So I finally received my Tikka T3x 223 the other day and I was all set to get to work on it when 2020 struck again. This year just needs to go away! Anyway, a nasty monsoon storm hit Phoenix and exploded the trees around my house and also took out the AC compressor at my rental property....needless to say, the last few days have been pretty expensive. But at least we finally got some rain! 
With all that taken care of I cranked the AC in my garage (yes I have AC in my garage, it’s the best thing ever) and started to formulate a plan to get the Tikka Sporter barrel off the receiver. If you’ve ever had the joy of taking off a Tikka barrel you can certainly appreciate a good plan of attack (they must heat shrink those barrels on at the factory or something). I want to save the barrel so cutting it in any way is not an option. One of the problems is you cannot get a good enough purchase on the curved sporter barrel with standard Wheeler barrel vise block. The barrel has no constant diameter, so you only end up with < 1/4” contact patch to try and hold a barrel tightened by Thor himself. That just doesn’t work.
My Plan:
Make a bushing block out of aluminum (split in half) that so I can use bedding compound to mold the contour of the barrel for a full 2”. I started by squaring up a block of aluminum on the mill, if it’s worth doing it’s worth overdoing by 1000x.
Then I headed over to the lathe to bore an angled hole through the block. The hole is oversized enough to allow for adequate amount of bedding compound. The 10 degree angle I chose was a bit steep, but it should work. I also cut some grooves to help the compound adhere.
Bandsaw time! I split the block in two and evened the surfaces out in the mill. I also drilled holes with an endmill to give even more strength to the bedding compound
As a last step I added 4 counter sunk screws to the corners to hold the whole thing together while bedding. You can see from the last picture what I’m it ended up looking like before bedding. I’m headed off to get some compound, I ran out. I’ll add another pick after I get the block finished up. I’ll also add additional details about the barrel removal itself. Hopefully all the work pays off!
Stay tuned.
With all that taken care of I cranked the AC in my garage (yes I have AC in my garage, it’s the best thing ever) and started to formulate a plan to get the Tikka Sporter barrel off the receiver. If you’ve ever had the joy of taking off a Tikka barrel you can certainly appreciate a good plan of attack (they must heat shrink those barrels on at the factory or something). I want to save the barrel so cutting it in any way is not an option. One of the problems is you cannot get a good enough purchase on the curved sporter barrel with standard Wheeler barrel vise block. The barrel has no constant diameter, so you only end up with < 1/4” contact patch to try and hold a barrel tightened by Thor himself. That just doesn’t work.
My Plan:
Make a bushing block out of aluminum (split in half) that so I can use bedding compound to mold the contour of the barrel for a full 2”. I started by squaring up a block of aluminum on the mill, if it’s worth doing it’s worth overdoing by 1000x.
Then I headed over to the lathe to bore an angled hole through the block. The hole is oversized enough to allow for adequate amount of bedding compound. The 10 degree angle I chose was a bit steep, but it should work. I also cut some grooves to help the compound adhere.
Bandsaw time! I split the block in two and evened the surfaces out in the mill. I also drilled holes with an endmill to give even more strength to the bedding compound
As a last step I added 4 counter sunk screws to the corners to hold the whole thing together while bedding. You can see from the last picture what I’m it ended up looking like before bedding. I’m headed off to get some compound, I ran out. I’ll add another pick after I get the block finished up. I’ll also add additional details about the barrel removal itself. Hopefully all the work pays off!
Stay tuned.
