Tikka TAC A1 Buttstock Swap

[bforney1984]

Hey everyone, thought I'd give share my experience swapping out the buttstock on a recently acquired TAC A1. The AR grip and buttstock compatibility were selling points to me so I figured it'd be simple enough...

Starting with the pistol grip, I had the have my buddy re-tap the threads as they were pretty mangled after removing the factory screw and grip. I'm no machinist but it sure seemed softer than the ARs I've put together... who knows. BCM MOD 0 now installed.

Next came the buttstock... holy hell... The castle nut was super tight but not a huge deal. With the castle nut loosened all the way, the buttstock itself would not budge. Tried using my wife's hairdryer to heat up the portion the little "buffer tube" threads into but didn't help a bit. Tried getting leverage with screwdrivers through the buttstock, through the trigger guard, nothing... Tried long, towel-covered pliers to no avail as well.

Fast forward to today at my buddy's place... Barreled action removed, we clamped the buttstock to his bench and put a piece of wood down through the magwell. After some serious effort, there was a pop that sounded like loctite on steroids.

There was some caustic-smelling gunk all inside where the tube was threaded in. Cleaned out the gunk and scraped it out of the threads. May be common knowledge what this stuff is but we had no clue. Once cleaned out, the MDT SCS went in no problem.

Also lightened the trigger while I had the barreled action out. For anyone curious- It wasn't a light as a Timney Tikka trigger but it has a more-defined wall, which I appreciate coming from an AI. Didn't have a way to check poundage, FYI.

TLDR- Be careful taking out the grip screw. Buttstock will unthread with some serious effort

Finished product:


Looks naked without some glass... Waiting on my new mount as my TT wouldn't clear the front rail with my old 1.28in height mount.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Bryan

 

[Johnerz]

Hey everyone, thought I'd give share my experience swapping out the buttstock on a recently acquired TAC A1. The AR grip and buttstock compatibility were selling points to me so I figured it'd be simple enough...

Starting with the pistol grip, I had the have my buddy re-tap the threads as they were pretty mangled after removing the factory screw and grip. I'm no machinist but it sure seemed softer than the ARs I've put together... who knows. BCM MOD 0 now installed.

Next came the buttstock... holy hell... The castle nut was super tight but not a huge deal. With the castle nut loosened all the way, the buttstock itself would not budge. Tried using my wife's hairdryer to heat up the portion the little "buffer tube" threads into but didn't help a bit. Tried getting leverage with screwdrivers through the buttstock, through the trigger guard, nothing... Tried long, towel-covered pliers to no avail as well.

Fast forward to today at my buddy's place... Barreled action removed, we clamped the buttstock to his bench and put a piece of wood down through the magwell. After some serious effort, there was a pop that sounded like loctite on steroids.

There was some caustic-smelling gunk all inside where the tube was threaded in. Cleaned out the gunk and scraped it out of the threads. May be common knowledge what this stuff is but we had no clue. Once cleaned out, the MDT SCS went in no problem.

Also lightened the trigger while I had the barreled action out. For anyone curious- It wasn't a light as a Timney Tikka trigger but it has a more-defined wall, which I appreciate coming from an AI. Didn't have a way to check poundage, FYI.

TLDR- Be careful taking out the grip screw. Buttstock will unthread with some serious effort

Finished product:
View attachment 8060403

Looks naked without some glass... Waiting on my new mount as my TT wouldn't clear the front rail with my old 1.28in height mount.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Bryan

Bryan,
that sure looks better than the standard buttstock, don’t think I’ll be swopping mine out. I did change out the pistol grip for a 3D printed model similar to the MPA version, like it lots.

 

[finhunt]

Hi,

I have a lefty CTR action which I put in a right handed TAC A1 stock (found it cheap thats why I didn't go with an MDT full chassi).
Currently when I fold the stock it touches the bolt handle (RH stock folds left and my LH action has the bolt on the left) so I have to lift the bolt to get the stock completely folded. Any chanse you could check if it looks like the bolt handle would touch the stock if folded the other way, as I have no way of trying this without purchasing the mdt stock. The end goal is to be able to fold the stock completely while the bolt is closed since it will move freely once opened.

 

[bforney1984]

Hi,

I have a lefty CTR action which I put in a right handed TAC A1 stock (found it cheap thats why I didn't go with an MDT full chassi).
Currently when I fold the stock it touches the bolt handle (RH stock folds left and my LH action has the bolt on the left) so I have to lift the bolt to get the stock completely folded. Any chanse you could check if it looks like the bolt handle would touch the stock if folded the other way, as I have no way of trying this without purchasing the mdt stock. The end goal is to be able to fold the stock completely while the bolt is closed since it will move freely once opened.

Hey there... Sorry I don't have the chassis anymore as I went to an MDT ACC. I would wager that that SCS would hit a bolt handle/knob if folded to the same side because it doesn't have specific cutouts to avoid doing that.

I could be wrong as I don't have either the chassis or that stock in front of me anymore though.

I think other MDT stocks are designed to fold over/clear the bolt but I can't recall if they make those with the buffer tube attachment. Even if they did, the spacing/length could be different as the TacA1 uses that little stubby tube section after the folding mechanism.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, good luck

Bryan

 

[finhunt]

Hey there... Sorry I don't have the chassis anymore as I went to an MDT ACC. I would wager that that SCS would hit a bolt handle/knob if folded to the same side because it doesn't have specific cutouts to avoid doing that.

I could be wrong as I don't have either the chassis or that stock in front of me anymore though.

I think other MDT stocks are designed to fold over/clear the bolt but I can't recall if they make those with the buffer tube attachment. Even if they did, the spacing/length could be different as the TacA1 uses that little stubby tube section after the folding mechanism.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, good luck

Bryan

Hey,

Thanks for the answer! Need to check if there is an option that would allow the stock to fold conoletely, but this will have to do for now.

 

[aan2307]

How to open it, I have tried it and it is very hard to open it

 

[bforney1984]

How to open it, I have tried it and it is very hard to open it


View attachment 8204740

Regular AR15 castle nut wrench. That part was easy on mine, it was unscrewing the stock/buffer from the receiver that gave me the most trouble

 

[aan2307]

Regular AR15 castle nut wrench. That part was easy on mine, it was unscrewing the stock/buffer from the receiver that gave me the most trouble

Is it to open it counterclockwise?

 

[Unknown_f]

I wanted to pitch in, since there are surprisingly few posts about modifying your Tikka.

After reading this discussion I was prepared for some difficulties. And I also felt like removing the buttstock just wasn't possible. Manual only tells you to loosen the castle nut and then twist the stock so I was bit frustrated after finding another, hidden small screw that is meant to prevent the stock coming loose. After that was removed, swapping the buttstock was easy.

Hopefully this will help someone in the future.

 

[LeftyJason]

I wanted to pitch in, since there are surprisingly few posts about modifying your Tikka.

After reading this discussion I was prepared for some difficulties. And I also felt like removing the buttstock just wasn't possible. Manual only tells you to loosen the castle nut and then twist the stock so I was bit frustrated after finding another, hidden small screw that is meant to prevent the stock coming loose. After that was removed, swapping the buttstock was easy.

View attachment 8486012
View attachment 8486013View attachment 8486014

Hopefully this will help someone in the future.

There are in the pinned ~13k post Tikka T3 thread. Make sure you join us in there.

Tikka T3 Thread

Tikka T3 Information

www.snipershide.com

You can also search within "This Thread" if you are looking for anything specific once you get over there.

You are welcome to put this info in there as well.

Also welcome to the Hide!