Tikka T3 with a Barrel Nut

[bsekf]

Would like to hear from anybody who has made a "switch barrel" with a barrel nut out of a T3. I know the after market barrels are available, just want to talk to someone who has done it. I think the Tikka platform is superior to the Savage and maybe even the Rem 700.

Bill

 

[260284]

I have a BUGNut barrel on my T3 CTR from Greg at Southern Precision Rifles. I swap to a new 20" 6.5 CTR barrel that I bought on here for a lighter hunting barrel. My other two Tikkas have shouldered barrels.

 

[_Raining]

I have a Criterion Tikka Pre Fit but I didn't do the install, my smith removed the old barrel and put the new one on.

 

[wes1]

Only down side is removing the factory barrel at home...damn near impossible.
Most barrels need a "relief" cut

 

[BurnOut]

Only down side is removing the factory barrel at home...damn near impossible.
Most barrels need a "relief" cut

I did it without a relief cut, but it took some doing. Like, I thought for sure that I was going to tear something up.

However, it finally came apart with no damage to either the action or the (factory) barrel.

 

[Prebanpaul]

I am interested as well. I am trying to rebarrel a 223 and a 270wssm to 6.5 saum

 

[JaredCO]

My smith got the ctr barrel off no problem. Pva barrel nut leaves a lot to be desired. Barrel shoots though

 

[Prebanpaul]

When you say leaves a lot to be desired what do you mean.

 

[JaredCO]

The nut and wrench system is chinsy. Crows foot about 3/16” wide with some flats on the nut about the same thickness

 

[bohem]

The nut and wrench system is chinsy. Crows foot about 3/16” wide with some flats on the nut about the same thickness

It is made to fit into the existing inlets. The wrench is purposefully designed to spring open and fail before the nut or the threads on the barrel are damaged. It took a bit of engineering working to make that happen right every time so that folks without a torque wrench wouldn't damage the nut or the threads. That is why we ship a wrench with every barrel nut and the explanation of how to use them specifically includes a torque spec. Exceed that torque spec and the wrench fails... To date we've replaced about 2 dozen wrenches for the cost of shipping in 3 years.

The nut fits any Tikka inlet stock including the Tac A1 chassis with the pass through handguard mount that is pretty tightly toleranced to the barrel. It is also entirely possible to swap the barrel using our barrel nut without a barrel vise or any special tools except a GO gage. The wrench allows you to swap it and torque it down. An adjustable wrench has been used in the field but I don't recommend it because I know that one of those can exceed the torque values that we suggest using for these barrels and actions.


@bsekf PVA/I also make shouldered prefits now that do not require a barrel nut, but you will need a barrel vise to torque them on and off the receiver like a regular barrel.

 

[Estes640]

It is made to fit into the existing inlets. The wrench is purposefully designed to spring open and fail before the nut or the threads on the barrel are damaged. It took a bit of engineering working to make that happen right every time so that folks without a torque wrench wouldn't damage the nut or the threads. That is why we ship a wrench with every barrel nut and the explanation of how to use them specifically includes a torque spec. Exceed that torque spec and the wrench fails... To date we've replaced about 2 dozen wrenches for the cost of shipping in 3 years.

The nut fits any Tikka inlet stock including the Tac A1 chassis with the pass through handguard mount that is pretty tightly toleranced to the barrel. It is also entirely possible to swap the barrel using our barrel nut without a barrel vise or any special tools except a GO gage. The wrench allows you to swap it and torque it down. An adjustable wrench has been used in the field but I don't recommend it because I know that one of those can exceed the torque values that we suggest using for these barrels and actions.


@bsekf PVA/I also make shouldered prefits now that do not require a barrel nut, but you will need a barrel vise to torque them on and off the receiver like a regular barrel.

I just ordered one of your shouldered barrels, it should be hear tomorrow! Looking forward to throwing it on my tikka.

Just curious how many actions it took you to be comfortable with shouldered prefits?

 

[bohem]

I just ordered one of your shouldered barrels, it should be hear tomorrow! Looking forward to throwing it on my tikka.

Just curious how many actions it took you to be comfortable with shouldered prefits?

OVer 100 of them, I've been collecting data for about 2.5 years on that front. Basically since we started the shouldered barrel nut prefits we have been measuring every action that came in for a rebarrel, whether it was a swap on a barrel nut or a custom install.

Thank you for the business, I hope that the barrel is everything you hoped for. Please let me know if you need anything else!

 

[Estes640]

OVer 100 of them, I've been collecting data for about 2.5 years on that front. Basically since we started the shouldered prefits we have been measuring every action that came in for a rebarrel, whether it was a swap on a barrel nut or a custom install.

Thank you for the business, I hope that the barrel is everything you hoped for. Please let me know if you need anything else!

