I took a Tikka t3 apart last night and have a question about putting the recoil lug back in . Is it supposed to sit flush with the stock, or stick up a little like on my sako A7. Regardless of what it is supposed to do, its flush right now and it looks strange to me.
thanks

It has to stick up, so it can catch on the groove in the action.

Post a pic. I own several T3's. The inletting for the recoil lug will not let the recoil lug sit flush. It should protrude 5mm or so.

nope..DEAD FLUSH that thing is..almost seamless...is there a way to put it in backward or upside down? is it tapered or something? no matter, either way, when I put it in and bolt upt eh stock, it becomes flush. brand new rifle, never fired, so its not worn out or altered in any way.

try here

http://www.tikka.fi/pdf/manuals/TikkaT3_RH.pdf

see pg 22

Then it needs to go back to the manufacturer, either from you or the store that sold it to you. In my Tikka, with the synthetic stock, the recoil lug will not go deep enough to be flush, no matter which way it is inserted into the stock. Tikka could have chosen a better system for the recoil lug, especially for those who might like a custom wood stock.

sending something back to Tikka is a major undertaking..I have spent half the afternoon just trying to get an online account to send an email question to their service depatment. I have no doubt if I send it, I won't see it for months.

Don't send it back. If it really is sitting too low (sounds like it is), put a shim in the slot under the lug, of the proper thickness.

Yep, you could do that and then bed the recoil lug with Devcon steel epoxy. I've bedded all my T3 recoil lugs with Devcon steel.....easy to do. Of course, as mentioned, you'll need to place an appropriate width shim first.

The shim and some Devcon is your cure. Its a simple enough fix and will get the job done. I wonder if the shim was machined too much or the slot in the stock was molded too deep? Both are pretty elementary manufacturing functions.

Anyway the boys here have your fix. Don't send it back - it is a nightmare.

Ok..next question is, how far above the slot should it sit? its sort of hard to guess, I just I try shims until I can't bolt it together, then back off a little so the recoil lug is getting a good bite on the action?

Measure the depth of the slot on the bottom of the receiver that the lug sets in. It should set above flush on the inletting of the stock the same amount. Often you can put the lug in the slot of the receiver and it will fit snug if it dosen't you can take a bit of bedding compound and use it to glue the lug to the bottom of the receiver,clean up any excess compound that squeezes out, once this is hardened and holds the the lug snugly to the receiver you can then put some release agent on the 'lugged' action, put some bedding compound in the lug recess in the stock and drop the action with lug attached into the stock and bed it just like most other bolt actions for a perfect fit.

I have actually read where people take a couple drops of super-glue, and temporarily glue the lug to the action. Then apply bedding compound into the slot of the stock, then seat action like a normal bedding job. Be sure to put mold release (wax etc) to the sides and bottom of the lug first. After you remove it, you can pop the superglued lug off the receiver. Don't get carried away with the super glue, just a couple small drops to hold it in place while you bed. I have not tried, this...just repeating what I read, and it makes sense.

Here's a pic.

Thanks for the picture. Definitely not what mine looks like. I'm going the devcon route. Thanks to all

One would ask the logical question why tikka doesn't just fix this thing in place from the factory. From my reading and all the responses its s common problem. Is there a reason it "floats"?

Don't know and I agree with your logic. Honestly, all my T3's shot very well consistently even before I bedded my recoil lugs. It's an unconventional system for sure, but seems to work.

Yes, there is a reason it floats. It floats due to the liberal machining tolerances Tikka uses on the block, the stock slot and the action slot. They machine everything the same with these "open" tolerances so all parts are interchangeable and the cost of the rifle remains relatively low. They could fix it by tightening machining tolerances and adding machining steps for a re-design, but the end user would be paying for it. This is one reason why the Tikka rifles are relatively inexpensive.

The above is my assumption but I believe it would hold up as fairly accurate.

I first encountered this on a friend's rifle. Just put a modest wad of cotton under the lug in the stock.