antelope sniper,
The bedding system in the Tikkas definitely helps, but you're right about the barrels. They're hammer-forged, and have been for a long time, the reason European hammer-forged barrels shot much better than most made in America: It isn't just turning on a machine and pushing steel through. Instead there's still considerable technique involved, and since hammer-forging was developed in Europe they've had longer to work on it.
I found out when visiting the Tikka/Sako factory last fall that the same barrels are used on both rifles--and the heavy-contour barrels are all lapped to very close interior tolerances. Which is why Tikkas have a reputation of shooting just about as well as Sakos, which have always had a very good accuracy reputation, especially the heavy-barrel models.
