T3X CTR Mods and Upgrades

My rail was on there real good, two of the screw head striped to hell, one came out after machining a slot in it to get it out the other got drilled out and re threaded, I wanted to do a barrel change otherwise I would have left it on. I have an arc mount with 20 moa. Mine may have been more difficult to remove because I ran it for a few year rain or shine
 
laker415 said:
If you have the funds, maybe consider a better stock or chassis.
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Not at this time. I'm just learning to shoot/reload for longer ranges so this has been great for that so far. Maybe in the future I can spend some money to upgrade, but those funds aren't currently available (not at least without the wife killing me from very close range...)

kthomas said:
I love the Ckye-Pod, it's on my main rifle. It's the most versatile bipod out there, and it's really in its element in field matches.

It is expensive, and depending on the OP's needs, may or may not be the best value proposition. I proposed the Atlas as I think it's the bare minimum one should look for in a bipod. Skip the Harris and below. Not great quality, not great value propositions. Another great bipod that I would one day love to own is the TBAC.
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As per above, I am not shooting in any matches. Just farting around trying to learn as I go. I'm not saying a $500 bipod won't improve my shooting, I'm just saying that isn't the main problem with my misses lol

kthomas said:
Another option for rings with built in elevation is the ARC scope mount. ARC happens to make my favorite rings/scope mounts: https://www.americanrifle.com/shop/product/m-brace-scope-mount-1402?category=3
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I know scopes are a controlled export, but I assume rings and bases are A-ok to get from the US?

todbartell said:
If you're looking for extended range capability, maybe ditch the 308 and get a 24" CTR in 6.5 Creed or the 6.5 PRC.
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Good plan, so long as it comes bundled with a free couch for me to sleep on :p

209jones said:
My TAC A1 came with the zero rail, I just put the Burris XTR rings on it and set it at 20deg. Haven't had any issues with Burris Zee rings over the years, that's why I went with the XTR's. Swapping the rail out was a bit cheaper option, but, the rings were easier and I needed rings anyway....

The Caldwell bipod adaptor rail works surprisngly well, tried one on a T3X I have, that needed it to adapt a Gray-Ops Magnetospeed mount onto it. It will also adjust to level an attachment with the barrel if need be, which is what I needed for the chrono mount.
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This is kind of what I'm thinking, another set of rings is never a bad thing to have. I'll look into that adaptor, as I asked another poster above, no issues with stripping out the sling stud or anything when loading the bipod?

.308ACADIAN said:
My rail was on there real good, two of the screw head striped to hell, one came out after machining a slot in it to get it out the other got drilled out and re threaded, I wanted to do a barrel change otherwise I would have left it on. I have an arc mount with 20 moa. Mine may have been more difficult to remove because I ran it for a few year rain or shine
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This is not the first story I've heard similar to this which is where my hesitation comes in. Maybe if I too had thought to do this new out of the box it would be better, but this rifle has had some miles so far.



To summarize me as a shooter with this rifle, my interest in firearms started as a duck hunter (shotguns) and WW2 history. So, prior to this rifle, it has been all iron sights and surplus ammo to 100 yards. I bought this rifle a year ago with a goal to eventually get out to 1000 yards. I went with the 308 because from my Garand I had piles of 308 brass to reload. Using cheap brass and "classic" powder (I've had luck with IMR3031 which has never seemed to go out of stock even during this shortage), at 100 yards with the gun as it sits I have been maintaining ~0.75" 5-shot groups at 100 yards which is perfect for me. I am not looking to make a $5000 gun to be able to put 10 rounds through one hole; instead I would be happy if I could hit a 18" square at 1000 yards. The reason I am looking to do some minor upgrades now is I was amazed (repeat AMAZED) at how easily I was hitting a 10x14" target at 525 yards a few months ago. I then went with a buddy and his 24"x24" target at 850 yards and I was landing shots (again... newby here, so even a 2 foot target at that distance makes me smile ear to ear!). That day is when I discovered my need to hold over, plus the other shortcomings, so if I have ANY chance to go further, a couple upgrades are in order

Thanks again to everyone for the insights and suggestions, and keep 'em coming (Also, if you are in SE BC or SW AB and know of good spots to set up, drop me a line)
 
Well, I bought a set of the Burris Signature XTR rings before Christmas and got them mounted up yesterday. We currently have about 38-40" of snow in the backyard, so I doubt that I'll be able to get into the range for a little bit. Maybe next days off if the weather cooperates I'll snowshoe in. I also adjusted the factory trigger down to almost it's lowest setting. Being a guy who normally shoots milsurp, this gun already had the best trigger of the collection, but now it's just... better.

I still have a plan to mount a lower front rail for a new bipod, but haven't settled on that yet. When I had the stock off for trigger adjustment yesterday, I noticed the Tikka's have a 2nd hole on the lower end. It measures 5" from the front sling stud. I looked at the Area419 rails and it seems none of them are that long. I will drill into the fore end if required, but does anyone know of any rails with 5" spacing between the holes?
 
DiMP said:
Well, I bought a set of the Burris Signature XTR rings before Christmas and got them mounted up yesterday. We currently have about 38-40" of snow in the backyard, so I doubt that I'll be able to get into the range for a little bit. Maybe next days off if the weather cooperates I'll snowshoe in. I also adjusted the factory trigger down to almost it's lowest setting. Being a guy who normally shoots milsurp, this gun already had the best trigger of the collection, but now it's just... better.

