Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka rifle

i hear so much ranting and raving about a Tikka hunting so i ordered a laminated wood stock ,S.S., 30-06 i want tp just see how good of a rifle it is . i took the rifle out of the box rifle looks very nice , barrel is completely floated which i like ,trigger came set at 3 1/2 lbs. its a 2 position thumb type safety , this rifle is for a right hander, bolt locks with safety on , the magazine is nylon and also trigger guard makes it lighter i guess ,magazine is a single stack . has a good recoil pad . when i took rifle apart the reciever/ barrel is held up with some sticky pieces that i will change to glass bedding , the trigger is a metal box type like a Remington has which i do not like much . but overall its a nice rifle next will be range time to see how well it will shoot. the reason i got the old 30-06 cartridge they are easy to sell ,ammo is easy to find any place in the world ,and if i go to another country i would take this rifle because if i lost it would not bother me as much as my pride and joy rifles like my Ruger #1`s ,Winchester pre64`s and Savage 99`s .

I hear good things about Tikkas.

How heavy is the stock? Why laminate instead of synthetic?




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I like the feel and weight of the laminated ones. No mountain hunter here. I think they look better, too. I couldn’t find a laminated ‘06 last year so I bought the plastic one. Now I have both.

Plus , the plastic can cause gout. 😳

I had a T3 SS laminated in 270 , I replaced the lug with a Titanium lug and bedded it.

Comparing the Tikka Trigger to a Remington trigger is priceless. The only similarity is they are made of metal. Magazine is not nylon, and I have yet to see one break.

I bought a Tikka .260 Rem laminated for my daughter to shoot. Probably one of the best-looking rifles I've ever seen and it shoots great.

I just saw a nice used stainless Tikka T3x with the laminate stock the other day. Didn't seem too much heavier than the plastic stocked rifles I have. Nice rifles, regardless of whether they have laminate, plastic or wood stocks..

yes the Laminate stock with S.S. metal is great looking . i really like its floated already too. but i do not like the sticky fiber crap holding up the receiver so i ordered some new glass bedding kit to glass bed this rifle . then i will start working on a load. probably start with Mule Deer`s > little book of rifle reloading that works / Gun Gack IV.

How does it shoot? Or do you even know, before you "fix it"?

I'm on my fifth one right now. By all means do all the tinkering you want, but you might want to shoot it first. Im 72 and have owned more than a few rifles over the years. My retirement job was in a gun shop, and the owner jokingly called me a member of the gun a month club. Evey Tikka I've owned shot well out of the box. One was the most accurate factory gun I've ever owned.

^This ^
OP, She’s sounds like a beauty and a great caliber on top of that.
My tikka 06 loves 180 game kings at max load of hunter.

Never saw one with this "sticky fiber" stuff you are referring to. Never had a laminated stock version either though. My wood stock deluxe model doesn't have any of that stuff. Do you have pics?

What is the "sticky fiber crap" that you are referring to??? I sure would like to see a picture of it so we can know what you are referring to.

I cannot see any reason why you would glass bed it prior to shooting it. How so you know that it isn't just fine as is?
If you glass bed it before shooting it you do not have a baseline for comparison to see if you made any improvement or even possibly made things worse.

drover

Sticky Fiber doesn't exist .Lug on mine was in there solid but I replaced it anyway with a titanium lug. Shot great out of the box.

my new Tikka rifle has a fiber piece that sticks on the stock , the reason for bedding the rifle is it will make it more solid in the rifle that won`t get soft and wear out like the fiber piece on it now over a few years. as far as shooting this rifle before i glass bed it , it won`t happen i know from many past new rifles all rifles are better off glass bedded so why waste my time taking the rifle apart a bunch of times. even rifles with aluminum bedding blocks shoot better with some glass bedding on top of the aluminum block. besides with my bad shoulders the 30-06 cartridge is not that fun to shoot that much anymore at my age of 70 recoil sucks , so once this Tikka shoots under an inch maybe less with my handloads at 100 yards i am done.

Then why buy a 30-06 in the first place?

I agree with Bogtrotter. You might want to shoot it first. I have 4 now. I have set up several for my bil, nephew, and friends. 8 T3x's in the last 2 years. All have shot sub moa with factory ammo out of the box. I do not reload. It might take some trial and error before you find what it likes to shoot best. but when you find the one you will know. The only one that gave me a little trouble was my 308. It would shoot 1 moa but I couldn't get it much better than that. I changed the stock and recoil lug and it now shoots .75 moa. with factory ammo (Hornady 168gr ELDM's) None have been glass bedded.


^My first 270 with Factory Fiocchi 130gr 100yds^


^6.5 Creed Factory Hornady 130gr ELDM 100yds^


^270 #2 in a laminated stock shooting Factory Fiocchi 130gr 100yds^


^270 # 3 set this one up for my nephew. It likes Fed Fusion's 130gr.^


I know these are only 3 shot groups. But thats enough to tell me what they like to shoot. when you find out what they like, they will shoot great right out of the box.

Wonder what year they will chamber the 7 prc?

It’s going to piss me off when it outshoots the one I have being spun up.

I’m gonna have to get me one of those Tikkas.





