Anyone in Houston or surrounding area have the tools to remove a factory Tikka barrel before I purchase them? Using the action to build out a custom 280 AI.

mneisch said:

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Anyone in Houston or surrounding area have the tools to remove a factory Tikka barrel before I purchase them? Using the action to build out a custom 280 AI.

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I do have an action wrench. do not have a gun vise at the moment. I'm in Meyerland. work downtown.

Do yourself a huge favor and make a relief cut in the factory barrel.

Give it a go on your own, but many Tikka barrels are torqued on incredibly tight. Another common technique if you don't want to do the relief cut is putting the barreled action in the freezer for several hours, then taking it out and immediately using a heat gun before removal.

I needed up having to take mine to a gunsmith for the relief cut.

I fought with my first one for probably 4-5 hours. Took a sheet metal hand saw to it for about 30 min and it basically spun right off.

I used a regular ol' harbor freight vice and a pipe wrench for that one. Same to get the new barrel on. Not ideal, but works.

I've since upgraded and action wrenches and barrel vices are quite nice to have, but can be $$ if not planning on using them often.

Are you in Houston by chance? Haven't ordered my new barrel yet but don't mind taking off the factory one now. I'll offload it and then sending my action and bolt off to nitride.

No tools to share, unfortunately. As I've always sent mine off for that work.

Curious as the 280ai choice in the 7mm cartridge family. What about the 280ai won you over?

Tikka is a great foundation for a custom rifle.

Prefer a non-magnum and it is one of the better performing ones. Appreciate that there are some decent factory loads available if I decide not to reload.

Unfortunately no, Colorado.

That's not unfortunate. Most of Colorado>most of Houston

Here's the discussion
https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3528827/1#discussion

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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That's not unfortunate. Most of Colorado>most of Houston

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Not for long...
https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/01/29/colorado-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-guns-that-accept-detachable-magazines/

https://kdvr.com/news/local/colorado-house-passes-bill-to-change-gun-ammunition-purchase-rules/

If you don't already have the rifle for the donor action, you could look at just getting an action from this place: https://jaoutdoors.com/product-category/tikka-actions-accessories/tikka-actions/

That's where I got my Tikka action for my .280ai build.

I do already have one. Curious to see your build details.

A little tough to pay $150 more for the action only than a full rifle, but does save a step that has a cost if you're not gonna DIY.

I put a 24" CarbonSix Sendero profile 1:8 twist barrel on my action. I dropped the barreled action into a Mesa Precision (believe they're called Pure Precision now) carbon fiber stock. They added an insert to the stock that fits the Spartan carbon fiber bipod I can use on the rifle. Believe I got my magazine and bottom metal from Mountain Tactical. Long Rifles Inc fluted my bolt and ceracoated the bolt and action. I put a DNZ scope mount and a Leupold's VX-5HD 3-15x scope in it. At the time, Liberty Sport and Pawn had a great deal online for the scope.

I sometimes wish I had got a short barrel (maybe 20"), because the thing is long when hunting, especially when you add a suppressor. There may be a day I wonder if I should have chambered a 7 SAUM instead so that I could load heavier bullets without maxing out the magazine length. It hasn't been too big a problem though, cause my rifle accurately sends a Barnes 140gn TTSX at 3,050 fps, which will certainly do the job on a bull elk. One improvement I'd did myself was bedding the action into the stock with Marine Tex epoxy. That made a tremendous difference to an already great shooting gun.

What's your weight on that setup? I'm looking at something very similar actually. Still trying to decide between a carbon or fluted stainless barrel.

Weight is such a $$$ game, and the diminishing returns are very very real. For a hunting rifle a steel pencil barrel is always going to be lighter and cheaper than a carbon. Unless you're running a suppressor, then that can kinda change it. I have a 24" PBB in their Tikka hybrid contour. It's chambered in 25CM and weighed 45.5 oz. So the bigger .284 bore and 4 less inches should bring that down a bit, and no issue threading it to 5/8x24.

Here's where it gets into the diminishing returns to cut ounces imo:
https://www.unknownmunitions.com/product/tikka-action-mods/ for me this is mainly cosmetic, but does cut 4 oz off the action

https://www.mtngear.nz/products/mtn-tikka-bolt-handle?variant=44278660858171 $90 to save 1 oz

Good choice on the 280AI. I built one for elk hunting. It's a sweet shooter.

I was looking at the PBB Tikka hybrid contour actually. Going 20 or 22", fluted with the 5/8x24 threading. I've got a supplier at work that offered to nitride anything I want for free. Probably will do my bolt and action. Considering the barrel as well, but read mixed things about that and don't really want to void the warranty on a brand new one.

West Texas Ordinance did my 22 CM on a Tikka action. Manners stock. Brux barrel

That'll be my next barrel in 6cm or 6gt. I have a carbon six sendero on mine now and regret spending the extra for carbon.

My 20" .284 Bartlein CF wrapped barrel came in at 47 oz just as another reference. It was not hammered or threaded.