Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tikka what is the good the bad ?

I'am in the market for left hand rifles. I been considering a Tikka T3 lite weight. None of the local dealers or gun shows have any for me to look at. There web site has been helpful.

I would like to know the good and bad.

They're accurate rifles. They have good triggers that are easy to adjust. They have plastic parts where others use metal, like mag boxes.

Good:
Accurate out of the box
Great trigger
Very accurate out of the box
Smooth action

Bad:
Stock is a bit slippery, I put some grip tape on mine.
Scope mount screws are kind of cheap but so far mine haven't failed.

Considered bad by loonies:
One size action for long, short and .223 sized. Bolt stop limits travel appropriately but the extra and wasted .4" of action length makes it worthless and downright heretical.
Nothing to change - no need to spend twice the cost of the rifle on aftermarket parts to make it shoot straight or be reliable or improve it*. No barrel to replace or action to true, just take it out of the box, mount a scope and go shooting - i.e. boring.


* doesn't mean one can't spend twice the cost of the rifle replacing things, just no need.

Good

Accurate
Smooth action
Reliable feeding in every case I've seen
Excellent trigger

Bad

Flimsy bottom metal where the action screws engage. Benefits immensely from pillars being installed in the stock.
Plastic bolt shroud and bottom metal/magazine
One-size-fits-all action length
Not much aftermarket support (because it doesn't need much), which is disappointing for tinkerers.

Unless you buy a .308 as a donor (for $300), throw in a $65 bolt stop kit, and build an azz kicking .284 Long Action.

Or a .270 as a donor (for $400), and build an azz kicking 7MM-08 with heavy bullets seated out, without having to change anything.

The one size all argument is a dead subject. It doesn't make any sense. There are several benefits if you think about it.

1) Not flimsy, supported inside with steel.
2) Reinforced polymer, show me either one you have personally broken.
3) Discussed above.
4) All you'll ever need...http://www.tikkaperformance.com/

The are accurate to a degree way out of proportion with their price.

The pisser is there's nothing to do to enhance that. Maybe aftermarket scope rings, but I've never had a prob with the issued ones

kd

That's what's so boring about Tikkas, you don't get to pluck with em to get em to shoot. No bedding issues, trigger jobs/replacements, finicky load development, just feed ....point.....and shoot. Most loonies can't live with that!

Great rifles and one of the best buys in a LH Rifle.

What everyone else said about the good. It's not fancy grade walnut and all milled steel, nothing you'd look at twice but for the money and the way it shoots I can't think of anything bad.

Mine's a 1-10 twist 223 I got back in December. I've had my share of 223s but never had one shoot bullet weights from 40 to 63 gr as well. These were five different, already assembled loads. They were left overs from previous 223s I've owned. Those rifles had been bedded, floated or pressure bedded, trigger jobs, load development, etc. As others said, the Tikka did it right out of the box.

Good - You don't have to buy a Kimber at twice the price and perform the 10 Kimber correctional steps to make it shoot decently - the Tikka does so right out of the box for half the money.

Bad - Kinda fugly looking. Imagine how many they would sell if they put them in a sleek mountain rifle type stock.

Received a T3 in 25-06 at X mas. Put some Talleys lows on it and a VX-1 3-9-40mm. Have some 115 Partitions and 115 NBT test loads to try this spring. I think it's a fine rifle for the price.

Gonna use it this fall is my plan. I'm stoked to try it. Will do a full range report once some trigger time is accumulated.

Add a Bell & Carlson stock if you want to jazz it up!!!

1) I've personally bent that flimsy, thin steel by torquing my action screws to 55 in-lbs, which is why I pillar-bedded the rifle and bottom metal
2) I can't because I replaced the bolt shroud with an aluminum replacement before it had a chance to break It was more for the tinkering factor, than anything
3) It can be a pro or a con, depending on what you're doing and how you look at it

They'll outperform your custom rifles costing much more, which is maddening! lol.

Eric

I'm a southpaw shooter, have all Rem 700's, older ones other than the CDL .223


if I needed a lh rifle, Tikka would be what I'd buy.

got the oldest boy one on his 16th birthday.

can't begin to describe how impressed I am with it.

let him shoulder everything available in this town and was certainly prepared to shell out the coin for a Kimber which I thought he'd want


he liked the fit and feel of the action better on the Tikka, so that's what he got


chambered in boring old '06


they had a lh version of the same rifle at the LGS where we bought his for awhile and I gave serious consideration to buying one for myself, but then what would I do with my 7 mag and .338?


too many memories in both of those rifles to get rid of them

as others have stated, it's a heckuva value in a rifle in my view.

and I like the plastic mags, bought the boy 4 extra ones just in case.

hunting normally only carry two, one with 150 grainers for sheep or bou, one with 180 gr. for walking in and out with hopefully a bloody pack


if it fits you, I think you'd be happy with one.

My Left Hand T-3 Tikka in 223 . I ditched the factory supplied rings, and used Steel Burris Picatinny Bases, and Steel Weaver QD Rings, replace the Bolt Handle with Machined Tactical , and replaced the Bolt Cover on the back of the Bolt with Metal. I also changed out the recoil lug from Aluminium to Steel. Scope is a Vortex Viper 3x9 with Bullet Drop Ret.

That is too much torque. Drop it back to 40lbs.

I prefer a bit more than 40 on all my rifles, and if they can't take it from the factory, I modify them until they can, but regardless, a rifle shouldn't bend or get damaged because of 15 extra in-lbs...

The "steel"-reinforced polymer where it contacts the action screws is very flimsy, and is certainly a weak link in the rifle system.

Crank an extra 15lbs on your scope rings and see what happens. Tikka does not recommened 55lbs, neither do any real gunsmiths.