Having some feeding issues with my CTR and I think it's all mag-related. After some testing, I figured out that the problem isn't that the rounds are just too low where I could open up the feed lips and fix it, but rather that they're tilting in the mag to where the bolt isn't picking them up. When I run the bolt forward, it knocks the front of the round back down and it'll pick it up next time through, but it's really annoying for an expensive rifle. I would say it happens once every 3 or 4 rounds on average, but sometimes it'll happen 2-3 times in a row and sometimes it can go through a full mag without happening.

Only things I can think:
- Is the spring flipped around front/back? Doesn't feel like there is a ton of pressure on the case head end of the round when I push down on it.
- Some type of adjustment to the feed lips - not sure if I should go wider or narrower or just adjust the front or back of the lip instead of the whole thing

Does the follower move freely without ammo in the mag? That looks like the follower is stuck.

Yes it moves, but it doesn't stay as level as I would expect it to. It tilts just like the ammo does pretty easily.

Also, right now the gap between the feed lips is right at .410" front and back.

Maybe take the mag apart and clean/polish the sides of the follower. I've tried some mags that were gritty and they seem to do the same thing. They move freely, but get stuck sometimes on the side. My Savage 10 rounder did the same thing, a cleaning seemed to fix it.

will Tikka replace it?

once a mag goes bad, it will be bad again after you take the channel locks to it.

if You don't want it to cost you time in a stage, replace it.

I don't shoot competitively. It's just a range annoyance.

My plan is to take it apart like KRoyal suggested and clean up the follower a bit and maybe even lightly oil the insides of the metal sides. I'll do a good bit of testing afterwards and if I have any more issues at all, I'll probably just call Tikka and ask them to send me a new one with a return shipping label for the one I have. The issues were pretty easy to replicate last night so I should know fairly quickly whether the cleaning/polishing helped or not.

Factory stock or aftermarket?

Factory everything. Just got the gun a couple weeks ago.

ETA: Very accurate gun. Got it out to 800 yards the other day at Jason's place without any hassle with a bone stock rifle using factory ammo. I had a good spotter though.

I agree with kroyal. Sounds like the follower is not rising evenly. Try cleaning edges of follower and sidewalls of magazine. Otherwise it may be a weak or defective spring. The spring can't be flipped around as it is a W shaped flat spring with one end that fits in a molded in groove on undersurface of front end of follower. Easiest way I've found to disassemble is to push rear end of follower down with a pencil until the front end tilts back enough to clear the tabs on the front.

Btw. This is a handy tool for bending the feed lips evenly and without chewing up them up. Just a hint, don't let JG take a pair of pliers to them.

What the heck? I fixed yours with a pair of channel locks and got your brake unstuck with a 5/32" welding rod.

Okay, Okay. You are one ingenious sumbitch.

So you don't disassemble this mag with some type of pin on the bottom? Never seen one like that. You pull out the follower through the front/top?

I'm at work so I won't have any access to this stuff until late tonight.

Yep. From the top.

love to follow fun DYI projects.

If Jason cant fix it


it's done

Thanks RedSnake - I will report back tonight or tomorrow.

Double stack mags that feed to a single point are more prone for mag issues. Like stated, clean it good, with a light (very light) coating of lube on the side walls and such. I would take it apart, clean it, then put a little oil on a cotton cleaning patch, and rub the patch on the interior side walls of the mag, and maybe on the edges of the follower. Make sure the mag is assembled correctly, and make any adjustments to the spring underneath for tension. Also, make sure your ammo is all the way to the rear in the mag, and not hanging up on something inside.

Thanks for the info Chad - will do.

Since I don't shoot competitively, it's not a huge deal in reality as long as I can either get it fixed or let Tikka send me a replacement. The biggest issue I ran into was Jason heckling me for not loading enough ammo until I dropped the mag and realized that I had plenty loaded and it was just a feeding issue.

Side note - the 223 ammo you made was shooting like a champ out to 600 (ran out of gas somewhere between 600 and 700). Thanks again for all your help with that. That gun and ammo is an awesome combo - about as much fun as you can have for no recoil and cheap ammo and still reaching out pretty far.

patriot, if you were shooting at JG's it probably wasn't the load....that 700 yard target has 'issues', most likely possessed by one of his customers ex-wives that left him due to his rifle addiction.

P_102

There's wind ghosts down there, for sure. Saw splash lift, drift left, lift higher and drift right. It can be maddening truing to hit the 1 MOA, when the ghosts are playing their game.

My 223 was smacking plates easily at 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600. Then just went wild at 700 both up/down and left/right, even on the "big" 2MOA plate. Seemed to be a bullet stability issue. My summer load pushes that 75 grain bullet really slowly, so I'm not too surprised. I'm going back out there in the winter with my cold weather, more powder CFE223 load that runs faster and I'm hoping to consistently hit 700 with the 223. Will need to try it before it gets too cold though. That load is good anytime it gets under 65-70 degrees, so I won't have to wait til the bitter cold or anything.

I got my CTR 6.5CM to the 1MOA plate at 800 without any real issues, although the wind was playing games with us. Moderate right to left wind at the shooter and then a left to right wind at 600-800. So our holds were .1-.2 mils at 400, .3-.4 mils at 500/600, back to .2 mils at 700, and I think my first center hit at 800 was a zero wind hold. Crazy stuff.

Haven't experienced this with my CTR, but I'll watch out for it now. Thanks for posting!

I have had some problems with my .260 CTR. I thought it was due to me banging the magazine while hunting and loading my rounds to the max length my mag would allow. This only happened a couple of times while sneaking up on a sounder of hogs and trying to fire multiple rounds in a short time frame.

Post up if you find a fix for this.

Why not just return it?