Tikka Scare!!!

[aaluck]

All the talk about the Baldwin case prompted me to post about what happened to my wife over the weekend. Every year she goes deer hunting with her mother and father the last week of January. So I open the safe and retrieved her Tikka T3 7mm-08. I don't know if this is common or not but this weapon has, what I believe is an extremely stupid bolt function. For what ever reason the bolt will not move unless the weapon is in the fire position.

She makes the drive to the land and all go to their hunting spots. She loads the weapon and puts a round in the chamber. She flips the safety ON and the round discharges straight into the ground in front of her!!! She (like most of us I would guess) thinks she must have done something. So she gathers herself and again chambers a round puts the safety ON and BANG.

I still cannot believe it so when she gets back home I did the following test...with the weapon unloaded of course.

https://youtube.com/shorts/gwoAu-xCyZk?feature=share

 

[ruger1980]

Take the action out of the stock and see if something is wrong with the sear.

As far as having to have the safety off to move the bolt that seems to be a European thing. My CZ's are similar in how they function

 

[bearbait]

All the talk about the Baldwin case prompted me to post about what happened to my wife over the weekend. Every year she goes deer hunting with her mother and father the last week of January. So I open the safe and retrieved her Tikka T3 7mm-08. I don't know if this is common or not but this weapon has, what I believe is an extremely stupid bolt function. For what ever reason the bolt will not move unless the weapon is in the fire position.

She make the drive to the land and all go to their hunting spots. She loads the weapon and puts a round in the chamber. She flips the safety ON and the round discharges straight into the ground in front of her!!! She (like most of us I would guess) thinks she must have done something. So she gathers herself and again chambers a round puts the safety ON and BANG.

I still cannot believe it so when she gets back home I did the following test...with the weapon unloaded of course.

https://youtube.com/shorts/gwoAu-xCyZk?feature=share

Not good, that could have gone very badly. I have the same rifle only in a 30-06 caliber and have never had a problem with it. As a matter of fact I just opened up the safe and took it out to make sure it didn't have the same flaw but the safety works fine on mine. I'm sure that when you get in touch with the manufacturer they will take care of you. They are a very nice rifle and I'm very surprised you are having that problem with it. Please inform us of the outcome.

 

[motionclone]

Did you by chance let Hannah Gutierrez-Reed work on that rifle prior to this going on?

 

[aaluck]

Take the action out of the stock and see if something is wrong with the sear.

They asked me not to do anything to it and send it to them. Sent a UPS label so ill pack it up and see what they say.

I will admit they kind of pissed me off. The guy told me that the gun was out of warranty and I may have to pay for the repairs. Is it just me or does anyone else think that if a gun fires when the safety is put on the warranty should last forever?

 

[jimh406]

I guess she got proof there is a reason why you aren’t supposed to point guns toward things you don’t want to shoot. Years ago, my hunting partner got back to the vehicle and took his gun (Mauser 98 Action) off safe, and it fired. He only hit the ground. Apparently, it’s fairly common on sporterized Mauser 98s. From what I understand, it’s a trigger adjustment issue on that gun.

 

[bearbait]

They asked me not to do anything to it and send it to them. Sent a UPS label so ill pack it up and see what they say.

I will admit they kind of pissed me off. The guy told me that the gun was out of warranty and I may have to pay for the repairs. Is it just me or does anyone else think that if a gun fires when the safety is put on the warranty should last forever?

I fully agree with you, some things should never go out of warranty.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Really glad no one got hurt!
And they used to say bolt action rifles were the safest!

 

[ruger1980]

They asked me not to do anything to it and send it to them. Sent a UPS label so ill pack it up and see what they say.

I will admit they kind of pissed me off. The guy told me that the gun was out of warranty and I may have to pay for the repairs. Is it just me or does anyone else think that if a gun fires when the safety is put on the warranty should last forever?

That all depends on what they find as the fault. If it is debris or caused by something other than material defects or workmanship it should not be warranty, although many companies will repair these things at no or little cost to the end user.

 

[motionclone]

I will admit they kind of pissed me off. The guy told me that the gun was out of warranty and I may have to pay for the repairs. Is it just me or does anyone else think that if a gun fires when the safety is put on the warranty should last forever?

