Looking for advice in how many rounds the original barrel on T3X TAC A1in 6.5 Creedmoor expected to last? Also when eventually need new barrel any advice about replacement prefit barrels in terms of thickness. Would like heavier barrel like the MTU i have on other bolt action rifles. I dont hunt and shoot at long distance range to 1200 so looking for heavier barrel. Thanks for your time and expertise.
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Barrel questions about Tikka T3X TAC A1
- Thread starter Southwind911
- Start date
If you do any casual searching here on SH and elsewhere, you'll find that 6.5CM barrels reliably last 2500 rounds or so, potentially much longer with factory (mild) ammo and if the barrel is allowed to cool sufficiently (never gets too hot to hold tightly with bare hand).
To my knowledge, prefits are not available for Tikkas. You'll have to decide on a vendor and smith.
Barrel contour is up to you. MTU is fine.
I owned a TAC A1 for a couple of years. Fine rifle. Like most Tikkas with hammer-forged barrels, it was a little slower in terms of velocity than comparable cut barrels like artlein.
To my knowledge, prefits are not available for Tikkas. You'll have to decide on a vendor and smith.
Barrel contour is up to you. MTU is fine.
I owned a TAC A1 for a couple of years. Fine rifle. Like most Tikkas with hammer-forged barrels, it was a little slower in terms of velocity than comparable cut barrels like artlein.
Doesn't PVA do barrels for tikkas?
PVA and Preffered Barrels both make shouldered prefits for Tikka.
Lots of places do tikka prefits both shouldered and barrel nut style.
Shut up if you don't know something for sure...
Shut up if you don't know something for sure...
Spoken like a true "expert" who showed up six months ago with a Tom Clancy screen name coupled, probably, with his birth year and posts all about Tikka. I'm not a Tikka "expert" beyond having owned , reloaded for, competed with, and learned how to fix the factory-f'ed-up firing pin in one of them because Beretta couldn't, for over a year before I moved on to customs, the way most in the "serious shooting community" do.
"To my knowledge" means just that. I had my experience but left the door open to being corrected because I sold my Tikkas years ago. @moosemeat and @1911Shootist decently set me straight, and now I know. Then this one-rifle-pony (from his "here I am" post) newbie says "shut up if you don't know for sure."
@Southwind911 , welcome to SH. There is a gold mine of information here. Spend a lot of time in the forums, and you learn which people are worth your time and you learn about the ones who may, or may not, have useful knowledge but fling so much shit all over the place that you just ignore them. Here's a hint: click on their screen name and you'll see a list of links to their past posts. I studiously avoid online pissing contests, but I briefly fell of the wagon today...
Sorry to have upset you so greatly sirSpoken like a true "expert" who showed up six months ago with a Tom Clancy screen name coupled, probably, with his birth year and posts all about Tikka. I'm not a Tikka "expert" beyond having owned , reloaded for, competed with, and learned how to fix the factory-f'ed-up firing pin in one of them because Beretta couldn't, for over a year before I moved on to customs, the way most in the "serious shooting community" do.
"To my knowledge" means just that. I had my experience but left the door open to being corrected because I sold my Tikkas years ago. @moosemeat and @1911Shootist decently set me straight, and now I know. Then this one-rifle-pony (from his "here I am" post) newbie says "shut up if you don't know for sure."
@Southwind911 , welcome to SH. There is a gold mine of information here. Spend a lot of time in the forums, and you learn which people are worth your time and you learn about the ones who may, or may not, have useful knowledge but fling so much shit all over the place that you just ignore them. Here's a hint: click on their screen name and you'll see a list of links to their past posts. I studiously avoid online pissing contests, but I briefly fell of the wagon today...
My apologies
I like my tikkas, they work well for me and are as accurate as many custom rifles.
Hmmm...I'm fairly certain (but could be mistaken) that the Tik-Tac has a limitation on barrel diameter, or rather, some collar that is on the barrel, requires some modifications. I may be mis-remembering things, so I stand to be corrected if wrong.
All my Tikkas were originally T-3's or CTR's, so my knowledge on the Tik-Tac is limited.
BLUF: Might want to dig for a bit more information that just a pre-fit barrel vendor...
All my Tikkas were originally T-3's or CTR's, so my knowledge on the Tik-Tac is limited.
BLUF: Might want to dig for a bit more information that just a pre-fit barrel vendor...
If my memory serves, the max barrel diameter is 1.20" because of the Tikka's design. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Howdy.
I recently bought a TAC A1 (20" .308).
I did so with the confidence that I'd be able to rebarrel it with a prefit barrel once the time came.
I'm green as hell with target rifle setup, as I've simply used sporter weight bolt actions with crosshair reticles for 40 years.
Time, energy and desire to hunt has waned, but the fires are stoked to get after some extended range target plinking. My son has been joining in on the fun, too.....thus the adding that second 20" .308 (first is a Ruger RPR 20" .308). Will be setting up a pair of 6.5CM rifles, too.
When I say I'm green.....I mean bigtime green.
The folks here, along with a couple buddies who dabble with benchrest have been great help in answering gear-related questions and coaching me up. The reloading forum here is really active, too.
I'm also acquiring the parts for my first chassis gun....just waiting on the action & barrel. The action (not a Tikka) is due to arrive at my FFL today....and the barrel company, Prefit Barrel Blanks, called me yesterday to review a couple details before they chucked it up on the lathe. It may be here late next week. I'll see how it goes.....fingers crossed.
