Tikka billet magazine question

[mattwill00]

Hey all - quick question for you tikka gurus.

Im in the process of building a semi custom tikka in 6.5x284 off of a .308 action. I have the original short action magazine and need to get a LA magazine. I threw on some MT bottom metal and like the idea of getting away from plastic components. I know MT makes billet mags that fit the factory sized bottom metal (stock or MT) but the only review I can find on these say that when you throw the magazine in, the bolt pushes on the rounds and the magazine hangs lower than the stock mags. This really concerns me due to the fact that the 6.5x284 is a rebated cartridge so I already have worry’s about the bolt not catching the round as it is. The last thing I need is the rear of the magazine to be lower than its designed to be.

The only thread I found appears to be from 2018-early 2019 so I am wondering if anyone knows if they have remedied any of those issues, or if I should stop being such a princess and just buy a LA factory plastic mag from beretta.

Any experience with those mags would be awesome!

 

[Lawnboi]

Iv got 3 223 bullet mags and a few short action I havnt gotten to use yet. I’m under the impression that MT changed the design which had problems the first run.

I have over 700 rounds on a 223 billet mag that has worked awesome. Its smooth and has given me less problems than the 2 plastic I had before it.

 

[JDM270WSM]

I have a couple of Mountain Tactical billet mags ( first gen) and if I were to buy more, I'd buy Hells Canyon Armoury
mags. They are more compact and have shoulder stops. My experience has been with a couple of 270 WSMs and I believe the shoulder stops would help with shorter cartridges like wsm"s and 6.5 prc and such.

 

[wind gypsy]

I know MT makes billet mags that fit the factory sized bottom metal (stock or MT) but the only review I can find on these say that when you throw the magazine in, the bolt pushes on the rounds and the magazine hangs lower than the stock mags. This really concerns me due to the fact that the 6.5x284 is a rebated cartridge so I already have worry’s about the bolt not catching the round as it is. The last thing I need is the rear of the magazine to be lower than its designed to be.

The only thread I found appears to be from 2018-early 2019 so I am wondering if anyone knows if they have remedied any of those issues, or if I should stop being such a princess and just buy a LA factory plastic mag from beretta.

I’ve only had one MT mag (wsm long action) and it sags as you describe in my MT bottom metal and failed to pick up 7 saum with every bolt cycle. I'd probably start with the less expensive factory mags.

 

[mattwill00]

Yeah I feel like there’s more bad than good out there about those mags so I’ll probably stick with the oem plastic. I was curious about the Hell’s canyon mags too but I believe those are built for short action fat magnum cartridges. Not sure how the 6.5x284 would fair in those...

 

[Bbell12]

So I took the plunge and bought a LA billet mag and LA bolt stop from Mountain Tactical to convert my Tikka 260 REM from SA to LA to get a longer COAL.

Initial impressions of the mag are good. It fits very snug in the factory plastic inlet (no wiggle whatsoever) and seems to cycle my current ammo smoothly, even though my current cartridges are short enough to fit in a SA mag too. I honestly can’t tell a difference in cycling between the factory mag and the billet mag.

Also, the billet mag does hang down further than the factory mag but I think it makes the gun look better anyways.

But my question is, why the concern over the bolt pushing on the rounds? When comparing the billet mag to the factory mag, the bolt put almost equal pressure on the rounds with each one. All magazines push the rounds against the bolt so I guess I don’t understand OP’s reluctance against the billet mag in this regard.

 

[wildcat33]

I see zero reason to source a billet mag for the OPs scenario. WSM sure. 223 sure. Both COAL limited, but for 6.5-284 the tikka LA mag should be perfect. Keep it simple.

 

[Balderdash]

I know it's an old thread, but for all posterity I'll share my experiences.

I've had decent luck with the MT mags, but I've had trouble with belted magnums in them. For short action magnums and 308/30-06 based cases they gave pretty good service; however, overall, I would either stick with OEM units or go with the aforementioned Hell's Canyon as they are better in a lot of ways than the MT mags.