TIKKA T3 .223 Magazine Worn Out after less 200 rounds

royr

Well-Known Member
Tikka T3 Super Varmint .223 purchased 1 month ago, love the rifle, shooting sub moa out of box, but less than 200 rounds and the plastic magazine is worn out?
Front of cartridge guide rail "lips" of magazine have worn so bullet nose now lifts up through the guide rail, consequently the head lowers and bolt fails to engage. Have informed my RFD where rifle was purchased of situation. At this rate of magazine usage, given the 2 year warranty, I'll be needing 20+ magazine replacements during this warranty period.

Searching Forums, seems this is a common problem with these plastic magazines, the rounds keep miss-feeding when the bolt is closed. The plastic lips have been gradually worn away at the front with each round chambered?
Either there is a plastic faulty batch, i.e. being too soft, or magazine is not engineered properly, so unfit for purpose? Either way I need reliability when targeting foxs around the game shoot, cannot afford to hear another "click". Why not make a metal top to this 2-part magazine? Have e-mailed GMK and Beretta with problem: unable to find Sako Finland email address.

Upshot is I've had to purchase an aluminium 10-shot aftermarket magazine at £94.96 from RifleMags, hoping this will resolve my T3 magazine issues.
Regards
Roy
PS. If you home-load there is a very limited COAL of 58mm with these supplied TIKKA plastic .223 magazines
 
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Ive put nearly 500 rounds through my Tikka T3 Super Varmint .223, but no issues with feeding . Yet.
 
Update on developments.
The 10-round aircraft aluminium magazine has arrived following day, I paid for Special Delivery, total cost magazine £94.96 plus £7.63 postage - total £102.59. MONEY WELL SPENT! Magazine is very well engineered, a precise fit into to the T3 rifle, and functions superbly. Loaded with 10 rounds it chambered every one brilliantly; it also has a 66mm COAL for those special home-loads. Only time will tell if it is long term reliable?

To their credit, GMK have responded promptly, but claim my T3 magazine problem is not known to them??? Given that problem issues regarding the plastic T3 magazines are raised on many Shooting Forums, even in Australia, I found this response somewhat remarkable. And, if the supplied Tikka T3 plastic magazines were faultless, why then are there so many aftermarket T3 magazines on offer, resolving the problems of Quote:- "jamming, stove piping, or miss-feed when the bolt is closed". As far as I'm concerned there is a manufacturing defect, and I’ve had to forked out an additional, unexpected £102.59 to address my Tikka T3 magazine problem! GMK have indicated they will replace the magazine once they receive it via my RFD (could take weeks?) I could not afford this predicted downtime from the vermin control.
Beretta have yet to reply to the same e-mail sent to GMK.

Regards
Roy
 
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Hi Roy,

I was interested to read of your problems with the plastic mag on your Tikka. I have used Tikka rifle for a good number of years and purchased a T3 Lite 270 when they first appeared some years back. Previous to this I had an old Tikka 595 with a metal mag, which is now in Finland.

Up to now I have never had a problem with the plastic mag, and it has had a h=good number of rounds through it. However I will add that I would much prefer a metal mag for the rifle and wondered if they make one for the 270 T3 Lite?
 
Hello Marine PMI,
Yes, you've found the Aussie link. That same T3 magazine is available from UK based RifleMags.

Hello Sikamalc,
I believe I've identified the problem of wear to the "lips."
Viewing the magazine and the cartridge being moved forward, it is evident to me that the cause of the wear is the inside edge of the cartridge head. This being a crisp machined edge is actually shaving the front plastic rail lips as the cartridge inclines to enter the chamber. This inclined tilt allows the sharpish inside edge of the head to contact the rail. Brass is a medium soft metal, so where steel or aircraft grade aluminium is concerned then the brass takes the wear. I would also presume that a proper hard glass polymer plastic should also be more robust than brass, so I ask the question, "is there a production problem?"
Handling the two magazines it is evident to me the aluminium one is better engineered and the superior of the two.
Regards
Roy
 
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T3 Faulty Mag 5.jpgT3 faulty mag 4.jpgT3 Faulty Mag 3.jpgT3 Faulty Mag 2.JPG

Tikka T3 plastic Magazine.
Have tried to show wear on the front of guide rail "lips, this wear allows the cartridge to "See-Saw" with the nose going up and the head going down. The head of the cartridge is now below the normal level, and the bolt now fails to engage, riding over the case.
Hope this assists anyone with similar feed problems.
Regards
Roy
 

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have you tried tapping the back of magazine on something before inserting it in the rifle?
pretty std issue with single stack .223 mags.
 
