First post after a long time of lurking. I wanted to throw out an issue I am having to give a heads up as a potential to look for when purchasing a Tikka ( I know issues with Tikka's are very rare). I picked up a new 20" 6.5 CTR Friday and made the mistake of not dry firing in store. The bolt was cocked when installed into the gun, bolt manipulation felt awesome! Fast forward to getting it home and dry firing, i found the bolt lift to be crazy heavy when re cocking the firing pin (twice as heavy as my R700's). I disassembled the bolt shroud and found some interesting metal shavings where the cocking piece was pressed onto the pin. Beretta wants it back to inspect, hopefully this is a quick process. Other than the bolt issue the gun is fantastic, I cant wait to get it back and get it out to the range.
- Thread starter JEschrich
- Start date
Keep us updated. Tikka CS has not been the best in the past, and not convinced it'll be better given Beretta's rep.
But overall, their QC is pretty good so you don't hear of as many issues.
But overall, their QC is pretty good so you don't hear of as many issues.
says who?..
I can say so. I had a crooked chamber and they did nothing about it. Sent it back to them and explained it, they didn't check anything they just shot it and it shot just over an inch group and said it was good. I pulled the barrel and used it as a tomato stake.
I hate issues more than most but the response/resolution is always the most important part of a situation like this. It's a shame to hear they didn't square your chamber issue away properly. My hope is that my reason for return is strictly a bolt issue that can be repaired or replaced.
The rifle shipped yesterday and is scheduled to be delivered Friday, how did Beretta convey what was done to yours during inspection? In my head I am expecting a detailed analysis of the problem and what was done to fix it, though in reality i will probably just get "its fixed and on its way back to you."
The rifle shipped yesterday and is scheduled to be delivered Friday, how did Beretta convey what was done to yours during inspection? In my head I am expecting a detailed analysis of the problem and what was done to fix it, though in reality i will probably just get "its fixed and on its way back to you."
Gun was unfired - with the exception of whatever they factory puts down the tube. I did disassemble the bolt after removing the shroud and seeing the shavings.
I am wondering if the back of the pin and cocking piece are supposed to be level/flush with eachother, the pin protrudes through the cocking piece on mine and I wonder if it is creating a higher spring force thus making bolt lift harder......
that's not good although that's the first I've heard of something like that...
it was my understanding that at least in the CTR and TacA1 that the same bolt is use and different size bolt stops limited bolt throw...
This is correct the tac a1 has a short bolt stop and the ctr has a long stop. Idk why. Ive never short stroked because of it with my ctr.
Never heard of this yet. Like the crap out of my CTR I bought last year.
I just wanted to update the situation for anyone that was keeping up. The rifle is on its way back to me....decent turn around time (around 2 1/2 weeks) however their findings weren't really sitting well with me. They stated over the phone that the cocking piece and pin are staked and that the picture of the bolt is "normal" and that the bolt lift isn't overly heavy. They did not test fire the rifle before boxing it up.
Regarding the bolt lift - ok, understood, my perception of what it should be isn't a reality.
The bolt shavings are another story. Early on in my career working with assembled components I had many staking operations as well as a few castle nuts on ar's, none of which created shavings like pictured above.
I may just be over thinking this but can anyone from recent memory that has a t3x and has had the bolt apart noticed anything like this?
Regarding the bolt lift - ok, understood, my perception of what it should be isn't a reality.
The bolt shavings are another story. Early on in my career working with assembled components I had many staking operations as well as a few castle nuts on ar's, none of which created shavings like pictured above.
I may just be over thinking this but can anyone from recent memory that has a t3x and has had the bolt apart noticed anything like this?
Thanks man for doing that! I'm going to reach out to Tikka through facebook and see if I can get in through a different channel. I'll cross my fingers and hope something comes of it. In an ideal world they could just send me a new firing pin assembly that I could swap out rather than having to send the whole rifle back out again.
If you haven't already sent it in, you could just try to grease/lube the angled/curved piece of the bolt that is near your thumb in the picture. I cleaned my bolt out when I first got it and got your symptoms and realized that I had removed all the lube.
I know that it looks like yours has some lube and the metal shavings are concerning and you likely do have an actual problem, but it can't hurt to try it before dealing with the hassle of sending it off.
I know that it looks like yours has some lube and the metal shavings are concerning and you likely do have an actual problem, but it can't hurt to try it before dealing with the hassle of sending it off.
