Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka T3x Ejection Problems

Greetings! I just took out my brand new 6.5 Creedmoor to the range to sight in my scope and, all told, shot four rounds (got it close for now but ran out of range time).

To my great surprise and utter dismay, all four rounds failed to eject properly. Each one would only fling out at an angle from the ejection port but remain grasped at the end of the bolt. This happened whether I slowly pulled back on the bolt (to try to catch the brass for reloads in the future) or if I cycled hard mimicking field application.

The rifle is a Tikka T3x Lite Stainless. I am using factory loads - Barnes VOR-TX 127g LRX. I also purchased some A-Zoom snap caps in 6.5 CM to become familiar with my trigger. The snap caps also exhibited the same behavior although less frequently, say, 8 out of 10 times versus every time with the Barnes cartridges.

After calling Beretta USA, they want me to send back my brand new rifle to have a technician look at it. How disappointing. Another suggestion they gave was to try another round. The only other two rounds I *might* even consider would be Hornady Superformance 120g GMX or Federal 120g Vital-Shok Trophy Copper but seeing as I just bought a case of the Barnes LRX after a bunch of research, I'd prefer to just stick with these factory rounds, if possible.

Because I am reluctant to send back my baby before even putting 5 rounds through it, I decided to tinker some more. I cycled the snap cap dozens of times, noticing each time that a new nick in the cartridge rim would appear after each ejection or failed ejection. The more times I cycled it through, the more "worn" the casing became. Finally, it just started ejection smoothly as I would expect with consistent speed, trajectory, angle, etc.

I decided to go back to the original 4 spent casings and grabbed one. After cycling the snap cap dozens of times and then trying to close the bolt using the Barnes casing - wow, what a difference. There was an incredible amount of resistance, relatively speaking, and it took a good amount of strength to get that bolt down. Pulling back the bolt, sure enough, that casing just "flicked out" at an angle from the ejection port but never properly ejecting. As I did with the snap cap, I started cycling that same casing over and over again. Sometimes I would get a proper ejection but most times not. Sometimes the case would eject only to fall back into the chamber. Sometimes it would spin 180 degrees and land back in the chamber. Other times, I would cycle it hard (because one Beretta tech told me that with Tikkas, you have to cycle it hard like in the field in order to properly eject the casing - what a bunch of bologna).

Anyhow, as I cycled it again and again, now dozens of times, I noticed the casing become rough around the cartridge rim then start to smooth out from the claw just raking the thing all over. Finally, proper ejection! Then another. Only after dozens and dozens of cycles could I finally get the thing to eject even while pulling back the bolt *ever so* slowly. It would flick out, spinning through the air ever so elegantly. Then sadly, on the next cycle - another stuck, angled out failure to eject. During each cycle, I could tell how muchsmoother and easier it was to chamber the round and cock the bolt. Smooth like butter. Instead of grasping the bolt handle firmly, a couple of fingers could do the trick.

So, I tried one of the remaining 3 casings that I fired at the range. Again, incredibly tight fit and difficult to get the bolt down. I pulled on the bolt and, sure enough, flick! But the casing remained stuck to the bolt end, sticking out of the ejection port at an angle.

I would like to add that after I experienced the FTEs, I disassembled the bolt assembly and sprayed it down with Brakleen and cleaned it really well (don't want any light strikes down the road). I'd prefer not to send the rile back to Beretta or switch to another factory load, if I don't have to. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there any way to adjust either the extractor/ejector or anything? Should I leave this to a qualified gunsmith or Beretta to look at it?

I suppose I could take each cartridge and sand down the rim to see if that works before going out to the range or field - but how safe/realistic is that?

Many thanks in advance!

Sounds like a burr on the edge of your extractor to me.

Sounds more like the ejector pin to me
Get a small screwdriver and push the pin in and out and see if it binds, there should be a fair bit of resistance but it should move full in and out without binding

Blackheart and Castle Rock, thank you for the quick responses! I removed the bolt and inspected the extractor and bolt face. There are a lot of brass shavings/dust that I cleaned out with a Q-tip. Inside the chamber, more brass shavings/dust. The breech is filthy just from cycling the snap cap and spent casing. I haven't fired the rifle since thoroughly cleaning after the range time. I don't think it is is the ejector pin because the snap cap and well-worn casing is now ejecting smoothly 9 out of 10 times. However, when I grab one of the other three remaining "newer" spent casings, it FTEs consistently. If it is the ejector pin, wouldn't all casings FTE similarly?

I did look at the ejector pin and pushed it down with a small screwdriver. I have no reference but that thing does have a lot of resistance. I can tell that it is rubbing against the bolt face. There is definitely contact but it seems consistent. I wouldn't call it binding when I press it up and down but it is tight. Is that problematic in of itself?

