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++Bighorn TL3 Builds++
- Thread starter earthquake
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Sent it to Chad (i believe that is his name) over at Club Custom Guns. He gave me an ETA of about 4-5 weeks. He's a great guy to talk to, I just called him up, asked a few questions and sent it out this morning.
This was posted in another thread, but I don't wanna hijack it further. Anyone else notice the NP3 or whatever, flaking from off their bolt heads? I have 631 rounds on mine, with probably 3x that in dry-fire cycles.
This photo was taken after maybe 200 rounds, so it's gotten a lot worse. Purely cosmetic and not to worry, or should I figure out why?
I am talking to a local GS about Nitride, but he is uncertain about Bighorn bolt heads due to the low mass and heat involved. Would welcome feedback from others who've experienced either, thanks!
This photo was taken after maybe 200 rounds, so it's gotten a lot worse. Purely cosmetic and not to worry, or should I figure out why?
I am talking to a local GS about Nitride, but he is uncertain about Bighorn bolt heads due to the low mass and heat involved. Would welcome feedback from others who've experienced either, thanks!
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There were a bunch of bolt heads that had the NP3 flake off, Bighorn is replacing them all. My rifle build got delayed a bit because my gunsmith preemptively fixed the issue with Bighorn before my gun shipped out. My understanding is that the NP3 coating is there for reduced friction and better/faster bolt cycling. I do know that my DLC action with NP3 bolt is slicker than snot.
As I posted in the other thread Bighorn had an issue with an NP3 applicator and has since switched applicators. Improper prep work caused the NP3 to flake off on the original bolt heads. They posted an entire thread about it and have been swapping out bolts for many months now. It halted the TL3 shipping till they replaced all the bad bolts and got new stock for all the actions sitting to be shipped. I talked to Aaron directly and it has zero impact on function. Just call or email them and they will get you squared away.
I'm thrilled to finally be able to contribute to this thread instead of just reading and practicing my nonexistent patience skills.
PVA Minuteman barreled action in 6.5x47. Josh did a great job. It's a hammer.
PVA Minuteman barreled action in 6.5x47. Josh did a great job. It's a hammer.
Here's my TL3 in a MPA chassis. Love the rifle, but I'm having issues running AW mags. Really kicked my butt at my first match I shot this past week. I can suck pretty good all on my own without the added help. Does anyone else have issues with the AW mags? Is there a fix or should I look at standard AICS mags? Intrigued by the new ARC mags coming out also.
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Reading through the thread I've seen a few mention switching barrels with the action still in the chassis/stock. Done with the rear entry action wrench? How is it torqued down and how repeatable is it?
Anyone have any trigger issues with their TL3/SR3? Or is it pin and go? Thinking i'm going to use the X-mark pro for the time being until i feel like dropping the cash for a Trigger Tech.
Just finished barreling my TL3. I tried my trigger tech on it, and it worked, but not a fan at this point. Swapped it with a jewell and i like it much better. Both triggers dropped in no issues.
I was experiencing very rough feeding where I almost had to pound the bolt to get the first couple of cartridges chambered. On other occasions once the cartridge was stripped from the mag, it seemed to slip under the bolt. The bolt then jams into the case pinning it against the feed ramp. This was after a fellow competitor adjusted the feed lips and spring tension. Do I need to continue to tweak these to find the sweet spot or just move on to one of the other magazines?
I've only bench tested mine with an AW mag before it had a barrel(it does have the AW cut) and it worked well. Speaking of that, yours does have the AW cutout right? I put a small bolt head on mine and chanbered it in a .223 based cartridge so i wont be using Aw mags for now. Have you been able to try other AW mags, or any other mags for that matter?
Yes, I have the AW cut. I didn't get a chance to try any other AW mags, but it does it with both of the AW's I have. I ended up borrowing an AICS mag from another shooter and the gun ran great after that. One of the shooters in my squad is a gunsmith and I asked him if there was a fix for the problems I was having and he said yes, use AICS mags. I think I'm going to try the new mags from ARC first.
I don't switch barrels in the chassis. I drop the BA out of the MPA and also take the scope off. I recently took my 6x47L off and put a MTU 6 Dasher on to test. The Dasher needed to come down .8 mil on the scope; R/L was dead on. I did what I needed to do with the Dasher and swapped back to the 6L. (All of 5 minutes at the range). Reset the elevation on the scope (up .8 mil) and first shot was in the 1/4" dot at 100yds.
So... the chassis comes off; the scope comes off; two 'c' clamps for the vise; Mausenfield rear action wrench; torque to 65 ft/lbs. 5 min.
Dang, now that's an idea! That was one of my big hesitations on a switch barrel rig... the extra range trip between practice and matches. Thus far I've just been hammering on my Dasher barrel for practice, but doing it with reduced loads.
