Zermatt Arms TL3 Single shot questions

[Raydee]

One of our club members is selling a new TL3 single shot action that I was thinking of buying. I am a Savage shooter just because I like to be able to change my own barrels and work on my own rifles when I can. I see that the TL3 is almost just like a Savage but with better Rem 700 stock and trigger options so that is exactly what I want. I know the Savage single shot is not considered a desirable benchrest rifles but will the TL3 be any better? I don't plan to use a barrel nut like the Savage and a better trigger and stock should help for sure.

The action he is selling is the short action with medium tang, right bolt, left port with an extended single shot cut. The bolt head is for 308 but I am not sure if I am going to go 223 or 6BR.

With the extended cut what are the pro's and cons over the standard cut with the shorter bolt stroke? Is one better than the other? How about tang thickness, is that going to affect the stock that I choose?

I have read about the TL3 not having enough pin fall to be a good choice for benchrest, has this changed, does the certain trigger help with this?

 

[357Mag]

Raydee -


Howdy !

When feeding cartridges into ( or out of ) a single-shot bolt action, the cartridge if introduced to the breech through the side feed port.

The advantage of a longer feed port is the capability to more easily shoot cartridges with comparatively longer length ( c.o.a.l. ). The situation is frequently encountered when the shooter / re-loader is using rounds loaded with VLD bullets, which by design are longer in their overall length.

Some of longer cartridge length can be offset via use of longer barrel throating, but a longer port would likely offer the greater amount of c.o.a.l. that can be accomodated.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Raydee]

Raydee -


Howdy !

When feeding cartridges into ( or out of ) a single-shot bolt action, the cartridge if introduced to the breech through the side feed port.

The advantage of a longer feed port is the capability to more easily shoot cartridges with comparatively longer length ( c.o.a.l. ). The situation is frequently encountered when the shooter / re-loader is using rounds loaded with VLD bullets, which by design are longer in their overall length.

Some of longer cartridge length can be offset via use of longer barrel throating, but a longer port would likely offer the greater amount of c.o.a.l. that can be accomodated.


With regards,
357Mag

Thanks for the reply, so basically there is no disadvantage to the longer cut port?

 

[drop_point]

Also, keep in mind, the floating bolt head can cause a few issues when it comes to measuring. In my experience, Big Horn TL3s are fine field actions.

 

[357Mag]

Thanks for the reply, so basically there is no disadvantage to the longer cut port?

Raydee -

Howdy, again.

The general thought about larger and or more load / eject ports in an action, is that they might contribute to the action being less "rigid"; compared to a smaller port / less ports action. A single piece " bridge " type mount for the scope might aid some in increasing overall action / mount rigidity, but....short range benchrest rules seem to have driven configurations away from independent bridge mounts...likely due to rifle weight class restrictions. Actions that include an integral scope base are just one way the issue has been addressed. One needs to make an informed choice on both rings & base(s); as they contribute to " all up " rifle weight.

As regards" bolt lift ": whether the rifle action's bolt is a 2 or " 3 lug " is a contributor to the bolt operation equation.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[357Mag]

Raydee -

Ooops... forgot to point out......

Under the current SR benchrest rules...there have been plenty of successful SR benchrest shooters; that campaign with multi-port actions.... N'est-ce pas ?


With regards,
357Mag

 

[willbas]

this is my TL3 short action Triger tech two stage. shoots better than me. This day 599 11X the 9 on 17th shoot the two X's

 

[Raydee]

Nice, I see that you went with the shouldered barrel? Who is the maker? Is that the single shot action or repeater? Did you go with the controlled feed head or the push feed, I am being told that is also an option.

 

[willbas]

Barrel is a 1-10 left twist Bartlein, short action single shot

 

[JSH]

I went with a TL3 a couple of years ago. I am a long time Savage user as well.
Is the TL3 any better, well that is dependent on how much time and money you have spent on your Savage. I have a couple that have been cleaned up and slicked up and still need attention to match the Bighorn out of the box.
Folks bang their drum on the design, your already using a two piece bolt in the Savage, do you have an issue with it for the game or games you play? The Bighorn has all the advantages of using the Remington triggers, stocks/ chassis as you well know. I myself see it as a lot more than a Savage, smooth and slick right out of the box.
I may have not gotten into some other actions if KRG had came out with the Bravo chassis several years sooner. Ah, then I would not have know/realized what I was missing out on.
If JARD could do just a little bit more with their triggers, closer to a Jewel I would probably buy a half dozen. I found the consistency I was wanting from JARD, the “others” that use the left over stamped sheet metal from the stock Savage rifles left a lot to be desired, that is a whole different subject.

I would say put the TL3 together and run it. I really think you will be happy you did. If your not, the hold their value well.
I have used shouldered barrels and nut jobs, I myself have no problem with either. When a quality barrel is used and a quality chamber done I see no difference.

 

[afret]

NSS sells the single shot RBLP TL3s with those specs. I have 4 of them from NSS that are RBLP and 5 RBRP repeaters . One feature I like is the mechanical ejector since I usually check each piece of brass in the chamber when sizing and don't have to the the ejector out every time. I'm definitely not a competitive benchrest shooter and just shoot for enjoyment so the tiny details the competitors look for in actions doesn't concern me much. Anyway, they probably aren't the ideal actions for a true benchrest gun but they shoot well enough for me.

All targets below are 5 shots at 100 yards.

One action has a 12 twist 6BR barrel"



Another RBLP action with14 twist .223 barrel:



#3 RBLP with 14 twist .222:



#4 RBLP with a PPC barrel:

 

[JSH]

Ditto on NSS, good folks.

 

[cp255]

I kind of prefer TL3 shouldered prefits over barrel nuts. However, that is just because of the appearance of the barrel in the channel of my foundation stocks. I shot the bellow 20 round group with a 6.5 Creedmoor earlier this year using a Criterion prefit barrel and nut. I also have a TL3 with a 6 Dasher and 223 using shouldered barrels. All are very accurate, smooth, and reliable.

(Note the photo is mislabeled should have written H4350 not Varget)

I also get pretty good SDs with the 6.5 CM. Bellow is 15 shots with an ES of 12.3 and SD of 3.5.