Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka or Howa

I am seriously thinking about getting a new 308 Win and am leaning (based solely on reviews online) towards either the Tikka TX3 or a Howa 1500. Never handled either and no dealer around me has on on the rack. Both have good reviews and both have lots of options. In a few months I'll be down in the Dallas/Ft Worth area and can probably look at some while I am there. Looking for input from anybody that has one. If you were in the market, which would get your nod and why?

Another rhetorical question..

No, an honest question. Since I have never handled either I am looking for honest input. Either someone will give me some or they will post dumb comments like you just did.

I've owned both and liked both. I really like Howas but the Tikka is probably a better rifle overall. The Tikka is way lighter which is nice.

Both are great rifles. I prefer the Tikka as it is lighter and it handles better for ME. You cant go wrong with either. You really need to handle them both.

The basic Howa is a heavy gun, but is one of the most accurate factory rifles available. The new trigger is also nice. The old model trigger needed a smith to get a greeat pull I don't own one because they choose not to produce a left hand model. The Tikka is considerably lighter and they do make a left hand version and the triggers are nice, so that would be the way I would go. Either is a great choice for a right hand shooter.

Howa you ask this question? I tikka you know the answer!

Tikka

I have the tikka 308, and really like it. Its light, and accurate. Mine is topped with a SS 3x9 scope, and shoots quite well out to 600 yds. My rifle will shoot a consistent .75" 5 shot group at 100 yds. My son has a tikka 243, and it does about the same, maybe a little better. No cold bore issues, good adjustable trigger. I am shooting 155 grain lapua scenar hand loads in mine.Very accurate, very effective. I have no experience with the Howa, so I can't speak to them.

I've had both. Still have multiple Tikka rifles. The Howa isn't a bad rifle at all. Very traditional and they are accurate. But overweight for me, especially in a 308. Might be a better choice in a heavy recoiling magnum rifle.

Tikka is a bit modernistic and less traditional. But I've never seen one that didn't shoot, and they need nothing out of the box. Tikka is one of the lightest options, Howa one of the heaviest. Close to 2 lbs weight difference.

The Tikka that interests me, the CTR, is pretty heavy too.

There are lighter Howas now, but for a price beyond most Tikkas. They are solid guns with forged steel actions and one-piece bolts that take down with a twist. I’ve had a fair number, but now I only have Minis, which are great rifles for boomer-geezers. My Mini Grendel just made meat this afternoon in fact, a nice doe.

I don’t need any more rifles, but if I did, I might go for a Tikka just to see want all the fuss is about.

Tikka if I had to choose..

Have an older wood stocked Vanguard 243. A Howa.

A 6.5 Swede in a T3.

Prefer the Tikka.

The Howa is a brick. Too heavy for a sporter.

The Tikka is light.
I find it a little too light shooting off hand. How I shoot when hunting.

The Howa settles down and I shoot it better offhand.

Not a darn bit of help, but just how it is from this perspective.

I’ve had both.

Sold the Howa.

Another vote tikka.

I have owned both and the Tikka is lighter but I like the integral recoil lug on the Howa action better and I like the Howa 3 position safety better but the Howa's I owned were way too heavy for my taste. Howa now has a Superlite model built on a new intermediate size action that only weighs 4lb 7oz's chambered in .308 Win but they are more pricey AND not even stainless steel which is the deal breaker for me....I think you would be well pleased with a good ol Tikka T3x stainless 308 Win...Good luck...Hb

I have a very accurate Tikka Superlite 308 that I bought earlier this year, and I will deer hunt some with it in November. My only other Tikka was a 223, and it was also a very good shooting rifle. I also have a Howa 1500 in 6.5 Creedmoor that I put in a B&C stock, because I absolutely loathe the factory Hogue stock. I'll also hunt with it as well. It's even a better shooting rifle than the Tikka.

If I had to pick between the two, I'd choose the Howa, because I think they and their twin, the Weatherby Vanguard, are a better rifle than the Tikka.

I’m in north Dallas. I have a Tikka 223 and a Weatherby Vanguard in .30-06 and 300 Win Mag. Let me know if you want and Feel free to come by and check them out. You can take them for a spin if you want.

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