I still have a plan to mount a lower front rail for a new bipod, but haven't settled on that yet. When I had the stock off for trigger adjustment yesterday, I noticed the Tikka's have a 2nd hole on the lower end. It measures 5" from the front sling stud. I looked at the Area419 rails and it seems none of them are that long. I will drill into the fore end if required, but does anyone know of any rails with 5" spacing between the holes?
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I also use Burris XTR rings, and I mounted an Arca rail using the existing holes, works for me.

Introducing the MOUNTAIN TACTICAL® T3x/T1x Arca Lite, which utilizes the hardware on your existing rifle to create a solid interface between your rifle and a tripod, giving you a stable shooting platform.
 
DiMP said:
Well, I bought a set of the Burris Signature XTR rings before Christmas and got them mounted up yesterday. We currently have about 38-40" of snow in the backyard, so I doubt that I'll be able to get into the range for a little bit. Maybe next days off if the weather cooperates I'll snowshoe in. I also adjusted the factory trigger down to almost it's lowest setting. Being a guy who normally shoots milsurp, this gun already had the best trigger of the collection, but now it's just... better.

I still have a plan to mount a lower front rail for a new bipod, but haven't settled on that yet. When I had the stock off for trigger adjustment yesterday, I noticed the Tikka's have a 2nd hole on the lower end. It measures 5" from the front sling stud. I looked at the Area419 rails and it seems none of them are that long. I will drill into the fore end if required, but does anyone know of any rails with 5" spacing between the holes?
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Are you looking for a Pic or Arca on the fore end?
 
DiMP said:
I have no experience with an Arca rail. Looking at upgrading my bipod it seems there are tonnes of models that attach to a picatinny/1913 style rail
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Ok. I wondered. There are also bipods that are ARCA compatible. ARCA is nicer for quick adjustments and flexibility. I put a Mountain Tac ARCA Lite on my Tikka. Either type will work. Just depends on your uses & priorities. :)
 
An Arca rail should be a reasonably economical upgrade, then you could go with a MDT ground pod, it looks very well made, has a lot of adjustments and is reasonably priced--and its Canadian! With the Arca you can select it as your attachment method when ordering the Ground Pod, and you can also get or upgrade your current tripod to an Arca mounting system to shoot off a tripod too, if that should ever tickle your fancy.
 
I have a Tikka CTR chambered in 6.5 PRC.
It’s heavy, it’s accurate and it’s harder to find components and more costly to feed.
Tigger is set at a cool 2.5 lbs.

308 would be less costly to run and shouldn’t need anything other than a half decent set of rings, and a scope.
308 brass is practically free.
 
I've seen a lot of 308 ammo that's cheaper, but when comparing match grade ammo both seem very similarly priced.

Personally, I'm just looking to get into precision shooting because I'm becoming disgruntled with my semi-auto's becomiong prohibited, so by no means is my opinion backed by experience, but isn't the whole point of a precision rifle to reach far out there with accuracy? I've got soooo much cheap 308 ammo saved up for M14's, but deciding between which T3X CTR to buy I'm still leaning towards the 6.5CM.
 
I have a 20 MOA pic rail for my Tikka made by Near Manufacturing (Canadian). It has the recoil lug machined into it, which is really nice.

Caldwell makes a short pic rail that clamps onto a single sling stud. I use it on one of my rimfires, so I can't speak to how it handles recoil on a centerfire. Otherwise there are many lengths of pic rails made where a drilled hole or two and a T nut, threaded insert, or bolt, washer and nut will make it work, with the other hole being the existing sling stud.

If you want to go with the Arca system for bipods, Area 419 makes an 8 inch universal Arca rail, and the hole pattern slots will fit that 5 inch (13mm OC span) of those two screw holes in the forearm of the T3X stock. (Those screw holes in the T3X stock are M5 thread). I don't know if your CTR stock has the same hole spacing? Hole spacing diagram:
https://www.area419.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/419-ALK-UNIV8-2.pdf

Some CGN vendors sell Area 419 stuff. There are other brands Arca "universal rails" on the market designed with generous slots to be able to fit many types of rifles, but some drilling for T nuts or threaded inserts may be required.

If you are considering an Atlas bipod that has a picatinny clamp on it, it is easy to adapt it to Arca rails. There are two methods I know of:
1) Area 419 and some other manufacturers of Arca clamps make the bottom shape and 2-hole spacing to screw directly onto the Atlas bipod (using its screws), replacing the pic clamp on it.

2) You can keep the pic rail clamp on the Atlas bipod, and screw on a small pic rail to the bottom of the Area 419 Arca clamp, or Marginet Metal Works (MMW) Arca clamp. MMW is Canadian (Yeah!), and makes pic rails that fit their Arca clamp, along with hardware. https://www.mmwgear.com/shop/mmw-arca-m-lok-clamp. You can buy direct from MMW, but also some CGN vendors carry their gear.
 
Shot a buddies ctr over the weekend in 308 and it was ringing our small plates at 500 yards into its first box of ammo. Impressive rifle for the price
 
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