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Joined: Aug 2012
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I tend to recommend Tikka T3s when people ask me what should I buy in this price range, especially if I know the guy will fire factory ammo and will probably never want to 'fine tune' the rifle.

But for some reason I cannot see myself buying one. I know they are accurate and built fairly decent, but there is something I just do not like about them. I have handled and shot quite a few T3s but it feels as if something is missing when I have one in my hands. I personally do not think they are in the same league as some of the older models but apart from that, something feels cheap about them.

I am not saying everyone here owning T3s have crappy rifles as we all know how they shoot and it seems like they get the job done. Just want know whether anyone else feels the same way? What is missing in the T3?

Cheers

Pieter


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They are like the Glock of deer rifles to me.

My .308 shoots as well as some nice Palma rifles I've shot, but it has no soul.

That's fine, as it's a tool.

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I bought one in 300wsm. It kicked like a pissed off mule.

It was the way it recoiled that threw me off ... real snappy.

Maybe just a fluke but I sold it the next week.

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Not a fan. Even though they're apparently accurate and a good value, the luggette is just a big turn off.

Screams cheap, but so does most everything else made nowadays.

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I am going to try one even though it was not my first or second choice in a 260. I was really looking at the Forbes or LAW rifles but they seem to have more issues than Outdoor Life.

The Tikka is one of the few rifles chambered in 260 that you can purchase at a reasonable price that is lightweight, with a 1:8 twist barrel that is at least 22" and has a MOA guarantee. If Kimber still offered a 260 in the Montana I would have gone that direction.



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I've got one in .223 and they "Take some getting used to" for sure. Long action, bedding lug in the stock, cheap (but not as flimsy as Savage) plastic stock. Plastic magazine.

However, the trigger on mine adjusted right down to 2 pounds without some stupid paddle on the front of it and it shoots loads that I had already made up in the mid .5s.


I know 2 guys who bought them in .300WSM and both hated the recoil and traded them off....

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The "soul" comment rings true with me, even though they are fine rifles.

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Seriously? It's like saying "I can't warm up to a crescent wrench unless it handles like a Craftsman."

My wife carries a Sig 228, I carry two glocks for the same money.

She pays $$$ for mags, I pay next to nothing.

Shiznits hits the fan, there are Glock mags and parts everywhere, not so much for the Sig.

I'm in the process of converting to all Tikka t3 rifles or Ruger Americans. All are drills with respectable ammo, and I can have two to three for the price of one of the prettier guns.

I may keep a Kimber Montana around just for grins, but that's it.


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I'm the opposite. Nothing else balances and floats in my hands like a T3. Not all plastics are created, or molded, equal. An H&K is a plastic gun, just like a Glock, but it's a different world of fit and finish. Tikka's plastic is a different world of fit and finish than any Savage, Ruger, or any other molded polymer I've seen.

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I've been a fan of the T3 since my BIL bought one in .308 about 14 years ago. Not too much I don't like about them. The looks could use some improvement, but my only real downcheck is the small ejection port.


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I love my T3 Lite in 30-06. It is a tackdriver. For $489, including a $175 scope and a $150 rebate that I used for 3 magazines, it is by far the best deal that I have ever had in a firearm.

It always feeds flawlessly. The trigger is light and breaks like an icicle. The stock recoil pad works fine with 30-06.
Magnum recoil is always going to be stout in a light rifle.

It is a modern hunting tool. No, it is not as interesting to look at as my Model 70's and Mausers, but I would much rather take it on a long hike.

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I respect their performance, but don't care for the design and really don't like detachable magazines, especially ones that hang out the bottom. Now that the price has gone up, they're less of a bargain than before. Like the guy said, they have no soul. They're good rifles that appeal to me not a bit, except for their accuracy, which can be matched by ones that I like, if not quite so easily.

Unlike some folks around here, I'm content to enjoy what I like and allow others to do the same without taking it personally or trying to convert them to my way of thinking.