I did notice when I was initially poking around their website they offered prefit barrels for Tikka actions:
Tikka Prefit Gun Barrel | Tikka T3 / T3X Pre Fit Barrels
Tikka T3 / T3x Prefit Gun Barrels The Tikka T3 action is one of the smoothest actions on the market and they are often very accurate rifles right out of the box. Our Tikka prefit barrels take your rifle to the next level. You have a choice of fixed and variable shoulder barrels, for those that...
preferredbarrelblanks.com
I can't speak to the quality of the barrel or the results....not yet at least.
I can say they beat the anticipated wait time and their email communication has been quick, responsive & thorough. Their call to me yesterday was great.....and unexpected. Just like with my own line of work, I appreciate it when folks communicate clearly and reach out for clarification. Doing so ensures a better result.
They offer a wide range of contours for the action I am working with. I went with 26" MTU contour, matte stainless, non-fluted.
Lots of fluting & finish options offered, too, although I haven't checked to see what is offered for Tikka actions......yet.
Ordered a 30 MOA rail from EGW for my TAC A1 and have the rings already. Hoping to get it on there this weekend.
Also ordered a YoDave trigger spring that'll be popped in & backing off the adj screw. Looking forward to seeing how good that 2-stage trigger will feel afterwards. That'll be done this weekend, too.
MDT Elite grip also going on.
There are some really nice & helpful folks around here.....as well as a few over opinionated loudmouth snippy bitches who can't help themselves.....but even they can be useful in teaching old dogs new tricks.
Sometimes they share knowledge that is relevant.....but a few of them probably are still living in their parent's house, online with PlayStation's and drooling over airsoft videos on YouTube while typing out responses with Dollar Store Cheetoh dust & potted meat cans dripping onto their keyboards.
Good luck with your rifle.
Maybe you'll be able to read through the Tikka thread and find some folks who can speak on their experiences with Tikka prefits:
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I have just started looking for a replacement barrel for my tikka t3x tac a1 not sure where the best place is to start
You are correct on the barrel collar.
I removed my barrel after 1800rds of hard prs use and have it to my brother. About 1900rds and still shooting fine (6.5 creed). I went with a heavy palma contour and 27” length for the new barrel. Tikka tennons are 1.130” if I remember correctly. There is a taper on the front of the action that bears no threads, so I had this machined back and now run a 1.200” tennon. The downside to this is I can no longer run a prefit barrel, and I have to have a custom chambering done anytime I rebarrel…which for this rifle and another tikka I own is what I’d prefer.
Heavy Palma offers plenty of clearance still, the collar around the tennon of the barrel is only there for the fore end to attach to, so you could technically take a grinder to it and open it up yourself….aka not rocket science.
There are multiple companies doing prefit in steel and carbon barrels now.
And they are shit.
Tikka headspace has a variance of about .010 to .012. That is no where near consistent enough to do prefits as you could fall outside of SAAMI on either end.
The customs we see prefits made for such as impact, lone peak are about .001 to .002. It's a huge difference and this just shows how ignorant many are on the subject.
Are you like a self imposed expert on everything?
Maybe tone down talking down to people/being abrasive 99.9% of the time and you wouldn’t be the one everyone points at and laughs at.
You are correct. While you could do a tikka barrel on a 1.25" blank, its going to be oversized and look weird. It also wont fit into certain stocks made for the tikka.
You want a 1.20" barrel tennon. Now a smith could profile down the tennon (Which some do) or you can order the blank in 1.20". Proof sells 1.20" blanks as a standard option and that's what one of my smith does for his tikka builds. He has rebarreled dozens of them and records the headspace for every one. There is a much bigger varience in tikka headspace than people will admit. Either through ignorance or people selling stuff they should know better than to.
The TAC is essentially the same exact action. The only differences are the trigger is a 2 stage and the chassis. Even uses the same mags as the CTR.
I shot my first season of prs with a Tikka Tac-A1, and while its a decent rifle, I would steer people clear of it for a number of reasons. The chassis is poorly designed, very easy to strip fastners that you cannot drill out, deadlining the gun unless your cut the barrel nut off. Much better off getting a CTR and using the cost difference on a good chassis like the ACC or MPA Matrix.
I still run Tikka's as hunting guns and have a PRS TIkka sitting in a MPA matrix that I havent finished building yet. Its a 2nd backup gun, so not much priority right now, but will make a great loaner.
For as much ignorant shit I see you post, I agree 100% with this
I love my tac a1, but the chassis is a beginner setup. There are plenty of downfalls with it and I’ve considered swapping it out many times. I just don’t compete with it enough to justify it. If you’re looking for a good out of the box weekend play toy for the range, it’s a great setup.And to your earlier comment, if the headspace was correct (go/no go gauge works), then would there be any downside to not matching saami specs on prefits?
Tikka are 1.20 across flats, but they put a small radiused lip on receiver front to blend the flats(action) to round(barrel). Factory Tikka barrels are 1.12-1.14 diameter at the shoulder. When I had a few Tikka, I had my Smith remove the radius during truing and ran m24 or LV(1.20) barrels. That was 15yrs ago before anyone was making a prefit for Tikka. I would just order a pva prefit and have it on hand.
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If the headspace measures in spec then you are good to go. Its rolling the dice however to have one spun up. The other issue is brass. Even within spec if your factory barrel is one end of SAAMI and the prefit is on the other, it could be within spec but will beat your brass to hell, and you could start seeing things like case head separation. Not worth the risk IMO.For as much ignorant shit I see you post, I agree 100% with this
And to your earlier comment, if the headspace was correct (go/no go gauge works), then would there be any downside to not matching saami specs on prefits?
Smart people would reset sizer when starting on a new barrel.
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