Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka Rifles

After reading for years about Tikka rifles and spending hours on the fire reading, I think I'm going to get a Tikka T3x. I have a couple of specific questions though.

1. The way I understand it, Tikka only uses one action length. I would normally only buy long action chamberings when it's not a short action; I've never used a long action length with a short action chambering, but I'm a 308 whore and it's my preference. My question is do the short action cartridges feed well in this single action length or should I get a long action chambering?

2. What do the lites weight in 308 and 30-06? There website is showing 3-3.2 kg which is 6.5-7#s. Just trying to get an idea.

3. Does the T3 and T3x share mounting systems, stocks, magazines, etc?

Anything I'm leaving out, please feel free to let me know.

Don't use factory rings. I've got an older Tikka 695 LH-----great gun.

The rifle feeds fine whether it's a short action cartridge or long. The only difference between a 308 and something like a 30-06 is the bolt stop and magazine size, both of which are available aftermarket if you want to rebarrel to something different later on. The T3 and T3X use the same mounts and pretty much everything else.

Overall they are fantastic rifles and a great value. You will be pleased.

Short cartridge on Tikka length action is no problemo...feeds fine...always.

Dont use factory rings...other options are out there, I like Talley Lightweights...

Superlight in .223...

My Tikka T3 light in stainless is honestly one of the most accurate rifles I own. You cannot go wrong with it. I think all up with Leup 4-12, it weighs 7 lbs 6 oz.

One benefit of the short actions if you reload and want to seat longer than the magazine allows you can swap bolt stops/magazines easily and gain as much length as you need.

I put long action bolt stops on both of my 7mm-08s. I use .30-06 magazines for 150 ELDX cartridges and they feed great.





P

This.

I traded into a used Stainless Tikka T3 Lite in 308 last spring and picked up a new T3x in 30-06 a bit later. With a Zeiss Terra 3x 3-9x42, medium rings, an aluminum Picatinny rail, unloaded, no sling, the 308 weighs 7 lb. 9 oz. That’s a bit heavier than most because of the rail, which is unnecessary. Most of the weight is forward, so it balances well for offhand shooting.

Changing cartridge lengths by changing the bolt stop and magazine length is how the pre-64 Model 70 works, so it’s a proven system. Tikka executes it well and offers some flexibility that the pre-64 M-70 couldn’t: if your rifle fires a short-action cartridge, then you can swap the bolt stop and magazine for the long-magazine versions. That lets you seat long, heavy bullets pretty much wherever you want to tune accuracy. Parts for this are cheap and you can do the work yourself.

Feeding is slick, largely due to the single-column detachable magazine. By far my biggest beef with this rifle is that it has a DBM, but I admit that this is not entirely rational.

The T3’s trigger was perfect as I got it. A previous owner may have tuned it, but the trigger in the T3x was identical out of the box.

Most parts are interchangeable. About the only upgrade you can’t add to the T3 is the T3x's slightly larger ejection port. The stock also has interchangeable grip panels (like an H&K VP9) that the T3 does not, and it has an improved recoil pad that you can swap between stocks. Either stock will fit either model with no mods as long as both guns have the same barrel taper. Stocks are ejection molded, which was a turn-off at first, but I’m impressed after having used them a while. I rank them just below Ruger M-77 Zytel, and I’d rather have a Tikka or Zytel stock than a cheap fiberglass or other synthetic stock. I’ll probably upgrade to a McMillan at some point, but I have bigger fish to fry at the moment.

I test both of these rifles for accuracy at 100, 200, and 300 yards shooting prone off of sandbags or a rucksack. Without getting into details, I’ll have to find an extremely cheap, fast, accurate load to make handloading worth the bother. A good shooter could definitely get smaller groups. I know I’ve said that the T3 Lite and T3x Lite are on the heavy side, but they’re light enough that good technique really matters and accurate enough that bad technique really shows up. Bonus points: POI on both rifles stays put long after the barrels are too hot to touch.

If one of my Tikkas seems inaccurate, I stop and make sure that I’m doing everything exactly by the book. That usually fixes it.


Okie John

I have a Tikka T3 stainless in 270 I would sell. It would come with
the DNZ bases/rings too.

PM me if you are interested.

If you need to be a cool kid junk the factory rings.
If you change the screws in them, and use some sense tightening them,
the factory rings will work fine.

My 6.5, a 7 mag and a 338, that I know of are fine with the factory rings.
These are hunting 3x9 type scopes, not celestial looking glass.
None of us knew they were junk, so we used them, with the factory screws.
However, I was sceptical, as they are not substantial, and I could tell the screws are soft.


Mounting a heavy scope, might have problems. YMMV

I currently own four Tikkas - a 1995 vintage Model 558 Whitetail Hunter in 243, a Model 695 in 30-06, a T-3 in 308, and another T-3 in 6.5x55. All are accurate, some incredibly accurate. The older rifles - 558 and 695 - are much heavier than the current models. I really don't want a super light rifle, so the blued/walnut T-3s are good for me at around 7-1/2 lbs. with a 3-9x scope on top. I sold another T-3, that one a T-3 Lite in 7mm-08. I must have been temporarily insane as that rifle put about any load into an inch for five shots.

You all are making me want a Tikka

The factory rings are fine, the screws suck. I bought 6 new screws from a hardware store for under $3 and it made a huge difference. After that they are as good as anything else.

As far as I have seen, Tikka has dropped sending bases/rings. So its Talley LW's for me.

I agree.....Hb

I heard that...


Its just as well...

T3x is sold ringless.

Thanks guys. Answered my questions. It looks like the consensus says the T3x should shoot as well as the T3. Going in am to see about one. Pics tomorrow hopefully...

My Tikka T3X Superlite is hands down the most accurate rifle I have EVER owned. And as many here know, I've owned some very expensive customs! It simply just shoots them all into one little hole. All my other Tikka's shoot damn near the same. Once you buy a Tikka all the other rifles in your safe will be in trouble.

Will my Sako’s be in trouble too????