Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tikka Experience

Over time I've gotten to where if a new rifle is really accurate I try to leave it alone. My T3 223 is in that category. I don't like the stock but it has been the most accurate out of the box or modified 223 I've owned. Are owners that have restocked the synthetic stock models getting the same kind of accuracy they had before with aftermarket synthetic stocks?

I am, my T3 Superlite 7MM-08 now sits in a McMillan Hunters Edge and is scary accurate with factory ammo. Like everyone else says they are hard to get excited about, don't really care for the factory stock but it is pretty good. But when it comes to shooting they do impress.

Wyomike,

Sounds like the very few "negative reports" you've gotten so far have primarily been from shooters who still haven't accepted synthetic stocks, and maybe not even Remington 700's, though both have been around for decades.

Apparently they believe that if they do some Internet-pounding on any "modern" rifle that doesn't fit their vision, then the new rifles will go away. Stores will suddenly be filled with pre-'64 Model 70's, or perhaps 8mm Lebels, or whatever their definition of a "real" rifle happens to be.

Come on now JB.

There are actual legit reasons, IMO. Tikka has even decided to address some of those issues with the newer model coming out. Maybe that is why this one is so cheap? On closeout maybe due to new model? I don't know.

There are reasons that have been documented right here for over 10 years now. Same with the Browning A-Bolt, in which they also decided to address said issues with the X-Bolt.

Tikkas are good shooters, and will serve most buyers well. But they are not for everyone.....

I'll go out on a limb -- and probably catch a little heat for this, but...

...as a whole (not just a sample of one), I consider the Tikka T3 to be the most accurate production rifle available on the market today.

Some may not like the plastic mag. I didn't consider the aluminum lug or plastic bolt shroud to be appealing either, but they've changed those parts on the T3X.

There isn't a less fussy rifle on the market, period. They're excellent tools.

This doesn't mean that I'm in love with them...but I don't mind owning a few either!

Admire them, but they don't suit my Johnson Administration era sense of style. I might just go wild and crazy someday and give one a try.

The new X-models are an improvement in several areas, including looks.

No heat here. IMO, though, they made the changes for a reason. Like I stated, stuff many of us have griped about for over a decade. I always considered them a budget rifle with a non budget rifle price. They really aren't that cheap, given the corners cut. Are the improved models more expensive now?

I like my short action rounds housed in short actions. As for accuracy, there are plenty of guns priced less than the Tikka that shoot well. I have owned Vanguards and Savages that drive nails. And I hear the new Americans aren't too shabby either.

Another thing I don't care for is the price of factory parts. They are way over priced. And since Beretta took over, customer service has been horrible IME.

Like I said, everyone has their own tastes, and they are not for everyone. Some obviously love them....

Been shooting them for over 17 years, going back to the Tikka 695. Nothing in their price range can match the accuracy, durability, and ease of use, all of which have been proven to me, by me. Research area: 200 big game animals later, from Sonora MX to South Africa and Namibia, and many states here in the US.

Yep; I just got my first Tikka recently, a T3 Lite in 7-08 which, if I think it could use a little more weight may get a nice Boyd's Prairie Hunter with upgraded wood and checkering.

This is my first SS rifle and I usually go for blued/walnut packages and I really think this thing is slick.

I HATE Tupperware stocks typically but this one doesn't seem bad at all. We'll see!

My T3 Lite is going on close to 3k rounds through it w/ out a problem. The trigger is good and the action is slicker than buttered slugs. Mine is in 308W and was purchased as a truck gun. It has far exceeded my expectations.


mike r

Like I said, I have had plenty of rifles that shoot great. Not sure why Tikka shooters feel that Tikkas are the only very accurate rifles made. Reminds me of Savage shooters. Maybe because that is all they have to go on. That said, accuracy has nothing to do with why I don't buy Tikkas.

If you feel that recoil lug, plastic shroud, and mounting system are the most durable ones made, well,..........OK Better call Tikka and tell them to change them all back.

