Wildcat moderators (UK) have adapters at the rear that you can swap out for different barrel diameters. I like the reflex design to reduce length, being able to dismantle them for cleaning is very handy too.
I'd be interested to see how much reflex volume it takes to equal the performance of just one more baffle. I talked to AB a couple of years ago about additional reflexes and they said the can is submitted to the ATF specific to the reflex you opt for during purchase.
HOW can you have a name and picture as an ode to Ron Swanson and not be able to take off a Tikka barrel?!?
Ron is so disappointed.
Ron is so disappointed.
I'm sure Ron would... and I see you posted 6 of yours have been cake. Neither of mine are budging, and that plus the sporter lite barrels being a huge PITA to not have slip means its much easier for me to pay a smith (my guns are 10 yrs old, re: your hypothesis the new ones might be easier).
I also know every time this topic comes up a few people come out of the woodwork saying it was super easy for them and the rest of the internet that has trouble are idiots.
I should have been smarter than to post a simple request for first hand experience with a gunsmith on a gun forum.
I use a toilet paper cardboard roll around the barrel to help gription.
Until I started using a breaker bar to help tighten the barrel clamp (actuall, a big ass socket handle and a 48” iron pipe) the barrels still slipped
Until I started using a breaker bar to help tighten the barrel clamp (actuall, a big ass socket handle and a 48” iron pipe) the barrels still slipped
Toilet paper roll didn’t work for me, but tightening the ever luvin’ shit outta the vise worked, and a piece of leather made it easier. I definitely saw my SAC modular vise flex, and thought of (again) the motorcycle mantra, “steel is real.”
Steel (or ductile cast iron) vises are the real deal. Aluminum versions are much lighter duty…I mean, my SAC is swell for normal torque values but christ, the Tikka gorillas
really pushed my SAC to its limits.
Has anyone used the AR stock adapter for their ACE yet? Looking for pictures of it installed. Thinking about putting an mdt stock on an ace since the oem one doesn't really seem that good imo
And done.. for now! The stippling idea got tossed for quick and cheap using grip tape, and finished it off with some reverse multicam black-ish Cerakote. Its no @Hennig work of art but certainly wont get lost in the rack. Its still a shooter with 108 ELD-M's it would seem, for a tube almost near its midlife.
Here is one that started life as a T3 in .243, toasted the barrel around 1600-1700 rounds.
6mm Creed, Osprey (non-prefit) 3b, 1-7" finished at 19", threw it in a Peak 44 Bastion. Ended up painting the barrel and adding some texture to the grip and forearm.
6mm Creed, Osprey (non-prefit) 3b, 1-7" finished at 19", threw it in a Peak 44 Bastion. Ended up painting the barrel and adding some texture to the grip and forearm.
Mate for the money its pretty good for a chinesium OEM scope. Good solid turret adjustments, tracks, good versatile reticle for holds. my only gripes are that the Magnification adjustment is very stiff, and it has a bot of CA at 16x in bright sunlight. But for a budget rig it fits the bill.
T3 Varmint .223 Rem at 1222yds. 77gr SMK, 24.6gr TAC, CCI450 and Starline brass moving at 2980fps.
Last edited:
THE world most accurate Tikka T3 SS Varmint .260Rem 
Factory SS barel 23,5" 18x1 thread, old was gay 5/8x24, it is not good if shooting a lot with the can on, muzzle brake not the issue, but with the can it is.
Handloaded ammo.
123gr Scenar & VV N160 46gr.
6 x 5 shot´s like one row.
Average 0.365MOA.
I did clean the barrel in to a mirrow with Thorroclean and start shooting.
Factory SS barel 23,5" 18x1 thread, old was gay 5/8x24, it is not good if shooting a lot with the can on, muzzle brake not the issue, but with the can it is.
Handloaded ammo.
123gr Scenar & VV N160 46gr.
6 x 5 shot´s like one row.
Average 0.365MOA.
I did clean the barrel in to a mirrow with Thorroclean and start shooting.
THE world most accurate Tikka T3 SS Varmint .260Rem
Factory SS barel 23,5" 18x1 thread, old was gay 5/8x24, it is not good if shooting a lot with the can on, muzzle brake not the issue, but with the can it is.
Handloaded ammo.
123gr Scenar & VV N160 46gr.
6 x 5 shot´s like one row.
Average 0.365MOA.
I did clean the barrel in to a mirrow with Thorroclean and start shooting.
