Still don't see the Tikka bolt issue. IIRC the last time I took the striker out the handle slipped in the dovetail rather easy.
I think there are still people out there that think you can solve a locked up action with a wooden mallet. A lot of Remingtons lost their handles to the same remedy. There is no reason on God's green earth to blow out the dove tail of a Tikka bolt. Unless you take a effing hammer to it.
"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
Guaranteed 5 shot 100yd sub MOA accurate. It's basically a Finnlite with a steel floor plate. Awesome rifle for a closeout under $1k price, normally $1599.00.
If you want to spend a little less, the Tikka would also be a fine rifle:
The Sako is the upscale rifle from the same company. The Tikka has a 3shot 100yd accuracy guarantee. The Tikka is a fine rifle also.
Full disclosure is that I bought this Sako rifle (bought one in 270 and one in 6.5x55). Both are drills. Great rifles.
If you want to spend a little less buy the Tikka. If you want the best you can get for under $1k, buy the Sako!!
I also can't recommend Eurooptics enough. I've bought from a lot of vendors including the ones on this forum. Eurooptics is flat out the best. Absolute gold standard to buy from, I bought something from them earlier today!
.................dj
I love driving the 3 hours to their store. Took my oldest daughter along last Sat. Amazed is a good word for it. Held her first Blaser and Mauser. It helped me make a case for her finishing her degree. So she can actually buy nice rifles,instead of just drooling on them like her Dad.
"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
Still don't see the Tikka bolt issue. IIRC the last time I took the striker out the handle slipped in the dovetail rather easy.
I think there are still people out there that think you can solve a locked up action with a wooden mallet. A lot of Remingtons lost their handles to the same remedy. There is no reason on God's green earth to blow out the dove tail of a Tikka bolt. Unless you take a effing hammer to it.
I guess if you wanted to neck down brass by jamming it in the chamber it might take a little beating. Now that I think about it, the handle won't stay in the body without the striker assembly. When I set my dies I had it out to feel headspace.
but I can get parts for Remingtons. I have to MAKE parts from Tikkas except for the part that is the biggest problem. THE BOLT You see the bolt handle is dovetailed and press fitted into the bolt body on some of the models. I have seen 4 of them come to my shop where the rear of the dovetail in the bolt (not the bolt handle, the bolt itself) broke away. They break right through the threads and cannot be repaired.
What threads? there are no threads on the inside of a tikka bolt body unless I am mistaken. I will go home and check mine out but pretty sure the firing pin assembly just slides into the bolt body. Were these people using aftermarket Tikka handles? My experience has been the bolt handle has fit in the dovetail in a very precise manner.
Note...it was not 3 of them broken it was 4. One of which was not being fired, and broke when a prospective customer was just handling it in the shop. Empty. Never loaded.
Now, speaking just for myself, I don't care one way or another. I don't have a dog in the fight. If one breaks and I can't get the part I newed to fix it is costs me nothing, not even any time.
This thread started as someone asking for recommendations. I gave mine. And I said why the Tikka was on the bottom of my list I don't care if someone else have others. Tikka owners will probably never have a problem if we look at the numbers of broken bolts compared to the number of rifles sold. But if the reader has any sense at all, they will realize that the same comparison must be made with every makers guns. So how many other makers guns have you heard of that had their bolt bodys break? Remingtons do rarely come off, but can be put back. The solder joint can comes loose but no damage is done to the bolt body.
And if there were at least those other companies will replace them free.
That's why I put the Winchester, CZ 550 and Ruger M77s at the top.
I’ve been around three of them and they are all astonishingly accurate and function both smoothly and flawlessly. Absolutely zero tinkering or adjustments required. One each of 6.5 Creedmoor, 26 Nosler and .270 WSM all sub-MOA right out of the box with factory ammo. Try doing THAT with a Kimber!
My second choice would be a new Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Stainless. Maybe 1/2 a pound heavier, but oh, so beautiful.
What could be a sadder way to end a life than to die having never hunted with great dogs, good friends and your family?
Note...it was not 3 of them broken it was 4. One of which was not being fired, and broke when a prospective customer was just handling it in the shop. Empty. Never loaded.
Now, speaking just for myself, I don't care one way or another. I don't have a dog in the fight. If one breaks and I can't get the part I newed to fix it is costs me nothing, not even any time.
This thread started as someone asking for recommendations. I gave mine. And I said why the Tikka was on the bottom of my list I don't care if someone else have others. Tikka owners will probably never have a problem if we look at the numbers of broken bolts compared to the number of rifles sold. But if the reader has any sense at all, they will realize that the same comparison must be made with every makers guns. So how many other makers guns have you heard of that had their bolt bodys break? Remingtons do rarely come off, but can be put back. The solder joint can comes loose but no damage is done to the bolt body. Kimber
And if there were at least those other companies will replace them free.
That's why I put the Winchester, CZ 550 and Ruger M77s at the top.
quoting out of context is very common here, especially when someone talks bad about a tikka. Facts don't seem to matter....
Note...it was not 3 of them broken it was 4. One of which was not being fired, and broke when a prospective customer was just handling it in the shop. Empty. Never loaded.
Now, speaking just for myself, I don't care one way or another. I don't have a dog in the fight. If one breaks and I can't get the part I newed to fix it is costs me nothing, not even any time.
