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Strengthening a T3 Lite Stock
Hi,
I am new to he forum. I am a UK based hunter, hunting deer, wild boar, wild goat and varmint.
I have a T3 lite and find when I am shooting from a standing position off sticks the POA can change depending on if I have twisted the stock when pressed into the sticks. For example if I am aiming at a deer and it has moved from left to right and I have tracked the animal in the scope, I have therefore twisted the forend of the stock in between the sticks, this can dramatically change the POA.
Has anyone ever strengthened the stock on their T3, I also notice that the barrel is not truly floating as the stock makes contact with the barrel in a couple of places. My brother is in the car repair business and has fibreglass putty which I was thinking of putting inside the stock to strengthen it.
Has anyone else ever tried this?
Cheers
Buck
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4 Replies
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Buck,
First off your barrel should be free floating almost to the lug. I would take the action out of the stock, put it back in, correctly torque the action in and find where exactly the barrel is touching the stock and why. If after doing that, it still is touching the barrel, take the barrel/action back out, carefully sand the stock with sandpaper wrapped around a dowel the width of the barrel and take out the high spots evenly so that you can fit a test paper all the way down the barrel to the lug area once its back in the stock.
Secondly, are you sure that the stock is being twisted in your shooting sticks so that it changes your POA/POI? Have you field tested this to confirm? I have not experienced this myself, that's why I ask. If it is so, you might be better off getting an after market stock instead of trying to stiffen up the one you have now.
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If I slide a £5 note under the stock on all my other rifles it will go almost all the way back to the action. I have a Remington 700 with the hs precision stock, I also have a Weatherby Vanguard with a Bell and Carlson stock.
On my tikka it slides no more than 1/3 up towards the action?!
I have looked into this and this apparanly is the way that the t3 lite stock is designed, unless anyone knows differently. It still shoots sub moa groups off bipod, sticks and a steady rest. Like I describe if I bend the forend of the stock in the sticks you can physically see the plastic bend! I clean missed a broadside deer at <100 yards when I last did this! I do not not want to repeat that again!
I am looking at some aftermarket stocks, the McMillan ultra light stock looks good, but I can't find anyone in the UK that imports them from the USA. I can walk for miles over very rough ground when out hunting so I want something as light as possible.
Cheers
Buck
Buck,
First off your barrel should be free floating almost to the lug. I would take the action out of the stock, put it back in, correctly torque the action in and find where exactly the barrel is touching the stock and why. If after doing that, it still is touching the barrel, take the barrel/action back out, carefully sand the stock with sandpaper wrapped around a dowel the width of the barrel and take out the high spots evenly so that you can fit a test paper all the way down the barrel to the lug area once its back in the stock.
Secondly, are you sure that the stock is being twisted in your shooting sticks so that it changes your POA/POI? Have you field tested this to confirm? I have not experienced this myself, that's why I ask. If it is so, you might be better off getting an after market stock instead of trying to stiffen up the one you have now.
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There are two pinch points on which the barrel rests right about where your note is stopping. Supposedly Tikka engineers put them there to improve accuracy. Apparently they are not there on the Hunter model wooden stocks, just the synthetic. I removed the ones on mine and it didn't hurt accuracy one bit, in fact, for repeat shots, it helped.
Here's a typical target shot with my 22-250 at 100 yards. It will do this consistently as long as I do my part.
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I will file them off if you believe they have no adverse effect.
I will also fill in some of the airspace with some fibreglass putty. This could help to make the stock more rigid.
I may treat myself to an aftermarket stock anyway, we have a custom stock maker in Ireland called PSE Composites, they make off the shelf Tikka T3 stocks as well as Remington stocks.
Cheers
Buck
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