Last edited by Pappy348; 10/28/15.

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When thinking of a rifle with no soul, a Stevens 200 comes to mind. I have both a Tikka and a Stevens 200 and the Tikka is a Cadillac compared to the Stevens. Both are tack drivers but the Tikka does everything you want in a hunting rifle....It feeds like it has eyes and ejects positively. I can't same the same for the Stevens 200 which would frustrate me in a hunting situation if needing a quick follow-up shot and it not feed or eject positively.

With that said, the Tikka has a good fit and finish both in the plastic and in metal (i.e. no mold lines in plastic or machining marks in the metal).

If anything, Tikka misses the mark in going to a 1/10 twist in the .223 barrels and uses magazines that don't allow seating of long(er) bullets. For a shooting/hunting tool that's priced reasonably, no one can touch them right now in terms of boring dependability. Remington doesn't have and Ruger is well....Ruger.

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Originally Posted by goalie
They are like the Glock of deer rifles to me.

My .308 shoots as well as some nice Palma rifles I've shot, but it has no soul.

That's fine, as it's a tool.


This is the way I feel 'bout 'em too. I have two. One is in 260 rem. The barrel is twisted correctly and all the 'plastic' has proven to be very tough. I have no qualms about dragging either over rocks and through briars. "Oh, look...another scratch...meh", as I toss it into the truck.


Nut


Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

Thomas Jefferson

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Originally Posted by m77
I tend to recommend Tikka T3s when people ask me what should I buy in this price range, especially if I know the guy will fire factory ammo and will probably never want to 'fine tune' the rifle.

But for some reason I cannot see myself buying one. I know they are accurate and built fairly decent, but there is something I just do not like about them. I have handled and shot quite a few T3s but it feels as if something is missing when I have one in my hands. I personally do not think they are in the same league as some of the older models but apart from that, something feels cheap about them.

I am not saying everyone here owning T3s have crappy rifles as we all know how they shoot and it seems like they get the job done. Just want know whether anyone else feels the same way? What is missing in the T3?

Cheers

Pieter



I feel the same. I own three and they shoot great, but guess I haven't warmed up to all of the plastic just yet. I definitely don't like the lugs, mine are chewed up. I'll flip them to a new edge once in a while. I plan to upgrade those eventually, but have to admit that it doesn't effect the function or accuracy of them.


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I purchased the wood one that is stainless and fluted. Going to replace the stock with a plastic one to keep the weight down. Mine is going to be very utilitarian which is good for me because I have too many that I baby.


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I resisted the force for a long time and have had vurtually several of everything else. I finally bought a 270 win T3 Lite and painted the stock to my liking with some Rusto multi-colored textured stuff that creates a a good "grippy" surface. Mounted up a Swaro w/BRH reticle in DedNutz 1PC mount. Did black Plasti dip on the bolt handle. It shoots my 140 AB loads into about .5. My go-to for most everything now and would not part with it. Solved that "sole-less" feeling for me. All others are gone except a 788 that I did a similar treatment on and it is my short-range gun.

Mike

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I can't warm up to them either people who do swear by them. They just don't feel good and I don't like the looks, but they are supposed be tack drivers.


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I'm trying hard not to like the T3, considering I bought it as a replacement for a MkV that took a [bleep] on me.

But it works too good, and frankly, cycles slicker than anything else I've racked a bolt on.

Seriously, hands down, like the bolt is running on ball bearings.

I've even tried to bind it up just to have something else to bitch about.

The only problem I've had is the magazines. Rounds end up hitting the front of the mags during recoil and breaking tips on the TTSX's I used. This was from the shooting bench.


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Originally Posted by David_Walter
Seriously? It's like saying "I can't warm up to a crescent wrench unless it handles like a Craftsman."


I've said that, with the ante upped to my late father's forty+ year old Craftsman. The real good old stuff.

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