Upon closer inspection of the extractor, I do see a bright spot on one half of the inside edge where I would think the cartridge rim would come in contact with it. The "nicks" on the spent casing seem consistent with a single spot on the extractor being raised, the presence of a burr. I wiped it down and there *might* be unevenness on the under side edge. I found a video showing how to remove a Sako extractor. Seems simple enough. But would say, 0000 steel wool do the trick or maybe 600 grit sandpaper? Frankly, I do not possess any gunsmith tools. Would I rub that edge down hoping to smooth it all out?

Thanks again!

0000 steel wool will do nothing to it and if you do not have gunsmith tools send it back to Beretta.

Where’d you buy it?

You should seriously consider trying some other ammo, maybe the cheap whitetail stuff. I understand you don't want to change for hunting, but this might speed up a legit conclusion. Is the barnes ammo nickel plated?

Rub the burr on the extractor with some emery cloth, or lightly with a small file after removing the extractor. Easy peasy.

I use india stones and files to remove burrs but fine emery cloth or wet/dry paper will work.

I have heard of two other T3x rifles, both in 6.5 Creedmoor, that had ejection problems.

Can count on one hand the other complaints I have heard about ejection problems on T3s the last 10 years..
Must be something with the 6.5CM.

Happy Father's Day! Rifle was purchased from Whittaker. The Barnes casing is indeed nickel-plated brass. Since it is a brand new rifle and still under warranty, I am hesitant to modify the extractor but sending back the rifle to Beretta with only 4 rounds through it is not appealing either. If Beretta were down the street, I'd just bring it to them straight away. However, with the cost of shipping + insurance on my own dime, I'd rather exhaust a few options first.

I researched a bit more regarding the difficulty in closing the bolt. Could headspace be an issue and contribute to the FTE? It appears that older Tikkas had headspacing issues from the factory. Is it possible that the headspace is not quite enough for the Barnes round to fit in, causing slight deformation of the casing when I crank the bolt down and thereby contributing to the casing not being ejected properly? After cycling the same spent casing dozens of times, is it possible that the cartridge rim, neck/shoulders start to conform to the constrained space which then makes closing the bolt smoother requiring less force? And since the rim is getting all scratched up from the (possible) burr on the extractor, everything just fits better and allows for normal ejection of the casing?

I'm just thinking out loud here. Because if it is indeed related to headspace, I don't think I have a choice but to send it back to Beretta so their techs can adjust that to suit the Barnes round specifically. Once the casing is worn down from repeated cycling, the bolt closes much more smoothly. The snap cap also ejected more consistently from the get go and I did notice the bolt closed easier for that as well. Could the difficulty in closing the bolt be related to the FTEs? Of course, if the reason is due to the presence of a burr on the extractor, once the cartridge rim is literally torn away all the way around from the burr (bit by bit as I cycle it), it ejects better. And perhaps with that little bit of material missing, the bolt closes more smoothly as well?

Thoughts? Thank you all again!

You are making this harder than it needs to be.


1 - I doubt that it is a headspace issue, you seem to be on right track with thinking it is a burr problem.

2 - If you feel confident that you can remove the Tikka extractor then do so, take a look at the underside of it and if it has a "burr" take a sharpening stone, fine grit sandpaper or something similar and remove it - that should take care of the problem.

3- Take a magic marker and blacken the inside of the case rim, put an indexing mark on the case and a corresponding mark on the bolt rim - that should show exactly where the issue may be.

4 - If you do not feel competent to do that then call Beretta Customer Service, explain to them that this is a new rifle that is under warranty, that it has had this issue from the beginning and request that they send you a Call Slip so it can be sent back at their expense.

5 - It they will not send a Call Slip contact Whittakers and see if they are willing to intervene with Beretta.

6 - As far as older Tikkas having headspace issues - I have been shooting Tikkas (595's for over 25 years) and T-3's since their introduction and your reference is the first time I have ever heard of heard of headspace issues with them.

drover

FWIW, I had a T3x in 6.5 Creed that left the empties in the action routinely.

Wittaker's has great customer service.

Berreta USA does not; theirs is one of the worst I've ever dealt with.

WildBoarHunter,
You are in luck. The fellow that asked where you bought it - just above here (shortactionsmoker) works for Whittakers. PM him and you'll be taken care of without a problem. Sometimes rifles pass "final inspection" when they shouldn't. You shouldn't have to struggle with a brand new rifle. I just had my first range session with a Tikka laminated 6.5CM and its going to be a performer!

Shoot me an email. I’ll get it taken care of for you.

darrikwhittakerguns.com

There you go - customer service par excellence!

I had the same issue with my sons new T3X compact 7mm-08. There was a small shaving of metal under the extractor and once removed has been fine since.

take the bolt apart and clean degrease all internals. check for burrs on bolt face

Magnum-he did clean the bolt. First post...

Mic the brass too. Could be a little wide at the rim. Or the rims could have burrs. Although in my experience brass will be under saami specs rather than over. Also might mic the inside of the bolt head. But it's probably a burr on something on the inside of the extractor that is forcing the case against the inside of the bolt head.