Bighorn action is sloppy...help

[Bwayne2000]

Hello
This is my first thread or post of any kind so I apologies in advance. I purchased a bighorn action directly from the company in 2018. I must say, they are wonderful and were very patient with me when I asked questions. I have buddies try my rifle and they complained about the action, they thought it would be smoother. As I have been running the bolt, even I am noticing that there is a little slop in the action. My question, since this is my first bighorn action, is that normal. Once the bolt is to the rear it jiggles and needs a little coaxing to drive back in. It's a TL3 LA, 300wm build. I did not contact Zermatt.
Thank you

 

[Superjet]

Hello
This is my first thread or post of any kind so I apologies in advance. I purchased a bighorn action directly from the company in 2018. I must say, they are wonderful and were very patient with me when I asked questions. I have buddies try my rifle and they complained about the action, they thought it would be smoother. As I have been running the bolt, even I am noticing that there is a little slop in the action. My question, since this is my first bighorn action, is that normal. Once the bolt is to the rear it jiggles and needs a little coaxing to drive back in. It's a TL3 LA, 300wm build. I did not contact Zermatt.
Thank you

The bolt "slop" when the bolt is completely open is normal. Bothers some, doesn't bother others. Depends on your stance, the clearance allows it to tolerate more dirt whereas a tighter action may feel better, but bind with less dirt.

 

[Pete B]

Yup, people need to define tolerance and clearance as two distinctly different things.
Bighorn has more clearance between receiver and bolt, but the tolarance of this clearance is as EXACT as any manufacture in the business....
regards
Pete

 

[SourGrapes]

I don’t have a LA but do have the TL3 in SA. It’s my first custom action gun. I essentially learned on it so “slop” was never anything I had noticed until I looked for it. Even now I don’t really notice it unless I specially want to make it apparent if that makes sense. I’ve read from others and I would agree that it’s all in how you run the bolt. If I’m running the bolt straight back/forward it’s smooth and easy for me . I recently had it out in some dusty conditions and it ran perfectly. Just wiped the bolt down after and runs like a champ.

 

[King_beardsly]

I’ve got both an origin and a Tl3, and there is a little wiggle with the bolt all the way back but once you get the muscle memory of running it straight it’s as smooth as glass. You can always make an action feel not smooth if you’re trying, my suggestion is just spend a good amount of time running the bolt/getting the motion down. Also is it a silver (chromium nitrate) bolt body because those have a slight break in time according to zermatt as compared to the black nitrided bodies

 

[6brshooter]

Keep in mind that jiggle or movement is partially from the floating bolthead. If you practice, it is easy to learn to push bolt forward instead of up/down or to the side. You can make any action bind, maybe not an ai or badger, but any rifle that has locking lugs wider than bolt body.

 

[lennyo3034]

My TL3 has slop like you mentioned, but runs smooth as glass when pushing down on the bolt while cycling. Right on par with my Impact.

 

[Mordamer]

People complain about this. The TL3 will run with more dirt in it than just about any other action. I have used mine for years in the dirtiest matches in the west with Oklahoma red dirt blowing at 30 MPH. I have never had it choke. The action can be run just as quick as any other action if you practice with it. If you don't practice you won't run any bolt action well.

 

[Threadcutter308]

How does it shoot ?

 

[cheyennewyo]

Hello
This is my first thread or post of any kind so I apologies in advance. I purchased a bighorn action directly from the company in 2018. I must say, they are wonderful and were very patient with me when I asked questions. I have buddies try my rifle and they complained about the action, they thought it would be smoother. As I have been running the bolt, even I am noticing that there is a little slop in the action. My question, since this is my first bighorn action, is that normal. Once the bolt is to the rear it jiggles and needs a little coaxing to drive back in. It's a TL3 LA, 300wm build. I did not contact Zermatt.
Thank you

I have a few TL3s, and they are extremely reliable and fairly smooth. What you describe sounds like "clearance" in the action and bolt and is normal unless it interferes with operation. All of my actions have this, but I can run them normally without any problems. If you try to get your bolt to bind up all the way back, you will probably be successful, but it isn't an issue unless it is causing problems during normal operation. I wouldn't worry about it unless it is causing trouble during normal shooting. Either way, Zermatt customer service is amazing and they will fix it if it ever has a problem.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

So you acquired the receiver in 2018 and it is now 2020.....

