Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikkas are no fun!

I just got done shooting my Tikka T3 superlight 1:8 that I got last Saturday. I decided I needed a replacement .223 after giving my Howa .223 compact to my brother this summer for his grandson to shoot when he visits him so, Christmas came early for me.

Instead doing any "gun looney" tinkering first I decide to just clean the bore and chamber, mount a crappy "Reupold" Mk AR 3x9 variable scope, (already handicapping myself ) in the factory Tikka scope rings, at just less than "farmer tight", and shoot it. I even left the trigger as it came, at 4.25 lbs, but crisp. A high wind watch is in effect for later in the day but this morning it was blowing only 5-10 mph at less than a cross wind direction for my 100 yard target. So dead calm for Wyoming and a balmy 35F. I have a real fancy bench rest setup. A picnic table with sand bags on my deck and a cardboard box with target at 100 yards. I have practiced shooting a lot this fall; at least 40 rounds of centerfire! so I got "mad skills"

I don't have a wide selection of .223 ammo on hand to try. Mostly Federal american eagle brand 55 FMJBT blasting ammo. I had previously sorted out 8 pretty concentric rounds and marked them, to see if it makes a difference from the other pretty crooked rounds. I bore sighted, fired one unsorted round, adjusted and shot a 3 shoot group with the unsorted blasting ammo into a 1.5" triangle as fast as I could aim and fire accurately. I made an adjustment for a 100 yd zero and let the rifle cool while I shot my Rem. 700 .22-250 to check zero. Then I shot another 3 shot group with the low runout sorted ammo into a 1 inch group. That is the best I have ever got out of this lot of ammo from 3 different rifles. OK, what about the Fiocchi 40 grain v-max factory ammo, the Howa didn't like. Three went into 3/4" just 1.25 inches below the Federal group. This this is no fun... Then I tried some left over Blue Dot and 55 grain Hornaday spire point handloads. They shot OK in the Howa but nowhere close POI to the full power loads. I fire three from the Tikka, during a lull in the wind, and I can cover them with dime and they are two inches directly under the Federal 55grain fmjbt group!

Crap, what am I going to do with the rifle now! Just figure out drop charts? Shoot my 200 and 300 yard steel targets! Paint the stock to look like a fishing lure? Maybe a Rapala fire tiger pattern would look pretty cool against the matte stainless barrel and action. My only hope for fun now is if it won't like my regular handloads and I will have to work hard to get the "soulless rifle" rifle to shoot. I need to find some 50 grain v-maxes on sale to load up and see how the Tikka likes 75 grain a-maxs single loaded.
I know that without photos it never happened but I taped the shot up target box as I went and didn't get my camera out. I am surprised by how much I like this "truck gun" already. Merry Christmas and a Happy New everybody! May all your new guns be "no fun" like this Tikka!

Pretty much par for the course with Tikkers...

I had my 270 out this morning and couldn't manage over MOA with any of my handloads I fed it. When my Ruger 77 or Model 70 don't like loads I work up, I just throw them in the Tikker and go shoot chit; Kinda like Mikey-- eats anything.

Yet another sad Tikka story. Try some Fiocchi (or Federal) 69 grain SMK's. Very accurate in my 8T Tikka, and plain "no fun" to shoot. They barely fit in the unmodified mag tho.

I am jealous of all you Tikka owners. Thought I had myself talked into buying one, but I just couldn't do it...guess I'll keep on "fixing" my 700s!

I would try 53 VMax before the 50 in that twist. Inherent upside.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Remingtons, Winchesters, (even some of the post 64, made ones), Rugers, Marlins, Sakos,...etc. If a gun is reliable, sufficiently accurate, and has a decent trigger I can enjoy it. I am just impressed with this Tikka's out-of-the-box performance and build quality. I have another 1:8 .223 and a friend has several fast twist .22 of various flavors and they are much more finicky about loads and bullets than this Tikka appears to be. The Tikka's detachable magazine and loading port is different but I wanted that feature on a rifle to try as I thought it would be convenient for predator calling in the winter. Unlike some Wyomingites, I don't carry loaded, uncased rifles with a hot chamber in my truck. I had looked at the Tikka this summer but wasn't convinced to buy one until I heard they were dropping the 1:8 twist specification for .223s.

It sure was fun pounding one of the best 5-shot groups of my life the other day... with shots 25-29 outta the gun. Tikka....

It sure was fun to watch my sister-in-law hammer a plate at 400 with her first ever centerfire rifle round today..... then go 3 outta 4 at 600. Tikka.....

It sure was fun to watch my dad hammer a plate with his only shot of the day.... at 500.... he was all smiles. Tikka....

It sure was fun to watch my brother drill a coyote at 610 today. Tikka...

It sure was fun watching my baby brother, El Doctor, clean the course.... 300-500.... then put 3 in 4.5" at 600. Tikka...

The new Tikka CTR .260 has already been a ton of Fun.... and I've only had it 4 days.... hell, it doesn't have 70 rounds through it yet.

Welcome to the world of imported rifles.
Mix it up a bit, but a Remington or a limber. You'll get to spend plenty of time and money bedding, Decrowning, replacing triggers, lapping barrels, heck, possibly buying a 500 stock and a new barrel.
Won't that be a riot?
I'm lazy. I've been buying these boring azz Austrian...Australian...??
Styver manlickrs or something.
No body makes triggers for them or aftermarket stocks. Yardley a gunsmith in the country has experience working on them and no barrel maker even knows the thread pattern.
At least with the american built rifles there dozens...probably hundreds of gunsmiths with years and years of experience fixing...uh, I mean...uh, accurizing them.

If you like to tinker with rifles Tikka's are BORING. All 5 I've owned are exceptional shooters right out of the box.

My son just acquired a SS T3 in 243. He just shot 3 different 3 shot groups with 70 grain Nosler BT & 100 grain Sierra & Hornady grain handloads that measured 1/2" or slightly less.

Tikka's and Steyr's are the absolute most accurate out of the box production rifles made.

There is still some tinkering you can do. I installled a metal bolt shroud and an oversized bolt handle on my superlight 223. I have found mine shoots pretty much everything well but really shines with the ultramax 68gr MHP load. It does almost get boring never missing what your shooting at.

I sold a tikka to member Royce here a few years ago. He said load development consisted of putting cartridges in the gun.

My experience as well.

If they would "pretty" up the stock a little bit with more traditional looking checkering, make a bdl hinged floor plate model, and imported ALL models, I suspect they could put a serious hurtin' on USA made manufacturers. I'm too old and lazy to tinker, not to mention I don't have time. I just want my rifles to shoot straight out the box, preferrably with factory ammo since I don't reload. So, I have joined Club Plasticka.

70 gr. VLD's over max loads of TAC or Varget..

Plastikkas love that chit.

I have owned 4 Tikkas and currently have 2 T-3s. Like many folks on the Campfire, I have invested more than a tidy sum in custom barrels, actions, stocks and gun smiths. Yet, when I go out the door to do some serious elk hunting, I grab my T-3 .30-06. Makes perfect sense to me. CP.

You can tinker that mag so you won't have to single load the 75's. There's a how to thread around here somewhere.

So I've now seen Cabelas, Scheels, and Sportsmans Warehouse listed as the exclusive dealer for the T3 Superlite. Which is it? Or is it all of them, which wouldn't make it exclusive......

Does that really matter?

The T3 Hunter stock seems "short" to me and choppy but I can still hit anything I aim at. I'm looking at replacing it with a aftermarket down. The screws are "soft" but that's about the only complaint I can really say about Tikka they work great for the price.

That's boring....

Only so I know where to go to get one.................