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Project Gun 3
Reporting in on the progress concerning my T3 Varmint semi custom conversion. My parts arrived so I could mount my scope and also do the bolt switch out.
Here is what happend.I had purchased the EGW 20 MOA rail to mount on the Tikka. The first operation was to remove the #6 protection plugs in the receiver. There are 4 to remove…3 came out easy. The 4th slot stripped out. OH Xx@#! You know what I mean!! Still having steady hands I managed to drill out the plug with a 1/16″ drill bit and a 3/32 “bit. I had forgotten that the plug material was plastic which I really appreciated. Using my dental pic I cleaned out the threads and ran the new screw in to make sure the threads were still good. I was successful and mounted the rail using a little blue lock-tite and my FAT torque screwdiver.
I mounted my Zeiss 6.5×20 50mm varmint reticle scope using eh EGW rings with delron inserts. Mount went very well using the Wheeler level system. All screws were torqued to EGW specifications. I will supply picture soon.
The next job was to install the new shroud and install the new bolt recently purchased from the Perfomance Store. Jason was a lot of help.
I followed the instruction removing the shroud and removing the Tikka supplied bolt. Tikka really holds tight tolerances on the bolt dovetail. The old bolt came out with a little effort and it was time to fix a double rum and coke. Keep in mind that I am doing this sitting in a chair beside my hot tub watching my dog patrol the back yard looking for squirrels or cats. For Houston, the temperature was great for this time of year. Our heat index was 105 Friday and Sunday it was in the mid 80s. We had a cold front!Installing the new bolt looked simple enough but turned out to be a good 45 minute job. My bolt had some burrs left over from the manufacture which had to be removed before attempting installation. I went back in the garage and found my honing stones, refreshed my drink and went back to work. The new bolt was too wide to go into the dovetail and the top angles were too sharp to fit. I measured the width of the old bolt and the new bolt. The new bolt was .002 wider than the old bolt. In other words….”it ain't gonna fit”. I honed off sufficient material from both sides of the bolt and made the entry angles smoother. When finished the bolt slid in perfectly with a slight tight slip fit by hand.
The new aluminum bolt shroud was installed and funtion tested.
The new bolt looks good and with the scope now mounted correctly I have a nice looking gun. My new stock is on order and I am expecting it in November. I will probably get it after my coyote hunt that I will be doing in New Mexico.
I bore sighted my scope in the back yard and am now ready to get back to the range to fininsh my break in procedure.
I will update with my break in and accuracy/loads as time goes on.
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