What I don't understand is why Sako, which has long had a polymer magazine with stainless steel lips for the A7, does not redesign the magazines for the Tikka T3? They tweaked the entire rest of the rifle in response to customer input.
 
View attachment 74426View attachment 74423View attachment 74424View attachment 74425

Tikka T3 plastic Magazine.
Have tried to show wear on the front of guide rail "lips, this wear allows the cartridge to "See-Saw" with the nose going up and the head going down. The head of the cartridge is now below the normal level, and the bolt now fails to engage, riding over the case.
Hope this assists anyone with similar feed problems.
Regards
Roy

Hi Roy I had a similar problems the polymer has a memory and retains its shape when heat is applied if you can find something the same width as your bullet case then clasp it together with some vice grips and the gentle heat with a hot air gun the polymer walls stay compressed and your bullet shouldn't ride up any more or it hasn't in my case hope this helps
Atb Craig
 
I cant see how the neck of the case should have contact with the magazine, have you taken the cradle and spring out at any time ? It looks to me that the bottom of the spring is not sitting flush with the bottom of the magazine, if this is the case then it should just need shoogled back into place.
 
Update on developments.
GMK have acknowledged that there is low incident premature failure rate/problem with these T3 plastic magazines. They have looked at the photo's I emailed to them and sent a replacement magazine direct to the RFD Shop for immediate exchange.
I would urge anyone with similar plastic magazines problems to inform GMK of their circumstance, and if still under warranty, not invert the spring or try any other modification.
As SOUTHERN (above) makes the case, it is only when customers identify problems and" flag it up" that things might improve.
Regards
Roy
 
I doubt I'll get through enough rounds to encounter this problem within the warrant period.
The Steyr rotary mags have been replaced in my SSG, along with new bottom metal, to take AI mags.
It's not just Tikka, it seems.
 
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Good Morning Gents,
Just under 300 rounds later and the 1st replacement magazine is now failing, the same Lip wear occurring as with the supplied original.
Now I've been really careful when loading this magazine, ensuring the head of the cartridge hardly touches the guide rails, and I've only loaded 5 rounds not the 6 maximum to lessen the spring tension on the round being chambered. Still the Lip wear has occurred.
A shooting friend purchased the same model T3 Super-Varmint .223 in November, superb accuracy, and his plastic magazine has also failed by end of December 2016, his estimate approx. 300 rounds fired.


A call to GMK, who have been brilliant in their response, and another replacement magazine is being sent to my RFD.
GMK have said they will refer the problem to the Tikka Rep.

With 2.5 years warranty still to run, I may make double figure replacements at this current rate?
I'm now using my standby magazine, the excellent aluminium 10-shot aftermarket magazine from RifleMags which I purchased when the first T3 magazine failed.


Best regards
Roy
 
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I'm now using my standby magazine, the excellent aluminium 10-shot aftermarket magazine from RifleMags which I purchased when the first T3 magazine failed.


Best regards
Roy
Is anyone making a 5-round metal mag for T3's/T3X's ?
 
I was casting about last year for a replacement .223 t3 mag. Factory mag to short for 85grn amax oal.

At the time, major disorder (I think) was advertising 10 round aluminium t3 mags. Im sure he said that a 5 round mag would be available at the end of the year (2016).
 
There are somewhere replacement aluminium mags but a lot stronger chunkier for the tikka look the business but i cant for the life of me remember where i saw them,they are on the wonderweb anyhow somewhere.Blog - RifleMags.co.uknot polymer but alumimium,,;)
 
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Have exactly the same rifle and in .223 with the same issue brought a new mag and same issue. Quick fix was to use a smaller capacity 4round magazine which works fine. The issue is with the spring in the 6 round mag.
 
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