[–] [deleted] 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago (edited ago)
You should be ok. As many others have said, those screws were probably defective.
Edit: I have a question though. Can you put the scope back on that gun and have it anywhere near sighted in? Once I sight my guns, that scope never comes off them unless I've got a trip to the range planned.
[–] barraccuda 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Do you keep this stored in your car in the virtical position while traveling over rough terrain? I find this is a common failure from vibration dammage.
Edit: add a foam pad under the butt to reduce cumulative strain.
[–] [deleted] 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago (edited ago)
[–] barraccuda 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
stored in your car in the vertical position while traveling
While traveling, i mean.
I see piccy rails break off all the time. Simply from the weight of an advanced ruggedized optic straining the bolts during transport.
The strain of recoil may seem comparable to vibration but they have very different stress signatures. Within recoil you have a peak stress and a degenerative harmonic strain cycle. This only lasts for very short periods of time, even if we consider shots as cumulative.
Vertical storage vibration on the other hand has highly variable stress signatures. The vibration wont usually peak at anywhere near the same stress however there can still be incidents of high impact. If i stow my rifle in its rack and go for a combat manoeuvre, i may be in the drivers compartment for 18 hours, moving over terrain like the moon. The prolonged nature of stowage strain leads to work hardening and premature failure of even the hardest mounting bolts and locating dowels.
I have been repairing this and other kinds of repetitive strain damage on rifles for nearly 20 years now. Its real and its worse than recoil, I promise.
Hopefully your failure is a one-off and is isolated to over-torque as commented elsewhere. I cant recommend quality stowage highly enough.
[–] [deleted] 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
[–] [deleted] 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago (edited ago)
[–] zaitcev 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
I have a Tikka M695, which is very similar to T3. One of the rings has a solid stud that interlocks with the receiver and transfers the recoil into scope (haha). The screws aren't there to accept recoil. Unfortunately, being older than T3, it does not have a Pic rail. I had to buy proprietary rings from Beretta (who own Tikka).
[–] R34p_Th3_Wh0r1w1nd 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
I don't do a lot of shooting but I turn a lot of bolts for a living. If the bolts were worth a shit at all, they should hold that scope for a lifetime. The thickness of the bolt, times however many, equals the total thickness. So, it looks like 3 bolts at what? A quarter inch each. That's a 3/4 inch thick piece of steel. If it was worth a shit, that could lift a car.
[–] Bad_Idea_Bob 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
cheap chinesium hardware and/or too much torque when installed
[–] ardvarcus 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
A little-talked-about problem is screws and bolts from China made with inferior steel. Sometimes they are marked with the marks of a higher hardness, but aren't actually that hardness. Even the cheap unmarked bolts and screws can be made with such a cheap steel that it bends and breaks like pewter.
[–] SayTan 0 points 9 points 9 points (+9|-0) ago
I was dove hunting with a stupid bro-in-law of a neighbor. They were trading a 20 & a 12 back and forth. Dumbo managed to chamber a 20 in the 12 and then a 12 behind that. Was pretty spectacular. He's lucky he still has fingers on his left hand.
In other moron news: I know a guy that put pointy noslers in a tubular magazine. Chain fire led to him having 4 fingers surgically reattached.
[–] [deleted] 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago (edited ago)
[–] SayTan 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago (edited ago)
Half of the world is dumber than average...Gunsmith had a customer bring in a 6.5 Arisaka he had rechambered to .30-06. He knew how to use a reamer, but apparently couldn't do math. Amazing thing is it did not blow up but "kicked awful hard". Arisakas are butt ugly, but until the japs ran out of good steel, they were hell for sturdy.
[–] OricaTonithos ago
Torch, silver solder and some flux will prolly do the trick!