Thread: Re-barreling an old Tikka M76

Here it is - will PM



I never shot the rifle with it on, so no idea how it shoots.

That’s pretty cool @Basenjiboy the fluting like that is similar to the Kimbers etc. This surely must have been one of the first of its type. Cheers for the pictures, look forward to your message. Cheers

Originally Posted by Tahr

I got a L55 .243 for my grandson that has got a Rem barrel. It was done by the Duley's gun smith.

It’s a tikka barrel with a spacer in front of it.

I got a new 6.5 Creedmoor tikka barrel off TradeMe for $325 took it to my gunsmith mate who changed it over in 15 minutes

I purchased a m76 .308 which was well used and with a very worn barrel a few years ago. It shot fairly poor groups first time to the range. I checked it over more closely and noticed the rifling in the last cm looked particularly erroded and uneven in wear. I cutoff 1.5 to 2 cm with a hack saw and then squared up with a file and dimond file, rounded off the inside of the lands at the muzzle with a ball bearing and fine emery paper. Back to the range and it was deadly accurate with the same ammo.They seem to be well made barrels even back then. The bedding on these old rifles could well need re-doing after decades of being the wood being compressed.
Cheers.

Hi i purchased a old M76 in 308 with a worn barrel that didn't group well at all.However after cutting off 1.5cm off with a hacksaw, squared up the end with a file and finished up, it was shooting tight groups with the same ammo.The end of the barrel was particularly worn when checked with a magnifying glass.They can still shoot nicely while well worn.
Cheers

Sorry I'm new to posting stuff n didn't realise my post was on page 2, so did it again more or less cheers

Good stuff mate, this will be interesting to try. Thanks to @Basenjiboy I’ve managed to pickup a replacement (Cheers mate, legend). All going well I’ll be onto a winner. Depending on the timeframe, I may get a bit of testing/chopping the barrel in before switch them out. Whatever the result, looking forward to getting stuck into it and sharing the results. Cheers for your help team!

Gidday folks,

After receiving the barrel and arrange a bit of a mission with my local gun smith, pleased to report the old war horse is Rutt ready and geared up for a couple of hunts shortly.

Cheers @Basenjiboy for offering up quite a unique barrel, it worked out that it could be mated up to suit with a little wizardry on the Smiths end. Ended up turning it in a touch further to loose the open sight holes show off the fresh blueing beneath the stock all those years.. Chambers been freshened up, shortened to 18-19” and recrowned sneaking the suppressor back against the stock.

Little amount of material needed trimmed out of the stock to suit the slightly heavier barrel profile. With all the smithing complete, all to be done was clean up a mounting gremlin and get to the range.. @Southerner223 kindly donating a set of fresh rings to the cause and we good to go.

With and open mind, headed to the range hoping to improve on the A4 target spread of the original barrel. With a couple down the tube I was happy to be able to track a couple shots into a comfortable zero.. from a hunting rest happy to walk away with a 1-2moa result.

Thanks to everyone for the support offered on this mission. Very pleased with the outcome!





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Good to see this project and glad to hear it worked out. Looks like a good setup and a real classic

@VXN222 thanks for sharing, should have a medal or a gold sticker at the very least for the recycling effort

If you don't mind me asking, what did that cost you in gunsmith fees?

Few if any in the UK would be willing to do that kind of work, usually recommend scrapping rifles entirely in such cases and unless the barrel is brand new and is a Bartlien/Krieger/Lothar Walther they turn their nose up at such work!

No.8 wire engineering rules!

Originally Posted by caberslash

@VXN222 thanks for sharing, should have a medal or a gold sticker at the very least for the recycling effort

If you don't mind me asking, what did that cost you in gunsmith fees?

Few if any in the UK would be willing to do that kind of work, usually recommend scrapping rifles entirely in such cases and unless the barrel is brand new and is a Bartlien/Krieger/Lothar Walther they turn their nose up at such work!

No.8 wire engineering rules!

Cheers Mate,

I love new and shiny as much as the next guy but this project was all about getting this ‘tool’ back to fit form without digging too deep. In my mind, rifles like these am have earned there slot in the rack and deserve a every chance.

Smithing was yea, pretty labour intensive but was supported greatly by another friend on that front also. When you break it down, easily mounts up to a ‘new’ rifle but it’s just not the same.


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Originally Posted by Southerner223

Good to see this project and glad to hear it worked out. Looks like a good setup and a real classic

Cheers mate, really happy how it’s worked out. The .222 be the next to get a birthday


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she looks like a rifle that a fella would be proud to own n not afraid to use.... look forward to seeing photo of her leaning up against a redskin somewhere deep in the boonies.100% agree on suppressor choice too....I find that type even though is fly pooh longerthan others keeps the balance back closer to hands rather well,and you sure cant deny how well they work in the hush department.

Great to see the barrel worked for you!!!