Thread: Bedding T3 lite

Is it necessary to bed a t3 lite with a walnut stock? It's a 243. Not worried too much about improving accuracy cause it's good enough for what I need, more wondering if the stock needs stabilizing and with pillars on the action screws etc
If it is a good idea to do it can anyone recommend someone preferably near palmy or not far away, don't want the hassle of couriering
Any idea how much I should expect to pay?

You need to bed any action into its stock, if the bedding is causing the rifle to shoot poorly and you want it to do better.

It doesn't sound like that's the case in your instance.

But it's certainly easier to bed the walnut stocks than it is the plastic ones, as the walnut ones are nice and rigid and don't have all the hollows that you would need to fill out. Pillars are nice but not always essential.

I wouldn't bother unless you find it causing you problems.

Suggest Allen Carr in Paraparaumu. Excellent gunsmith. He doesn't work Fridays but is open Saturday morning (9am-12pm) plus Monday -Thursday. Easy drive to there.
Phone 049050847 or 0212346115

Wooden stocked Tikka's rarely need bedding. Tikka make a very accurate rifle, and the wooden stocked ones are the best of them.

I have a laminate stock and a plastic stock that I swap between depending on what I am doing. Neither of them are bedded and both stocks are accurate. If when you pull the action out of the stock for cleaning ect and your accuracy changes or your point of impact changes greatly, look to the torque of your action screws.

You only need to bed the rifle IF you suspect the bedding is causing accuracy problems

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will not bother will bedding for now in that case.

As 20 Bore mentioned though I will be careful with the action screw torque so i don't compress the stock. Might spend the money on a FAT wrench instead of a bedding job.

Regarding the action screw torque - this is what buggers the timber and laminate stocks - over-tightening.

You’ll begin to see compression of the wood under the plastic bottom “metal” if you are over-doing it, plus indentation under the action contact points too. You’ll see accuracy / precision problems as a consequence. The polymer bottom “metal” is also very easy to damage by over-tightening.

To that end it is a very good idea to use an inch-pound torque wrench. 30-40 in-lbs for unbedded floating lug Tikkas in wood stocks.

Personally I like to add pillars to timber / laminate stocks as this secures the stock’s condition for the life of the rifle, because when I am hunting in wet conditions I always disassemble the rifle in the evening to dry it properly. With an accurate torque wrench locked to the same torque value, repeatable POI is no problem. But that’s just a personal preference.

Coating the barrel channel with marine spar varnish is always a good idea on wooden stocks.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Regarding the action screw torque - this is what buggers the timber and laminate stocks - over-tightening.

You’ll begin to see compression of the wood under the plastic bottom “metal” if you are over-doing it, plus indentation under the action contact points too. You’ll see accuracy / precision problems as a consequence. The polymer bottom “metal” is also very easy to damage by over-tightening.

To that end it is a very good idea to use an inch-pound torque wrench. 30-40 in-lbs for unbedded floating lug Tikkas in wood stocks.

Personally I like to add pillars to timber / laminate stocks as this secures the stock’s condition for the life of the rifle, because when I am hunting in wet conditions I always disassemble the rifle in the evening to dry it properly. With an accurate torque wrench locked to the same torque value, repeatable POI is no problem. But that’s just a personal preference.

I think I will get a FAT wrench, I tend to overtighten everything.