Tikka T1 X malfunctions

[10xk9]

I just bought a new Tikka T1X to have an extra base class loaner loaner rifle for our NRL22 club. The accuracy is not bad for a base class gun , but the reliability is not adequate. In only about 300 rounds I’ve already had many failure to feed issues and a couple failure to extract issues. I have 3 new magazines that all have the same issue. I’ve tried Eley Tenex, Lapua Center X, CCI , Federal GMM, and SK ammo, all seem to do it with about the same consistency. The round will feed up too high and get lodged vertically in front of the chamber .
Anyone else have this issue? What’s the fix?
Thanks in advance.

 

[lush_dawg]

I’ve experienced this a few times as well...I just drop the mag and remove the round.

 

[10xk9]

I’ve experienced this a few times as well...I just drop the mag and remove the round.

Yeah it’s easy enough to clear the malfunction but not good for NRL22 matches where you need 10 rounds per stage and you’re shooting on the clock.
The Tikka is on par with my CZ455’s in accuracy, but right now not even close in reliably. I’d like to fix that issue.

 

[Just Chuck]

I just bought a new Tikka T1X to have an extra base class loaner loaner rifle for our NRL22 club. The accuracy is not bad for a base class gun , but the reliability is not adequate. In only about 300 rounds I’ve already had many failure to feed issues and a couple failure to extract issues. I have 3 new magazines that all have the same issue. I’ve tried Eley Tenex, Lapua Center X, CCI , Federal GMM, and SK ammo, all seem to do it with about the same consistency. The round will feed up too high and get lodged vertically in front of the chamber .
Anyone else have this issue? What’s the fix?
Thanks in advance.

When you remove the magazine during a jam, is a round sticking straight up?
Do you see a score/scratch on the nose of the lead bullet?

I had the same issue and sent it back to Beretta for repair. No joy. They said the stock was improperly installed. B.S. I used a small round jewelers file to break the sharp edge of the barrel - right where you're seeing the jam. That has nearly eliminated the problem - though I did have one of these in a match yesterday.

If I was to get serious about this, I'd take it to a gunsmith, have them remove the barrel ( which I hear is a real bear ) and radius the barrel chamber to eliminate that sharp edge.

 

[ZCOklahoma]

I have had this same issue multiple times. Last match, I couldn’t get through more than 5-6 rounds without a mag change. Rounds would be sticking straight up. I probably had 250 rounds through it at the time. After the match, I cleaned everything really good and shot about 200 rounds with only one FTF.

 

[Eostech]

Fail to extract or to eject? As for feeding, the magwell can move forwards or backwards when it is bolted to the rifle. I moved it fully backwards and loosen the ejector screw off a bit to allow the ejector to float over the .22 rim, this allows the bullets to feed mostly horizontally and not nose up. Maybe 1400 rounds down range without a single failure of any type until I screwed it up before shooting yesterday, interesting story as it relates to ejecting. Anyhow I'll try uploading a video of the rifle feeding at some point.

 

[ZCOklahoma]

Fail to extract or to eject? As for feeding, the magwell can move forwards or backwards when it is bolted to the rifle. I moved it fully backwards and loosen the ejector screw off a bit to allow the ejector to float over the .22 rim, this allows the bullets to feed mostly horizontally and not nose up. Maybe 1400 rounds down range without a single failure of any type until I screwed it up before shooting yesterday, interesting story as it relates to ejecting. Anyhow I'll try uploading a video of the rifle feeding at some point.

Mine was failure to feed. I have never had an ejection issue.

 

[littlepod]

Fail to extract or to eject? As for feeding, the magwell can move forwards or backwards when it is bolted to the rifle. I moved it fully backwards and loosen the ejector screw off a bit to allow the ejector to float over the .22 rim, this allows the bullets to feed mostly horizontally and not nose up. Maybe 1400 rounds down range without a single failure of any type until I screwed it up before shooting yesterday, interesting story as it relates to ejecting. Anyhow I'll try uploading a video of the rifle feeding at some point.

Did the same thing. I moved the magwell back as far as it could go towards the trigger and I have no issue feeding. When the mag well was fully forwards it was harder to feed, like it required more elbow grease, but never actually had a failure. Though as mentioned by Just Check, filing that rough edge seems to be one solution as well.

@10xk9 are you running the Tikka fully in the base stock? Have you ever removed the stock and also possibly tightened it down too much? You should be running like 20-30 in/lbs when attaching the stock.

Some people also reported that their Tikkas not liking the flat nose rounds, so you could try round nose stuff if you haven't. Eley Tenex fed the worst for me, but all the round nose stuff feeds great (SK+, Eley Match Pistol, CCI SV, Eley Target, Eley Club)

 

[10xk9]

Did the same thing. I moved the magwell back as far as it could go towards the trigger and I have no issue feeding. When the mag well was fully forwards it was harder to feed, like it required more elbow grease, but never actually had a failure. Though as mentioned by Just Check, filing that rough edge seems to be one solution as well.

@10xk9 are you running the Tikka fully in the base stock? Have you ever removed the stock and also possibly tightened it down too much? You should be running like 20-30 in/lbs when attaching the stock.

Some people also reported that their Tikkas not liking the flat nose rounds, so you could try round nose stuff if you haven't. Eley Tenex fed the worst for me, but all the round nose stuff feeds great (SK+, Eley Match Pistol, CCI SV, Eley Target, Eley Club)

It’s a brand new rifle , I’ve fired maybe 300 rounds through it now. Have never touched the action screws yet. I had the same issue with every type of ammo I ran through it.
I’ll take a closer look at it in a couple weeks when I get home. I’ve got a couple Vudoo’s so the Tikka isn’t a gun I will shoot much anyway . I just got it to use as a loaner rifle for base class in our NRL22 club matches.