1. Have you not noticed it until your friends brought it up?
2. Has it just now started doing it?

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[kthomas]

Hi,

So you acquired the receiver in 2018 and it is now 2020.....

1. Have you not noticed it until your friends brought it up?
2. Has it just now started doing it?

Sincerely,
Theis

Timeline seemed weird to me as well.

To the OP, the TL3 is a great action with great features, made by a company that supports their products and their customers.

The wiggle or sloppiness with the bolt fully to the rear is due to the floating bolthead design. Tolerances between the bolt and action body allow for function with excessive debris.

I can understand if you don't like the "sloppiness" and how it feels, my wife was the same way and it would bind up a lot on her, so we went a different route. I don't understand how this is suddenly a problem after two years though. It's a great action with great features, I wouldn't overlook that unless the excessive "slop" really bothers you.

 

[mbeavers1]

What does your hand placement look like on the bolt? Are you grabbing the very end of the knob? Try to move your fingers up the handle to reduce the torque applied, especially when chambering a round.

If you can, place your thumb right next to the bolt so it pushes straight in.

 

[Steel head]

If your ham handed with the bolt they all balk.
knock it off with that tactical gorilla crap and all is good.

 

[6brshooter]

Bro, I run more of a bruce Lee kung fu grip!

 

[wade2big]

I have only handled one bighorn action which was the Origin. It seemed like a good action but the bolt is easy to bind. Once you put downward and inward pressure when cycling, it would run smoothly. This isn't something that happens with only the bighorn actions. Remington actions with extended bolt handles will do the same where as with the factory handle they are less likely to bind. Its easy to learn how to avoid the issue.

The best action to cycle and will not bind no matter how you run the action is the Curtis/Terminus actions. Those guys got it figured out. They feel much more refined as well. Fantastic actions.

 

[6brshooter]

I dont think Curtis has much figured out, other than how to make 2 out of 3 lugs make contact

 

[Pete B]

Tom Platz "Mr Legs" was often asked how he performed his squats, due to his phenomenal leg development.... His reply wss that he addressed the bar squarely, lowered himself down and then stood back up / repeat.
There was no secret, or anything special that he did.

Running a Bighorn action bolt smoothly is similar to this in complexity and secrecy.

Moral of the story, lift bolt, pull back, push forward, push down/ repeat.
Difficulty with that operation, then avoid Bighorn and likely the squat bar too!!!

 

[earthquake]

I have three of them, all TL3's and got one of the very first ones available. It's normal. Mine all cycle and feed like a dream. As others have said already, just practice with it.

 

[cheyennewyo]

I have only handled one bighorn action which was the Origin. It seemed like a good action but the bolt is easy to bind. Once you put downward and inward pressure when cycling, it would run smoothly. This isn't something that happens with only the bighorn actions. Remington actions with extended bolt handles will do the same where as with the factory handle they are less likely to bind. Its easy to learn how to avoid the issue.

The best action to cycle and will not bind no matter how you run the action is the Curtis/Terminus actions. Those guys got it figured out. They feel much more refined as well. Fantastic actions.

I would agree that the Curtis/Terminus action design is just about the best out there. However, I have had to send both mine back twice each now for QC issues and I have had two other friends send theirs back recently. Every Curtis I have run has had some of that same slop but just not as much. At the end of the day I switched to Zermatt from Curtis for that reason.

 

[Adam B]

I just bought a TL3 and was amazed at the quality. I had one of the original Bighorn’s that I got from AJ, it was nice the but the latest version is even better. Not sure what you mean by slop, the action is machined very well and is very smooth.

 

[Bwayne2000]

Thank you everyone for your help. Even the condescending replies. No snowflakes here. Love sinper's hide forums!