Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Tikka T3 Barrel Swaps

A guy in the Dallas area has a local 'smith that is supposed to be a guru on Tikka T3 barrel swaps & 1000 yard Long Range builds . What issues are the potential problem and unlike any other Normal R700 or M70 change out? Any extra advantage to the T3's Long Action for doing a Short Action caliber like a 260?. Any & all comments aprreciated.
Ron

Tikkas typically build up very well.

The actions usually don't need any truing.

Does yours have the plastic bottom metal? On those we modify them so the action screws tighten against the pillars and not the plastic. CDI is about to release their new bottom metal for the Tikka. Anyone running the plastic trigger guard should give that a hard look.

On flat top receivers with flat bases we also highly recommend pinning the base to the receiver to eliminate possible base movement.

If you have a good resource for Tikka work, go for it. The rifles do well.

Mark

Thanks Mark for the heads up on the the new stuff coming. My T3 270's SR# is 7619xx and dead stock with the plastic bottom. It shoots my handloads of Nosler 130gr redbox style SP blem's over a max load of H4831SC into bugholes when my BP is under control and never been touched or tuned.
The guy in Dallas touched a nerve and started the "What if" wheels turning a little. He was offering a deal on 260 conversions, his LR rifle of choice, but I will be more interested in another larger hunting caliber most likely when it's time....umm mebbe 338'06 could be tolerable recoil wise I suppose.
Rob

They do shoot well. They are all long actions. The difference is in the bolt stop and the magazine. In my 338 Federal I changed the bolt stop for a long one and use long 30-06 length mags. Lets me get more room for the heavier bullets in 338. Same issue with the 260, a short action best under 140g bullets. The 6.5's are very long for bore.