Bottom Metal Upgrade

Just received my 'Atlasworxs' bottom metal for my Tikka Varmint .223 LH.

VERY nice piece of kit... looks like the inletting the stock shouldn't be too bad. Still need to decide if I want to machine the receiver, or just file a bit off the feedlips of an AICS mag.

Total time from ordering to being in my hand was 10 days. From Austraila. No customs charges or GST either!

Total cost charged to my CC was $161 (with exchange). Pretty sweet deal for TIkka bottom metal! They have bolt handles and shrouds as well, but I sourced mine locally. VERY impressed with Atlasworxs product so far!
 
Great thread!!!

The Atlas Bottom Metal seems to be about perfect for my applications.

I have a 6.5X47 Lapua and a .223 rem that have been waiting for DBM for a few years now.


Could you please post some more details on how you cut down the 223 mags?
To what length?
How is the base plate re attached?

THX,

Tk
 
TangoKilo said:
Great thread!!!

The Atlas Bottom Metal seems to be about perfect for my applications.

I have a 6.5X47 Lapua and a .223 rem that have been waiting for DBM for a few years now.


Could you please post some more details on how you cut down the 223 mags?
To what length?
How is the base plate re attached?

THX,

Tk
Click to expand...

I did trial and error about him much to take off. If you look in my pic, you can see the scribed line on the whole magazine, once I had 1 working, I traced the size on the second mag, you can see in relation to the AI symbol where I cut, and where i cut the spring in the pic

The bottom plate was held on by the lip in the pic around the bottom of the mag. I used a file to make a new lip across the front edge of the mag. The back wall is more than 1/4" thick, so I pushed the bottom plate on over the new lip, figured out where the back wall was and drilled a clearance hole thru the bottom plate and tapped a 10-24 hole in the rear wall of the mag. The button head in the pic holds it together. Take out the screw and pop the plate off the lip.

There is a slot in the spring that captures the bottom mag follower to it. I used a drill then a Dremel to get this right. I think the DBM and the mag mods took me 3+ hours in a machine shop...

169b3a1c.jpg
 
i just got my ptg kit in the mail the other day.

for $195, it seems farily good. the finish is good, i mean theres not much to them for the cost.


anyways i have a couple questions...


i plan on making my own stock, so the inletting isnt a problem. my issue is i fit it onto the action out of the stock, and it seems like there might be a bit of the receiver that needs to be taken down in order for the mag well to fit up against the action? is this a common problem? or does it not matter theres a 3/16 gap around the mag well and the action?

i should have ordered a mag when i got the kit, i'm still waiting for one to come in the mail, or else i can see where the mag will stick up.

also wheres the best place to get .223 10 rounders? i may get a few and just install a plug so it only takes 5 rounds for hunting.
 
Did your PT&G kit come with the pillars? Using these gives you the basic spacing. With the C-Products magazines I have, I made shorter pillars to optimize the presentation of the rounds.
 
no my kit didnt come with pillars, but thats something i can easily make in the shop. i guess the spacing will have to be a bit of trial and error. once i get the mags i can fit the dbm to the action, insert the mag, and get the proper spacing required for pillars.


i checked wolverine, they are out of stock and theres a back order list. i e-mailed them to see what the wait is like, anyone else know of any sources for them?
 
Yes, just install the magazine in the housing, and adjust the length of your pillars for best fit and function.
Once you have the lengths finalized, inlet the action into the stock, and inlet the trigger guard unit until it bottoms against the pillars.
 
dastt said:
i just got my ptg kit in the mail the other day.

for $195, it seems farily good. the finish is good, i mean theres not much to them for the cost.


anyways i have a couple questions...


i plan on making my own stock, so the inletting isnt a problem. my issue is i fit it onto the action out of the stock, and it seems like there might be a bit of the receiver that needs to be taken down in order for the mag well to fit up against the action? is this a common problem? or does it not matter theres a 3/16 gap around the mag well and the action?

i should have ordered a mag when i got the kit, i'm still waiting for one to come in the mail, or else i can see where the mag will stick up.

also wheres the best place to get .223 10 rounders? i may get a few and just install a plug so it only takes 5 rounds for hunting.
Click to expand...