Just send them a link to the video. ill bet they wont want that video out there and cover all your expenses

 

[ken erickson]

I was a warranty station for Remington and Smith &Wesson along with sending many firearms back to the factories for repairs. Even with a limited warranty I do not think a returned firearm was ever NOT repaired and with no cost for a safety related trigger issue. Of course we are talking about a trigger/safety and related parts that was un-altered from OEM. I would not let it worry me until you hear back from Tikka.

 

[Lil Foot]

Years ago I had an early Dan Wesson 4" .357. (bought used)
Gun worked flawlessly for years. One day while out shooting, I cocked the gun, (full cock) then someone asked me a question. With the gun pointed down range, finger off the trigger, as I turned to answer, the gun went off. After a lot of (unloaded) testing, we were able to duplicate the problem. If the gun was at full cock, and was tilted about 90 degrees to the right, it dropped the hammer. This happened about 3 times out of 10.
I disassembled the gun, and found that the very thin, complex, fragile transfer bar spring had a small "tail" that had broken off, and was wedged in the sear notch. This allowed the hammer to drop with some side motion, without pulling the trigger. The transfer bar was also in the wrong position because of the broken spring.
All of this was accentuated by Dan Wesson's use of sintered metal parts, which were much softer than solid steel parts used by most other manufacturers.
I documented everything, and sent the info to the factory. About 3 days later I got a registered, overnight letter from Dan Wesson instructing me to immediately take the gun to XXX gun shop, who would the ship the gun back to the factory for repair at no charge. They apologized about 4 times in the letter, but stopped short of admitting a design problem or a recall on the revolver.
About a week later, I got a call to pick up the gun. After testing, I disassembled the gun again and found all internal parts replaced, including a redesigned hammer, sear, and transfer bar spring, which was made of much heavier wire, and without that little tail.
Also included was a 6" barrel, shroud, nut, and wrench.
The gun was flawless after that, but I never quite trusted it again, and a buddy wanted it, so I let it go.

 

[mcmxi]

I don't know if this is common or not but this weapon has, what I believe is an extremely stupid bolt function. For what ever reason the bolt will not move unless the weapon is in the fire position.

She loads the weapon and puts a round in the chamber. She flips the safety ON and the round discharges straight into the ground in front of her!!!

The T3 like many rifles has a locking bolt handle. Some with locking bolt handles allow the bolt to be manipulated while the safety is on such as Sako, Kimber and Winchester rifles. I have a Tikka T3 (.300 WM) and a couple of Sako S20s (.308 Win & 6.5 PRC) which are nicer siblings but I'm a fan of Tikka and Sako products. I took some photos of the trigger group and added some labels for various parts.

Did you try cocking the rifle and then thumping the buttstock to see if the sear would release? Better yet, cock the rifle and drop from 12" onto a pad to see if it fires. Activating the safety blocks the trigger (see second photo below) so I'd guess that the pull weight is so light that movement of the safety is enough to release the sear and thereby the cocking piece in the bolt. A thump to the side of the stock might give the same result. There are other possible explanations, but a single stage trigger that has either intentionally or unintentionally been adjusted to a pull weight that is too light for the geometry can cause this.

When you develop a new rifle you have to pass the SAAMI "jar-off test" which involves dropping the rifle from 12" onto a rubber mat with the bolt cocked and safety off. The rifle must be configured with the trigger set to the lightest advertised factory setting, and any reasonable accessories installed such as a scope, rings, sling, ammunition etc. that add weight to the system. The rifle is dropped in six orientations and should not fire on impact. I've conducted such tests and on one rifle project was able to drop the rifle from 36" (six orientations) without discharge.

Cocked with safety off

Cocked with safety on

Fired position

 

[fried1765]

They asked me not to do anything to it and send it to them. Sent a UPS label so ill pack it up and see what they say.

I will admit they kind of pissed me off. The guy told me that the gun was out of warranty and I may have to pay for the repairs. Is it just me or does anyone else think that if a gun fires when the safety is put on the warranty should last forever?

