loaded 3x 6.5CM rounds in the WSM magazine, and the fit. I put the mag in the rifle and cycled all 3 rounds into the chamber and ejected them with no issues.

The gun is apart right now for paint so I can't run any more tests, but why does this work when I feel like it shouldn't? Did i get lucky,? Was the wrong magazine in the gun when I bought it?

Im headed to Billings today, and need to know if I should buy a magazine for my upcoming bearhunt.

The only markings on the mag are SM. Short mag? Small? Educate me.

 

[waspocrew]

I think the SM is Short Mag.

While you’re in town, swing by Scheels and grab an M+ magazine. That’s what comes with the 6.5 CM rifles. If your current SM magazine works, you’ll probably get by just fine, but doesn’t hurt to have the correct magazine.

 

[RWT]

You can NEVER have enough magazines.
I’ve made it a point to have a minimum of 2 for every rifle, luckily many are interchangeable as you discovered. Pistol I view them as consumables as the springs will eventually wear out.

 

[hand skills]

.
The only markings on the mag are SM. Short mag? Small? Educate me.

The Tikka mags were designed to be universal and you can run most long action cartridges through a standard "L" magazine. Anything from a 257roberts to a 338WM will work.

Problem is, the WSMs are based on a rebated rim case (404jef), and the "M" and "L" mags are too slim to fit those fat cases.

Tikka had to design a special magazine with more clearance inside (width wise) to fit the WSMs.

Thus the "SM"

I'm not sure on the story of the "M+" but they offer about 0.100" extra length inside. What that has to do with the 6.5CM, I do not know.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

Grab M+ like @waspocrew said

Then after bear season before fall grab a few of @pods8 (Rugged Stitching) M+ mags, pretty sure they are cheaper even after shipping. And generally I can single feed them with the way he designed the follower

 

[hand skills]

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

The gun is apart right now for paint so I can't run any more tests, but why does this work when I feel like it shouldn't? Did i get lucky,? Was the wrong magazine in the gun when I bought it?

The gap between the feed lips is likely larger to allow the fatter WSM case to sit higher and present itself to the bolt, which just means with a smaller diameter case it won't grip the case as securely. Also I think the WSM mags are ~2.85-2.9" or such where as the M+ are around 2.97".

I'm not sure on the story of the "M+" but they offer about 0.100" extra length inside. What that has to do with the 6.5CM, I do not know.

Standard short action cartridges have a shorter sammi length than 6.5creed so the M mags are ~2.82", I guess tikka knew folks were gonna load the creedmor longer so they issue the M+ ~2.97" in those guns. IMHO there really is no reason to not use M+ mags with 243, 308, etc. if you have them. Only reason you might want to use M mags is if using a shorter cartridge like the GT (some folks say that feeds fine from them, I'm never tried).

 

[grfox92]

Thanks for the replies guys. Great info.

This gun is litterally pieced together out of 4 different factory rifles. Barrel headspaced perfectly, and even the wrong magazine functions perfectly. This is why I love Tikkas.

 

[freezerfull]

Since you mentioned this 300 wsm started as a T3 not a T3x. If you still have the original factory short action bolt stop in, it may not allow the bolt to go far enough back to grab the case rim on an M+ mag (Creedmoor). Sometime around the T3x introduction, Tikka's began to get a different bolt stop for short action configurations that gave them some additional bolt travel over the older SA stop.

Found out about this change when I decided to try some M+ mags in older .308 T3’s.

 

[Chris in TN]

Get pods8 to send you one of those orange M+ magazines he makes so if you drop it you're looking for orange, not black.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Since you mentioned this 300 wsm started as a T3 not a T3x. If you still have the original factory short action bolt stop in, it may not allow the bolt to go far enough back to grab the case rim on an M+ mag (Creedmoor). Sometime around the T3x introduction, Tikka's began to get a different bolt stop for short action configurations that gave them some additional bolt travel over the older SA stop.

Found out about this change when I decided to try some M+ mags in older .308 T3’s.

I have a T3 action (near the end of the T3 era) with the original 243win bolt stop and it clears M+ fine, dunno if there was a change earlier in the T3 history with a shorter one.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Get pods8 to send you one of those orange M+ magazines he makes so if you drop it you're looking for orange, not black.

This all started cause my kids dropped a black mag hunting.

 

[freezerfull]

I have a T3 action (near the end of the T3 era) with the original 243win bolt stop and it clears M+ fine, dunno if there was a change earlier in the T3 history with a shorter one.

I don’t know exactly when it happened either. The newer T3x’s with SA stops have notably more bolt throw than old T3’s with SA stops.

I have also heard plenty of people have success with the M+ in older T3’s with SA stops. I almost wonder if the tolerance between stops puts them right on the edge. When I tried it in (4) T3’s only 1 would pickup rounds from an M+ and it had such little over travel I wouldn’t be confident not occasionally short stroking. The other 3 were just a touch short on throw to pickup a cartridge seated against the back of the mag. Rifles were 2009-2015 era.

Either way it’s an easy fix with a file, new SA bolt stop or a LA stop for the OP. Didn’t want him to be surprised if he ran across the issue.

 

[grfox92]

Since you mentioned this 300 wsm started as a T3 not a T3x. If you still have the original factory short action bolt stop in, it may not allow the bolt to go far enough back to grab the case rim on an M+ mag (Creedmoor). Sometime around the T3x introduction, Tikka's began to get a different bolt stop for short action configurations that gave them some additional bolt travel over the older SA stop.

Found out about this change when I decided to try some M+ mags in older .308 T3’s.

I don’t know exactly when it happened either. The newer T3x’s with SA stops have notably more bolt throw than old T3’s with SA stops.

I have also heard plenty of people have success with the M+ in older T3’s with SA stops. I almost wonder if the tolerance between stops puts them right on the edge. When I tried it in (4) T3’s only 1 would pickup rounds from an M+ and it had such little over travel I wouldn’t be confident not occasionally short stroking. The other 3 were just a touch short on throw to pickup a cartridge seated against the back of the mag. Rifles were 2009-2015 era.

Either way it’s an easy fix with a file, new SA bolt stop or a LA stop for the OP. Didn’t want him to be surprised if he ran across the issue.

I ran the gun as is with AICS mags in a KRG X Ray for several hundred rounds last year. I also cycled 3 rounds in and out with the WSM magazine in a factory stock, so hopefully Im good. God forbid im not, ill just have a single shot for now lol.