Tikka T3X TAC A1 20” .308

**maximus83** · 11-22-20, 13:41

Nice shooting--yeah it takes some time to adjust to a new rifle, the buttstock adjustments, the trigger, running the bolt, your optic, your bipod, the ammo. Lots of variables, lots of things that can go wrong, even just how you lean into and "load" your bipod (or not) can throw things off. But you keep shooting and gradually you figure those variables out, that's half the fun. :-) That Tikka is a great rifle. Happy shooting!

**davidjinks** · 11-22-20, 16:33

This is becoming more expensive than what I need in my life right now.....

I picked up an APA Little Bastard Gen 3 Brake with the tunable gas ports.

Question 1: When tuning the gas ports on top, do I start from the crown of the brake or the base of the brake closest to the barrel?

There is nothing specific in regards to where to start on APA’s website, just that I need to watch the reticle and which way it moves under recoil.

Question 2: Should I use any type of thread locker while installing the brake? The website mentions it may be needed depending on the threads but I wasn’t tracking what they meant.

TIA

**maximus83** · 11-22-20, 19:27

Don't own the APA Gen 3 so can't help you with tuning, but I ran across a thread on on the Precision Rifle blog about that brake, and also a discussion on the Hide, both talk about tuning:
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/...muzzle-brakes/
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting...sions.6960927/

**davidjinks** · 11-24-20, 14:13

The lighting in my garage sucks so the pics are just kind of okay.

This was a pretty straight forward install. It does take a little bit of time to get the brake timed correctly. The newer Gen 3 APA brakes are supposed to be easier to install and not rotate while tightening. I did not find that to be the case. It wasn’t horrible, but I’m OCD and it did take a little longer than I was hoping for.

Tools needed- 5/32 hex bit to remove Tikka brake, 1” box wrench for APA brake.

Remove old brake-

**davidjinks** · 11-24-20, 14:18

Install APA brake - make sure the jam nut is all the way up against the brake. Screw the brake on all the way to the barrel shoulder. Back brake off for proper timing (I used a level and eyeballed everything). Screw jam nut all the way against barrel shoulder. Tighten past hand tight with 1” box wrench.

You can barely make out the gap between the shoulder and jam nut after backing the brake off for proper timing.

This step I recommend using no tools, only hands. However if you desire to use tools, you’ll know what you need.

**davidjinks** · 11-24-20, 14:21

Install compensator screws - from all of my reading it has been said to leave the last 2 comp screws off, closest to the barrel shoulder. When you start to shoot, you can start removing the comp screws to compensate for lateral barrel movement.

**davidjinks** · 11-24-20, 14:24

Thank you again. I’ve been on both sites for a couple days now reading a whole bunch of material.

Originally Posted by maximus83

Don't own the APA Gen 3 so can't help you with tuning, but I ran across a thread on on the Precision Rifle blog about that brake, and also a discussion on the Hide, both talk about tuning:
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/...muzzle-brakes/
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting...sions.6960927/

**davidjinks** · 11-24-20, 19:47

Because I’m incapable of leaving things alone, and my OCD, I decided to watch about 2 hours worth of more videos on the APA brake and it’s installation.

One of the most common things I have found about the installation is.....no tools needed.

So I decided to uninstall the brake, reset everything and reinstall it, by hand, no tools.

From start to finish, it took roughly 40 seconds. I got the brake timed better without tools and levels than I did with them.

My recommendation, if you go with this brake, do everything by hand, no tools. So much easier!

**gaijin** · 11-24-20, 21:21

And so it goes...... : )

I had a Seekins comp that was similar.
Report on comp effectiveness to follow?

**davidjinks** · 11-24-20, 22:09

I will have a range report soon, I hope.

The Tikka supplied brake had almost a foot of barrel movement to the left when shooting. It cut the recoil down quite a bit but that lateral movement was a killer, no matter how much I messed with the timing.

Bare barrel was less than desirable, I couldn’t spot impacts on target. Heavy up and left barrel movement but still mild recoiling.

Originally Posted by gaijin

And so it goes...... : )

I had a Seekins comp that was similar.
Report on comp effectiveness to follow?