Muzzle threading Tikka T3 lite

[chevy_man]

Got an older T3 lite 6.5x55 I gifted to my Dad 15+ years ago. Dad has bought a bunch of rifles since, he used it for 5 years or so, probably has 1000 rounds through it. He bought all the grandkids t3x 6.5 Creeds, but decided to give this one to one of my kids.
Problem is my son relates sound to recoil. He'll shoot my suppressed 6.5 Creed all day, but his brothers unsuppressed 6.5 he says kicks horribly.

Was going to have it threaded 5/8-24 for a can. Started thinking about it, wondering if anyone here has had any experience. Worried the hammer forged barrel might go to hell accuracy wise.

So would you roll the dice and thread it? Or should I just suck it up and pay the $800 for a re-barrel. I think there was a guy in Bozeman area doing pre-fits but I can't remember who it was.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Got an older T3 lite 6.5x55 I gifted to my Dad 15+ years ago. Dad has bought a bunch of rifles since, he used it for 5 years or so, probably has 1000 rounds through it. He bought all the grandkids t3x 6.5 Creeds, but decided to give this one to one of my kids.
Problem is my son relates sound to recoil. He'll shoot my suppressed 6.5 Creed all day, but his brothers unsuppressed 6.5 he says kicks horribly.

Was going to have it threaded 5/8-24 for a can. Started thinking about it, wondering if anyone here has had any experience. Worried the hammer forged barrel might go to hell accuracy wise.

So would you roll the dice and thread it? Or should I just suck it up and pay the $800 for a re-barrel. I think there was a guy in Bozeman area doing pre-fits but I can't remember who it was.

Go with the best

GUNSMITHING SERVICES: Muzzle Threading AND Crowning service

The incredible surge in the popularity of suppressors makes a threaded muzzle almost standard equipment on today's precision rifle. LRI is well-equipped for this extremely popular upgrade. With our resources and experience, your device will attach trouble-free every time. Muzzle threads for...

www.longriflesinc.com

 

[LuvDog]

LRI threaded my superlites, but suggested to do 1/2-28 because of the muzzle diameter and having enough shoulder for a brake.

 

[Supersubes]

Got an older T3 lite 6.5x55 I gifted to my Dad 15+ years ago. Dad has bought a bunch of rifles since, he used it for 5 years or so, probably has 1000 rounds through it. He bought all the grandkids t3x 6.5 Creeds, but decided to give this one to one of my kids.
Problem is my son relates sound to recoil. He'll shoot my suppressed 6.5 Creed all day, but his brothers unsuppressed 6.5 he says kicks horribly.

Was going to have it threaded 5/8-24 for a can. Started thinking about it, wondering if anyone here has had any experience. Worried the hammer forged barrel might go to hell accuracy wise.

So would you roll the dice and thread it? Or should I just suck it up and pay the $800 for a re-barrel. I think there was a guy in Bozeman area doing pre-fits but I can't remember who it was.

You’ll need approximately .600 inch muzzle to do a 1/2- 28 thread. If it’s longer than 20 inches, you may have to chop the barrel down a bit to get that diameter. I’ve threaded a handful of the light compact rifles with 20 inch barrels, and they do fine afterwards accuracy wise. to thread 5/8 24, you need a .725” muzzle.

 

[doubloon]

just suck it up and pay the $800 for a re-barrel

Seems like for that much you'd be close to breaking even selling this one and buying a new one already threaded.

Maybe I'm optimistic.

 

[chevy_man]

Seems like for that much you'd be close to breaking even selling this one and buying a new one already threaded.

Maybe I'm optimistic.

Barrels are like tires, right?

Sentimental value. This old one has harvested many deer and elk.

 

[chevy_man]

Go with the best

GUNSMITHING SERVICES: Muzzle Threading AND Crowning service

The incredible surge in the popularity of suppressors makes a threaded muzzle almost standard equipment on today's precision rifle. LRI is well-equipped for this extremely popular upgrade. With our resources and experience, your device will attach trouble-free every time. Muzzle threads for...

www.longriflesinc.com

I have a local smith that has spun up some benchmarks that shoot less than .25". Think I'll be fine getting it done local.

