Tikka T3 mag length mod

zimbu

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There have been a few of you expressing frustration over the T3 .223 mag length being a limitation as far as shooting longer bullets such as the 75 and 80gr amax.

I had posted this info in another thread in response to a question but was not easy to dig up with search function, so I think it deserves it's own thread.

Here's what I have done to my mag. I did this last year, and since then I have shot over 400 rounds of 80 gr amax loaded to 2.410 COAL. Every one of those rounds has fed flawlessly the way you would expect a tikka to feed.


I melted down some thermoplastic pellets I got from Princess Auto and poured that into the rear of the mag to from a block. Push the block out with a punch through the hole in the top.

Then cut away the offending piece and also cut back the center tab in the lower cap. I did this with a hack saw blade that I ground on one side (to remove the set from the teeth) so I would not gouge the sides of the mag.

The spring needs to be epoxied to the lower cap as far back as possible or else your ammo will sit so 'nose high' that the bolt won't pick it up.

Grind down the new block evenly to suit the required OAL.

I lengthened the follower with a piece of spring steel bent up and fit under the follower spring.

As I said, I've never had any issues with loading all 6 rounds and feeding is flawless. I was little scary chopping up a $100 mag but works like a charm.




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Link to the alternate mod. Remove the space in the www.

w ww.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4799827/1

I've seen that one before too. He doesn't say anything about lengthening the follower. I find that odd. I don't think you would get very consistent feeding without doing that.

I still prefer my method. If I want to load longer I can just slip the block out and grind some more off, bend up a new tab for the back of the follower, and I haven't drilled it full of holes. Just my opinion.
 
I've seen that one before too. He doesn't say anything about lengthening the follower. I find that odd. I don't think you would get very consistent feeding without doing that.

I still prefer my method. If I want to load longer I can just slip the block out and grind some more off, bend up a new tab for the back of the follower, and I haven't drilled it full of holes. Just my opinion.

It looks
Ike he leaves the step in the base of the magazine so that the spring length does not need to be altered.
 
It looks
Ike he leaves the step in the base of the magazine so that the spring length does not need to be altered.

Yes but I think zimbu is addressing the follower's length. Even if you cut back the stop in the back off the mag the follower's needs to be lengthen to account for the new length added. Thus creating the feeding issue.

In zimbu model it address the follower length issue and lengthing the mag.
 
Read the 24hourcampfire's last post in that thread. He had to undo everything he did and go back to original length because it would not feed. He mentiones the nose of the rounds being too high and the bolt passing overhead and not feeding.

Zimbu addresses that in his method.
 
That may well depend on "how much" you lengthen the mag.
You only need a couple tenths of an inch for 70gn pointed bullets, but you may well need considerably longer space to handle the extreme's of the .223 bullet range.
I have no experience other than suggesting in my case I don't need much extra length!
 
I looked on Princess Auro site for Thermoplastic pellets and found none. Calle dthe one in Kitchener (nearest to me) and they said they don;t have em.

Anyone know where I can pick some of these pellets up?
 
Hmm, those pellets must have been a Surplus item. I probably still have some kicking around if need be. There are also some on ebay in white/clear.
However epoxy putty would make a good alternative and is available at Can Tire and Home Depot. For that matter Bondo would work too.

Just be sure to use some sort of mold release on the inside of the mag so the block can be removed once cured. Silicone shoe spray would be ideal for this but any sort of grease/oil would work.
 
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