I look at them as another Sako model with a more reasonable price tag. Essentially that is what they are.
Some say they are actually Sako barrels that for whatever reason don't make the cut for Sako rifles.
Sako and Tikka barrels come out of the same pile. There is no difference.
Yeah, that's what I understand. But, the story is, each barrel is "graded" and the highest quality go to the Sako top of the line models, then it steps down to the other Sako models, then to Tikka. Obviously, that doesn't mean they put all the flaws and defects on Tikkas, it is just a matter of how they are graded by air-gauging or other methods as to what lines they end up on.
Sort of like match grade primers. They went through an extra step of QC to end up in the match boxes. Not to say the same exact quality primers wouldn't also be in the standard primer boxes.
