I have a almost new Tikka T3 lite 308- I have put about 40-50 rounds though it so far and never had a glitch until tonight...I had 4 rounds of Remington corelock 150 grain ammo not fire when I tried to fire the gun. Luckily I was not trying to shoot a deer with it! The fireing pin indented the primer, but the round did not fire-Did I just get a bad batch of remington ammo? The 5th round fired just fine so I do not think it is the gun-I hope not. This was my favorite " go to" gun this year, but now I am not sure the gun will come out of the safe again this year-it is now a trust thing-I'll get it out to the range and send more round through it, but probably not until after the season.

So, is this a gun issue or a ammo issue?

Dave

OK, upon closer inspection in better light, the indentations on the primer is not nearly deep enough-nothing like the other fired casings I had laying around. I also now can see some white stuff in the dent of the primer that fired-looks like white plastic stuff. wonder what this could be? I also found some of it in the ridges around the primer of the other rounds that did not fire...

Dave,
I am betting that you got something between the face of your bolt and the base of the cartridge. Give you bolt and the rest of the rifle a thorough cleaning and try again. I am betting they will work. I reccomend completely tearing your bolt clear down and giving it a good dosing of carb cleaner followed by a light lubrication.

Quite simple....

bad primer on the ammo...

some one else posted same problems with Remington ammo lately...

I have had the same luck with primers in certain batches from CCI and Federal Lately...

They have evidently gotten contaminated with solvents during the loading/priming process or something...

Factory rounds are not immune...

If you store a rifle vertically oil can run into the firing pin hole and soften the primer strike.
This is not unusual, clean out the bolt, oil
LIGHTLY.
Good Luck!

have you had the bolt apart since you last trip to the range? If so you might not have it back together correctly? Just a thought.

I have taken nothing apart, nor have I cleaned this gun...maybe the gunk they shipped it in got into the bolt? I do know this-the gun goes to the back of the line and may get traded off after the problems get worked out. Confidence is everything when it comes to my tools...

If the rifle came in a box made of styrofoam sometimes little bits of the stuff breaks off and gets into things. I have never had it get in the bolt but have had little chips in various places in the action. This may explain the white particles.
Another thought regarding the ammo. Could they be on the small side and being pushed forward by the firing pin?
Just a couple of more things to check.

That never happens with a M98

quote:

Originally posted by MajorCaliber:
That never happens with a M98

I was thinking the same thing about my old tang safety rugers!! But this Tikka is sooooo lite and smooth and shoots so accurately even with factory ammo--but only when it FIRES! I don't know...

quote:

Originally posted by MajorCaliber:
That never happens with a M98

I have to disagree with you on that one. The 98 is one of my favorite actions. But they are not perfect. For example: someone drops a round in the chamber and tries to close the bolt. The guy may not know any better because almost every other rifle on the market you can do that with. It doesnt make it a POS but it doesnt mean ts perfect either.

Any rifle with any action is liable to have something happen, usually at the worst possible moment. They are mechanical objects, and with anything mechanical "shit happens".

From the description of Daves rifle it sounds that it really has nothing to due with the rifle itself, but with some type of foreign matter that found its way into the action area. I cant say I have ever heard of a white gunk being a factory option.

Get something like that in a 98 and it could happen too.

Lubbock
Don't blame it on the rifle just yet !
You may have a simple problem like someone here sugjested. a little grit or dirt someware. Never messed with a tikka before but I have had things happen with just about any kind of action. You said your self you vavent cleaned it. I bet you put your mind to it you can solv this problem. I have a custom .270 built on a pre 64 featherweight and I had a problem with it on cocking itself when I closed the bolt.
After playing around with I discoverd that the canjar trigger it had in it when i bought it had a little crud in it and now I just make sure and keep that area extra clean and I have not had a problem since. Somt time solving a problem with a rifle helps me sort of bond with it. especially when i find its a problem caused by the user...tj3006

I took the bolt out, cocked the firing pin into the "ready" position, wiped down the bolt face and the exposed firing pin (a little white gunk came off-but very scant amounts) and took the gun to the range today-30 rounds without a glitch...but I still would like to take the bolt apart and clean it out before I fully trust the gun again---how would I go about doing this?

quote:

Originally posted by lubbockdave:
I took the bolt out, cocked the firing pin into the "ready" position, wiped down the bolt face and the exposed firing pin (a little white gunk came off-but very scant amounts) and took the gun to the range today-30 rounds without a glitch...but I still would like to take the bolt apart and clean it out before I fully trust the gun again---how would I go about doing this?

Ask Tikka-this should be covered in the owners' manual......

lubbockdave, if you've got one that's a shooter--work the kinks out. The tikka bolt is pretty easy to disassemble and clean. Check your manual as someone mentioned.

I would tell you to lube it with one of the dry teflon-esque products such as Bore Tech's Tef-Dri, or Miltec, I've got all my rifles setup that way, 'dry' if you will. I heat the metal parts up with oven or hair dryer and get the Tef-Dri on them and they work slick, plus nothing for dust or grit to stick to. It takes a bit to get one dialed in, and I wouldn't count your experience as anything more than just part of that process.

If you like the rifle and it shoots accurately, just get your final tweaks on, and your confidence up!

Good Luck--Don

Tikka T3 Owner's Manual - PDF File

See Page 16 for bolt disassembly.

Regards,

Terry

lubbockdave... don't bother with messing around with that rifle... it's obviously a dud...

Out of the goodness of my heart, and in the spirit of Christian charity, I'll do you a favour... ship the rifle to me (I'll pay freight), and you never need worry about it again.

That's what mates are for....