[J]

Yorkshire to Wales is a long way mate. Are there any clubs that have access to Catterick ranges? Much close for you and options for 600m or so from memory. If you can't locate any, speak to Range Control at Wathgill Camp for advice. Good luck.

[J]

I second that Chad at LRI has just rebarelled my T3 and he told me that they are all screwed on extremely tightly and are far harder to get off than anything else he's worked on. Don't risk it – you will damage the action and barrel if you try. If your 'smith won't do it, speak to Chad. As an aside, Chad also told me that all the T3 actions he's worked on were straight and didn't need truing. Headspace will be fine if you have the same barrel screwed back on. Why not get a recoil lug fitted at the same time? Chad will do that, and so do the guys on here.

[J]

Where do you live Larkin? Bisley, Barton Road Range, Warminster etc could be an option. You may have already scoped those options, but if not, there are clubs that can get access.

[J]

Chad Dixon at Long Rifles Inc in SD as an alternative. Incredible quality and range of work and he's done plenty of T3s. My .300 Win Mag is arriving from him this week with an integrated brake, Rem style recoil lug and a Bartlein barrel. Quick work and very good communications and customer service.

[J]

Lucas for me too.

[J]

I hope it works, but I fear it may crack and break up over time. Devon or Marinetex are better options for bedding rifles, lugs etc.

[J]

Bartlein, Brux, Hart, Shillen and a number of others.

I'm having a T3 rebarelled with a Bartlein light Palma barrel in .300 Win Mag. Bartlein are making great barrels, which the competition boys are currently favouring. They make gain twist barrels with any rate of twist you want. The Palma barrels come as 31 inch blanks as I recall. Factory barrels have a long waiting list, but bugholes.com and butches reloading have them in stock if you can get them sent to Canada.

Tikka/Sako/Beretta seem to have no interest in supporting their rifles here in the US and Canada, but as good as their barrels are, the US made cut rifled barrels are better.

If you are rebarreling, it's worth having the action faced off to remove the small progression and fitting a Rem style recoil lug. The guys here do that, and so does Chad at Long Rifles Inc.

[J]

Good stuff. I'm building up a .300 Win Mag and have a steel gong waiting for it. When I last shot with the factory barrel and no brake it felt like I was being kicked by a mule every shot. It's having a custom brake fitted now.

Look for Terminator Products T3 titanium brakes as they are superb and will calm the recoil hugely. They are made in NZ, but sold in the US here:

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

[J]

…….. Or get new DBM with AI mags. I seem to recall that .300 WSM cases will fit in a .338 Lapua magazine. That will give you tons of room for seating to the lands. Options are: wait for the Mountain Tactical DBM to appear, or get one from CDI. CDI do free inletting. Not a cheap solution, but you will not be constrained by mag length.

[J]

The lug should be tight in the stock, but have a bit of play in the recess in the action. It's only the front face of the recoil lug that needs to be touching the action in recoil. It's a good system and it works well, but a steel lug will prevent the indentation that can occur with the factory lugs.

[J]

My vote's for McMillan A3. I got mine from the McMillan website ready to ship, so no lead time and a good price.

[J]

Well, I'm hoping so. I deliberately chose the T3 action over a Rem as I think the quality is far better. Some issues to overcome – mag too short, bolt stop prevents extraction of loaded rounds and top loading is painful, but not too hard to fix those issues. My 'smith is Chad Dixon at LRI, so I'm sure the build quality will be superb. I will write a report once I have bedded it and developed some loads. Got 208 A-Max and 210 VLDs to try out.

[J]

Well, it's not the only way, but it is the best single way. Adding weight, esp to the barrel, recoil reducing pads and mercury tubes all work well too, and a combination of some or all work even better. Sound moderators will reduce recoil a little, but nothing like as well as a good brake. My T3 in .300 Win Mag is away having a new (heavier) Bartlein light Palma barrel and an integrated brake fitted right now. It's also in a McMillan A3, so will recoil far less than it was doing before. It will have an NXS 5.5-22X56 scope on it when it comes back, and I'm not concerned in the slightest about it being damaged by recoil.Mercury tubes don't interest me much.

[J]

I think they're hybrids, but they are sponsored by Extreme Outer Limits, and I think they have hunting in mind. There's info on them on the longrangehunting.com site referring to hunting with them in a Nosler 28 too. My custom 7mm Rem Mag is an 8.5 twist as I had the 180s in mind when I ordered it. Should just stabilize the 195s, but 8 or 8.25 twist would be better. Let us know how yours goes if you get hold of some 195s. My rifle is in the UK waiting for me to get back from the U.S. next year.

[J]

I too am anxiously awaiting new bottom metal. It's the final component of my rifle.

I've resorted to working up a load that fit in my magazine, as deer season is 3 weeks out. It's not really ideal, especially with those huge, long, 7mm 180gr Bergers, but it's what I've got to work with.

We did get em through the chrono at 3050 fps, but after that, pressure signs. Hoping the longer COAL with the bottom metal will let me crank up a bit faster with lower pressure and better case capacity.

I guess the new 195 VLDs will be a bit tight then.