Put this together recently. I bought the bighorn with no actual need, just wanted to tinker and compare it with the tempest. The .20 cal krieger i'd been waiting for showed up, so with a prairie dog trip around the corner, I chambered it in .20 practical and put a MBM brake on it. I was prepared to hack the brake off if it wasn't worthwhile. Shot it both ways and the brake worked awesome, so I left it. The ATACR f1 isn't a varmint scope, but works great and wasn't being used.
Short TL3, AW mag cut (AICS polymer .223 mags for this application)
Krieger #5, 19" 10- twist barrel
Muzzle Brakes and More brake
Jewell trigger
MPA BA lite chassis
Nightforce 4-16 F1
These are some of the test loads. Three shot groups.
I had single pointed the crown initially, but my sub-caliber piloted center drill showed up a week or so later so I put the barrel back in the lathe and re-cut the crown. I did a full cleaning on the bore and reinstalled it on the action. I dont have the proper driver to torque the action screws, and the stock isn't bedded, so i just tightened them by feel like I had the first time. I wasn't expecting much of a zero change, but It went exactly back to zero and shot small from the clean bore, then tightened some more. These are the targets below. Identical loads with two different jumps. .010 off had previously showed smallest velocity spreads, and .040 best accuracy. Based on the below test, doesn't appear to care one way or the other. Total laser beam. Very happy with the package. Loving the TL3!
Short TL3, AW mag cut (AICS polymer .223 mags for this application)
Krieger #5, 19" 10- twist barrel
Muzzle Brakes and More brake
Jewell trigger
MPA BA lite chassis
Nightforce 4-16 F1
These are some of the test loads. Three shot groups.
I had single pointed the crown initially, but my sub-caliber piloted center drill showed up a week or so later so I put the barrel back in the lathe and re-cut the crown. I did a full cleaning on the bore and reinstalled it on the action. I dont have the proper driver to torque the action screws, and the stock isn't bedded, so i just tightened them by feel like I had the first time. I wasn't expecting much of a zero change, but It went exactly back to zero and shot small from the clean bore, then tightened some more. These are the targets below. Identical loads with two different jumps. .010 off had previously showed smallest velocity spreads, and .040 best accuracy. Based on the below test, doesn't appear to care one way or the other. Total laser beam. Very happy with the package. Loving the TL3!
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I have now officially waited longer on my TL3 build than my form 4 to come back from the ATF for my can...
Does nobody run sunshades? I asked a question about them a while ago and pretty much everyone said they ran one. None of these pics have em' XD.
Anyways, the wait is killing me now. I am expecting a call from Club Custom this coming week, it's right around the ETA time. I want to call but I don't want to bug em' XD struggle is real.
Anyways, the wait is killing me now. I am expecting a call from Club Custom this coming week, it's right around the ETA time. I want to call but I don't want to bug em' XD struggle is real.
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I wanted to build it for coyotes and small game hunting yet no recoil makes it perfect for my son to learn on with the tripod. Pic of groups below show fireform on left 7 shots. Then (2) 3 shot groups on right. Top one by the gunsmith jon beanland and bottom was by me. Crosswind from 10-15mph poor conditions for be ch shooting. No load development just 33 gr varget and 80.5 fullbore 20 thousand off the lands. Very happy with performance of the tl3
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Some early morning range testing with my Patriot Valley Arms TL-3 Dasher today. Refining seating depth, resetting 100 yard zero, and checking offset of my match load and practice loads. Other than the cold bore and one shot I pulled, pretty happy with how it's shooting. Everything in the 0.1-0.2 MOA range.
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The Dasher just wants to shoot! Did I mention that the load on the bottom right is just thrown charges off a progressive press? 
Action came in. Thing is freaking nice, this is my first foray into custom actions. Was looking at Defiance but the CRF, mech ejection, easy takedown and changeable bolt was to damn good to pass up. Manners T6A is on the way. Going to be a bit before I have PVA spin up a barrel and piece it all together.
Quick question for for those that have Cerakoted the action. Do you have them do the inside of the receiver? Raceways? I'm guessing it would neg effect the smoothness of the action if they hit the raceways?
My action was said to be received and supposed to be shipped to me Monday. Fingers crossed it gets here by the end of the week. Already have my xray, proof barrel, jewell and Gen 2 razor. Can't wait.
Nice! And I was just called last morning, it was hopefully shipped to me yesterday, here's hoping mine shows up next week. I'm still waiting on my barrel though. I'm not sure how far out PVA is, hopefully it won't take much longer, order was placed right at the beginning of the June. And I still gotta figure out my scope ring height.
