Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New Tikka T3X Stainless - 7mm-08

So about 2 months ago I went to the LGS to order a new Tikka T3X 7mm-08 rifle. They were busy and I was in no hurry so I began looking through the rifle racks at used guns and saw a T3X 308 win that looked pretty nice and it was about $200 bucks cheaper than new, so I decided I would pick it up instead of buying new. I'm kind of cynical so buying used guns creeps me out a little bit. I wonder why they were sold and worry about the fact that they may have been sold because they're flawed. My itch to buy a gun overrode my preference for buying new guns. I purchased it and brought it home. I began to build my work up loads to start load testing. I had about 6 different loads to test when I finished my work along with a box of factory Rem core lokt 150 grainers to try for fun. I shot the factory loads and they shot around 1-7/8" groups. Not happy about that, but hey, it's factory crap. I then ran through my handloaded rounds. I shot Barnes TSX 150, Sierra pro hunter 150's, Hornady SST 150's, Nosler partition 150's, Nosler accubond 150's, and Nosler BT 125's. I couldn't pull a good group out of the bunch. I got one sub 1" group out of the Sierra's, but I couldn't repeat it, so I don't count that as a success. I was very dissappointed. I cleaned the barrel between each load very thoroughly. It was an all day affair to get through that many loads. I don't claim to be the greatest shooter, but I do okay. I've spent enough time on the bench and have done a lot of prairie dog shooting over the years to know how to shoot a decent group at 100 yards. Luckily I am on very good terms with the owner (because I've paid for at least one room in his house with all the guns I purchased) of the LGS and after talking to him and explaining my experience he offered to take the gun back if I wanted to get something else. I happily agreed. I ordered a new Tikka T3X in 7mm-08 like I planned in the first place. There's something about the weight and feel of that Tikka that I love. It feels great when you put it to the shoulder. Many people complain about the plastic stock, but I actually think it's a solid stock.

I checked the scope to be sure it was mounted correctly and also the action screws. Everthing seemed right, but it just wouldn't shoot with what I brought to the range. I am sure that if I spent a lot of time working through various powder and bullet combo's I could have come up with something that was acceptable, but my previous experience with Tikka, Savage and older Remington's were never this picky about ammo.

I am picking the gun up tomorrow and will get busy getting some starter ammo loaded to begin testing. I'm excited to see what this one has to offer in terms of accuracy. I'm hoping that it shoots as well as the Tikka 30-06 I had back in 2004 that was an absolute tack driver with just about anything you shoved in the pipe.

Not sure what was up with the 308 but I have a feeling the 7-08 will be a shooter.

Yes, the 7-08 should be the ticket. I wound up with a 6.5 Swede Tikka T3, but the 7-08 has always intrigued me.

And I agree with you about the Tikka stock and it feeling "right" when you bring it to your shoulder.

Good luck with your new rifle.

I had a T3 in 243 a few years ago that was the same way. I couldnt get it to group consistently at all despite numerous loads. Just picked up a new T3X in 308 a few weeks ago that is fluted and camo stock. I had a box of Federal150 grain Ballistic Tips laying around and that gun groups them around 1/2” right out of the box. Want to handload for it but not sure i’ll be able to do much better. Not big on the camo stock so it might get a Mcmillan Edge this off season.

If you're shooting groups like that with factory ammo, it may not be worth investing in dies and compnents. Just shoot what works and you're done. I have looked into the McMillan stocks
as well but it seems like a lot of money to put into a gun that's already shooting 1/2" groups. If it makes you smile, do it.

I just picked it up tonight. I'm excited to get her out and see what she can do. I've got lots of components and am ready to start loading. I'll post results soon.

Was the scope on the 308 confirmed, both before and after your day at the range.?

You owe it to yourself to try the Barnes 120gr TTSX in that rifle. That is one of the wickedest deer, elk and hog killers ever devised when paired with the 7-08. Real “struck by Zeus” sorta chit. Barely a love tap on your end to go with it.

It had to be either base screws hitting the bolt head or the action not seated on the lug properly. Tikkas are way too proven to shoot that bad.

358WSM - The scope was confirmed prior to being mounted to that particular rifle. I had is on a Savage 16 300 wsm that shot nice little groups. It is possible that the scope went bad since, but seems unlikely. It will be proven out when I hit the range with the new rifle. The 300wsm does have a fair amount of recoil by my standards. FYI the scope is a Nikon Monarch 3-9x40.

seatlesetters - I looked for the 120 barnes ttsx yesterday at the gun shop, but they were out. They are definitely on the list of contenders. Thanks for the input. I like barnes because I feel confident shooting into the shoulders with them. What is your preferred shot placement with that bullet?

16bore - To be honest I didn't check to see if the base screws were hitting the bolt head. I should have. I knew I had a short window to return the gun and got nervous that it had a serious problem that I didn't want to be stuck with. Hopefully the 7mm-08 will be a shooter out of the box. Thanks for the post.

I make certain that the recoil lug is squarely seated in the barrel and then I bring the action down evenly to a max. of 45 in/lbs. on both screws. Give that a try... CP.

This ^^^
Is the barreled action seated properly in the stock?

I like high shoulder with the TTSX, especially when I can get a good angle through the boiler room on the way out the other side. I have only shot a few deer and a bull elk with the 120 but all five were bang/flop. I can’t prove it but I somehow think fragments from the top of the shoulder do something to the spine as the critters have gone down hard.

I have two good friends who use the 120 TTSX/7-08 for everything (one’s entire family uses it) and the number of DRTs they get with that placement is staggering. Kills ‘em hit in other places, too.

The 120 NBT is a great deer bullet, too.

Don't miss the Hornsby precision hunter 150 he ELD-X factory load. Most accurate in my Savage lightweight hunter. Works well on deer.

I would have kept the 308 and got it to shooting over the 7-08. To each his own.

It wasn't bedded properly has about a 99% probability.

Not much of a difference between the two.






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DakotaBear - You may be right. I probably didn't give it a proper chance. Like I said before, I had a chance to return a possible problem and took the opportunity.

I had a good day out with the new rifle. I found a couple of good starter rounds that were worth of further testing.

Barnes TTSX 140: .440" and .860"
Hornady Interlock 140: .560"
Nosler BT 120: 1.050" I'll re-test with biggame and also try a varget load.

The Nosler Accubond load has potential, but I pulled the 3rd shot. I only had 3 rounds of each, so I could not confirm true group size. I will re-test. 2 shots: .065, 3rd shot made the group 1.200" This is actually the bullet I was hoping would work best, so I'll re-test.

Factory ammo: Hornady American Whitetail 140: .990

I'm trying to post my group pics but I may not be smart enough.

Any pressure signs with 49 gr of BG with the 140 TTSX?

And 2 shots with NAB at .065?






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No pressure signs that would concern me. The primer showed a little flattening, but what I would consider 25%, if that makes sense. I'm very comfortable with pressure on these. This is the first time I've used Biggame, so I don't really know how it handles temperature changes. It was 28 degrees out today while I was shooting, can't confirm pressure won't increase when it's 80 out.