[Kingcreek]

reciever screws tension?
I have the .308 T3 that still has the aluminum lug but it took a little tinkering with screw tension to get it to settle in.

[Kingcreek]

Limbsaver recoil pad if recoil is your problem. Mine was money well spent.

^THIS^
cheapest easiest thing to try before anything else

[Kingcreek]

Just a thought… You can get a lefty T3x with factory 20″ barrel and surprise him with it for Christmas. If he isn't absolutely thrilled with it the way it comes out of the box, its a lot easier to make a barrel shorter than it is to make it longer! (Can be done anytime after he gets it and tries it out) I have personal experience with .308 in 16-22″ barrel lengths and I think the balance of performance and handling is best around 20 but maybe he has specific ideas or different applications.
Welcome to the forum. Your husband is a lucky guy. My wife got me pajamas for Christmas and then only the bottoms. 26 years of happy marriage and she never got me a gun. Maybe you could talk to her?

[Kingcreek]

165-180 but also consider construction.
personally, I will go with 165gr Nosler partitions in a .308 as a good combination of accuracy, weight retention, and trajectory.

[Kingcreek]

If it is FL resized and won't chamber check length.
If all else fails, a case guage can be your friend.

[Kingcreek]

I agree on the safety.
I also wish we could top off the mag without removing it from the action. For longer than I can remember, whenever I fired a shot hunting I topped off the load as I approached the downed game.
The poly mag doesn't bother me, but the price of them sure does!

[Kingcreek]

I'll give you an alternative break in process. A little JB bore paste on a patch for a few swipes to condition the bore (fine polish). Clean the bore with conventional solvent when dirty.
My Tikka barrel was very slick right out of the box. Settled in after 6-8 shots and has been great since.

[Kingcreek]

The more you research this subject, the more disagreement you will find with plenty of respected “experts” coming down on both sides.
I do not do the traditional shoot/scrub/repeat break in. I think its a waste of ammo and bore wear.
I do use JB Bore polish to start out clean and polished with a new barrel and I repeat it if showing much fouling or accuracy starts to decline. Otherwise just good bore cleaner/solvent. I have never experienced much fouling in any rifle beyond what would be expected with extremes.
FWIW, I was a competitive highpower shooter in the 1980's and also burned a lot of powder over South Dakota prairie dog towns. Doesn't make me an expert but I'm not a novice either.

[Kingcreek]

You can spend a lot of money trying to shave 1/2 pound.
Personally, speaking as an aging hunter that has hunted a lot of deer, elk, and pronghorn over the years, I would focus on getting myself in top condition and not worry much about a few ounces of rifle. But then again, I realize this is not a fitness forum but a Tikka forum. The limbsaver recoil pad is real nice.

[Kingcreek]

You probably won't get your money back on your vanguard but why lose money on the scope also?
If you sell or trade and the scope is OK, I would pull it and mount it to the next rifle.

[Kingcreek]

I don't see anything but maybe more grease than I use. You might try a good clean and degrease followed by fresh lube and see if it helps.

[Kingcreek]

Nice. What is your total cost estimate for the final “budget build” package? If you don't mind me asking..

[Kingcreek]

Its painful and feels personal when it happens but you'll always have some customers that you are better off without. The guy took advantage of your trust.

[Kingcreek]

You're correct about the door. A significant part of the weight is the door. Some safes use a pin hinge that will allow you to lift the door up and off the hinges which sometimes makes moving them a little easier.

[Kingcreek]

You can move one on same level pretty easy if you tip it a little and put some 1/2″ pvc or round wood dowels to roll on. golf balls also work great if its not a wood floor surface (will mar wood with grooves if heavy enough). If you have to, use a flat prybar to lift an edge up to start.
Just put it where you want it. Drill from inside the cabinet and use washers when you bolt it down.

another safe story…
There was a guy who was well known at gun shows, used to brag about his collection and his big honkin superduper gun safe. He was known as a buyer and collector and lived in a rural part of Iowa.
He came home one day to find house parts scattered about his yard and drive and a great big hole in the back of his house. Somebody had backed a vehicle up to the house, probably a tow truck, kicked in the back door and run a chain around his safe. They pulled it out and drove away with it. Presumably so they could take their time peeling it open somewhere else.
The moral of the story is: Don't advertise the stuff you want to keep.