You’re using some little pic rail mounted fan?
Yes sir.
Brushless fan from temu and diy mount, it does work very well, but i would need that to hold the spot that i turn the fan, not it is not doing the job so well, but it has so much power, that it will move air so well, that it is not that finicky.
I did clean the barrel, everyting out of there and put it in to a mirror.
So the first 5-round was not the average, but after that it did start doing one hole.
I am not sure is that spiral fluting the reason, that when it is hot, it start shiting the poi, or is it just that it is a factory barrel, not sure.
But how many is shooting that much at once, i was doing a test how it works after the clean barrel and new threads on the muzzle.
I CAN SAY, that it would not work like that if there would been that old 5/8x24 thread.
18x1 is +30% more surface area than 5/8x24, and i say that this threading is s..t when using a suppressor and shooting a lot with the can on at once.
I had all my barrels swapped from 5/8x24 in to a 18x1 and i couldn´t be happier.
I'm not quite understanding the issue you've had with the threads. My two Tac A1's shoot fine with a suppressor and factory threads. I do use some PTFE tape on the threads though.
Lh hnt26 now available for lefty T3x SA. Also 700 LA but who cares?
Both of my Tikka hunting rifles are in Bravos, but I have to admit this makes me tempted to try a HNT26 even though I think they're ugly. I've also considered a Manners LRH-TK, but with all of the talk about the grip-to-trigger distance on the Manners I'm not sure if I'd like that or not.
Well the muzzle end get´s hot when using a suppressor, and the 5/8x24 thread is quite thin thread, so when really do shoot with your rifle, the POI can start shifting in some point, because the barrel end is opening just a hair, but that´s enough.
So if use 18x1, the muzzle end is 30% more material on it, so it wont open as much.
Do you understand it now?
If not, do this test.
The more material you have aroung the bullet hole in the barrel, the better it can handle the heat.
With a muzzle brake this is not a problem, but when shooting with the suppressor, that takes the heat and keep it, it will create a problems, but only if you do really shoot a lot.
5 rounds set and go to the paper to see the impacts, and walk back, it´s not an issue.
But shoot 2-3 5-10 rounds and let the can heat up, it will show the POI with a thinner threaded barrel and suppressor.
THE world most accurate Tikka T3 SS Varmint .260Rem
Factory SS barel 23,5" 18x1 thread, old was gay 5/8x24, it is not good if shooting a lot with the can on, muzzle brake not the issue, but with the can it is.
Handloaded ammo.
123gr Scenar & VV N160 46gr.
6 x 5 shot´s like one row.
Average 0.365MOA.
I did clean the barrel in to a mirrow with Thorroclean and start shooting.
What speeds are you getting with that load?
I’ve been thinking about the ctr in 260rem as a prs gun for years even though I’ve got a 200str in 6.5x55. Idk what it is, just something about the 260rem I like so much. Maybe it’s because it’s something different.
I did get aroung 900 m/s.
It is VV N160 46gr, it is a hot, specially in summer, it leaves the bolt face on case head, but i have used it for years, but now
im going to do it a bit milder, change the powder to VV Triple-5, around 44-46gr.
I hope it would give aroung 850 m/s.
This Tikka is with stainless barrel, it is cerakoted to black.
If you are going to buy a Tikka, get the Ace Target Bronze.
It has 24" stainless barrel, and i would go with 6.5CM, because the .260rem is handloader cartridge, factory ammo is expensive, and i
must say that the 6.5CM is a better cartridge, it just is.
Even i have shot with .260rem for years, there are things that are better in 6.5CM.
Like case neck, it is thick on .260rem and it get´s the carbon ring so much faster than 6.5CM.
If I get a ctr I will put it in a Vision Pro chassi, so getting the target is a waste. Maybe I could sell the chassi. I’ve had a 260rem previously but couldn’t find a powder/bullet combo that worked, pretty sure I just got a bad barrel.
Yes the 6.5cm is better, cheaper factory ammo. But I’m going to reload anyway and I can get free 308win brass if I want to. 6.5cm factory isn’t that cheep in Norway. Not the most expensive, cheaper than 260rem factory, but still way more expensive than factory 6.5x55.
First time trying to get a barrel off. I really struggled to keep the barrel from spinning. I had given up tonight and was taking it to my smith tomorrow. I watched a quick video where he used brown sugar and also added a second little vise. I figured I have everything he showed in the video so I gave it a whirl and it came loose with the first hit of the dead blow hammer. I used the brown sugar in each layer of paper on both vises. Worked great.
