Tikka T3x - Magazines for Longer Bullets

SubVet49

SubVet49

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Hi All - Currently own two Tikka T3x long action rifles, in 223 and 308. I reload much heavier bullets and need more relief than the factory or aftermarket mags. I specifically use Mountain Tactical mags for both rifles (aluminum and a bit longer, and less expensive).

For the 308, Mountain Tactical offers both a short action mag (normal 308 - 2.810" OAL, with a bit longer than factory for slightly longer loads) and a long action mag (normal 30-06 - 3.340" OAL, with a bit longer than factory for slightly longer loads). I am using the long action mag with my 308 loads, longest is 3.300" OAL. Works like a damn .....

But, for the 223, Mountain Tactical only offers a short action mag (normal 223 - 2.260" OAL). My longest 223 load is 2.750". I spoke to them to see if they would offer a longer mag for the 223, they said they would consider it, but not now.

So, I ordered another short action mag from them and "modified" is so I could mag load my longer loads. Not pretty, but works like a damn ..... Can mag load rounds up to 2.900".

My question: Does anyone know a manufacturer of a 2.900" 223 mag? And, more importantly, if there is interest from anyone it might be worth a call to Mountain Tactical to let them know a longer 223 mag is a good idea.

Thanks .....
 
MDT and Ruger make 10round plastic 223 mags, for the ACC chassis and RPR rifle respectively. Savage 110 EP 223 uses the aforementioned MDT mag.
The MDT mag maxes out at about 2.550". The Ruger one at about 2.600".

Is single feeding not a good solution in your application?
 
Which bottom metal? Tikka seems to have its own proprietary magazines on some models, or you can get AICS mags, the apparent choice of the discerning bolt shooter, or maybe something else? They seem to at least be clear of the shorter-OAL STANAG mags in .223.
 
No affiliation whatsoever, I have 2 of these and they have been fantastic for the price.

Edit.

Guess I can't post links yet. There is a guy on ####### who makes 3D printed tikka mags.
 
Thanks to all for your comments and recommendations. I have "scoured" the net and the longest aluminum 223 mag I have found is 2.600 inches. That length will accommodate most of my long range bullets, but I will stay with the modified Mountain Tactical which allows me to use the longest 223 loads. Again, thanks.
 
SubVet49 said:
Hi All - Currently own two Tikka T3x long action rifles, in 223 and 308. I reload much heavier bullets and need more relief than the factory or aftermarket mags. I specifically use Mountain Tactical mags for both rifles (aluminum and a bit longer, and less expensive).

For the 308, Mountain Tactical offers both a short action mag (normal 308 - 2.810" OAL, with a bit longer than factory for slightly longer loads) and a long action mag (normal 30-06 - 3.340" OAL, with a bit longer than factory for slightly longer loads). I am using the long action mag with my 308 loads, longest is 3.300" OAL. Works like a damn .....

But, for the 223, Mountain Tactical only offers a short action mag (normal 223 - 2.260" OAL). My longest 223 load is 2.750". I spoke to them to see if they would offer a longer mag for the 223, they said they would consider it, but not now.

So, I ordered another short action mag from them and "modified" is so I could mag load my longer loads. Not pretty, but works like a damn ..... Can mag load rounds up to 2.900".

My question: Does anyone know a manufacturer of a 2.900" 223 mag? And, more importantly, if there is interest from anyone it might be worth a call to Mountain Tactical to let them know a longer 223 mag is a good idea.

Thanks .....
Click to expand...

Well well well... You have caught up to where I found myself 20 years ago.

I was running a Sako 75 with the same problem and had visions of a new rifle with a longer mag as well.

What I ended up doing is going with a Rem Short Action 700 clone... Defiance action ... 308 length action with a bolt face for 223. That provides the needed action length but now what about the mag?

As suggested above there are a variety of aftermarket mags available for the 223, but the only one that I have found that can be used to achieve the OAL you are looking for is from Accurate Mag. It's the AICS mag and they sell them under the Cadex brand at Bullseye London.

You will have to modify the mag and here's a video I posted a while back showing how to do that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuZf0-Q2ksA

In a perfect world, Accurate Mag would read this post and produce a variation of the extended 223 mag for visionaries.

If a ridiculously short 6BR was the original caliber for the AR15, people would be calling that a PRS Practice rifle instead of the 223.
 
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There's a group of guys in the Ottawa area I believe its called the Mouse Gun Club.

They are all 223 enthusiasts who do great things with long throat 223s.

My understanding is that they run single shot F Class rifles, not repeaters.

But it sounds like your seating depth is even longer than anyone I've heard of.

I seat to around 2.620 OAL with Hornady 88 ELDMs, but I'm leaving room to chase throat erosion and trying to keep the round supported within the neck so it doesn't lose concentricity feeding out of the mag.

If you seat to 2.7"ish are you still getting good accuracy? There isn't much left in the neck for a repeater, and not much to hold on to the round to extract a live round.

Aggressive that's for sure

What kind of speed are you getting? I'll bet 2950 easy with 88s.

My load is parked at 2900 FPS and brass lasts for me, but I can go faster with fire formed brass. I just wont chase speed that hard these days at my OAL.

BTW, I shared my 223 project with Andy at Insight. He liked the idea if anyone is interested.
 
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We also should keep in mind the elephant in the room; that being if you are building a custom-chambered rifle with custom mags, there's arguably no reason to stick to the 223 case. It would be no more difficult or expensive to do something like 22 BR, 22-250, 22 Creedmoor, etc, all of which are available to feed from factory magazines that hold longer COAL.

For example, a MDT 308 magazine with no binder plate can be loaded to 2.960" COAL. So neck down a 6 Creedmoor case to 22, load it as long as you dare, and throw as much powder behind it as you can afford, with a custom throated 6-7" twist 22cal barrel on any short action with 308 boltface.
 
adamg said:
We also should keep in mind the elephant in the room; that being if you are building a custom-chambered rifle with custom mags, there's arguably no reason to stick to the 223 case. It would be no more difficult or expensive to do something like 22 BR, 22-250, 22 Creedmoor, etc, all of which are available to feed from factory magazines that hold longer COAL.

For example, a MDT 308 magazine with no binder plate can be loaded to 2.960" COAL. So neck down a 6 Creedmoor case to 22, load it as long as you dare, and throw as much powder behind it as you can afford, with a custom throated 6-7" twist 22cal barrel on any short action with 308 boltface.
Click to expand...

Good point, except none of the above are 223.

Why increase the recoil for a negligible gain if any in ballistics?

The custom mags took me about 20 minutes with JB weld and a cheap drill press. Not a big deal.

Took a while for the JB weld to cure, that's all, the rest is no biggie.

223 has many advantages over non military calibers. It's more popular and large amounts of once fired brass are available cheap. If you know what you're doing, that once fired brass can be better than Lapua for target shooting.
 
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Maple57 said:
Good point, except none of the above are 223.

Why increase the recoil for a negligible gain if any in ballistics?

The custom mags took me about 20 minutes with JB weld and a cheap drill press. Not a big deal.

Took a while for the JB weld to cure, that's all, the rest is no biggie.

223 has many advantages over non military calibers. It's more popular and large amounts of once fired brass are available cheap. If you know what you're doing, that once fired brass can be better than Lapua for target shooting.
Click to expand...

Fair points.
 
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