Grouping help needed

[pburton]

I own a couple of Tikka's in magnum calibers including one in 270 wsm. Changing the recoil lug made some difference and tightened up my groups a little. I ended up going with a B&C Medalist, which has a built in recoil lug, and opened up the barrel channel a little. This made a considerable difference. This rifle will now shoot under 1" consistently with 150gr Nosler Partitians. Most of the time .7-.8". And I have not bedded this rifle yet. So I am hoping that this will tighten the groups up a little more.

 

[JoeS1044]

yes, it likely would. i had hoped to keep the light setup for backpacking though. i'm surprised so many factory models can shoot .5" groups with this stock. many tikka owners seem to be fine with it. i may try to isolate a few variables with another factory rifle and swap parts until i find the issue.

If you want an after market stock buy the bell and Carlson medalist stock I have one for my tikka and after weighing it vs the factory stock it only weighs one ounce more

 

[Snowbird]

well, i installed the steel recoil lug and removed the two pressure points on the factory stock. i still got fliers. 1st group of 4 turned out to be two individually good .5" groups at 200 yards. too bad they were 4" apart and not consecutive. shots 1 and 3 were together and 2/4. so, this time it was consistent flers. as the barrel heated they became wild as expected.

i really only expect this rifle to shoot about 1-3 quick shots in a consistent fashion... and for hunting i hope 1 does the trick.

to shorten this story, i now have a B&C Medalist on the way.

thanks for all the guidance.

 

[Rick Richard]

I went through all of what you have been through with a Tikka including sending it back to the factory. End result...got rid of it. Very displeased with the product and Beretta USA customer service.

 

[Snowbird]

I went through all of what you have been through with a Tikka including sending it back to the factory. End result...got rid of it. Very displeased with the product and Beretta USA customer service.

that's tough to hear. did you go the aftermarket stock route and that still didn't fix it?

i plan to bed this one after i shoot it on a vise again. worst case, it still shoots fine for most hunters. i'm just a bit particular. i've been lucky to stumble on to factory rifles that shoot .5" moa regularly.

 

[engineer40]

I agree with what everyone else has stated. With the way your describe the groups, it sure does sound like something is moving on you. If you're sure it's not the scope or rings, it makes logical sense to think it's the stock. I'm curious what your results will be after you install it in the new stock you ordered. Please keep us updated.

Lesser of a chance would be an inconsistency in the barrel or the crown? I used the Tubb's finishing system for the first time a while back. I don't think it helped groups sizes much, but it doesn't seem like I get flyers like I used to in that rifle.

But if I was a betting man, I think your new stock will help a lot. Especially if you bed it.

 

[Rick Richard]

Replaced with B&C Medalist also and did not improve. Just a bad product period.

 

[Snowbird]

Replaced with B&C Medalist also and did not improve. Just a bad product period.

i'm feeling like my story may end like yours.


i received my medalist and noticed a couple of things right away.

1st the sling swivel was over tightened past square and will strip if turned further or be loose if turned back. no huge deal as i can fix it in place with some jb weld.

2nd the rear action screw is where b&c clamps down some device to hold the stock for painting. unfortunately, they use a lot of pressure and imprint rather deeply on both sides of the hole. it can be fixed with bedding but that's one more thing to fix on this stock.

3rd the masking job must have been sloppy because there is epoxy paint on the aluminum shank in spots that will interfere with proper mating of the action.

4th upon mounting the entire left side of the stock was in contact with the barrel. the company representative suggested i whip out the old sandpaper and go to town on the stock. if i didn't want to do that i could mail it to them and they would fix their mistake and send it back to me.

am i out of line to expect more from bell and carlson? with a statement like "Designed as a drop in fit for Tikka T3 long and short action", i kind of expected to to mount up the barrel/action and go shooting. should i just return this thing and find a manners?

 

[pburton]

I have purchased a couple B&C stocks for Tikkas over the last couple of years. Never had any problems with their quality until the last one I bought about 3 months ago. It appeared like the aluminum bedding block was at a slight angle causing the barrel to touch on the left side. I used some sand paper on a wooden dowel and sanded the barrel channel and now it is fine. Barrel is free floated and it looks fine.

 

[Snowbird]

i called B&C again and went through all the steps they asked me to follow. after fixing all of the epoxy over spray, rippling from poor machining in the mag well and mounting another t3 lite, it still didn't work. i had two heavy points of contact along the base of the barrel and the whole barrel was still shifted left. at that point, they even went though proper torque sequence on the action screws. turned out i was doing that correctly. the story on that stock ends with it going back to the retailer, who will send me another one when B&C warranties mine. if the next one doesn't fit out of the box, then i need to evaluate how much i really like this firearm.

so the next question is: what would/have you replaced your T3 lite with?

 

[jonthomps]

Seating depth and truing the action may help too.

 

[engineer40]

I've noticed that many times barrels will be touching the forearm at some point or like you said, be favoring one side of the barrel channel entirely. I don't know if this is from the forearm not being truly straight or from the way the receiver is sitting in the stock. Either way, I've successfully fixed it a few times now.

When you bed the rifle action to the stock, make sure you wrap tape around the barrel about 4-5 times near the end of the forearm. I usually do around 5 wraps about 1/2 inch from the end of the forearm. That way when you bed it, the bedding compound will harden in the correct way to have the barrel centered.

In fact, my favored way to bed is that the only rifle parts that are actually touching the stock is the tape near the end of the forearm and the last 1/8th inch of receiver tang in the back. Everything else is bedding compound.

You take it all apart, take the tape off, clean up the bedding spillage... When all is said and done, the barrel is true to the forearm. Even if you physically push it one side or the other, the barrel always comes back to center... not touching the stock on either side or beneath.

That process should help most of the time. Unless the stock is really curved like a banana.

 

[Dr. Vette]

That process should help most of the time. Unless the stock is really curved like a banana.

The two Wby Mark V stocks I have purchased from B&C would qualify.

The first one I just figured it was a fluke when the last 6 inches of the forearm bent up 3/8 inch, and since I planned on free floating the barrel anyway just used a dowel and sandpaper to open up the bottom of the channel, painting the channel black in the end.

The second stock was purchased 3-4 years later and built exactly the same. Several phone calls and emails to Bell & Carlson ended up with either a) I can send the rifle + stock to them at my expense to test fit or b) that's the way they are designed. I sent photos too showing the front of the action sitting 3/16 to 1/4 inch above the aluminum block (try and close that with an action screw and not worry about stripped threads), but they didn't care. And, it is their policy that customers can NOT talk to the engineers about the stocks, only the girl that answers the phone.

I planned on floating the barrel and bedding it anyway, but I really didn't want to have to do that much work to an alleged "drop in fit" stock. So much for that thought...

 

[Snowbird]

And, it is their policy that customers can NOT talk to the engineers about the stocks, only the girl that answers the phone.

I planned on floating the barrel and bedding it anyway, but I really didn't want to have to do that much work to an alleged "drop in fit" stock. So much for that thought...

i hear you. i guess "drop in" is a loose term.


i got the same story from the lady that takes calls at B&C. i am busy trying to remediate a meth house on days off, get ready for hunting season, work my 45hrs a week and chase my kids. i really don't have the time to learn the fine art of fixing poorly made products.

fwiw, i got told to send in my rifle or take it to a gunsmith. instead, the vendor is taking care of me. mine was made in 03/2013, so he checked the lots and found one made in 2008. it is in the mail now and should be here by tuesday. I hope their quality control was better back then. if not, it will be my first and last B&C product.