Vertical stringing

COREY

COREY

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Thought I would ask my questions here as ot sure where else to ask. Also, I did a search and did not seem to find an answer. However, I am happy to be pointed to a relevant thread.

Okay, so I have a new Tikka T3x Lite Stainless LH in 308 I bought a year ago. It has a new Leupold Mark 3 3-9 on it. When I got it, I took it to the range with a 3 round and 5 round Tikka mag. Beast grouped to about 3/4" at 100 yards and 5 shots to an inch (she was getting hot). It repeated this 2 or 3 times that day.

I decided I wanted AICS mags in it so I got a CTR stock, cut a slot for the bolt handle on the left (stock was cheap so not going to complain), and installed the new bottom metal. I snugged up the action screws, but did not use a torque wrench. Neve have before on any rifle and had not seen any major issues. I took it to the range today and it shot a 6 shot group about 3/4" wide.......and 4" high. I had just finished shooting a 1" group with my rolling block in 45/70 with a tang sight, and I saw no trigger break that would come close to explaining this. I let it cool down some and it still kept doing it.

Oh, the ammo is 150 grain Federal. Nothing fancy but it is the exact same ammo as before.

I checked the scope and it all seems tight. I never touched the dials during the shooting.

Anyone have any ideas what is going on?
 
COREY said:
Thought I would ask my questions here as ot sure where else to ask. Also, I did a search and did not seem to find an answer. However, I am happy to be pointed to a relevant thread.

Okay, so I have a new Tikka T3x Lite Stainless LH in 308 I bought a year ago. It has a new Leupold Mark 3 3-9 on it. When I got it, I took it to the range with a 3 round and 5 round Tikka mag. Beast grouped to about 3/4" at 100 yards and 5 shots to an inch (she was getting hot). It repeated this 2 or 3 times that day.

I decided I wanted AICS mags in it so I got a CTR stock, cut a slot for the bolt handle on the left (stock was cheap so not going to complain), and installed the new bottom metal. I snugged up the action screws, but did not use a torque wrench. Neve have before on any rifle and had not seen any major issues. I took it to the range today and it shot a 6 shot group about 3/4" wide.......and 4" high. I had just finished shooting a 1" group with my rolling block in 45/70 with a tang sight, and I saw no trigger break that would come close to explaining this. I let it cool down some and it still kept doing it.

Oh, the ammo is 150 grain Federal. Nothing fancy but it is the exact same ammo as before.

I checked the scope and it all seems tight. I never touched the dials during the shooting.

Anyone have any ideas what is going on?
Click to expand...
You may have some inletting/ bedding issues at play there.
I would bed the action and make sure you don't have part of the bolt impacting thr stock, etc.
If you never had an issue with action screws without using a torque wrench in the past I doubt if it is the culprit.
Cat
 
iron cat said:
You may have some inletting/ bedding issues at play there.
I would bed the action and make sure you don't have part of the bolt impacting thr stock, etc.
If you never had an issue with action screws without using a torque wrench in the past I doubt if it is the culprit.
Cat
Click to expand...
She has plenty of space around the barrel as it is a CTR stock with a Lite barrel. However, the bedding may be the issue. I have a shot pile of Tikkas and never had this happen before, hence my questions.

I will probably take the old stock and magazine out and see what happens there. Would the magazine pushing against the action cause any problems? The Atlas bottom metal has instructions for cutting down the retaining tab so that the magazines fit the stock properly. I had not done that yet and was just giving it a bump until I made sure it all worked.
 
COREY said:
She has plenty of space around the barrel as it is a CTR stock with a Lite barrel. However, the bedding may be the issue. I have a shot pile of Tikkas and never had this happen before, hence my questions.

I will probably take the old stock and magazine out and see what happens there. Would the magazine pushing against the action cause any problems? The Atlas bottom metal has instructions for cutting down the retaining tab so that the magazines fit the stock properly. I had not done that yet and was just giving it a bump until I made sure it all worked.
Click to expand...
Yes mag boxes binding can and have been an issue in some rifles .
Cat
 
Rifles that are properly bedded will have their action screws "snug up" quickly. If the screws take more than a half revolution to tighten up, theres gonna be trouble....
 
cosmic said:
Rifles that are properly bedded will have their action screws "snug up" quickly. If the screws take more than a half revolution to tighten up, theres gonna be trouble....
Click to expand...
Is that because without bedding, you are compressing the stock material and thereby seating the action inconsistently in the stock?
 
I'd take it apart and put it back in your original stock. Head to the range again, lookin for repeatability with your original stock. (( **taking my new stock and my tools with me ))
IF, all is, as was, swap the stocks out and try again.
Persisting issues = stock problems...at least then you'd know and can work from that point forward trying for a resolution.
 
kevin g said:
I'd take it apart and put it back in your original stock. Head to the range again, lookin for repeatability with your original stock. (( **taking my new stock and my tools with me ))
IF, all is, as was, swap the stocks out and try again.
Persisting issues = stock problems...at least then you'd know and can work from that point forward trying for a resolution.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that is going to be the plan. One thing I never did was shoot it with the new magazine out either. I can start with the old stock, see what happens, switch to the new stock with no magazine, see what happens, and then try with the magazine installed.

My hope is it is the magazine inconsistently pushing against the action which I can fix easy. If not, I will go from there.
 
I presume these are t3 original plastic Lite/CTR stocks. Cut out left and right might weaken the stock quite a lot so that the mag whacked in might slightly bend the stock. I would cut the the release leaver, normally 1-1.5mm. Also check if the action screws are not protruding. With a torch you can see the inside of front action screw. Mostly the screw length is fine with the Atlasworx CTR/AICS mag system on a factory stock.
Action is sitting in the recoil lug100%?

edi
 
Did the group start one one end (top or bottom) and then move and settle on the other end? It can take a few shots for a action to settle into a stock, especially when it is not bedded.
When putting the action into the new stock did you give the action pressure rearwards before snugging the screws all the way tight? If not the action is going to move on the first couple shots for sure. One more thing bedding the rifle avoids.
Also with the tikka is the recoil lug in the stock seated correctly?
 
COREY said:
Yeah, that is going to be the plan. One thing I never did was shoot it with the new magazine out either. I can start with the old stock, see what happens, switch to the new stock with no magazine, see what happens, and then try with the magazine installed.

My hope is it is the magazine inconsistently pushing against the action which I can fix easy. If not, I will go from there.
Click to expand...

Any update Corey ?? Didja find the issue ?? Enquiring minds want to know...LOL
 
I had a conversation with JC at JC Custom Barrels a few months ago about re-barreling my Tikka T3X Varmint 223.
First thing he asked me was if it was currently in the original stock. My answer was yes.

While he didn't come right out and say the original stocks are junk, he did suggest that I try the rifle in either a good F-class stock or a decent chassis before I put a new barrel on it.

Reading between the lines, I figured that what he was saying was that he didn't want to put a good barrel on a rifle in a poor stock and have it shoot the same way it did before.

I took his advice and put it in an MDT XRS chassis, and it's noticeably improved. The flyers are reduced, plus the rifle feels better to shoot.

On another note, does the barrel fully float in the CTR stock? If it does, you may find that the original T3X stock has a couple of pressure points under the barrel, about 4" in front of the action. My 243 T3 Lite stock has those, and I doubt that they're there by accident.
 
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