I joined this bandwagon a few weeks ago. I bought a Tikka T3x Lite in .308 and worked with it for a couple of weeks. Now that I replaced the rings that slipped under recoil with a Picatinny rail, I was so happy with it at the range today that I bought a stainless steel T3x lite. Now I am pondering what to do with my older rifles.
Sell them to upgrade your glass.
Either scope or new Binos.
I will probably part the old rifles out. It should be easier to sell the McMillan Edge stocks and the Remington 700 short actions with Jewell triggers and Williams Firearms bottom metal separately, I think. The .308 barrels all have custom chambers reamed to minimum dimensions. That's the reason I bought the first Tikka. My reloads started getting stuck in chambers and I needed a rifle with a factory chamber so I can shoot up boxes of reloads that never quite performed. While shooting a load with 150 grain Sierra Prohunter softpoints and IMR 4166, the first Tikka consistently averaged about 1" center to center for three shot groups. I could not get the older rifles to do that with 150 grain Sierras. They would shoot 180 grain round nose bullets well and one with a 10 inch twist will put five 150 grain Accubonds in an inch (I will keep that one!). I can pay for the Tikkas with the proceeds.
My optics are Meopta MeoPro 6x42 German No. 4 reticle for scope and Swarovski SLC 7x42 for binoculars. They are about right for what I need.
I was worried about the LOP but the Tikka's trigger is further forward in relation to the action than the 700; the distance from the scope to the recoil pad is the same and the Tikka stock is straight with no drop at heel. The scope picture is very comfortable. The Warne Mountain picatinny rail and TPS rings offer a lot of flexibility in scope position.
I really appreciate the Tikka factory trigger. I have been alternating between 700's and Tikka's at the range and there are no issues transitioning back and forth between the Jewell trigger and the T3x trigger.
The bottom metal is not as nice as the Williams but as long as the magazine is well seated the straight line feed is more reliable than the double stack feed. The shorter bolt throw is nice too..