Last edited:
If you mount your barrel vise vertically on the side of the bench the bashing off and on is easier
Just finished building a new Tikka hunting rifle. Picked up a T3X Laminated 20" .308 from Euro Optic during their bolt action sale.
Added a 6" Henderson ARCA rail and a pic rail for my Gunwerks bipod. Upgraded the bolt handle and knob with an Anarchy Outdoors kit, added a Murphy Precision 10 MOA titanium scope rail, and upgraded the plastic bottom metal with a High Desert Rifle Works stainless one with a fun custom engraving of an alien because why not. Also got a few Waters Rifleman 10 round mags (not for hunting - just to have). Topped with a Zeiss V6 2.5-15x. Comes in just under 12 lbs with bipod and suppressor.
Only thing I wish were different about it would be the barrel length. Wish it were 16" but it shoots well enough i don't plan to cut it down.
Added a 6" Henderson ARCA rail and a pic rail for my Gunwerks bipod. Upgraded the bolt handle and knob with an Anarchy Outdoors kit, added a Murphy Precision 10 MOA titanium scope rail, and upgraded the plastic bottom metal with a High Desert Rifle Works stainless one with a fun custom engraving of an alien because why not. Also got a few Waters Rifleman 10 round mags (not for hunting - just to have). Topped with a Zeiss V6 2.5-15x. Comes in just under 12 lbs with bipod and suppressor.
Only thing I wish were different about it would be the barrel length. Wish it were 16" but it shoots well enough i don't plan to cut it down.
That was probably me:
It's not "rocket surgery", but it sure is a pain in the ass. My brother did one where he didn't care about saving the barrel, so he just squeezed it directly in a bench vice. He still had to put a pipe wrench on it to keep it from spinning.
Dear Tikka,
Please either dial back the Barrel Welder 5000 a couple clicks, or put some wrench flats on your barrels.
Sincerely,
Every Tikka Barrel Swapper
I had similar problems trying to remove my first Tikka barrel. Same basic setup as in your picture. I ended up putting a cheater bar on the action wrench and tapped the wrench with a 1lb ball peen hammer and she broke loose. The shock from the hammer strike was the ticket.
Yup. I watched all the videos i could and took a little info from each. Yours was the last 10% i needed. The brown sugar turns into concrete under pressure. Thanks dude
THE world most accurate Tikka T3 SS Varmint .260Rem
Factory SS barel 23,5" 18x1 thread, old was gay 5/8x24, it is not good if shooting a lot with the can on, muzzle brake not the issue, but with the can it is.
Handloaded ammo.
123gr Scenar & VV N160 46gr.
6 x 5 shot´s like one row.
Average 0.365MOA.
I did clean the barrel in to a mirrow with Thorroclean and start shooting.
Tyhmät amerikkalaiset eivät ymmärrä suomea … the only word I would understand is sauna and I didn’t hear you say it. Have you tried the auto translate software to make subtitles on your videos? You’ll get more popular over here if that’s of any interest to you.
But you still make me want to get my TRG 22 .260 out of the closet and dust it off.
Here are my three T3s, UPR .308, a Roughtech in .243 with 1 in 8 twist and a Superlite .223 in a Tikka laminated stock.
That bottom stock, the laminated one…I have one of those and was trying to replace the aluminum action lug with a titanium one I have.
For the life of me I cannot get the factory one out. Is it glued in there or something?
Mine is what looks like hot melt glue. With the aluminum bottom metal torqued to 60 inch pounds, and its a .223 I am not worried about the aluminum recoil lug
I think the previous owner epoxied in the factory aluminum recoil lug. I can’t see any epoxy around the lug, but the thing is not moving.
The aluminum lug is fine as long as the screws are kept tight, they will only deform if the screws are loose and the action is free to move around
I started ordering parts for this build last October. The barrel was by far the longest wait, but finally showed up after 9 months, just in time for my hunt in 3 weeks. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I’ll get it out this weekend.
24” 6.5prc proof
Scythe Ti
Nx8 f1 4-32x, NF rings
LRH tk
Tricer rp
10.5lbs as it sits
24” 6.5prc proof
Scythe Ti
Nx8 f1 4-32x, NF rings
LRH tk
Tricer rp
10.5lbs as it sits