I don't think Tikka made all the recent design changes to fix things that weren't broken. But I DO feel that the improvements made make the new Tikka T3X a much more viable option than it's predecessor. Although I haven't priced them so....

JMO.....

I have had about 1/2 dozen over the years. Never had one that wasn't very accurate out of the box. Still have a couple and the only reason I ever got rid of any of them, is like many, I found something I just couldn't live without.

99% chance you'd be most definitely wrong.

People complain about the tupperware stocks... Granted they're not a McMillan but they're 100% better than the junk tupperware stocks that Remington, Winchester, Savage and Ruger puts on their rifles.

People complain about the bolt shroud and the recoil lug. My rifles have thousands of rounds fired and I've not had a problem yet.

People complain about the closed ejection port receiver....A closed port action is more rigid/stronger and in many cases more accurate than an open port receiver. Remington 788s were know to be more accurate than 700 actions.

There are better made rifles an T3s and there are also a LOT worse made and less accurate ones that compare in price.

Tikka's aren't the only rifles I own but my experience owning 4 of them has been that ON AVERAGE Tikka's will shoot circles around most domestic brand rifles. So will Steyrs.

YEP, of ALL the rifles I have & have had, I only have 1 Tikka, 13 years.

Jerry

2muchgun,

A little over a year ago I was in the Tikka factory, listening to the changes being made for the T3x. They were primarily made because some shooters wanted them, not because there were vast, across-the-board problems with the T3. The major requests were from the relatively few shooters who wanted softer recoil pads and stiffer recoil lugs for harder-kicking rifles, but tens of thousands of T3's have been working for a long time now without any problems--including a T3 Lite in 7mm Remington Magnum a friend bought a number of years ago for hunting this part of Montana. He hunts hard and shoots quite a bit and nothing has gone wrong with his rifle, despite often hunting in temperatures below zero.

The other factor that went into the changes was profitability. The demand for Tikkas has been growing very steadily, and the U.S. is by far the largest market. So they could afford to make some changes if that's what some customers wanted.

Yes, there are a bunch of accurate, affordable rifles out there today. I've owned and do own a number of Savages and Ruger Americans, but while their triggers are OK, they do not compare to Tikka triggers. The accuracy of Savages and Rugers is normally better than average to very good, but on average they do not match Tikkas right out of the box. Few rifles do. I would also rate the T/C Venture as better out of the box than Ruger AR's and the cheaper Savages, because the trigger and stock are also better, but the Tikka is definitely a step up from there--which is why there's some difference in price for all four rifles.

Personally, I don't care whether a rifle chambered for a "short-action round" uses a short action, especially when there's so little difference is action weight in typical modern cylindrical actions. In fact I kind of prefer short rounds in longer actions, because there tends to be more flexibility in seating bullets--and if the magazine isn't quite long enough, it can often be easily swapped for a longer magazine. But I do find most arguments for short actions pretty much irrelevant; there are more details why in the column Rick posted a couple of days ago at the head of this forum.

The latest Tikka to show up here was one of the T3 Lite .260 Remingtons offered a Whittaker Guns run last year. The trigger was superb out of the box, unlike the triggers on Savages and RAR's, and it's superbly accurate with almost any load, including Remington Core-Lokt factories. It also weighs only 6-3/4 pounds with scope, which I happen to like since so much of the hunting country around my home is steep and high--and I'm not particularly young anymore. So far it just keeps plunking 140-grain Accubonds into the same tiny groups, which is one reason it will be the rifle I plan to do most of my local hunting with this year--and I do have plenty of choices.

If it wouldn't be your choice for any hunting, well fine, the world also offers plenty of choices. But don't try to convince me Tikkas don't work well.

That is really going to happen now, since BassProShops bought Cabelas.

I saw an 8mm Lebel the other day at the LGS.

I was close.

Really close....

If an 8mm Lebel in decent condition showed up at my local shop, I'd definitely be interested. But that doesn't mean all smokeless rifle development stopped in 1886!

Me, too, but only if it was a fast twist...