++Bighorn TL3 Builds++

[Flightmurse]

I should be able to finally post here shortly! Just waiting on the barrel to come in to put it all together. This is my first custom action and it is everything I hoped it would be.
LH TL3 dlc coated
Proof steel 6mm creed m24 profile
Bix’n Andy tac sport pro
Krg bravo lh
Vortex pst gen 2 5-25
Arc mags
Rugged razor

 

[Fret]

Got my Shilen 222 barrel and went to the range this morning to break in the barrel, fire form Lapua brass, and test some loads with 55 grain Bergers and AR Comp. Shot ten 5 shot groups at 100 yards. Seems to shoot pretty well so far.

 

[Whiplash6.5]

Not a T3 but have a Origin in progress.

 

[ChristianSilver]

Nice looking rig, Shilen shooting perdy good.
I’ve got my TL3 build coming up with 2 Shilens, one on 6.5 CM and 6mm Dasher...

 

[Cam101]

Not a T3 but have a Origin in progress.
View attachment 7357135

How do you like that new bolt knob?

 

[Boogieman84]

Not a T3 but have a Origin in progress.
View attachment 7357135

Nice LA Origin. What cartridge are you going to run? I really like the Bravo chassis, haven’t had my hands on one yet. Which foreend is that? It looks awesome.

 

[Whiplash6.5]

How do you like that new bolt knob?

I like the shape and knurling. I’m definitely satisfied with it.

 

[Whiplash6.5]

Nice LA Origin. What cartridge are you going to run? I really like the Bravo chassis, haven’t had my hands on one yet. Which foreend is that? It looks awesome.

Thanks I’m going with a 26” 300 prc m24. It’s a standard Bravo foreend.

 

[Subhunter2]

Ive had 4 Tl3’s, and man they are fun! Lets get back to some pictures!

 

[Boogieman84]

Okay I’ll bite. Sorry if I’ve posted one of these already somewhere in this thread

 

[NFAJohn]

Finally jumping into TL3s, just waiting on the rest of the parts to come in.

Basically the second the torque wrench went click:

 

[b6graham]

Bighorn TL3 with the competition knob which is awesome
McMillan Z1 Dark Desert Transition
Hawkins M5 DBM
A419 weighted ArcaLok
Razor Gen 2 with Spuhr coming
31" 1.25" straight 6.5 creed with A419 Sidewinder
23.5 pounds

 

[King_beardsly]

Bighorn TL3 with the competition knob which is awesome
Manners Z1 Dark Desert Transition
Hawkins M5 DBM
A419 weighted ArcaLok
Razor Gen 2 with Spuhr coming
31" 1.25" straight 6.5 creed with A419 Sidewinder
23.5 pounds

Looks a little different since the last match.

 

[ChristianSilver]

Here’s my TL3 build on a Cadex Defense Chassis is 6mm Dasher.

 

[b6graham]

Looks a little different since the last match.

Z1 feels so much better

 

[King_beardsly]

Z1 feels so much better

That’s all that matters

 

[Tx_Aggie]

Z1 feels so much better

Nice stick!!


Who makes that dope card holder?

 

[b6graham]

Nice stick!!


Who makes that dope card holder?

Cole tac. It's great. And dustin is a good dude

 

[Tx_Aggie]

Cole tac. It's great. And dustin is a good dude

Awesome, thank you!

I haven't had a chance to meet him, but I've heard the same from plenty of folks.

 

[bodhisafa]

Anyone have any issues or see any issues with ordering a single shot version of the TL 3?
Not sure how it would snap over the extractor?

 

[b6graham]

I single feed all the time. No issues.

 

[King_beardsly]

I’ve never had an issue with either my TL3 or origin single feeding, the extractor snaps over once the cartridge is seated in the chamber fully.

 

[jda2631]

Getting very close to being finished. Got the barrel in yesterday. Gotta get rings and a trigger and start load development!

 

[Cam101]

Getting very close to being finished. Got the barrel in yesterday. Gotta get rings and a trigger and start load development!

View attachment 7385343

Length on the barrel?

 

[jda2631]

Length on the barrel?

20" 7SS

 

[sremmal]

20" 7SS

I am looking to build something very similar. I would love to see what kind of velocity you get out of that 20" barrel.

 

[jda2631]

I am looking to build something very similar. I would love to see what kind of velocity you get out of that 20" barrel.

I'm hoping for 2800+ with 175gr Elite Hunter. Here is a quote from Rich Sherman on another website, referring to 175-180gr bullets. "They will run 2900' with a 20" barrel". 2900 out of a 20" barrel would be awesome!