I built this for my 12 year old son as a birthday present. . His first time shooting a centerfire rifle. A big step up from a nerf gun.
Thank you.
Sure why not. But you have to wait a little. My teenage daughter wants to get into the action. My answer to her was, she has 3 months before her action comes in. In that time, she has to learn how to remove her phone from her hand and ear and face.
Action came in. Thing is freaking nice, this is my first foray into custom actions. Was looking at Defiance but the CRF, mech ejection, easy takedown and changeable bolt was to damn good to pass up. Manners T6A is on the way. Going to be a bit before I have PVA spin up a barrel and piece it all together.
Quick question for for those that have Cerakoted the action. Do you have them do the inside of the receiver? Raceways? I'm guessing it would neg effect the smoothness of the action if they hit the raceways?
I aint cerakoting these actions - DLC or leave as is. They are too pretty to cerakote
I aint cerakoting these actions - DLC or leave as is. They are too pretty to cerakote
Funny you should mention that as I was just thinking about holding off on the Ckote in favor of saving up for DLC, which is what I really want anyway.
In other news, T6A showed up today.
Broke the firing pin on my TL-3 action this past week. Been doing a ton of dry fire barricade practice, have maybe 5,000 dry fire cycles as well as 1200 live rounds since I got the gun a few months ago.
Didn't realize it had happened until at a competition last Saturday. Got down on the first stage... CLICK! Chambered another round.... CLICK! Firing pin tip had broken clean off and wasn't touching the primers. I was fortunate though that I was squadded with a buddy who is also shooting a TL-3. The machining tolerances on these Bighorn actions is so good that we were able to drop his bolt right into my rifle with no concerns about headspace. We shot the entire match trading his bolt back and forth. He ended up winning the match and I took 2nd out of a stacked field of 59 shooters. Got home and checked the size on fired brass.... spot on to my normal headspace.
I think I'm going to get an entire new rear cocking assembly so I can dry fire with the broken pin and swap out for the live pin when I go shooting.
Didn't realize it had happened until at a competition last Saturday. Got down on the first stage... CLICK! Chambered another round.... CLICK! Firing pin tip had broken clean off and wasn't touching the primers. I was fortunate though that I was squadded with a buddy who is also shooting a TL-3. The machining tolerances on these Bighorn actions is so good that we were able to drop his bolt right into my rifle with no concerns about headspace. We shot the entire match trading his bolt back and forth. He ended up winning the match and I took 2nd out of a stacked field of 59 shooters. Got home and checked the size on fired brass.... spot on to my normal headspace.
I think I'm going to get an entire new rear cocking assembly so I can dry fire with the broken pin and swap out for the live pin when I go shooting.
I broke a TL3 firing pin after a lot of dryfire as well, probably 10k or so. Exact same scenario as you except it wasn't at a match. I did have a match that weekend and pirated a shroud assembly from one of my other actions for the match. They replaced the broken pin and I bought a spare shroud assembly to carry with me, so if it happens at a match in the future I can just swap them out.
I've standardized around the TL3 and don't mind having a few spare parts around. I really love my TL3/Dasher combo, it is soooo easy to be good with, I feel like it shoots itself.
I've standardized around the TL3 and don't mind having a few spare parts around. I really love my TL3/Dasher combo, it is soooo easy to be good with, I feel like it shoots itself.
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Whats Mark Chanlynn's role in Bighorn Arms? Seems like they couldve had a company building rifles from the ground up since Chanlynn makes his own cut barrels, plus the Bighorn actions..
I got in touch with Bighorn through Facebook and they're going to take care of me. I'll call them tomorrow after the holiday. Having a spare shroud seems like the best plan.
No, I do not need gauges. The shouldered barrel is headspaced and the consistent torque just keeps a zero. Brass gauges the same as far as the shoulders with the barrel on/ off/ on. Just got the Dasher barrel a few days ago and started ff'ing. When testing the .223 barrel return-to-zero with the Dahser barrel it was .2 high, .3 left the first time and .3 high, .2 left the second time. Could easily be position or grip inconsistenties on my part.
The previous pic is of my 47L in the gunbox while the Dasher barrel was getting chambered. Here is a pic with the gun and both barrels about to head to the range for more ff'ing.
I wonder if the same setup could be done with a pre-fit barrel?
Those 80.5's are fantastic. How fast does the 22 Dasher push them? Nearly went that direction, but ended up building a 22 creedmoor instead.
The broken pin was replaced for free. They gave me a deal on the shroud assy due to the circumstances, I'm not sure what the standard pricing is.
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I will find out when/if I ever get my action. I will be buying a cheaper savage pre-fit 223 barrel and lock the barrel nut in place. Then it could be swapped just like a shouldered barrel.