 

[ilpanther88]

1500rds or more fired.
Extracting is annoying issue but feeding is fine.

 

[littlepod]

1500rds or more fired.
Extracting is annoying issue but feeding is fine.

Take out action. Unscrew mag well. There's a little wire / spring that you can screw tighter to make it more springy. I bent mine a little so it would be a bit more directed. Haven't had a FTE in the last 1000 rounds after doing this.

 

[Eostech]

1500rds or more fired.
Extracting is annoying issue but feeding is fine.

Are we talking extracting or ejection? Ejection can be solved pretty easily, extraction is another matter and could depend to a number of things.

 

[jharms80439]

I’ve had a few with my Tikka ~5 or so and I’m @ ~1k rounds right now.

If I’m running the bolt fast and don’t bring the bolt fully to the rear, every once in a while, I’ll have a round pointing straight up - rim in the mag/bullet pointing up.

BUT, I think that it is likely operator error on my part and nothing is actually wrong with the rifle. Even if I run the bolt fast, but fully to the rear - i.e. not short stroking the bolt, it runs consistent and fine.

It could also be the plastic feed lips on the magazine not fully supporting the round as it feeds into the chamber. If I short stroke the bolt (and realize my error and bring the bolt rearward) the extractor holds the round, the rim of the round is still fully supported by the magazine, but the shaft (?) of the cartridge is not supported by the plastic magazine feed lips - which means when the bolt is brought rearward, the rim drags causing the round to point upwards and a FTE/FTF/malfunction occurs. (If that makes any sense.)

Again, when I’m deliberate about the movement of the bolt and fully run the bolt to the rear then forward, feeding/extraction has been 100%. It‘s when I get sloppy and loose with my movement, things start to go awry.

John

 

[Eostech]

BUT, I think that it is likely operator error on my part and nothing is actually wrong with the rifle. Even if I run the bolt fast, but fully to the rear - i.e. not short stroking the bolt, it runs consistent and fine.

With my experience last saturday I'd say you are on to it, I'll try making a video to show what I found.

 

[DeadeyeD’rick]

I find it hard to believe that several folks are having the same issue and it being operator error.

 

[jharms80439]

At last month‘s match (new range, new/unfamiliar targets, couldn’t find a few targets on a stage, etc.), I was hard pressed for time and that is exactly what happened.

I got loose in my movements and sure as $hit, the malfunction occurred. Deliberate movement (but fast, it was a match after all) on subsequent stages and it ran like a sewing machine.

I wonder if this is others’ issue too. I‘m a goofball and am still learning, but that’s my observations at the moment.

I’ll be curious to see your video too. Running the bolt fast and then deliberately short stroking the bolt to see if you can duplicate the malfunction would be great. My next trip to the range is a couple of weeks away and that’s my plan too.

John

 

[jharms80439]

I find it hard to believe that several folks are having the same issue and it being operator error.

Perhaps. Really depends if they were mucking around at a friendly shoot or under the time pressure of a clock (such as when competing) or not. I’d be inclined to expect that if the malfunction occurs during competition, then it’s just the shooter being sloppy.

That’s also why I mentioned the magazine feed lips too. Truly, I’m really not sure. I just know that when I’m deliberate in operating the bolt, it only works as it should with no malfunctions. Im also assuming a cleanish gun too.

I personally noted that I was being sloppy in my bolt manipulation (I was in a rush) and the malfunction occurred. I ejected the spent round, started the bolt forward, did a herky-jerky movement - forward, backward, forward, and that is when I had a round pointing upwards with the rim still in the feed lips.

Fortunately, I just dropped the mag, did a mag change, pulled the round on the reload, and drove onwards.

Again, this is IMHO/IMHE only. I’ll know more when I experiment at the range in a few weeks.

John

 

[ilpanther88]

Take out action. Unscrew mag well. There's a little wire / spring that you can screw tighter to make it more springy. I bent mine a little so it would be a bit more directed. Haven't had a FTE in the last 1000 rounds after doing this.

Thank you!

 

[ilpanther88]

Are we talking extracting or ejection? Ejection can be solved pretty easily, extraction is another matter and could depend to a number of things.

My bad.
Most problems are fail to eject. Any good idea?
Fail to extract happened, but only once or twice so far

 

[littlepod]

Eject is really easy to solve. Take out the action, unscrew the magwell. Notice the little metal wire that you can push in and it will spring back out. That's the wire that is causing the the round to eject. There's a little tiny screw that keeps it in place, if you tighten the screw down, it will spring with a little more force. You can also take out that wire, and bend it a little more so it has a little more kick onto the shell.

@Kisssofdeath who has a good picture of where to bend the wire a little bit.

 

[Kisssofdeath]

I have a few but I'm on the laptop now and all my photos are on the desktop. I got the 17 HMR out yesterday and noticed I have that spring bent different than my 22's. But then again that would make sense, since I'm dealing with a different case. I have photos posted on here but they buried somewhere. I'll post them again soon.

 

[ilpanther88]

Eject is really easy to solve. Take out the action, unscrew the magwell. Notice the little metal wire that you can push in and it will spring back out. That's the wire that is causing the the round to eject. There's a little tiny screw that keeps it in place, if you tighten the screw down, it will spring with a little more force. You can also take out that wire, and bend it a little more so it has a little more kick onto the shell.

@Kisssofdeath who has a good picture of where to bend the wire a little bit.

Thank you

 

[9rcrazy]

I have the same issue, failure to feed. I contacted Beretta and they told me to send it to them. I did with my 3 mags. We will see if they make any changes. I have seen the mod that Kissofdeath did on this forum and one other. If I have the same issues when I get the rifle back, I will do those.