 

[ah1356]

I'm hoping for 2800+ with 175gr Elite Hunter. Here is a quote from Rich Sherman on another website, referring to 175-180gr bullets. "They will run 2900' with a 20" barrel". 2900 out of a 20" barrel would be awesome!

I have a 28-in 7SS barrel on a short action TL3. I am getting Berger 180gr hybrids to 3,000FPS with 62gr of H1000, which is very slightly compressed when loaded to just barely fit in a magazine (OAL = 2.95). I might get a little more speed with another powder, but this load is extremely consistent beyond a mile. If you are loading to feed from a short action magazine, 2,800 is likely doable for 175gr bullets. That would be 25FPS lost per inch of barrel length, which does not seem unreasonable. Unless you are loading very long and/or very hot, I will be surprised and impressed if you get to 2,900 FPS out of a 20-inch barrel. If you do, please share your load data.

I'm not second-guessing Rich - he was a huge help to me when I set up my 7SS and he has forgotten more about this caliber than I'll ever know. I'm just offering some real-world data for what it's worth. Even if you "only" get to 2,800 FPS, the 7SS is a hammer and you won't be disappointed in its performance.

 

[SN13]

TL3 LA
6.5 CM
1:7.5 TWIST BENCHMARK FROM STRAIGHTJACKET. 22" VCC CONTOUR
BUSHNELL HDMRII 3.5-21
BURRIS SIGNATURE XTR
KRG BRAVO
KRG ENCLOSED FOREND
AREA 419 ARCA 14"
PRS LENGTH CKYE POD
Triggertech 2stage diamond.

5rds @200 140gr Hornady.

 

[Estes640]

Something put together from parts here.

Bighorn TL3 BA by SAC
Bartlein 26” barrel - 6.5 creed
APA fat bastard gen 2
TT Diamond
KSS A.T.S
Krg bravo
Nelson precision arca rail

1/2 moa gun or much better depending on what kind of day I’m having. Hell of a rifle and bighorn TL3s seem to be the best for me.

 

[Estes640]

Finally get tired of all those Tikkas?

got a nice promotion and decided to treat myself. I’ve missed having a TL3

 

[EN2722]

Zermatt TL3 SA
MPA BA ESR Chassis
TT Diamond
Proof Research 6 Creed
Area419 Hellfire
ARC M10 rings
Leupold Mark 5
Atlas CAL Gen 2 Bipods

Coming in at a smooth 23 lbs...

 

[Rob01]

My barrel blanks shipped to PVA yesterday for him to make some prefits in .223 and 6.5 Creedmoor for me so i will have them before the action shows up. The Manners T2A, Timney Calvin Elite and TL3 .223 bolt head are all sitting waiting for the TL3 action to show up. Going to be a lot of fun.

 

[jda2631]

Finally got it all put together, just waiting on dies from Rich and ready to shoot! Built it as kind of a "Do All" hunting gun, short enough to easily maneuver in and out of blinds and vehicles with the can. I haven't weighed it yet, but probably in the 11lb range as it sits.

TL3
Manners EH1A
20" Paradigm Carbon 7ss
TT Special
Schmidt PM2 Ultra Bright 4-16x56 in ARC rings
TBAC Ultra 7

 

[krimet]

Finally jumping into TL3s, just waiting on the rest of the parts to come in.
View attachment 7357681

Basically the second the torque wrench went click:
View attachment 7357682

@NFAJohn What's the length of that proof barrel?

 

[Flightmurse]

I ordered my proof barrel on 27 April and am still waiting for it, that’s the only piece that I’m missing. I couldn’t get a bixn and tac sport to work on my action, so I have a tt diamond inbound. I’m ready to shoot this thing!

 

[NFAJohn]

@NFAJohn What's the length of that proof barrel?

20" Sorry for the slow reply, work is ramping back up and I have to adult more and more

 

[wpeach1912]

Got my TL3 put together finally. 6.5 creed with proof 26" competition prefit and W3 gen 5 chassis

 

[SonicBurlap]

I ordered my proof barrel on 27 April and am still waiting for it, that’s the only piece that I’m missing. I couldn’t get a bixn and tac sport to work on my action, so I have a tt diamond inbound. I’m ready to shoot this thing!

Got my PROOF pre-fit a week before it hit the six months mark.

 

[Matt_3479]

This thread is making me jealous!! I just need to figure out what to build.

currently have;

kelbly 6mm creed
Terminus 25 creed
Stiller 260
Defiance 300 Norma.

was thinking of doing a long action 270. Wsm build on a bighorn. Sr3 maybe.

 

[Flightmurse]

Got my PROOF pre-fit a week before it hit the six months mark.

I ended up picking up a barrel from someone on here and will be cancelling the proof.

