Tikka T3 Receiver Removal

[In My Cold Dead Hands]

Anyone have experience disassembling the receiver from the barrel on a T3? If so, what action wrench/tools did you use? Headspace in mine from the factory is off as go and no go gauges are allowing the bolt to close... Need to tighten things up a bit.

[BigBamBoo]

We have removed quite a few barrels to use the action for custom builds. The barrels are put on pretty tight. We used a custom made action wrench and wise blocks.

What your wanting to do will be pretty tuff without a lathe. If your going to remove the barrel you might want to think about just chambering up a new barrel.

.

[ar15barrels]

I made my own action wrench jaws.
The barrel taper on the sporter barrels matches an FAL barrel so I just use my FAL barrel vise bushings with the barrel vise in the shop press.
You won't be able to just "tighten the barrel up" without cutting the shoulder so the barrel can screw in more.
Good news is that you only need to cut the shoulder as those guns have a LOT of space between the front of the bolt lugs and the breech face of the barrel.

[In My Cold Dead Hands]

We have removed quite a few barrels to use the action for custom builds. The barrels are put on pretty tight. We used a custom made action wrench and wise blocks.

What your wanting to do will be pretty tuff without a lathe. If your going to remove the barrel you might want to think about just chambering up a new barrel.

.

Please excuse my ignorance but what will a lathe do for me? I was figuring a barrel vice and the appropriate action wrench with a cheat bar would do the trick? I have an action wrench from Brownells but they don't make a wrench specifically made for a Tikka receiver...

[ar15barrels]

Please excuse my ignorance but what will a lathe do for me?

It will allow you to cut the barrel shoulder so that you CAN screw the barrel deeper into the receiver.

[In My Cold Dead Hands]

I made my own action wrench jaws.
The barrel taper on the sporter barrels matches an FAL barrel so I just use my FAL barrel vise bushings with the barrel vise in the shop press.
You won't be able to just "tighten the barrel up" without cutting the shoulder so the barrel can screw in more.
Good news is that you only need to cut the shoulder as those guns have a LOT of space between the front of the bolt lugs and the breech face of the barrel.

My limited experience has shown factory barrel threads usually allow for some tightening for this exact problem/issue. I just can't find a wrench with jaws that are designed for the Tikka T3 receiver...

[In My Cold Dead Hands]

It will allow you to cut the barrel shoulder so that you CAN screw the barrel deeper into the receiver.

gotcha. I think there might be enough play for me to tighten things up without having to deepen the threads, no?

[ar15barrels]

My limited experience has shown factory barrel threads usually allow for some tightening for this exact problem/issue. I just can't find a wrench with jaws that are designed for the Tikka T3 receiver...

I don't think there ARE any commercially produced Tikka action wrenches.
I had to make my own because I could not find any.

I seriously doubt you are going to be able to TIGHTEN a tikka barrel further into the receiver without first cutting the barrel shoulder.
You may have been able to do that with other makes, but not a Tikka...

[ar15barrels]

I think there might be enough play for me to tighten things up without having to deepen the threads, no?

No.
You don't need to "deepen" the threads in any case.
You just need to cut the barrel shoulder so it can screw in more.

Make a drawing like this:

http://700barrels.com/70dimensions.pdf

Measure your breech face depth and your gauge protrusion from the barrel shoulder and see how far apart they are now.
Then you can figure out how much you want to tighten the fit and that's how much you cut off the shoulder.
Leave yourself 0.001" for thread "cinch up" as the barrel is tightened into the receiver.

[In My Cold Dead Hands]

I don't think there ARE any commercially produced Tikka action wrenches.
I had to make my own because I could not find any.

I seriously doubt you are going to be able to TIGHTEN a tikka barrel further into the receiver without first cutting the barrel shoulder.
You may have been able to do that with other makes, but not a Tikka...

understood. so at the factory, the receiver is supposed to snug up against the shoulder with go no go guages functioning properly, correct? could this mean that cuts are off (barrel chamber, barrel threads, receiver threads?)

[ar15barrels]

understood. so at the factory, the receiver is supposed to snug up against the shoulder with go no go guages functioning properly, correct?

Yes, but they might be using CIP spec gauges at the Tikka factory which could be different than the SAAMI gauges you are probably using.
If you use different gauges, the gun could be in spec.
It's just not in spec to YOUR gauges.

[LynnJr]

Correct.
That said you can lap the lugs for a small amount of extra clearance that is why you always need to grease them. If they gall and you true them back up your headspace changes.
Also on actions with tight fitting barrels it is common to chuck them up in a lathe and cut the shoulder off. Once the shoulder is gone the barrel wont be as hard to remove.
Put a single piece of cellophane tape on your no go Gauge and see if the bolt drops or not.

[kendog4570]

Anyone have experience disassembling the receiver from the barrel on a T3? If so, what action wrench/tools did you use? Headspace in mine from the factory is off as go and no go gauges are allowing the bolt to close... Need to tighten things up a bit.

A wrench head for a T3 is a pretty straight forward thing to make. Very close to Ruger 77 head. Based on the questions you are asking, if you cant make one up you should not be trying to adjust head space. The threads are 1"-16 tpi right hand, and the factory barrels are not any more difficult than any other make to break loose.

Are you familiar with checking head space? I have had customers bring rifles to the shop swearing that the bolt "drops" on a no go when in fact they were forcing it closed. If it does not close under light finger pressure then it is fine. What caliber is it? If it is 308 and closes on a no go but shoots fine just call it a 7.62 and leaver be.

[In My Cold Dead Hands]

A wrench head for a T3 is a pretty straight forward thing to make. Very close to Ruger 77 head. Based on the questions you are asking, if you cant make one up you should not be trying to adjust head space. The threads are 1"-16 tpi right hand, and the factory barrels are not any more difficult than any other make to break loose.

Are you familiar with checking head space? I have had customers bring rifles to the shop swearing that the bolt "drops" on a no go when in fact they were forcing it closed. If it does not close under light finger pressure then it is fine. What caliber is it? If it is 308 and closes on a no go but shoots fine just call it a 7.62 and leaver be.

10/4
I might be applying a bit too much perfection to this process as the rifle still shoots sub MOA but I like to set things to minute tolerances, especially headspace, to workup near perfect handloads for best possible accuracy. I'm not going to mess with it at this point in time for lack of experience and will probably do more harm than good without proper equipment/experienece...

Edit: The rifle is 300 win mag with Limbsaver and microbastard brake so it pretty much has the recoil of a 243. Pretty impressive actually...

[kendog4570]

10/4
I might be applying a bit too much perfection to this process as the rifle still shoots sub MOA but I like to set things to minute tolerances, especially headspace, to workup near perfect handloads for best possible accuracy. I'm not going to mess with it at this point in time for lack of experience and will probably do more harm than good without proper equipment/experienece...

Edit: The rifle is 300 win mag with Limbsaver and microbastard brake so it pretty much has the recoil of a 243. Pretty impressive actually...

As a general rule, you can disregard the head space gauge(s) somewhat on belted magnums. Set up your dies so you are sizing to the shoulder datum, ignore the belt, and enjoy the rifle.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.