Thank you for the input.... the rifle was sent in and on its way back to me as we speak - with a response from Beretta that there is no problem. i'm going to try to get in touch with some one different than the warranty group, I have been trying to find an email for Tikka but everything I have found is through Beretta.
On the lift only when cocking
Gross. Shameful customer service. Keep us posted please. I love my Tikkas, but damn.
Just worth pointing this out...its nice to go through a shop/outfit that will go to bat for you. I don't know a sole over at Whittaker's, but from what I've read - they take care of customers if a gun has issues.
Same with Doug @cameraland. Besides great pricing, he will put himself smack in the middle of an optics warranty issue and get you to the right people for answers.
I'm done taking warranty work to companies from my own soap box. Unless its someone like Swarovski that is known as the best of the best, I'd much rather have the support of the place I bought it.
Well I wanted to follow up with everyone to detail how this all shook out. I received the rifle back from Beretta in roughly around two weeks only to find out they stated everything was as it should be and that the shavings around the firing pin were normal from the staking process.
The results didn't sit well with me so I kept digging to try to get another contact to explain the situation to. I was able to get in touch with the head gunsmith to explain the situation. He asked what was it going to take to make the situation right and i stated a firing pin assembly. A week later it hit my doorstep and i got it installed. No shavings and a reduced bolt lift.
The results didn't sit well with me so I kept digging to try to get another contact to explain the situation to. I was able to get in touch with the head gunsmith to explain the situation. He asked what was it going to take to make the situation right and i stated a firing pin assembly. A week later it hit my doorstep and i got it installed. No shavings and a reduced bolt lift.
@patriot07 not much surprises me with Tikka. They are one of those 1-off companies in the gun/shooting world where their product is SUPER popular and so dang good, but their service is absolutely crap. Luckily most don't need it, and a lot of Tikka owners (myself included) are willing to look the other way because the Tikka has become the new Rem 700 with plenty of aftermarket parts and support available. That said, its still a head shaker why their service record is terrible. Quite likely that whoever received @JEschrich rifle was not a gunsmith or gun person, just simply looked it over, ran the bolt a couple times, and tossed it back in the box.
Happened to come across this thread while trying to find information on this exact problem. Thought I'd share my story..
I bought my t3 last year and it has been sitting in its box since (didn't have the money for a scope, etc.). Finally got enough spare change to start building it up. I replaced the bolt shroud and I wasn't happy with the fitment so I kept fiddling with it and the stock plastic one to compare the two. After cycling my bolt approximately 30 times I notice that my bolt got increasingly difficult to open when cocking the bolt. I took the bolt shroud off and found metal shavings under it (highlighted in yellow), along with scratches on my firing pin (highlighted in red). I cleaned up some of the metal shavings to see if there was improvement in the force required to open the bolt; and there was not. The only thing that happened was more shavings appeared.
I'm going to be starting the apparently long process of dealing with Tikka/Beretta CS. Does anyone have any contacts I could reach out to in order to make the process go any faster? I'd really hate to have to send in my whole gun now that I finally can build it!
I bought my t3 last year and it has been sitting in its box since (didn't have the money for a scope, etc.). Finally got enough spare change to start building it up. I replaced the bolt shroud and I wasn't happy with the fitment so I kept fiddling with it and the stock plastic one to compare the two. After cycling my bolt approximately 30 times I notice that my bolt got increasingly difficult to open when cocking the bolt. I took the bolt shroud off and found metal shavings under it (highlighted in yellow), along with scratches on my firing pin (highlighted in red). I cleaned up some of the metal shavings to see if there was improvement in the force required to open the bolt; and there was not. The only thing that happened was more shavings appeared.
I'm going to be starting the apparently long process of dealing with Tikka/Beretta CS. Does anyone have any contacts I could reach out to in order to make the process go any faster? I'd really hate to have to send in my whole gun now that I finally can build it!
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Had an issue recently and talked with their head gunsmith on the phone. Long story short - I tried to fix something minor and ended up creating a major problem, and even the original problem was a configuration issue and not a problem with the gun itself. But he got it all taken care of at no charge, and I had my bolt back within 2 weeks of having dropped it in the mail. So it couldn't have spent more than 3-4 days at customer service. I honestly couldn't have been more impressed. Gun runs great and still just as accurate after the fix as it was before. I shot a local informal match a couple weeks ago and finished really high.
PM me if you want the guy's name. I don't want to post it on here and have everybody and their mom mailing stuff to this one gunsmith at Tikka CS.