This thread started as someone asking for recommendations. I gave mine. And I said why the Tikka was on the bottom of my list I don't care if someone else have others. Tikka owners will probably never have a problem if we look at the numbers of broken bolts compared to the number of rifles sold. But if the reader has any sense at all, they will realize that the same comparison must be made with every makers guns. So how many other makers guns have you heard of that had their bolt bodys break? Remingtons do rarely come off, but can be put back. The solder joint can comes loose but no damage is done to the bolt body.
And if there were at least those other companies will replace them free.
That's why I put the Winchester, CZ 550 and Ruger M77s at the top.
If you told me that guys had Tikkas in scabbards and horses were rolling on em I’d buy it, but I find it very hard to believe that there isn’t a single thread on this forum or any other about T3 bolts breaking and IME after owning over a dozen of them and another dozen amongst friends that all of a sudden there is phenomenon in Riverton WY where Tikka bolts are breaking with some sort of regularity? C’mon man
Note...it was not 3 of them broken it was 4. One of which was not being fired, and broke when a prospective customer was just handling it in the shop. Empty. Never loaded.
Now, speaking just for myself, I don't care one way or another. I don't have a dog in the fight. If one breaks and I can't get the part I newed to fix it is costs me nothing, not even any time.
This thread started as someone asking for recommendations. I gave mine. And I said why the Tikka was on the bottom of my list I don't care if someone else have others. Tikka owners will probably never have a problem if we look at the numbers of broken bolts compared to the number of rifles sold. But if the reader has any sense at all, they will realize that the same comparison must be made with every makers guns. So how many other makers guns have you heard of that had their bolt bodys break? Remingtons do rarely come off, but can be put back. The solder joint can comes loose but no damage is done to the bolt body.
And if there were at least those other companies will replace them free.
That's why I put the Winchester, CZ 550 and Ruger M77s at the top.
If you told me that guys had Tikkas in scabbards and horses were rolling on em I’d buy it, but I find it very hard to believe that there isn’t a single thread on this forum or any other about T3 bolts breaking and IME after owning over a dozen of them and another dozen amongst friends that all of a sudden there is phenomenon in Riverton WY where Tikka bolts are breaking with some sort of regularity? C’mon man
Its a cheap gun made to meet a price point. Why is it so hard to believe that they may have problems?
I light of the last posts above I must say I didn’t read the whole thread but I still have an opinion 😀 With the budget and the weight constraints of the OP my choice and really the only one I can think of except maybe a Kimber Hunter would be Tikka T3x super light stainless all day long and twice on Sunday. In fact I just took my own advice and did just that now I’m having fun and making it my own.
Thanks, all! This has been a very helpful discussion. Based on the responses, which I tallied just for reference, the Kimber (Montana/Hunter, which I lump together) and Tikka get the most votes, with the Browning X-Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed coming in third. Those three were at the top of my list as well. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something I didn't know about. It appears not. Sounds like I can't really go too far wrong with any of them. Kimber and Browning are USA companies, although the Brownings are likely made overseas, not that that radically influences my decision one way or the other. Anyway, I need to go to a gunstore and fondle them some more. ;-)
It's threads like these that keep my head spinning all night with mental spreadsheets and lists of barrel lengths, safety style, stock options, and overall weights. Of course, if I had the budget, I'd buy each of the usual suspects when this thread comes up and only hang onto the one that rang the bells the best.
Thanks, all! This has been a very helpful discussion. Based on the responses, which I tallied just for reference, the Kimber (Montana/Hunter, which I lump together) and Tikka get the most votes, with the Browning X-Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed coming in third. Those three were at the top of my list as well. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something I didn't know about. It appears not. Sounds like I can't really go too far wrong with any of them. Kimber and Browning are USA companies, although the Brownings are likely made overseas, not that that radically influences my decision one way or the other. Anyway, I need to go to a gunstore and fondle them some more. ;-)
It's threads like these that keep my head spinning all night with mental spreadsheets and lists of barrel lengths, safety style, stock options, and overall weights. Of course, if I had the budget, I'd buy each of the usual suspects when this thread comes up and only hang onto the one that rang the bells the best.
Ha! That's me as well, shankbone. I've got just such a spreadsheet, and have analyzed it to death. But of course a spreadsheet can't tell you anything about how a gun shoots, how it feels in your hands, and whether it gives you what I call the "gooeys." ;-)
I thought Ruger discontinued the All Weather. That one at CDNN is....blued.
They are, for now, but still to be found. My first choice, but like the Vanguard SS (only SS Howa now available), it'll be tough to make weight and stay within budget. Both are rock-solid, but with weight to match.
I saw a lightly used Hawkeye AW listed for sale in .223 a couple of weeks ago. And I would've overlooked the weight because I really like everything else about it, but I was in the wrong place at the right time..... the search continues.
If you told me that guys had Tikkas in scabbards and horses were rolling on em I’d buy it, but I find it very hard to believe that there isn’t a single thread on this forum or any other about T3 bolts breaking and IME after owning over a dozen of them and another dozen amongst friends that all of a sudden there is phenomenon in Riverton WY where Tikka bolts are breaking with some sort of regularity? C’mon man
Its a cheap gun made to meet a price point. Why is it so hard to believe that they may have problems?
Because people run to the internet whenever something like that happens, ie Remington bolt handles falling off, My Kimber is POS and won’t feed or shoot correctly, etc... There are hundreds of Tikkas owned by Campfire members from all over the country that have used them from Alaska to Africa, yet not one person has mentioned a broken bolt, but I am to believe that in Riverton Wyoming (where my wife was born and raised by the way) a town of 10,000 people, there have been multiple broken bolts on Tikkas, just don’t get it.
