Bedding the Action on a Tikka T3X

[Tommo64]

Tommo,
I have a few questions regarding the bedding process. Firstly, how much stock material did you remove from around the bedding area?
I used a 1/2" end mill and hauled out where the old recoil lug was.

Is there a minimum thickness required for the epoxy bedding compound?
At 8k+ psi, you are getting much more support than the old material, so I shoot for .025"+. No set value in my head

Or did you just roughen the area up to provide an effective 'key'?
I do rough up most areas by drilling little holes or scuffing if it might act like an ice cube tray and just fall out or shift after curing.

Also, how did you treat the recoil lug?
I used some release on the action but left the recoil lug dry and clean

Did you apply any tape to the back and sides?
Not on a tikka. No tape needed imo. Needs every bit of it sitting in the action.

I am fairly confident in tackling the job but just looking for a bit of clarification regarding preparation before applying the bedding compound.

If I can do it, anyone can. There are always different ways, but this way works for me.

Thanks for your advice. Much appreciated. Don't have anything fancy like a milling machine but I'm sure the Dremel will get the job done!

 

[Mram10us]

Forgot to mention, I do the superglue trick to hold the recoil lug to the action when bedding.

 

[Tommo64]

So, I went and bought myself some Acraglas, started stripping the rifle down to do some prep work on the stock but then I notice there are a number of voids in the bedding areas around the front and back action screw holes (see attached pics). Should I fill these voids with the Acraglas or fill them temporarily with modelling clay and just work around them? The forestock has much bigger voids which I know can be filled with a lightweight filler to improve the rigidity of the stock without adding excess weight. I guess for the bedding process I could just use modelling clay to form a temporary dam? I am just a little concerned that with all these voids there doesn't seem to be much area to bed onto. Also, in the Acraglas kit there is a small back of fiberglass floc but there seems to be no mention of this in the instructions. I am guessing this may be more for repair work? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Mram10us]

I fill em

 

[Tensilon]

Tommo...fill those voids around the action screws with bedding. I'm guessing you know that you need to drill and key into the plastic with a hot poker to allow the bedding to secure itself well to the plastic... Also pull that recoil lug out and hog out space to permanently bed it in there. Man I am on my phone at work....there is more you should really know....much easier on a puter at home....am blocked from using my work puter to go to gun sites....lol....I'll shoot you a note in the a.m. after work.....

 

[Tommo64]

Tommo...fill those voids around the action screws with bedding. I'm guessing you know that you need to drill and key into the plastic with a hot poker to allow the bedding to secure itself well to the plastic... Also pull that recoil lug out and hog out space to permanently bed it in there. Man I am on my phone at work....there is more you should really know....much easier on a puter at home....am blocked from using my work puter to go to gun sites....lol....I'll shoot you a note in the a.m. after work.....

Thanks man. Appreciate any advice you can give. I really want to get this right. I have also been looking at the
MatchGrade Synthetic Stock Stabilizer Kit but darned if I can find a supplier here in Australia and they don't sell overseas to individuals. US/Canada has a distributor but can't find anything for Australia. Our local hardware chain Bunnings sells regular 2 part epoxy. Not sure if that would work to fill in the forestock voids? Know what you mean regarding the gun site ban on work computers. I have the same issue where I work.

 

[tomsd]

The other great thing I did with both my 2 tikka's was to change out the trigger spring to a yo dave spring.

Didn't need to spend $150 on a new trigger just $10 to make the trigger feel so much better & this helped pull the groups in as well

View attachment 178403
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HMM. Will see how mine shoots and may try that. Thanks

 

[tomsd]

I ll bring a bit of water to the mill with my little experience of tikkas with the plastic stock. A few facts first:
The tikka rifle is probably one of the most consistent rifle in term of action dimensions , tolerances and has the straightest barrels of the ( mass produced) industry . The tikka synthetic stock is also very well moulded and you almost never see the barrel channel drifting to one side of the barrel more than the other.
The tikka stock has been designed with those little tabs at the beginning of the barrel channel to come in contact with the beginning of the barrel taper . If they had no role to play they simply would not be there!

The first thing you are going to notice when taking a brand new tikka out of the box is that the torque on the action screws is not high at all.usually around 28 to 30 inch pounds. You can use a marker pen and make a marking line on each screw head and the stock as a reference, undo the screws and then screw them back with a torque driver . Start at 20 inch pounds and then increase progressively the weight of your torque driver till you come to the original lines you drew precedently and you will be able to verify that.
One of the first mistakes that is done when taking a tikka action appart from the stock is to not re engage properly the action in the bottom recoil lug and the second mistake is to overtorque the action screws in the stock and therefore crushing the plastic bedding out of shape and permanently deforming it and ruining it.This also put upward pressure on the barrel with the tabs in the stock I was talking about earlier on.Often leading to not great accuracy.
If you own one of those stock that has already been crushed then yes conventional glass bedding is the cure. Replacing the stock with an after market one is another solution. Then in either case a stronger torquing of the screws will be fine.

But if you own a new tikka in a synthetic stock, don't trust the manual that says 60 inch pounds of torque, that is way too much!
You can apply a bit of blue loctite on the action screws before torquing them if you fear that they might come undone. Also while your action is out of the stock you can adjust the trigger weight or replaced its spring by a lighter one and apply a small amount of grease on the recoil lug to stop it rusting ( or replace it with an aftermarket stainless steel one).
Clean your barrel properly before shooting the first few rounds through it and you will see that most tikkas shoot extremely well just like that.

Ps: I have less credentials than a lot of people here, but I take appart about 5 to 10 tikkas every week and I have worked on close to 2000 over the last six years.

Thanks

 

[Huntz]

The 1 penny answer is "I don't know" Didn't test it before. I tore it apart, removed the webbing in the barrel channel, filled with lightweight epoxy fill and a chunk of galvanized 1/2" pipe. Made up some pillars, filled the butt with insulation and lightweight epoxy. All said and done, an afternoon of time and not much money in materials and I had a very stiff 35oz stock that shoots. Again, I didn't test before, so I can't tell you how much it improved

Why would you FIX it before you knew if it was broken?