How do you know how much shooting I do and what I find to be acceptable levels of accuracy?

As you have elevated yourself to the position of Tikka superiority and nobody else can express an opinion as you preach to your congregation, I'm going to withdraw.

I think I'll go to the range and stop wasting time on this forum. Evidently all it needs is… Read more

I bought 2 from Mike Lucas last year. Bit slow on communication, but no problem. They are very good quality and I wouldn't have anything else now.

Here's the link to the Terminator brakes:

http://www.shoot-long.com/products/long-range-accessories/terminator-muzzle-brakes/

If you want a brake go with a Terminator T2 or T3. They are made from titanium and reduce recoil extremely well.

Fluting the bolt will save an ounce or two and is poor return for the cost, but if you want to do it, go with Long Rifles Inc as their work is superb and it costs only… Read more

Regardless of whether it's planned or not, why advise a new, young owner to make alterations to his rifle before he's even fired it?

Here's another universally accepted fact – if it shoots, leave it alone.

Shoot the rifle first and see how it goes. If it shoots well out of the box don't grind the pressure point lugs away as you could ruin the accuracy. They are made that way on purpose and the warranty will be voided if you remove them. Removing them could improve accuracy a little, but it could also ruin it. Why do it if the rifle shoots well?

Hi n4rod,

Congratulations on your first Tikka, and in a good chambering too. I like the old Rem 700s, but the newer ones aren't a patch on the 595. I would clean the bore with Boretech to get all of the carbon and copper fouling out of it, which could take some time. You will then probably need to fire a number of shots again before you reach… Read more

If you want to read-barrel the best solution is to have 100 thou machined off the face of the receiver to remove the small progression. You can then have an integrated recoil lug fitted and bed the action to hold everything in place.

Long Rifles Inc in SD did mine and the workmanship is superb. Mine's a .300 Win Mag with a Bartlein light Palma… Read more

A Japanese company buying ARM is not necessarily investing in the UK, it's much more likely to take profits out of the UK. They bought it cheap too as the Pound is worth buttons.

Anyway, the public had their say and we are on the way, so I hope their faith pays off.

I may be off, but my work pension will be paid in Pounds so it very much affects… Read more

Which businesses, and how much does the FTSE effect your day to day life (unless you work in the Stock Exchange)?

That's a nice chamberings for sambar mate. I'm having a week or so after a stag next year in the Mansfield area with a mate, which I'm looking forward to very much. I'll have to make do with my mere .300 Win Mag or. 7mm Rem Mag peashooter.

Thanks  I'll look it up.

I'm also going the recommend the series of books on rifle maintenance, long range cartridges, shooting technique etc by Nathan Foster in New Zealand. Look him up at ballistic studies.com

The books are easy reading, no bullshit and will make you a better shot and your rifles more accurate.

His website has great info of all… Read more

I'm going to express a minority view that this is not a good thing. Blind optimism that “it will be alright” is based on nothing other than the hope that this will come to pass. The economy is on the way down, the pound is at lower levels against the USD that at any time in the last 30 years, and investment in the UK is down. Scotland will now… Read more

After some less than complementary reports about CDI (including my gunsmith) I went with an Atlasworxs DBM. The quality is very good and it is AI mag compatible. It will need inletting like the CDI, but is not hard to do. I did mine in about 2 hours with a very small file.

7mm-08 would be my choice – less recoil than .308, better ballistics and plenty of killing power.

http://www.brownells.com/reloading/brass/rifle-brass/brass-prod37539.aspx

.300 SAUM brass. Not cheap, but cheaper than the changes you mentioned and would last for years if annealed.

7 WSM would be another option, but necks are short. I heard that .300 SAUM was back on the market, so it could easily be necked down to 7 SAUM – perhaps neck turning too.

Or just get a good brake fitted to your current rifle. I have a Long Rifles Inc brake on my .300 Win Mag that reduces recoil to around .308 levels. Terminator Products T2 and T3… Read more

.260 is very much in the short category – it's essentially a .308 necked down. I think I would want to have a long bolt stop and mag to allow projectiles to be seated way out and still easily fit the mag. I'm going that route with a .284 build on my .25-06 T3, with the barrel throated for long OAL.

You will need:

– a new barrel as you said.
– a new bolt with a magnum face.
– a longer bolt stop for short action cals.
– a shirt action mag.

Would be much cheaper to buy a used T3 in short action configuration and add a new barrel chambered for .243.

An alternative could be a 6.5 or 7 SAUM as you could use the same bolt.

To get the best out of it… Read more

Welcome.

All T3s are the same long action. The difference is that short action chamberings use a mag with smaller internal dimensions and a longer bolt stop to limit the length of the throw. Longer chamberings obviously have more mag space and a shorter bolt stop.

I don't know anything about chassis stock replacements, but I did a .300 WM build… Read more

My experience with Boyd's stocks is limited to the pro varmint model In which I just bedded my b-mag. Jason is totally correct about the marginal quality of the inletting. It seemed that every dimension was off just enough to make trouble.  After 2 days of sanding, chiseling, drilling, grinding and installing the barreled action at least 30 times…

Read more

I have never taken one off myself, but Chad at Long Rifles Inc told me that they are the tightest barrels he's seen. I also believe they have some sort of thread locker on them that responds to heating before you torque the barrel off. However he did mine, it came back without a mark.

Get a long action mag, which will allow you to seat your bullets as far out as you wan. You may also need a bolt stop from a long action too, which will allow you to throw the bolt longer. Plenty of used mags for sale cheaply on the forum. New mags are incredibly over priced.

Long Rifles Inc in SD.

