Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What makes Tikka rifle so popular?

I'm not at all familiar with Tikka rifles but they seem to be gaining in popularity. It's my understanding that they are made buy the same company/ownership as Sako. What makes them unique when they are so many "box" rifles to choose from?

Accuracy. Tikkas are usually VERY accurate, especially the heavy-barreled models, which have lapped bores. But the Superlite model (slim fluted barrel) is also light enough for a lot of "mountain hunters." One of my own Tikkas is a Superlite .260 Remington, and the group shot with it while checking the scope last fall before hunting season was just under half an inch--from a rifle that weighs 6-3/4 pounds with scope.

Tikkas are indeed made by the same "company/ownership" as Sako. In fact they're made in the Sako factory in Finland, and use the same barrels as Sakos.

Generally they are trouble free out of the box, offered in many calibers with an appropriate twist rate or choice in some calibers, they do not need to be 'trued' 'lapped' or any other tricks to make them shoot well.

The triggers are very good and adjustable by the user, there is a big and growing aftermarket for customization.

The Tikka rifles have excellent barrels, the heavy varmint contours are on par with any good aftermarket brands, the actions are smooth (with no smithing work to make them so).

The only thing I do is bed the action, this aids in consistency, but for hunting is totally unnecessary.

They are reasonably priced for what you get, what you get is solid performance.

Some do not like the feel of plastic (actually a polymer) but it will stand up to rugged use and is actually quite stiff.

With best handloads they will hold in the 0.3-4 moa range for 5 shots and 0.7-0.8 range for 10 shots, this is at 1000 yards.

I have 4 Tikkas now.They all shoot sub inch and better.The trigger is the same as a Sakos.It is hard to argue with a rifle that you don`t have to dink around with to get to be able to shoot good in their price range.

Interesting, thanks!

They are a "Plug and Play" rifle - choose your caliber, put a scope on it - go out and shoot good groups or go hunting.
No drama, no having to bed, adjust trigger, they shoot good with factory ammo and respond well to practically any good handload.

There are other rifles I like the looks of better, and there are other rifles that feel better to me but I have never owned rifles that were so consistent with good performance with no rework being required.

I have a gunsmith friend in Canada who is building on the T-3 and I asked him his opinion of why they shot so well - his answer was "they are the truest out of the box actions I have ever worked on and generally rival most custom actions in tolerances".

drover

I was on the fence about buying a Tikka rifle, then I did it. I'm glad i did too. Like others have said, it's easy to make it shoot well. I have the T3-x in a 7-08, no regrets on this one.

I did paint my stock. I think it looks better now.

Have a good day.

That's great to know about the heavy barrels. So far have only owned the stainless Lite models - no complaints there at all - but just bought a T3x Varmint in 6.5 CM last week and have another Varmint model in .223 coming in a few days. Darned rain has kept me off the range this weekend but hopefully will get out in a few days to see what the Creedmoor can do.

These two make my 5th and 6th Tikkas, bought for all the reasons already listed.

My first was a T3 bought a few years ago and I'm glad they made those changes to the T3x stock. The checkering is grabbier and it feels better in the hand.

Produced on CNC machines by well paid and trained workers.

Tikka rifles cost almost twice as much in Europe then in the US..


Quality barrel
Quality trigger
Quality plastics
Better then most factory stocks


Its a "sportorized" Sako TRG-22..

If tikka rifles were $1500 I'd still buy one to hunt with and rebarrel it when needed for the rest of my days. Yes there that good


Trystan

This explains why there hasn't been a trace of copper fouling on either of my CTR's.

Thank you for this insight.

Unless you fat fingered a zero. 0.7-0.8 10 shots at a 1000 yards! Film it and show us, I call bull Schiff on that one! I have a 7-08 Tikka it shoots good but not that good. Maybe at 200 yds if I'm having a super day.

Yep.

Looks like a Tikka to me.

I wondered the same thing and the few I knew that had one all said the same thing, "tack drivers" out of the box. So I bought a Superlite in 6.5 Creed and cut the barrel at 22 inches and tossed a 3-9 SWFA on it and by golly, "tack driver".

I liked it so much that I bought the big CTR in 6.5 Creed for range use and put a Bushnell 4.5-18 LRHSi on it and "tack driver". I mean every one that shoots that big gun from the bench is a "tack driver". Good barrel, good trigger, etc.

I am now thinking a 21" barreled peep sighted Superlite in .358 Winny with a 10 round mag. might make a good "tack driver" big bear gun for hikes here in Alaska and when fishing the salmon streams. Or how about a Superlite in the 7mm WSM, a real long range "tack driver".

I like the rifles and I am a hard core walnut and blued steel Mod. 70 user since I was a kid.

It is in the public record, 8.00" at 1038 yards. it got me a 3rd place finish in our club event in the unlimited class. Tikka Tactical in 300 wm, 185 Berger Juggernauts, 75.75gn RL-22, 3005 ft/s, ES 8 ft/s

Axtell,

I suspect our friend Heym06 thinks "MOA" means "inch:"--which is pretty common. Dunno why, but quite a few shooters don't understand that minute of angle (MOA) increases proportionally with distance, so is NOT a simple, constant inch. (In fact it isn't even an inch at 100 yards, but slightly more.)

Had the same thing occur a couple years ago when I mentioned owning a 6.5-06 that would consistently average three shots into 1/2 MOA at 600 yards. One guy got really upset, calling BS on "half-inch groups at 600."

Heym06,

One minutes of angle is 1/60 of a degree, which at 100 yards is 1.047 inches, not one inch. It increases proportionately with range:

200 yards--2.094"
300 yards--3.141"
600 yards--6.282" (1/2 MOA at 600 is 3.141")
1000 yards--10.470"

The math is very simple. What's not simple, apparently, is convincing shooters that one inch is not one MOA.

Mule Deer = The gift of tact.

Jealous... cause I DON'T have that gift!

I'm not convinced that any math is simple.....but I'm convinced that I'm going shopping for a Tikka