If they insist that you pay for repairs, just have them return it to you, and explain that you will contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission about the defect.

I had a similar (safety) issue with another out of warranty product, and the company acted very quickly, when they realized they might be facing a recall.

 

[mcmxi]

If they insist that you pay for repairs, just have them return it to you, and explain that you will contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission about the defect.

I had a similar issue with another product, and the company acted very quickly, when they realized they might be facing a recall.

You don't even know what the issue is just the symptom, but already it's a "defect" and it's on Tikka (owned by Beretta in the US, or at least represented) to pay for everything? There's an adjustment screw on the trigger for pull weight and if that's been messed with should Tikka pay? Was the rifle bought new, how was it stored, how was it lubricated, etc.? Tikka is known for making excellent products, as is Sako. Will Beretta resolve the issue, maybe, but they're not known for stellar customer service.

 

[bearbait]

You don't even know what the issue is just the symptom, but already it's a "defect" and it's on Tikka (owned by Beretta in the US, or at least represented) to pay for everything? There's an adjustment screw on the trigger for pull weight and if that's been messed with should Tikka pay? Was the rifle bought new, how was it stored, how was it lubricated, etc.? Tikka is known for making excellent products, as is Sako. Will Beretta resolve the issue, maybe, but they're not known for stellar customer service.

All Tikka rifles are engineered and manufactured by Sako, in Finland. We take pride in our products and deliver what we promise. Every Tikka rifle has to go through accuracy testing to prove the rifle can perform under 1 M.O.A accuracy prior to being sold anywhere.

I'm sure they will fix the problem at no charge or at least they should

 

[JasonW]

Following this. I have several Tikka’s never had an issue. Almost all of mine have a lighter trigger spring in them also. The T3 came out in 2003. They stopped making the T3’s around 2016 or 2017 when they introduced the T3X version. So it could be a 7-20 year old rifle. Since Beretta is the importer you have to deal with them first.

Can’t believe all the posts off the bat saying they(Beretta,Tikka) should pay for everything including shipping. Agree with what said above, has the trigger ever been removed, adjusted? Stock been replaced?
If you had a issue with your 7-20 year old tractor would you expect the dealer to fix it at no cost and pay for transportation to and from the dealer?

Some people hate the two position safety that locks the bolt on safe, I prefer it. Different manufacturers make different models of safety’s. IE Browning, Ruger, Savage, Remington, etc.

Glad no one was hurt. And interested to find the outcome of the issue.

 

[aaluck]

Can’t believe all the posts off the bat saying they(Beretta,Tikka) should pay for everything including shipping. Agree with what said above, has the trigger ever been removed, adjusted? Stock been replaced?

To clarify, nothing has ever been adjusted, removed or tampered with. The weapon is used for one week a year (actually hunted with about 3 days of that week) by my wife that typically shoots one deer during that hunt. After that one week hunt the weapon is cleaned and put back into the safe for the next 358 days...repeat. According to Tikka it is about 12 years old and I am the original and only owner.

I guess my point was that I believe that absent actual abuse or modification of the action anytime a weapon fires itself it should be covered under warranty.

I would also like to point out that this weapon DOES allow the consumer to adjust the trigger (I have not) pull but supposedly has a limit. If that limit is exceeded due to a faulty design of the weapon should that not be covered under a warranty. See photos above by @mcmxi

 

[airbiscuit]

I once talked with a gun dealer who was impressed with Weatherby's warranty service. A customer fell while elk hunting and cracked his stock. The dealer sent it in for a replacement and it came back with a new stock - no charge. The dealer explained how it cracked, and they said we don't think it should have cracked - no charge.

 

[mcmxi]

All Tikka rifles are engineered and manufactured by Sako, in Finland. We take pride in our products and deliver what we promise. Every Tikka rifle has to go through accuracy testing to prove the rifle can perform under 1 M.O.A accuracy prior to being sold anywhere.

I'm sure they will fix the problem at no charge or at least they should

Why should they fix the problem at no charge unless the trigger group is shown to be defective? It's possible that the cocking piece is defective, or the safety mechanism, but unless the issue is a manufacturing defect I don't agree that Tikka (Beretta) should pay.