Awesome. I enjoy hearing stories like that. Also, major props to you all on the super fast turnaround! I’ll have my barrel 11 days from order.

 

[bohem]

Awesome. I enjoy hearing stories like that. Also, major props to you all on the super fast turnaround! I’ll have my barrel 11 days from order.

Thanks!

We are pushing hard to keep lead times low and barrel blanks in stock as much as possible. Now that we appear to have gotten through the bottlenecks on supplies and picked up a second barrel vendor (PROOF) we are doing our best to make it so that a 10-14 day turn around time is the new norm. So far we're rolling around 18 days but that's coming down.

The big sale we ran over Independence Day weekend is complete in the machine shop and being finalized in laser tomorrow. We started cutting last Tuesday at noon when the crate arrived from RCB. We finished the last of the sale barrels and about 2 dozen other outstanding orders today at lunchtime. Almost 80 barrels from unturned blanks to finished/ready to shoot prefits in 6 working days.

 

[JaredCO]

Getting around to shooting my tikka again. 32.3g of Varget and a 107 smk. Can’t argue with results

 

[Estes640]

Getting around to shooting my tikka again. 32.3g of Varget and a 107 smk. Can’t argue with resultsView attachment 7133980

Dasher? Regardless, good shooting

 

[just browsing]

Why anyone bothers with barrel nuts on Tikkas is beyond me. The most difficult part about swapping barrels is removing the factory one, and that’s required whether you’re using a nut or not. Otherwise, you need a barrel vice and an action wrench which you’ll be in about the same $$$ as a barrel nut and wrench.

There are more than a few options for shouldered prefits at this point (PVA, Proof, Carbon Six, Keystone, etc.) so I am failing to see any type of draw to these barrel nut setups at this point.

 

[Estes640]

Why anyone bothers with barrel nuts on Tikkas is beyond me. The most difficult part about swapping barrels is removing the factory one, and that’s required whether you’re using a nut or not. Otherwise, you need a barrel vice and an action wrench which you’ll be in about the same $$$ as a barrel nut and wrench.

There are more than a few options for shouldered prefits at this point (PVA, Proof, Carbon Six, Keystone, etc.) so I am failing to see any type of draw to these barrel nut setups at this point.

On one of mine the previous owner decided to have the action bevel cut off so I can’t run shouldered prefits. Either have to send it in or get a nut

 

[just browsing]

On one of mine the previous owner decided to have the action bevel cut off so I can’t run shouldered prefits. Either have to send it in or get a nut

Well that’s fair... if you can’t you can’t, and a barrel nut is fine in that instance.

I’m just saying all else being equal, and given the choice between shouldered and barrel nut, there really is no advantage to a barrel nut.

 

[JaredCO]

Dasher? Regardless, good shooting

6 dasher yes

 

[JaredCO]

Why anyone bothers with barrel nuts on Tikkas is beyond me. The most difficult part about swapping barrels is removing the factory one, and that’s required whether you’re using a nut or not. Otherwise, you need a barrel vice and an action wrench which you’ll be in about the same $$$ as a barrel nut and wrench.

There are more than a few options for shouldered prefits at this point (PVA, Proof, Carbon Six, Keystone, etc.) so I am failing to see any type of draw to these barrel nut setups at this point.

Barrel nuts are a pain in the ass. I bought this barrel unfired, second hand for cheap. My tikka is the “junker” rifle, but slowly becoming my favorite to shoot

 

[6brshooter]

Why anyone bothers with barrel nuts on Tikkas is beyond me. The most difficult part about swapping barrels is removing the factory one, and that’s required whether you’re using a nut or not. Otherwise, you need a barrel vice and an action wrench which you’ll be in about the same $$$ as a barrel nut and wrench.

There are more than a few options for shouldered prefits at this point (PVA, Proof, Carbon Six, Keystone, etc.) so I am failing to see any type of draw to these barrel nut setups at this point.

The barrel nut is nice if you have a tikka that had the radius on front of action turned off. Shouldered prefits wont headspace correctly.

 

[bsekf]

Question?? Are the Tikka actions percise enough that you don't need to fit each barrrel to get the proper headspace? I could take my barrel and spin it on your action and the headspace would be correct? All these aftermarket barrels are chambered exactly the same ?????? What is the tolerance?

 

[Estes640]

The chambering is up to the different smiths, but the actions are. I asked the question to @bohem a while back and he mentioned he has measured hundreds before he felt comfortable offering shouldering prefits. Josh knows his stuff, I trust him on the action to action consistency

 

[260284]

I have a 20" 6.5 T3x CTR barrel that I bought as a new take off that headspaced perfect on my T3 260 CTR. The factory writing was in the right place too.