Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka T3 lite??

Don't try to say you've never heard of one that wasn't accurate either. Mine was MOA at best with a few loads and 1.5" with most.
It was also the slowest .270WSM ever made with the fastest factory or handloads beating my .270WCF by a mere 20-30 fps.

My 700KS ($700 used) is vastly superior to my now defunct T3 in every possible way.

not a fan

The Marlin is a great gun (never had the Savage), but it just does not compare to the Tikka (I use one as a backup to my tikka, in fact). I don't know of any other rifle that's as ready to hunt out of the box for $400 as a tikka. Yes, the Marlin is a bit cheaper. And feels it in every respect. Most $700 rifles don't feel as nice as a tikka (or they need extra work to get them hunt ready.)

And I don't know many Tikka buyers that buy them as heirlooms. They beat the tar out of them, hunt, and usually also have a ruger revolver or glock to go with it, for similar reasons.

Great tool. Cheap ass feeling stock, but it certainly gets the job done.

The problem is the Tikka isn't $400 anymore!
They are $500+ and some are even around $700.

I've owned both a T3 and a Marlin XL-7 and the Marlin felt more substantial and well put together than the T3 ever did. More accurate too.

Don't even get me started about how much better my $700 KS is!

8 twist will work just fine with light bullets, even down to 40 grain Ballistic Tips.

The t3 lite (not stainless) can still be had for between 400-450. The Marlin can be had for 280, plus the cost of rings. That's the floor; the rest is options.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the fit/finish/feel of the marlin versus the tikka. I'm a huge Marlin fan, but that XL-7 stock feels even worse to me than even the crappy crappy rem700 adl stock, and my tikka's all shoot better than my marlin (4 tikkas versus 1 marlin). Working the bolt is also far smoother on the tikka. They feel like they're worth much more than $150 more than the marlin.

Now don't get me wrong, I feel the marlin is still a better gun than your average factory rem700.

I have a KS, btw, and while it's definitely a higher quality gun than the tikka, it doesn't bring anything extra to the hunt for me. Looks nicer, feels nicer, all steel, fondles great, hunts great, warms my soul, but... doesn't do anything better or worse than the Tikka *during the hunt*, either.

I bought two in '08 just to see for myself and make up my own mind. They are one helluva gun--the most out-of-the-box ready I have ever seen.

Original poster wants it in 223 so he can shoot chucks and other tiny varmints. That makes sense. Will any other $500 out-of-the-box gun do that as surely as a T3 will?

I have wood and blue Hunters in the T3 Tikka. I like them better than the composite but that is just me. They feel really solid. I have one that is a Laminate 30-06,T3 that is my treestand special. I like accurate guns and there are quite a few out there currently. If I wanted a real looker I would buy a Cooper. But each to his own if a gun is better to me it is just that better to me. Someone else may not like Tikkas and that is their choice and I respect it. Buckfever1

I want to respond to some of the above(as the original poster). I specifically want a 22 cal center fire so its a 223 or 22-250. I lean toward the 223. This will be my third 223 in as many years the objective being a cheaper gun that I won't mind abusing - It will be a truck/trunk gun to shoot varmints/vermin in a sporter/light weight package. I tried a 700 ADL synthetic. It was a POS. The next was a savage/stevens 20. As big a POS. Neither were accurate at all - 1 1/2 MOA or worse. So both have gone down the road. I think that I am proving that it is a very chancy to try and get accurate performance on the cheap.
The idea of a 25-06 has a certain logic. but, I already have a really good one in a Browning A Bolt with a BOSS. Very accurate but not one I want to abuse. A 25-)^ just out right eclipses a 243Win so that is not attractive to me at all.
Interestingly I actually bought 2 savage/stevens 200 this year - A 270Win and a 223. The 270 in contrast to the 223 was very good buy and I will use it as a bad weather big game gun. It routinely shoots Sub MOA with a wide range of loads.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Snore, snore, snore...

Read the original posters question.

I have the T3 lite in 7-08 and it shoots superb with every handload I have shot in it. I have the wood stock T3 in .243. It is a good shooter also with factory and handloads but not any more accurate than my Stevens 200 in 22-250 or Marlin 270. For the money I bought all of them for new, they were a bargain.

I have the new Marlin XL in 270 and it is amazingly accurate with several handloads using Sierra GK and Nosler Partitions in 150 gr. (.5 -.75 MOA) and the action soon smoothed up so the bolt slides back and forth like the Tikka does out of the box. The Tikka is finished better and easier to look at than these new cheap rifles but for me they all shoot good. I've spent more money on nicer looking rifles that will not shoot nearly as well. No tweeking needed on any of these rifles but my Rugers; thats a different story.

You will be happy with the Tikka!!! Brimfish

Yukonal, you mean this part of the OP's question?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, snore, snore, snore.

Love my two Tikkas, T3 light in .270 and heavy barrel .223. All I can say is this, Im in the middle of a move/divorce and have to sell most of what I have. These two will be the last ones to go and will do anything I need done. Neither needed any tweaking, shoot great groups with factory ammo if I need to and are the smoothest actions I have ever handled right out of the box. My only complaint is not the plastic magazine, just the fact a plastic magazine is $60 and can be a pain in the azz to find. My only other complaint is they refuse to import all the heavy barrel .280s and .300mags to the states, canada only.

No, this part.

We already know your opinion on the rest. We've heard it over and over and over...

And we've heard even more how the T3 is unfailingly accurate and a bargain to boot.
It's not unanimous. And not always true.

He asked for the opinion of those who've used a T3. I think he deserved to hear a dissenting opinion from someone who owned one and sold one.

Accurate they are, very good trigger , straight line feed and if they were to put a non pot metal bolt shroud and floorplate you would almost have a very nice rifle. I tried and tried to like this rifle SS lite in 308 but after the bolt shroud cracked and Beretta customer deservice tried to nail me for approx 40 bucks to replace it that was enough. BTW they didn't have the bolt shroud in stock, guess those plastic parts never break. I keep the broken one in my ashtray as a reminder never to buy another.

I don't doubt for a minute some people have had bolt shrouds break. I've read it a few times here on the fire. But, I gotta wonder what it takes to break one.

I was hunting bear in Alaska and decided I needed to take mine off as part of a thorough cleaning. I thought I knew how, and reefed on it with a pair of pliers. Squeezed, pushed, twisted, and pulled. Left a good set of teeth marks in the "plastic" bolt shroud, but it never broke, cracked, or bent. Short of that kind of abuse, I'd like to be there when the people that broke one, did so.

Also, did you guys know the floorplate is reinforced with metal? I doubt you're gonna crack or bust that either.

Hey, don't get me wrong, I don't have any relationship with Beretta. I just know that for the money, I feel they are the best, most accurate factory rifle built. And I'm not alone...

"I thought I knew how, and reefed on it with a pair of pliers. Squeezed, pushed, twisted, and pulled. Left a good set of teeth marks in the "plastic" bolt shroud, but it never broke, cracked, or bent."

You need to get hold of their marketing people... I am sure they could use a story like that...














or not...

I've worked with some guys like Yukon..

"Get me some pliers!!"