 

[davsco]

i had my tikka t3 lite stainless 24" 300 wsm threaded for a brake, 1/2x28, without shortening the barrel. that seems to be the least expensive option.

tikka now has roughtechs and veils that come with threaded barrels. either keep or sell what you have and get one of those.

prefit will be slightly less expensive than one of those, but make sure what you get will still fit in the factory stock barrel channel, or you'll need a new stock also.

 

[doubloon]

Barrels are like tires, right?

Sentimental value. This old one has harvested many deer and elk.

Guns are like tools for me, so yes. Any of mine that might have eventually held sentimental value have long ago been washed into the gulf. I once owned a early '70s model Rem-1100, a mid '60s Marlin 60 and a few others ... all fish food now.

But I realize that's not the case for everyone and I only mentioned selling the whole gun and buying a new one because you mentioned rebarreling in your original post. I assume the sentimental barrel would end up gathering dust in the safe or a corner and maybe eventually some pitting.

If I were going to try to thread a sporter barrel too thin to support a proper shoulder on its own I'd look for a smith that could do something like the video below. Could be double the cost of a standard/normal threading but maybe worth it if you want to keep the entire gun intact. Doing something like this might let you keep the length/velocity of the original barrel, find a nice light can to hang off the end. If it doesn't work out you can still put a protector on the end of it and use it unsuppressed or chop it shorter, as previously suggested, to a thicker part of the barrel and sacrifice a little velocity for stiffness.

The OD of the original barrel MUST have at least enough meat to support the major diameter of whatever thread pattern is chosen or it's an absolute No-Go.

As far as accuracy goes the POI will definitely shift once threaded and suppressed but many sporters retain a repeatable POI afther threading and suppressing so accuracy, especially for hunting, is often retained.

 

[david walter]

I don’t have any tires with sedimental value, but do have three T3 light barrels that are 20” and threaded 5/8-24. At 20” it’s fine to thread.

Barrels are like tires, right?

Sentimental value. This old one has harvested many deer and elk.

 

[chevy_man]

Guns are like tools for me, so yes. Any of mine that might have eventually held sentimental value have long ago been washed into the gulf. I once owned a early '70s model Rem-1100, a mid '60s Marlin 60 and a few others ... all fish food now.

But I realize that's not the case for everyone and I only mentioned selling the whole gun and buying a new one because you mentioned rebarreling in your original post. I assume the sentimental barrel would end up gathering dust in the safe or a corner and maybe eventually some pitting.

If I were going to try to thread a sporter barrel too thin to support a proper shoulder on its own I'd look for a smith that could do something like the video below. Could be double the cost of a standard/normal threading but maybe worth it if you want to keep the entire gun intact. Doing something like this might let you keep the length/velocity of the original barrel, find a nice light can to hang off the end. If it doesn't work out you can still put a protector on the end of it and use it unsuppressed or chop it shorter, as previously suggested, to a thicker part of the barrel and sacrifice a little velocity for stiffness.

The OD of the original barrel MUST have at least enough meat to support the major diameter of whatever thread pattern is chosen or it's an absolute No-Go.

As far as accuracy goes the POI will definitely shift once threaded and suppressed but many sporters retain a repeatable POI afther threading and suppressing so accuracy, especially for hunting, is often retained.

99% of my concern was the hammer forged barrel having some stresses that would show up when cut.

Even my truck axle barrels change point of impact. Fully expecting that, and I have a few ti cans to use.

 

[wpeach1912]

Got an older T3 lite 6.5x55 I gifted to my Dad 15+ years ago. Dad has bought a bunch of rifles since, he used it for 5 years or so, probably has 1000 rounds through it. He bought all the grandkids t3x 6.5 Creeds, but decided to give this one to one of my kids.
Problem is my son relates sound to recoil. He'll shoot my suppressed 6.5 Creed all day, but his brothers unsuppressed 6.5 he says kicks horribly.

Was going to have it threaded 5/8-24 for a can. Started thinking about it, wondering if anyone here has had any experience. Worried the hammer forged barrel might go to hell accuracy wise.

So would you roll the dice and thread it? Or should I just suck it up and pay the $800 for a re-barrel. I think there was a guy in Bozeman area doing pre-fits but I can't remember who it was.

You should be fine. In my experience with Tikkas, they all pretty much shoot well. Especially for the ranges I'm assuming your son is going to be hunting. I had a Tikka 300 WM, and one of my local gunsmiths threaded it 1/2-28.