 

[Flightmurse]

I am still waiting for the trigger to arrive so I’ll t will be a little bit longer before I can shoot it, but here are the initial pictures
Lefty TL3
Bartlein 1:7 barrel, 25”, M24 profile
KRG bravo that I painted
Vortex pst gen 2 5-25
Incoming tt diamond, couldn’t get the tac sport pro to work

 

[amedeo1227]

Finally got it all put together, just waiting on dies from Rich and ready to shoot! Built it as kind of a "Do All" hunting gun, short enough to easily maneuver in and out of blinds and vehicles with the can. I haven't weighed it yet, but probably in the 11lb range as it sits.

TL3
Manners EH1A
20" Paradigm Carbon 7ss
TT Special
Schmidt PM2 Ultra Bright 4-16x56 in ARC rings
TBAC Ultra 7

View attachment 7419796

@jda2631
sick rifle

questions:
what's a 7ss?
what color is the manners? swamp?

 

[SonicBurlap]

I ended up picking up a barrel from someone on here and will be cancelling the proof.

PROOF Research is hoping to be back to normal lead times by sometime next year from what I've heard but these days who knows. I believe most of us are by now longing for the days when things were normal. It certainly has complicated finishing a new build by several degrees, from lead times, to runs on certain parts, and NICS wait times. The new barrel you got looks nice, what maker is it? Or is it a cerakoted PROOF steel barrel?

 

[Flightmurse]

PROOF Research is hoping to be back to normal lead times by sometime next year from what I've heard but these days who knows. I believe most of us are by now longing for the days when things were normal. It certainly has complicated finishing a new build by several degrees, from lead times, to runs on certain parts, and NICS wait times. The new barrel you got looks nice, what maker is it? Or is it a cerakoted PROOF steel barrel?

It is a bartlein that was finished by RW Snyder. I had never heard of his shop before, I am anxious to see how it shoots.

 

[YerrowSniper]

I’ll get more details in a different post...
26.5” 1:10 308 TL3 in a MDT ACC

 

[jda2631]

@jda2631
sick rifle

questions:
what's a 7ss?
what color is the manners? swamp?

Thanks!
7ss is 7 Sherman Shortmag, it's basically an improved 7 SAUM. Really great cartridge IMO.
Yes, it's the swamp camo.

 

[A.Huggy]

I have a question about TL3 extraction.
Yesterday I was fooling around with neck tension, seating depth, etc. I loaded a dummy round long to see if it would stick in the lands. (answer is yes LOL)

When I seated the round in the chamber there was resistance obviously. Either the bullet is engraving in the lands or seating deeper into the case. I expected some resistance on extraction as well, so I lifted the bolt fairly quickly. I expected the case to come out and the bullet to be stuck in the throat... instead the extractor overcame the rim of the case. I had to use a cleaning rod to extract the round.

Barely any force was necessary to remove the round with the cleaning rod, just a slight thump with my hand on the end of the cleaning rod and the round popped out. It was not stuck that bad, IMO the extractor should have been capable of pulling it out of the chamber. So my question is: has anyone else noticed their TL3 having a very weak extractor?

If that's just how TL3's are, that's fine. I guess I'll make sure to keep my cleaning rod close by. But if I'm the only one seeing this I'd like to do some troubleshooting.

 

[wpeach1912]

I have a question about TL3 extraction.
Yesterday I was fooling around with neck tension, seating depth, etc. I loaded a dummy round long to see if it would stick in the lands. (answer is yes LOL)

When I seated the round in the chamber there was resistance obviously. Either the bullet is engraving in the lands or seating deeper into the case. I expected some resistance on extraction as well, so I lifted the bolt fairly quickly. I expected the case to come out and the bullet to be stuck in the throat... instead the extractor overcame the rim of the case. I had to use a cleaning rod to extract the round.

Barely any force was necessary to remove the round with the cleaning rod, just a slight thump with my hand on the end of the cleaning rod and the round popped out. It was not stuck that bad, IMO the extractor should have been capable of pulling it out of the chamber. So my question is: has anyone else noticed their TL3 having a very weak extractor?

If that's just how TL3's are, that's fine. I guess I'll make sure to keep my cleaning rod close by. But if I'm the only one seeing this I'd like to do some troubleshooting.

I noticed that on mine doing the same thing. Not sure if it’s common or not though. It extracts fine on properly sized brass for me. I’m pretty sure Zermatt/bighorn has good customer service, so you could give them a call if it concerns you too.

 

[King_beardsly]

Seems like something is a little off, I had a stuck case and literally used a rubber hammer to beat the bolt handle back to open the action without the extractor letting go of the case.