Please excuse me if this information has been posted in the past; I was not able to find it, if it was...
While waiting for a T3x CTR action and stock to arrive from a member on the forum, I got to thinking about the "switch barrel" project at hand, which was using this action with a .284 Win barrel that I had ordered some time back. I have worked with this cartridge for many years, loading it as a long action round. The CTR is offered only as a short action variant, primarily a matter of the magazine and the bolt stop. I had briefly considered loading the .284 Win rounds for short action, using the CTR mag. The loss in MV and limitations on bullet choice were not agreeable, so I spent some time looking around for long action-compatible Tikka stocks. Most of what is out there a.) costs a mint, b.) requires non-Tikka mags much more expensive than the factory plastic 5-round mags, and or c.) is a chassis. There are a couple of exceptions, but the stock designs offered didn't excite me.
I recalled that I had a factory plastic DBM left over from my T3 Sporter (6.5x55mm), which is a long action cartridge. Could that DBM be used with the CTR stock, I wondered. I figured that the answer was 'yes', as the action holes would be identical between the CTR and factory plastic DBM. Turns out that I was correct. The T3 long action plastic DBM mounts perfectly, enabling me to use my existing 5-round factory mags. There is a small gap of space to either side of the factory plastic DBM, but no matter to me. The bolt stop is the only item requiring a swap out; I have a long action bolt stop on the way from Mountain Tactical. The only other mod required is going to be the removal of some material from the stock barrel channel near the breach. When I purchase my next barrel, which will be either 6XC or .243 Win, I will simply swap the CTR bottom metal and mag back in to the stock, and hopefully the LA bolt stop won't be a hinderance. Note that the CTR DBM is wider than the standard factory plastic DBM, so a stock inletted for the standard DBM will not accept the CTR stock without modification to the stock (I doubt that it would be worth doing it, anyway).
Bottom line here is that a stock inletted for the CTR DBM will accept the DBM for use with factory Tikka mags, or the metal ones that are compatible with the factory DBM. The attraction is that Tikka mags are still reasonably priced relative to many alternatives. I have owned Tikkas in the past that had a CDI DBM and used AICS mags; they worked great, but the cost associated was quite high. Presently, the price of an aluminum DBM made for use with a Tikka factory mag is just over $100 plus shipping, (I purchased one from Atlasworxs in Australia many years ago) so it's an attractive option, requiring very little work on the stock. Granted, there are not many examples of high praise out there for Tikka's plastic stocks, however this CTR stock will not pose limitations on my intended use of hunting and long range marksmanship. I concede that I will want to upgrade the stock at some point; when that happens, I'll go the route of a traditional stock (non-chassis) inletted to accept the CTR factory stock, and will roll on, so that I can continue to use Tikka mags.
FWIW, I have never had an issue with a Tikka factory plastic mag that couldn't be fixed with a nail file. They have never failed to feed, and I have used them with the .284 Win (only 4 rounds in the 5 round mag) extensively.
I hope that this information was useful to Tikka owners.
All the best...
While waiting for a T3x CTR action and stock to arrive from a member on the forum, I got to thinking about the "switch barrel" project at hand, which was using this action with a .284 Win barrel that I had ordered some time back. I have worked with this cartridge for many years, loading it as a long action round. The CTR is offered only as a short action variant, primarily a matter of the magazine and the bolt stop. I had briefly considered loading the .284 Win rounds for short action, using the CTR mag. The loss in MV and limitations on bullet choice were not agreeable, so I spent some time looking around for long action-compatible Tikka stocks. Most of what is out there a.) costs a mint, b.) requires non-Tikka mags much more expensive than the factory plastic 5-round mags, and or c.) is a chassis. There are a couple of exceptions, but the stock designs offered didn't excite me.
I recalled that I had a factory plastic DBM left over from my T3 Sporter (6.5x55mm), which is a long action cartridge. Could that DBM be used with the CTR stock, I wondered. I figured that the answer was 'yes', as the action holes would be identical between the CTR and factory plastic DBM. Turns out that I was correct. The T3 long action plastic DBM mounts perfectly, enabling me to use my existing 5-round factory mags. There is a small gap of space to either side of the factory plastic DBM, but no matter to me. The bolt stop is the only item requiring a swap out; I have a long action bolt stop on the way from Mountain Tactical. The only other mod required is going to be the removal of some material from the stock barrel channel near the breach. When I purchase my next barrel, which will be either 6XC or .243 Win, I will simply swap the CTR bottom metal and mag back in to the stock, and hopefully the LA bolt stop won't be a hinderance. Note that the CTR DBM is wider than the standard factory plastic DBM, so a stock inletted for the standard DBM will not accept the CTR stock without modification to the stock (I doubt that it would be worth doing it, anyway).
Bottom line here is that a stock inletted for the CTR DBM will accept the DBM for use with factory Tikka mags, or the metal ones that are compatible with the factory DBM. The attraction is that Tikka mags are still reasonably priced relative to many alternatives. I have owned Tikkas in the past that had a CDI DBM and used AICS mags; they worked great, but the cost associated was quite high. Presently, the price of an aluminum DBM made for use with a Tikka factory mag is just over $100 plus shipping, (I purchased one from Atlasworxs in Australia many years ago) so it's an attractive option, requiring very little work on the stock. Granted, there are not many examples of high praise out there for Tikka's plastic stocks, however this CTR stock will not pose limitations on my intended use of hunting and long range marksmanship. I concede that I will want to upgrade the stock at some point; when that happens, I'll go the route of a traditional stock (non-chassis) inletted to accept the CTR factory stock, and will roll on, so that I can continue to use Tikka mags.
FWIW, I have never had an issue with a Tikka factory plastic mag that couldn't be fixed with a nail file. They have never failed to feed, and I have used them with the .284 Win (only 4 rounds in the 5 round mag) extensively.
I hope that this information was useful to Tikka owners.
All the best...