My stock finally came, today. If you would have asked me yesterday if I thought it was worth the wait, I'm not sure how I would have answered. Today, however, I think it certainly was.
This project started out as a Tikka T3 Sporter in 6.5x55. I actually liked the way that the OEM stock fit me. However, the color left something to be desired. I could have probably even lived with that, but the one thing that I really didn't like about it was the way that the magazine was recessed so far up into the wood. It was a pain to reach up in there to find the release and to seat the somewhat short OEM magazines. While I was still saving up for the right scope, I decided I was going to switch stocks and bottom metal and then this "new gun" turned into a "project". Here's a rundown of everything:
Rifle: Tikka T3 Sporter in 6.5x55 w/24" barrel.
Scope: Bushnell Tactical Elite ERS 3.5-21x50 w/G2DMR reticle. I have to give a shout out to Scott at Liberty Optics on this one. He sold me his dealer sample at a great price. Not only that, in speaking with him through PMs, emails and on the phone, I got the impression that this gentleman is well liked for a reason. He's just great to deal with, in every possible way. Thanks, Scott!
Base/Rings: The base is the EGW HD 20 MOA and the rings are Seekins 34mm high, 4 screws. I've had good luck with EGW in the past, but this is the first set of Seekins rings I've used. They appear to be all that everyone claims about them; excellent.
Bipod: Harris S-LM. What else can I say? Can't really go wrong with a Harris.
Bolt: The first thing I did was to look for a replacement shroud. I wanted to retain the same lines as the OEM part, however, so I got one from Southern Ordnance, off of Ebay. I think that they now have their own site under the name Glade's Armory, but don't quote me on that. It's an aluminum shroud that is very close to the original shape, but a definite improvement. Also, more kudos are in order, here. I had Paul at Pro-Precision Rifles do the fluting and cerakote on my bolt. Yeah, I know it's mostly cosmetic, but the chrome look of the bolt, as it came, just would have stuck out like a sore thumb, so something had to be done about it. Paul had my bolt back to me in about two weeks, which was amazing. What's more amazing is the quality of his work. It really has to be seen in person to be believed. Thanks, Paul!
Bottom Metal: Here's another outfit that deserves applause; CDI Precision. Jeff and Pam were great to talk to and Jeff was more than willing to answer my questions. Not just anybody has a DBM system for Tikkas in long action calibers and, since there's little to no info available on them around the net, I was concerned. Jeff assured me that it was not going to be any trouble and, if for some reason I ran into trouble, he would take care of it. Well, he was right on the first count. The system works perfectly with AI .300WM mags (and I can fit six rounds in a five round mag, which is cool!). The only alterations that I had to do were to the feed lips of the mags (so subtle that you can barely tell the difference by looking at them) and a slight fix on the McMillan stock (more on that in a bit). Thanks, Jeff and Pam!
Stock: McMillan A5. 70% Turquoise, 30% Black. Aluminum pillars, Anschutz rail, left side flush cups and spacer system butt pad. I think this is the first (or one of the first) stocks that they have inletted for CDI's Tikka long action DBM. The only problem I had was needing to take a couple millimeters off the front of the magazine well inlet to get the mags to fit and feed. It was very minor and took me only 10 minutes (would have been half that, but I was being VERY careful!). The barreled action fit in the stock like a glove. I'm going to shoot it a bit before I decide on whether or not to bed it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does fine, as it is. When I ordered this stock, they told me it would be five months. Well, today is seven months, to the day, from when I ordered it. That was kind of frustrating, but when you see comments from people who have ordered from them in the past, telling you to "order it and forget about it", that's good advice. It's expensive and the wait sucks. But damn it's a nice stock.
Here are some quick pics I took with my phone. By the time I got everything together, the sun was setting. I'll try to get better pics in the near future an post them in the appropriate threads and I'm sure there will be plenty of range reports, too!
Thanks for following along,
John
This project started out as a Tikka T3 Sporter in 6.5x55. I actually liked the way that the OEM stock fit me. However, the color left something to be desired. I could have probably even lived with that, but the one thing that I really didn't like about it was the way that the magazine was recessed so far up into the wood. It was a pain to reach up in there to find the release and to seat the somewhat short OEM magazines. While I was still saving up for the right scope, I decided I was going to switch stocks and bottom metal and then this "new gun" turned into a "project". Here's a rundown of everything:
Rifle: Tikka T3 Sporter in 6.5x55 w/24" barrel.
Scope: Bushnell Tactical Elite ERS 3.5-21x50 w/G2DMR reticle. I have to give a shout out to Scott at Liberty Optics on this one. He sold me his dealer sample at a great price. Not only that, in speaking with him through PMs, emails and on the phone, I got the impression that this gentleman is well liked for a reason. He's just great to deal with, in every possible way. Thanks, Scott!
Base/Rings: The base is the EGW HD 20 MOA and the rings are Seekins 34mm high, 4 screws. I've had good luck with EGW in the past, but this is the first set of Seekins rings I've used. They appear to be all that everyone claims about them; excellent.
Bipod: Harris S-LM. What else can I say? Can't really go wrong with a Harris.
Bolt: The first thing I did was to look for a replacement shroud. I wanted to retain the same lines as the OEM part, however, so I got one from Southern Ordnance, off of Ebay. I think that they now have their own site under the name Glade's Armory, but don't quote me on that. It's an aluminum shroud that is very close to the original shape, but a definite improvement. Also, more kudos are in order, here. I had Paul at Pro-Precision Rifles do the fluting and cerakote on my bolt. Yeah, I know it's mostly cosmetic, but the chrome look of the bolt, as it came, just would have stuck out like a sore thumb, so something had to be done about it. Paul had my bolt back to me in about two weeks, which was amazing. What's more amazing is the quality of his work. It really has to be seen in person to be believed. Thanks, Paul!
Bottom Metal: Here's another outfit that deserves applause; CDI Precision. Jeff and Pam were great to talk to and Jeff was more than willing to answer my questions. Not just anybody has a DBM system for Tikkas in long action calibers and, since there's little to no info available on them around the net, I was concerned. Jeff assured me that it was not going to be any trouble and, if for some reason I ran into trouble, he would take care of it. Well, he was right on the first count. The system works perfectly with AI .300WM mags (and I can fit six rounds in a five round mag, which is cool!). The only alterations that I had to do were to the feed lips of the mags (so subtle that you can barely tell the difference by looking at them) and a slight fix on the McMillan stock (more on that in a bit). Thanks, Jeff and Pam!
Stock: McMillan A5. 70% Turquoise, 30% Black. Aluminum pillars, Anschutz rail, left side flush cups and spacer system butt pad. I think this is the first (or one of the first) stocks that they have inletted for CDI's Tikka long action DBM. The only problem I had was needing to take a couple millimeters off the front of the magazine well inlet to get the mags to fit and feed. It was very minor and took me only 10 minutes (would have been half that, but I was being VERY careful!). The barreled action fit in the stock like a glove. I'm going to shoot it a bit before I decide on whether or not to bed it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does fine, as it is. When I ordered this stock, they told me it would be five months. Well, today is seven months, to the day, from when I ordered it. That was kind of frustrating, but when you see comments from people who have ordered from them in the past, telling you to "order it and forget about it", that's good advice. It's expensive and the wait sucks. But damn it's a nice stock.
Here are some quick pics I took with my phone. By the time I got everything together, the sun was setting. I'll try to get better pics in the near future an post them in the appropriate threads and I'm sure there will be plenty of range reports, too!
Thanks for following along,
John
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