It is common to remove material from the DBM to get the correct feed hieght. Don't take it off the receiver.
 
tiriaq said:
Did your PT&G kit come with the pillars? Using these gives you the basic spacing. With the C-Products magazines I have, I made shorter pillars to optimize the presentation of the rounds.
Click to expand...

I just received my PTG kit BACK from Casey at Tacord.com (board sponsor) and he did a fabulous job with the inletting of the PTG from jaunvaldez (another board dealer) on my HS Precision stock. He measured the PTG supplied pillars and machined down the existing stock's pillars appropriately.

I screwed things together and all is feeding (brass cases in my basement of course (heh heh heh) ) properly.

Life is good!

Now to work on the .223 project with AICS magazines....

Cheers,
BArney
 
Hungry said:
I just received my PTG kit BACK from Casey at Tacord.com (board sponsor) and he did a fabulous job with the inletting of the PTG from jaunvaldez (another board dealer) on my HS Precision stock. He measured the PTG supplied pillars and machined down the existing stock's pillars appropriately.

I screwed things together and all is feeding (brass cases in my basement of course (heh heh heh) ) properly.

Life is good!

Now to work on the .223 project with AICS magazines....

Cheers,
BArney
Click to expand...

What was total cost if you don't mind me asking? I have a 700VS in a HS PRecision stock, and the HS Precision DBM system is pricey as heck... $400 just for the metal, and like $200 per mag. I only considered the HS system to avoid inletting, but curious what Casey charges for this? Does the PTG metal take AICS mags?
 
canucklehead said:
What was total cost if you don't mind me asking? I have a 700VS in a HS PRecision stock, and the HS Precision DBM system is pricey as heck... $400 just for the metal, and like $200 per mag. I only considered the HS system to avoid inletting, but curious what Casey charges for this? Does the PTG metal take AICS mags?
Click to expand...

Casey's shop rate is around $75 IIRC according to his website. Yeah, so the PTG bottom metal ran me a bit over $200 for the metal shipped from Juanvaldez in Sudbury to my place. Then them magazines ran me a bit over $ 100 each from Wolverine a year ago. He took about 2 hours to inlet my bottom metal. :D

Here's the hard part and this can take more time by the gunsmiths reading this post....

The PTG Bottom metal is unlike the paralleled walled units like the Stiller and VBull bottom metal babies that are easier to mill out since they have parallel walles... nice straight line/ cut / milling. My PTG bottom metal had tapered sidewalls and a great deal of fiddling around with the clamp and setup had extended (I'm guessing here) the time taken to inlet by twice as much time. :cool:

So when you are shopping around for bottom metal, be warned that time may double because the cheaper or easily bought/found bottom metal kit has tapered walls, unless of course your gunsmith has a CNC mill that's programmed for the Badger inlet or Vbull inlet or whatever inlet.

These are Casey's observations, and now they are mine. Here's a pic of my PTG bottom metal already installed....




That photo above is with the magazine in place. ANd yes this bottom metal accomodates the AICS magazines in BOTH .22-250/.308/.243/ .260 AND .223 formats


Have a look at the bottom metal with the .223 magazine in place...




I bought all my magazines from Wolverine, board sponsor. Great inventory and fast mailing.

I hope all this information helps with the M700 addiction :wave:

Cheers,
Barney
 
Speaking from experience, the PT&G unit does require some careful inletting. Nice piece of kit though. I'm using AI type C-Products in mine, and feed is reliable. I made new pillars, adjusting the length so that the magazines are as close as possible to the receiver.
I give TacOrd credit for doing the nice job on Hungry's stock. Working with the aluminum bedding block is more difficult than the laminated stock I used.
 
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