 

[LeftyJason]

Thunderbeast and others don't recommend threading 6.5 and 30 cal bores with 1/2-28 because groove to minor diameter is less than 0.100".

T3x lite muzzles measure 0.616". To have proper shoulder diameter for 5/8 the barrel needs to be 9.3" long.

Mine I sent into Thunderbeast for their face mount cb brake. They threaded it 9/16-24. Uses muzzle face for shoulder.

T3x lite barrel dimensions for reference.
Legend: .dia {distance from muzzle} (barrel length)

.616 {0} (24.33)
.620 {1.358} (23)
.630 {2.57} (21.75)
.640 {3.81} (20.5)
.650 {5.05} (19.25)
.660 {6.27} (18.06)
Recommended od for 9/16 shoulder .662 {6.625} (17.7)
0.673 {8.08} (16.25)Beyond this point has to be registered as an SBR
At front of tupperware 0.711 {13.33} (11)
Recommended od for 5/8 0.725 {15} (9.33)

 

[doubloon]

Mine I sent into Thunderbeast for their face mount cb brake. They threaded it 9/16-24. Uses muzzle face for shoulder.

Also an excellent option if the suppressor/mount supports it.

 

[1911Shootist]

I had a T3x Lite Roughtech (fluted) 6.5C barrel cut down to 20” and threaded. My smith wanted to go to 1/2” threads for a bigger shoulder. No loss in accuracy - hammers like a precision rifle before and after.

If you like the rifle, risk the ~$150 by having it threaded. If it sucks, see if the smith can fix it. Worst case, replace the barrel (or rifle) and you’re only out the ~$150.

 

[AZ_Artilleryman]

I had both my Tikka T3s threaded at the factory 22" length. One in .223 threaded 1/2x28 and one in .30-06 threaded 9/16x24. Both barrels are just as precise with threading and a muzzle device as they were before. I have the Area 419 hellfire adapters on and swap between a suppressor and a Hellfire brake.

 

[ejg]

What's wrong with a metric thread? T3 Lite normally comes with M14x1 up to 30cal.
edi

 

[LeftyJason]

What's wrong with a metric thread? T3 Lite normally comes with M14x1 up to 30cal.
edi

Looking up specs it is close to 9/16-24. Major Dia is 0.011" smaller, minor is 0.015" smaller. Wall thickness is 0.0938". Much better than 1/2-28. Can't really find shoulder diameter recommendations and can't really find a m14 metric shoulder bolt but extrapolating seems to want a 0.708" /18mm dia according to standard bolting. Going off 9/16 and the recommendations maybe a ~0.650".

9/16-24 only leaves a wall thickness of 0.10245".

Not likely to be used over here as much. Can't find any major silencer companies over here that make a M14x1 can or the means to adapt.

People are welcome to run what they want. I don't really see a problem with it.

Note: I am not an engineer or gunsmith. Just a cnc machinist that has lots of experience with threads.

 

[ejg]

Looking up specs it is close to 9/16-24. Major Dia is 0.011" smaller, minor is 0.015" smaller. Wall thickness is 0.0938". Much better than 1/2-28. Can't really find shoulder diameter recommendations and can't really find a m14 metric shoulder bolt but extrapolating seems to want a 0.708" /18mm dia according to standard bolting. Going off 9/16 and the recommendations maybe a ~0.650".

9/16-24 only leaves a wall thickness of 0.10245".

Not likely to be used over here as much. Can't find any major silencer companies over here that make a M14x1 can or the means to adapt.

People are welcome to run what they want. I don't really see a problem with it.

Note: I am not an engineer or gunsmith. Just a cnc machinist that has lots of experience with threads.

I presume the main reason is lack of Suppressors etc in the metric threads. Our manufacturers in Europe mostly use metric threads and rifles come standard with these. Tikka mainly uses M14x1 for the lighter barrels, M15x1 for 9.3x62 in light barrel, 5/8x24 in CTR and M18x1 in Varmint/Tactical barrels. the M14x1 is not bad with barrels of around 16.5mm OD.
edi

 

[XTREM HTR16]

The older T3's kick like hell, get a Limbsaver recoil pad to help on that or aftermarket stock/chassis.
I am getting ready to send a T3X lite 6.5 creed to TBAC to chop and thread because I use TBAC cans.
IIRC their price is $120 for barrel threading and $125 for the face mount CB brake, plus return shipping via UPS. about a 2 week turnaround.