Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles I thought Tikkas were supposed to shoot good!

This is the reason i bought one. I really wish i had time to wring itout or trade it but i am on the road now and won't have even internet after tuesday next week

Ha! Thats correct because aluminum is actually more expensive thus superior for recoil lugs.......Hb

Hmmmm.....here's a factory barrel and possibly one of those 'compromised' actions from a Remington M700. All I did was bed the action and install a Timney trigger! And this isn't the first time this rifle has done this for me!

Ten rounds from 900 yards.

308 Win/Remington M700 factory barrel/action by Sharps Man, on Flickr

.308 Rem M700 VS by Sharps Man, on Flickr

Just give me a shout when you get back. I realize it may be a while..

Tikka has a guarantee...just send it back.

You said previously that you let the barrel cool between shots. Are you sure that at the beginning that you may have let it get too hot and now you have a little bend in the barrel.? Even some of the experts that write for the Outdoor Magazines have admitted to not being careful enough and ruined barrels. There are too many positives about Tikka on this thread. I would do what Dogcatcher suggests. Send it back to Tikka, before you dump a good rifle.

I'm no expert, but....

Dennis,

I am lost on why this rifle must head north with you. Surely you have a number of rifles in the safe that will do the job with confidence, no?

Deleted post.

Must be due to those special edition left handed barrels.

I recently bought a t3x in 308 used off the rack and it wouldn't approach 1" groups. Mostly 1-3/4" to 2-1/2". I am friends with the dealer and he let me return it. I know I could have worked on the gun to fix whatever was wrong with it, but I don't have the time to do that and who needs the headache. They should shoot out of the box much better. Having said that, I have not lost faith in the brand. I just receive the same gun in 7mm-08 and after the first round of testing have a couple sub-moa loads. With more testing I expect to have a selection of acceptable rounds to choose from.

You may not have the option to return it, so I would listen to the other campers with more Tikka experience and see what you can accomplish. It may iron itself out after you get the barrel thoroughly broke in.

I wish you luck. I know how frustrating it is. These damn guns are not cheap and it sucks to think you got a clunker.

I’d like to add to the bad scope theory. All my wild accuracy problems have been scope failure. My most accurate rifles always wore one particular scope - a Japanese Redfield Gold Star.

Tikkas are for those that.....don't know better!!

I'm glad to see your bolt handle is still intact 😀


Trystan

I can only speak to my personal 1st hand experience with two Tikka T3's. Mine in 300wsm and my friends in 300wm. His has only shot factory loadings as he doesn't reload, and yes he gets MOA groups with Federal Premium ammo. Mine gets MOA with factory and sub-moa with nearly but not all my reloads, but none of my groups have exceeded 1.5" at 100 yards. I can honestly say with out an oz. of BS I have over a 1/2 dozen reloads using IMR-4831 and 180 grain bullets that have given my sub-moa 3-shot and 5-shot 100 yard groups. I would LOVE to post my targets but they are to big (MBs VS KBs) and the system wont allow it.

I own rifles from Remington, Savage, T/C, Ruger, Mauser, Browning, and Marlin and without doubt my Tikka T3 lite was the easiest to get my reloads to shoot sub-moa for and is the most accurate gun I own.

All I can say is every single manufacturer of anything with parts can and will produce a sub standard product, especially ones produced in a price range that makes inspecting each item a financial impossibility. Send the rifle back to Tikka I'm reasonably certain they will fix it.

If I were to buy another rifle tomorrow without doubt it would be another T3 over all others.