Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles anyone running a Tikka T3 in 6.5x55?

local shop has one on consignment, walnut and blue. the barrel sits a bit off in the barrel channel, more daylight on the left side than the right, but other than that looks like a sweetheart. curious to know if i should take the plunge... i have Swede brass and RCBS dies...

Yes, T3 Hunter. My wood fit is better than that though. Mine is not picky at all about loads. It shoots easy 3 shot 1" groups with most loads and I am no precision shooter. I have not shot any factory loads in it yet. I had really good groups with 140 gr. Sierra Game Kings and 43.5 of H4350. If the price is right you can get it into a plastic factory stock for next to nothing.

I did. No regrets.

My 6.5x55 is in the synthetic stock though. Accurate out of the box. That stock has contact points in the barrel channel that keep it centered.

The barrel gap may be a easy fix. I have on in 30-06 with a walnut stock. The walnut didn't fit as precisely as the molded stock. To satisfy my OCD-ness about the bedding, I glassed the barrel under the chamber and the front ring with a wrap of tape around the barrel at the forend to center it during the bedding process. Disassemble/reassemble and everything aligns as it should, stress free. Shot the equally well before and after.

My Tikka swede will hang with my customs in the accuracy dept. It is my #1 hunting rifle now.

I had a major shoulder surgery in Fall of '06. 18 months rehab later I started to try and shoot again and got my azz whooped black and blue by a T3 Lite 270. Regrouped when I found a T3 Hunter Swede, shot the poowah out it for about a year+ and got healthy enough to move on. DA Me sold it.when I "graduated" back to real rifles in my bigger calibers. Doah

In Sierra 120gr ProHunters I could do no wrong with the Swede, point it somethingpull the triger, and get out the knife, using the Sierra book accy load & RL19. That Swede was the most accurate rifle of all the 50-60+ ?? CF's I've owned with NO tuning. Truly a "Plug & Play" rilfle as advertised, and dang near that good with 130gr NAB's .

Today I'm about to start the Swede campaign again using a T3 SuperLite. The Shoulder is acting up again but it's all old age this time, along with a couple nasty bad falls aggravating the base issue. Gonna buy 'nuther wood stocked Tikka Swede asap - sold the T3 HG 260 this week to make room and gin some funds to get it done- and sparingly use the bigger shooters until I can't. Picked up a M70 XTR 7 Mauser last fall that will be my "Heavy" and mebbe pair it with a 7-08 or 280 too, we'll see.

Find a One Load Swede book and it'll have the old Sierra RL19 load listed that I used, I looked at one this week in a Cabellas. That load was a death ray on Texas WTails out to my normal 300 yards...but DA Me found a shiney object to squander my old dependable T3 Swede on. Imelda Marco's & her shoes got nuthin' on me for being too dumb to appreciate what I've got on hand . Old Age Wisdom is not being smarter talking, it's just Regrets talking for what you had had and traded or sold. Reality sucks. .
Ron

have had several...........the one I miss most is the ....

SS/walnut............someone here bought it.........

my very last one my SIL in AZ has it...........

Lam/SS.......

helluva outta the box game rifle.....

Have the T3 Hunter and shoots about anything sub MOA, especially 140gr SST factory Ammo.

From what I have seen, this is a hard combination to beat. The Swede cartridge Really seems to thrive in a Tikka.

Dogger

My T 3 is a 270, very accurate & very dependable. I've been hunting it since 2003.
NO problems whatsoever. Extremely accurate too.

IF, IF my 6.5X55 weren't in a 70 FTWT - I could get into another T 3.

IMO you can't go wrong.

Jerry

I have a wood/blue T3 that I like a lot. Accuracy is two shots touching and a third a touch over an inch high and at most a half inch off horizontally. Same with every load I have tried. Even so, it is one of my favorite hunting rifles. I am looking at getting another Tikka in .223.

T3 Lite SS Swede here. Load development for 120 NBT's; the largest group was in the 0.8"s. Several including the final were in the 0.4"s

Mine.

I traded for a lefty T3 Lite in 6.5x55 for my wife and it shoots almost any bullet into small groups. It is honestly probably the least fussy gun we own including a couple of custom barreled guns I have. I would buy it if it is still there, you have a great chance that it will shoot very well. I also like how much room there is in the magazine, lots of flexibility when it comes to loading. It has the best trigger of any gun we have and also feeds very smoothly.

I bought one of the T3 super lites from Whitakers a few months ago and swapped the factory synthetic for a factory wood takeoff. I ended up with the fluted barrel in a nice wood stock. I topped it with a leupold VX2 4-12x40 CDS and ended up with a great whitetail rig. I loaded up 129 grain interlocks over RL22 and the first load was definitely under 1". I have some more load development to do but it has already proven to be a more than adequate shooter. I would definitely say buy it if the price is right.

Of all the rifles I have sold, I regret selling my Tikka Swede, ss, syn, the most. Honest tack driver and deer killer w/ 120 gr nbt's and I 4350.

Bob

THAT'S what I'm ready to feed my DEER, from my 6.5X55.

Jerry

Dogger,

I have one just as you have described. I love it. Had a stainless T3 in 270WSM. It was a great gun, but I was bored with it. The 6.5x55 just seems to have a bit more soul. Honestly, I would love to pick up another for a great price. If you haven't already picked it up, would you mind telling us what shop here in VA has the one you are speaking of?

A little story for you guys. Daughter got her first deer this past fall using the T3 Hunter in 6.5x55. 1 shot through the lungs/heart @ a touch over 270 yards. Easy peasy! If she can do that with cheap factory ammo, can you imagine what she'll be capable of with hand loads.

I have 2 T3 6.5x55. One is blue in walnut, I put the other blue in a B&C Medalist. They both deliver MOA at 100 with 4 different factory loads and have delivered one shot kills out to 280yds multiple times. I will keep these! Learned from past mistakes on getting rid of good shooters.

Have one that came in the forest wood stock. Only thing i didn't like is the recoil lug slot had some play. Swapped it for a varmint syn. stock. much tighter fit. Shoots amazing!