Tikka Owners, to bed or not to bed, that is my question.

[Art Dirindin]

If your Tikka T3 is shooting to or beyond your accuracy expectations would you get it bedded anyway? I have read over and over countless times so many people on the net claiming they get their rifles bedded no matter what. I'm of the strong belief if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Has anyone who owns a Tikka T3 Lite with a synthetic stock ever got their's bedded and then regretted it? Will I actually gain anything by getting an already accurate rifle bedded?

Thanks,
Arthur.

 

[Thauglor]

I think it comes down to: What kind of accuracy are you getting and what kind do you want?

Is this for a target rifle or hunting? Reloads or factory ammo?

 

[STOMP442]

I always bed. Even if it's shooting extremely well I don't ever want that little voice in the back of my head saying "just think how much better it would shoot if you bedded it." I like to eliminate as many variables as I can in my rifles whether they are target rigs or just plain ol hunting rifles. This includes bedding the stock, floating the barrel, tuning the trigger if possible and taking great care in case prep and reloading techniques. If there are any flyers on the paper or I miss an animal I want to ensure it's my own fault and not the rifles.

 

[drover]

If it shooting to your satisfaction then don't bed it. In the only accounts that I have read of bedding T-3's it was folks complaining that they shot worse after bedding.

I currently have 4 T-3's and they all shoot 1/2" - 3/4" for 5 shot groups, that is hard to improve on with a out of the box factory sporter, and I doubt that bedding would improve them.

Flyers and T-3's do not seem to go together.

drover

 

[Art Dirindin]

Thanks for the replies so far. The rifle is primarily for hunting but I will have to do a good deal of shooting for a number of obvious reasons to become proficient with it out to my goal of 600 yards

My last outing I shot 3 different reloads none of which produced a single 3 shot group over 1" and I had two different reloading that produced 5 shot 100 yard groups under 1"
This particular T3 lite in 300wsm is unquestionably the most accurate rifle I own

I should also have made clear in my original post this is a new rifle I haven't yet finished load development for so I'm still uncertain of the rifles true accuracy so I might be getting a little ahead of myself in trying to improve what might in reality not need improving

 

[joshb]

I have a couple rifles I haven't bothered to bed. They shoot great as they are, for factory guns. I pour my attention on my Tikkas and customs. One by one, they're getting bedded into custom handmade stocks. None of them shoot worse from it. Take the "first step" and bed it. Check back and tell us how it shoots. You can do a load work up before and after. Chances are it will shoot better, after.

 

[dmoran]

If pillar bedded correctly (stress free) no rifle should shoot worse, that is insurance nothing will change.
Torquing the screws to an exact same inch-pound can aid to repeatable consistency in any bedded or not stock. With some stocks, it's easy to see POI change when veering the action screw torque when not bedded, caused from variation in "stock compression" and/or bind.
Donovan

 

[VaRandy]

If pillar bedded right (stress free) no rifle should shoot worse, and is insurance that nothing will change.
Torquing the screws to an exact same inch-pound can aid to repeatable consistency in any non-bedded stock. With some stocks, easy to see POI change when veering action screw torque when not bedded, caused from variation in "stock compression" and/or bind.
Donovan

What you said!