Tikka T3 Sporter - Biathalon Sling Project

[skrypnyk]

Tons of Pics and a few videos..



So I just got my Larsen Biathlon sling in the mail today. Its white, with white straps, so I am looking again for a black one. The white looks really good, but I dont think it looks good on this platform, you guys may have an opinion. Just some background on this, I am making a Biathlon Clone in .308. So in the mail to me still is my arm cuff and target sling, my hand-stop, and in the future I will be dropping the glass in favor of target sights. I did a 700 build a few years ago, but the tactical stuff got old quick, and I had no ranges to go far on around me. So I am trying something different, and I thinking about a Crown Land Snowshoe Biathlon this winter.

It was a good thing I got it because I just sucked it up on the range this morning (not good. like 2MOA and just felt all kinds of terrible) So I needed to pick up my mood.

I was quite worried about how I was going to do this. If I screwed up my Sporter only two months and 100rnds through I would not be impressed. Not to mention that as per my range report I was consistently shooting 1MOA out of the box, and shot a half MOA a 200m. So if I somehow pooch this rifle then I ruined a really good shooter....

But here I go!

So the Sling mounted right to the European Rail on the Left side, the sling comes with a tool for cranking down the sling to the rail.

Next we had the problem of attaching the straps to the bottom of the rifle.

See VID

So we decided to go with a newer style of mounting the straps to the stock, you actually send then through the stock, and then the strap bracket gets mounted on the opposite (right) side.

This required drilling two holes, Caustic and me prepared the surface with some tape to help protect the wood from splitting at the surfaces

We then had to juggle how much room we left between the top/bottom of the stock and the holes. We opted for .5" from the top and 3/4" from the bottom.

We then tapped some guide holes

Then we elected for 5/15 Drillbit as it was a tight fit for the Bungee Straps to fit, and I wanted to have it bind on all those points (as well as in the clamp) We did this on the Drill Press, where we clamped down the rifle stock


VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_AoIxn2bAY

We removed the tape and found very clean drill exits.

I wanted to have tapered holes to mimic the Anchutz, as well as to be more aesthetically appealing (as well it better blended as two layers of laminate came through on the tapered edges)

We tried with just a drill bit on a Drill, but results were not clean enough. Not wanting to s**t it up on such a beautiful stock,



http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...7939303204_516368203_9476912_1718249714_n.jpg

We tried a Router bit on a Drill, but it was biting to much,

So we overcame this by putting a Router Bit on the Drill Press

Then sanded out with 400 grit to give it a nice clean taper.

So next was putting the Bungee Straps through, this was a HUGE issue, we tried everything but they would not go through, we ended up drilling out one bit larger. We then attached a metal cable to the bungee and fed it through and then pulled hard to drag the bungee through.

Next was the Clamp on the Right side, this is what actually holds those straps in place.

We Tapped and Pre-Drilled holes for the Clamp Screws. (they were 1'' deep)

We put the Clamp on, but only screwed her down a little

Then we pulled the bungee till it was narrow and slipped them into the clamp and tightened down just enough so it would not slip out.

Finish Product! It on, I ran around like a clown a bit. Felt nice, Practiced the "Draw" where you unhook your left arm, grab the Barrel with the right hand, and pull around, then left hand grabs fore grip and its actually really really nice. Right to a standing

The clamp that came with the Larsen was kinda basic, I might look at getting somthing from Anchutz such as:

 

[derrick1978]

Did you feel like you were making a huge mistake as you drilled holes through your stock for that contraption?

 

[skrypnyk]

Um, yes and no, we did some reading on stock pressure, flexing on shooting ect, that's why we left more room from to the bottom of the stock to the bottom hole then the from the top.

As well from a strictly common sense point, this stock has a ton of holes already drilled into it, there are 3 alone for the cheek piece riser, two are tightly filled with the metal post from the stock, but one (where the adjust screw is) is a empty vertical hole.

Because this is a sealed stock I am going to coat the insides of the holes with something to seal off the stock again.

Other then that from what I can tell it will not shorten the life or cause a catastrophic failure. If anyone know different at all please advise, If I see any issues then I will just fill the hoes up with resin an perhaps sawdust, then it will be rock solid again, no big deal.

 

[RedRabbits]

That takes balls of steel man there is NO WAY i could bring myself to drill holes in such a pretty stock. I REALLY want a T3 Sporter, too bad i cant find one in 6.5X55

 

[TV-PressPass]

Pretty slick. Definitely fits with the design and look of the sporter

 

[Snow Dog]

"I REALLY want a T3 Sporter, too bad i cant find one in 6.5X55"

You took the words right out of my mouth! Everybody and his brother make heavy barreled rifles in .223 or .308 but not in the Swede. I love my Tikka Varmint in 6.5x55 but the stock does leave a little to be desired.

 

[skrypnyk]

Ya I one of the things that scared me about doing this is that I have never seen this stock for sale by itself. (so if I messed it, I was SOL for replacing it)

What first sold me on the rifle was the stock. I do wish you could get it, or a slightly lighter version and drop any T3 into it. That would have been what I did, but not an option.

 

[Ian Robertson]

Good luck, the first time you fall on it it will be a folder!!

 

[skrypnyk]

Ian, where am I going to be falling from, the CN tower?

its over 1'' thick laminate. Its not going to break from a fall. Not to mention that there are 3 vertical hole drilled straight through the stock for the cheek riser.

However I kinda want to remove the sight and go fall down a bunch in my back yard.

 

[dizzy]

Good luck, the first time you fall on it it will be a folder!!

Highly doubt it, stocks can be ordered by themselves anyhow, so nothing at risk other than a few $$

 

[Ian Robertson]

I am sure you are an expert skier and never fall, my mistake. For the average skier however falls are the biggest hazard to the stock on a biathalon rifle and you may be surprised at how easily laminates break. A stock like yours won't break where you drilled the holes, it will break behind the grip where it is the thinnest, nothing to do with your craftsmanship at this point. Dizzy is right however, buy a new one and it's just part of playing that particular game and I would not suggest that one should not play.

I think the roll of a forum is for comments on all sides and one should not get their back up when something is said that you don't agree with. It's not always a mutual admiration society but then neither is life.

 

[skrypnyk]

Ian, i did not mean to come across as a ####. I was kidding around with the CN tower thing, but I thought that I would need a substantial fall.

i was actually hoping for critique, I was hoping others had done something similar and could show what they had done, or how i could have don't it better. however i also like people to really back up what they say. I am an average skier, and moving to skate skiing only this year, I have no doubt that I will fall, I just did not think that it would break a stock. If you have seen this then I will have to be careful. And looking at the stock I agree that the break point would be at the grip.

I am serious though, I am going to have to put this harness on a .22 and practice falling so I dont land on the rifle as much.

 

[rimfiremac]

I used to have an AN64 Biathlon... one of the recent makes. Its laminate was of a completely different design than the Tikka, where the plies were much thicker and beech. The Tikka stock's design involves many, many very thin plies making up the laminate, making the stock inherently stronger, relatively speaking. Drilling those holes will have made an indiscernible difference in the overall integrity of the stock.

Thereafter, s*it happens. If we all worried about dropping a rifle out of the trunk or scratching a nice stock then we'd never go shoot to begin with. Be careful, but not too careful!

A better thing to worry about is to avoid breaking *yourself* when falling and trying to over-protect the stock.