Tikka Rebarrel - SLC/Utah County Area

[nobody]

Anybody have a gunsmith in the Salt Lake/Utah County area that’ll do a rebarrel on a Tikka? I have a 20” CTR that shoots good, but I’m thinking of swapping to a 22/24” tube and hoping to increase velocity from my current max of about 2500 FPS with a 140 ELDM.

I’ve talked to a couple of reputable smiths, but none of them seem to know anything about Tikka. One of them said he would blueprint and true things up and headspace with a new recoil lug. I questioned his knowledge of Tikka and he replied with “all bolt guns are the same.”

So yeah, looking for a good smith that actually knows how to work on Tikkas. Not in a hurry, just putting feelers out there.

 

[SouthPaw]

That's a pretty big expense to increase speed 100fps. Have you considered different/custom ammo, dropping bullet weight, or possibly finding someone to handload? I can get ~2670fps from my 20" Tikka with that 140eldm.

 

[nobody]

That's a pretty big expense to increase speed 100fps. Have you considered different/custom ammo, dropping bullet weight, or possibly finding someone to handload? I can get ~2670fps from my 20" Tikka with that 140eldm.

Done all that, best I’ve managed is 2544 with the 140 ELDM. I’ve got an old, borderline shot-out Ruger American that pushes the same rounds at 2770, so more than 100 FPS increase. Have other rifles that’ll do close to the same. Trying to share components with other rifles as far as projectiles and such as much as possible. I also just want to build it, because why not. This rifle is just SLOW.

Like I said, not in a hurry. But I know I wanna build this thing eventually and need to find the right guy locally.

 

[Chad E]

If you have some case capacity left you might look at +P option from defensive edge or unknown munitions. Seems like a better value than a complete rebuild.

 

[rsltid13]

If you are willing to go to Ogden there is preece precision he's done a lot of work on tikkas

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[kickemall]

While not in the SLC area Preferred Barrels is in S. Utah. You can send them your barreled action and they'll put one of theirs on and ship it back. Reasonable price and most recent reviews are good. They use their own pre fits so not sure if that's what you're looking for.

 

[UTJL]

I’m having a rifle built off a tikka action by Nielsen Custom Rifles in Aurora. He does a lot of work on Tikka’s. I haven’t had any work done by him before but his previous customers I talked to were happy.

 

[Sled]

I have 3 Tikkas at preece currently. I'm not rebarreling those but easy enough for him to do it. Order the barrel you want and get someone to put it on.


And to address your comment about talking to reputable smiths that know nothing about Tikka...I'd avoid those and just about all the ones on the Wasatch front. There are only a couple out this direction that should touch a firearm.

 

[MuleyFever]

Buy

 

[Rooggvc]

I’m having a rifle built off a tikka action by Nielsen Custom Rifles in Aurora. He does a lot of work on Tikka’s. I haven’t had any work done by him before but his previous customers I talked to were happy.

Agree on Nielsen Custom Rifles. He has been great to deal with.

 

[tunafed]

I'll 3rd Garret Preece in Ogden. He did outstanding work on my T3 last year.

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[Huntinman57]

Curious what powder you are running I also have a 6.5 ctr 20” and my 143eldx are 2650. I’m running staball 6.5 if that helps

 

[Flynhunt]

Another vote for Preece Precision. He just finished up a 7prc on a tikka action for me. He does a great job

 

[HighUintas]

I recommend Robinson Precision Rifles. He's near Ogden/Roy. I had him cut a chamber and some dies for me. He did a very nice job and his customer service really is top notch.

I had Preece fix my bedding screwup a couple years ago. I honestly can't remember why I decided I didn't want to take my rifle to him that I had Robinson chamber. It could have been that Robinson was so awesome to talk to about what I wanted done, but I seem to remember not liking something that Preece did. Not sure.

Anyway, I can't recommend Robinson enough.

There's another one near there.... New Haven or somewhere around there. I'd stay away from that guy. OP, if you want his name PM me.

 

[HighUintas]

Do any of you guys that have had Preece chamber a barrel have pictures of the freshly cut chamber and throat? I'm curious on how nicely cut his chambers are.

 

[fishbeafraid]

Anybody have a gunsmith in the Salt Lake/Utah County area that’ll do a rebarrel on a Tikka? I have a 20” CTR that shoots good, but I’m thinking of swapping to a 22/24” tube and hoping to increase velocity from my current max of about 2500 FPS with a 140 ELDM.

I’ve talked to a couple of reputable smiths, but none of them seem to know anything about Tikka. One of them said he would blueprint and true things up and headspace with a new recoil lug. I questioned his knowledge of Tikka and he replied with “all bolt guns are the same.”

So yeah, looking for a good smith that actually knows how to work on Tikkas. Not in a hurry, just putting feelers out there.

I've heard that ES Tactical (Eric Smith) is a Tikka specialist. I believe he's in the Bountiful area. However, I've had 3 Win model 70s worked on by Doug at Fox Precision Firearms in Sandy. Fair and timely. I do believe that he's also a Tikka afficianado.

 

[Sled]

What I don't get is why smiths are reluctant to work on Tikka? Sure the threads are different but it's not like a Remington where you have to fix all the factory screw ups. Maybe it's just mysterious to them or maybe they can't justify the high charges they slap on the Remington's.

 

[MuleyFever]

I dont really see a barrel swap as requiring an expert on Tikkas or even a highly experienced gunsmith. Guys buy an action wrench and a gage and do them on their own. Buy a quality prefit and take it to a gunsmith and tell them to swap the barrel.

 

[gledeasy]

Nathan Hunter out of Mona, UT. I've heard he has done lots of work on Tikkas.

 

[nobody]

Thanks everyone. Actually was able to pick up a factory takeoff 24" barrel from a member on here on Friday, it's en-route to me right now. I'll start calling around to some of these guys.

As far as the comments about me looking for a "Tikka Expert" gunsmith, it's primarily because of the comments some of the other guys have made to me when I've called them. I had one guy tell me he needed to blueprint and true the action before he could work on it, and have heard several say that shouldered prefits don't work on Tikkas as good as "the internet would have you believe."

So I'm just trying to find somebody that understands what Tikkas are and won't question the plan I have unless it's truly unsafe (which, by all accounts and reports in the industry, is NOT the case). Realizing there's LOTS of hacks out there as I dig further into this.