Long Rifles Inc put a new barrel on mine too. $25 shipped to them from MO, superb quality work and a fast turn around.

I had my bolt fluted and the face of the action machined to remove the 150 thou or so progression and had a Remington style lug fitted. I didn't weigh before or after as the difference would be slight. Plus, I added a 26″ light Palma barrel and brake, so the tiny weight I saved would nowhere near offset the added weight of the heavy .3″ lug and… Read more

M6 x 1 from memory.

Guys have looked for actions on here before without luck, and being a lefty, you're chances are even more slim. I would look for a cheap, second-hand rifle or a deal on a new one and have the barrel pulled.

I did that and then had Long Rifles Inc fit an integrated lug and a Bartlein barrel. Superb quality work from those guys and it shoots really… Read more

Yes, that's all it does, so if you have basic ability you should be able to knock one up. Let us know how you go.

Bartlein and Brux are very good. 

Long Rifles Inc fitted mine and installed an integrated lug when they fitted the barrel

I hope someone has a spare for you as I'm guessing Beretta will want a ridiculous amount for a new one, or worse, will only supply a new trigger unit complete.

Nope, that's just the way it is. You will get used to it in time and it's not a big problem.

Good on you. I have them all too and I'm a better shot, better informed and better at getting the most from my rifles. He knows what he's talking about alright.

Boyds stocks are good value for money, but they need to be bedded to get the accuracy out of them. I bedded one on my .25-06 Lite and it goes well. They are heavier, esp when bedded than the factory stock.

Factory stocks are actually very good and are supposed to have barrel contact like yours has. If you take the stock off you will see two small… Read more

Personally I'd steer clear of Barnes for anything but close work. I have used the TTSX quite a bit, but they like to be driven fast and are really not for anything past 300 yards.

For .30-06 (which I have owned) I went with 178 grain A-Max, which is a very good long range bullet. At close range they can cause lots of damage, but I'm not concerned… Read more

Interesting stuff – thanks.

Watch some of Nathan Foster's vids on YouTube. He runs a business in NZ called Terminal Ballistics Research and he really knows what he's doing. Follow his advice and you can't go wrong.

I agree with Larkin that NF glass isn't a match for Zeiss, Swarovski and S&B, but it's still pretty good. I have no experience with the scopes or reticles so you mention, but I got an NXS in 5.5-22×56 for my .300 WM T3 build. I have the MOAR-T reticle, which is illuminated. The turrets are good, with positive clicks and 1/4 and you get what you… Read more

I tried weighing it on a scale, but it was too heavy and maxed my scale out, so I also did it by eye and never had a problem.

They did mine a few months ago no dramas. While its there, get them to face off the action and fit an integrated recoil lug.

Yup, it's as easy as that. I think some of the bolt stops are skeletonised, so are not so suitable for filing down. Check the back of yours to see if there's enough meat there to file some away. If not, Brownells have long and short bolt stops.

Here you go:

http://riflebarrels.com/wp-content/uploads/tikkat3.pdf

.625″ at 24″
It's a pretty light barrel on a magnum.
I swapped my 300 WM to a Bartlein light Palma – .776 at 26″.
It has a brake (from LRI) and is pretty tame now.

Terminator Products T3 titanium brakes are superb too.

http://www.shoot-long.com/products/long-range-accessories/terminat… Read more

Here you go blokes:

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Resources/Discussion+Forums/x_forum/17/thread/3925.html

Lots of good info elsewhere on this site on terminalballistics, maintainence, chamberings, shooting technique, as well as detailed bedding advice.

Follow this bloke and you will learn something whoever you are.

Cheers

I bedded a T3 in a Boyd's stock last year. Use the Dremel to take 60 thou depth off the stock from an inch in front of the lug, all around the lug, through the side walls to the tang. It's very important to leave a section at the rear of the tang as your rear height reference. Wrap electrical tape round the barrel to support the barrel and action… Read more

The lug should be tight in the stock, and ideally bedded in, but should have some play in the recess on the bottom of the action. Devcon 10110 or Nathan Foster's bedding kit from terminalballisticsresearch will do well.

Yup, FLS or just use a bump die to bump the shoulder 2 or 3 thou back. I use Redding collet neck sizing dies and a bump die to bump the shoulder 2 thou after every firing.

Nathan Foster certainly knows what he's talking about whether it's rifle maintainence, shooting techniques, bedding and accurising, terminal ballistics or reloading. He has dedicated his life to this stuff and writes in a no nonsense style that is easy to follow. I recommend all of his books to any serious shooter; they are an investment that will… Read more

Another alternative is to rebarrel and have a recoil lug fitted. I had mine done by Long Rifles Inc and the work is superb. Bedded myself using Devcon 10110 and same principles as for Rem bedding. Harder to do on a T3 due to straight walls on the action, but not that difficult.

Give it a try and see how it goes. If you totally screw it up, just… Read more

You should not use the large lug as there needs to be slight movement under recoil before the barreled action returns to battery. That's why when bedding a Rem you need to relieve the front, sides and bottom of the lug, leaving direct contact between the bedding and the rear of the lug only. Same principle applies with a T3, but in reverse – you… Read more

Meant to say that I second the recommendation to use A-Max. They're not designed for hunting, but they break up well at low velocities, so are good for long range work. Get your chamber throated for bullets seated as far out as you can whilst still having at least one calibre of bullet length in the case neck for concentricity. Make up a dummy… Read more

Bedded mine too. I wouldn't go with an oversize recoil lug as you want some free play there to avoid pinching. The front of the lug (nearest the muzzle) should be the only part that touches the action recess front face. The top of the lug and the rear should be relieved with tape. I do this by placing a small crescent of electrical tape on the… Read more