Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Tricked out Tikkas!

New to the site. Thought id post my T3x in .308

Some things I had recently done:

- Fluted barrel (wrought iron) at LRI with slurry blast
- Slurry blasted tikka handle
- Stock was cerakoted sniper gray and laser etched for "composite look"
- Pic rail from MT

Took it to the range with 180grain federal fusions this past weekend. Second time shooting and didn't have too great of results (5 shot groups up to 2 inches was the worst of the 4 groups). The first time out went better before the upgrades. Im planning on going back this weekend and will update with the last two trips worth of detail and will take any advice if things dont shape up. Its a whitetail gun for the most part so trying to be realistic for my needs in regards to the accuracy.





-Mikey

I think I would try lighter bullets. 150 to 165 grain. Your gun may like them better. If you reload, try 155 grain Scenars and varget powder. They will likely shoot well.

I should have also noted that was at 100 yards. I’ll give that a try atse, thanks

Mikey,

Welcome. Did LRI do the bolt and handle slurry blast? What was the price, as I don’t see it on their site. Also, who did your stock, and what was the price? I like it.

LRI did the fluting of the bolt, their prices are listed online I believe at $45 per fluted bolt. Shipping was about $15 with insurance. I live in Michigan and had a local shop do the stock work and slurry blasting. Look up Odin’s Workshop. They also have a Facebook and Instagram page which displays their work. Very reasonably priced but I would ask that you inquire on pricing with them directly. From what I've seen most cerakote companies charge $100 to coat a single stock and then an extra $50 per additional coat. Thats what I would consider reasonable for the bake version. Odin’s did this all with one single coat. They also did the oven bake version which I was informed (and I think confirmed online) is more durable than the air application alternative for polymer and plastics. I dealt with one of the owners his name was James.

MikeyHad - Since the action has been removed from the stock remove it again and when reinstalling make sure that the action is engaged onto the recoil lug.
I have a friend who has a T-3 that he took apart and when he put it back together it shot about like yours. I took it apart and found that the action was sitting on top of the lug rather than being engaged onto it, reinstalled the action properly and it went right back to grouping like Tikka's genrally do. The funny thing is that with the action sitting on top of the lug it was not that noticable that it was installed improperly.

Just something to check since it has been apart.

drover

Mikey,

Thanks for the information. I would certainly prefer Cerakote to a rattle can paint job. I’ll look them up.

Great call. I actually found this exact issue before shooting it (luckily). I was comparing before and after pictures and noticed in the before pictures that the action was flush to the stock. I was able to get everything seated properly however before going to the range. Was unable to make it there last weekend so I will make it a priority to go this week. Thanks for the input!

Just got mine done.

Specs:

- Tikka stainless steel receiver
- Glades Armory bolt handle
- Mountain Tactical bolt shroud
- Bartlein 8.7" twist 7mm barrel, Remington Varmint profile, 20", 7 spiral flutes, threaded 5/8-24
- Chambered in 7mm-08AI
- McMillan Game Hunter stock - edge fill, grey paint with black specs, decelerator recoil pad
- RedSnake Tactical bottom metal (I am changing this out for Mountain Tactical BM, which is a bit more quiet for hunting)
- Harris bi-pod
- Mountain Tactical 0MOA mount
- Burris XTR Signature rings
- Burris Veracity 3-15X50 scope

I broke in the barrel yesterday while doing some fireforming. It looks like it is going to be a shooter!

That one turned out nice! How do you like the Game Hunter?

I like it a lot. Good feel, the palm swell is just right for my hands and the cheek piece keeps my head up and right in line with the scope. Weight is good too, as is the forearm width. It is wide enough to run a bipod, but slim enough to still feel good in the hand and could work on a bag too.