P

I've owned several, shot several others. Never seen one that didn't shoot exceptionally well. I value the light weight, but they aren't too light. Mine come in between 7 1/4 to 7 1/2 lbs scoped which is about right for me.

My 1st Tikka was 30-06. But I decided some years ago that it was more gun than I needed. My current Tikka's are 6.5CM, 308, and 22 LR.

You should try one in 7/08.

I have just the recipe for loading it as well.


🦫

Partition, eld-x or accubonds?
Read somewhere that big game is excellent in that caliber

until i can get a Winchester extreme 30-06 model 70 , i could use this Tikka rifle on a Canadian moose hunt . i have plenty blued rifles i just want the best to hand down to my son and grandson in a 30-06 S.S. , Tikka is a good rifle but the Winchester extreme S.S. model 70 is the better rifle in my opinion, its all S.S. and the model 70 is the easiest bolt to strip down in any camp , i do have this Winchester on order but it has not shown up yet. plus the 30-06 is the one cartridge you can find ammo for any place in the world . for me the 30-06 is a great hunting cartridge but for target shooting to much recoil give me a 6 BR then. deer hunting in my camp i still use a Ruger #1 257 Weatherby mag. i may shoot 1 shot every 2 years at a good buck , Ruger #1`s are great in a enclosed deer stand because its short because #1 doesn`t really have an action saves 4 inches rifle swings easier in these types of enclosed stands.

Or 17 HMR

drover

I think my next one will be a 17 HMR. I got some critters that need to be taken care of.

Very nice. That is why I always suggest Tikka, when someone asks.

I'll be the odd man out and not bust your balls for wanting to glass bed your new rifle. I'd do the same thing, if it had what you are referring to as "sticky fiber" in between the stock and action. Doesn't seem right to me. I'd remove it and likely glass bed it, as well. I know from experience that if you don't, they loosen up over time. Those guys that don't, are fine to not do it to their rifles, but I know mine won't loosen up over time and lose precision/accuracy. To each their own.

I'd have to disagree there. The new Browing model 70 pales in comparison to the Tikka. If you want a good stainless model 70, find an early 5 or 6 digit classic. JMHO..

that`s what i really want is a early Winchester S.S. but i am lookin yet for one , but for now the Tika is ok

Winchester extreme SS rifles are unobtanium right now. A few months ago there were some 270's out there but they are now gone.


I still would not buy one, classic stainless is the way I would go.

Unless I bring down the trigger poundage I never take the action out of the stock at least when I first buy it. I shoot it before I start messing around with it.

i strip many of my new firearms right away ,i prefer to glass bed a new bolt action right away , i get better long time/ forever consistent accuracy then. i don`t care how it shoots out of the box i am not writing a book . i am doing what is needed to guarantee me the best accuracy for a hunting tool called a rifle.

I don't fix what is not broken when buying new . If there is an accuracy issue with gun then I can send it back . If it is a mint used gun I tear it apart no questions asked. Those that have questionable bedding get rebedded, triggers adjusted and cleaned down to bare metal in the bore.


That said I have never had to contact Beretta support concerning a Tikka or Sako(except A7 magazine) .

screw that,all wood stocks can change point of impact when the stock gets either wet or dry > glass bedding and sealing wood helps stop those problems. don`t believe everything thing you read that`s just B.S. . my guns when bedded always return barrel back to point of impact ,that`s the most important thing with a wood stock. most people will never ever have a consistent 100 yard 1/2 inch 5 shot group rifle to hunt with that has a wood stock , but if bedded and sealed it can be made to return to point of impact. >its my rifle i will do as i please and this rifle with my knowledge on glass bedding , sealing wood stocks and my handloading will preformed just fine and has always done much better than do nothing.

OP.
You bought tikka to see what the hype is? But you wont shoot it first to see for your self?
Got it !

if you seen how that fiber piece stuck to the wood looks you would glass bed the rifle too right away ,for being a nice rifle that is not a cheap rifle with this 10 cent fiber piece of chit stuck to the wood stock is almost shameful.

Wonder why they put it there. Do you have pics of it? I would have called them.

It’s a laminate FFS.

How bout posting up some pics of this 10 cent fiber piece? It's introducing a certain amount of bullshit to your post. Has anyone else experienced this 10 cent fiber piece? I have not. May be a bit of adhesive to hold the steel bedding lug in place during assembly..

i was wrong its a 10 cent piece of steel not aluminum 3/8 x 1 inch long 5/8 wide maybe i took out of the stock that had a groove type channel made for this piece to fit ,sure looked like a piece of plastic fiber was painted grayish black ,Wednesday the glass bedding will be here . probably would be ok for some people to use this piece of aluminum the way it is ? but that channel would fill up with water and be a problem in nasty weather , not at all impressed.

Some call it the recoil lug.

Snork!!!!!

It’s actually $17.99 at midway.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019285597

i talked to a person on here who shoots Tikka Rifles alot , he did explain to me more about Tikka rifles and that piece of steel under the reciever. the one in this Tikka rifle T3x was very loose so i will glass bed th steel piece in and maybe a little more too . once the snow goes down at my 100 yard rifle range i then can find out how well this rifle will shoot. this Tikka rifle does seem nice just the steel piece under the receiver seem very odd to me and being so loose it is a very nice looking rifle.

My apology for my snarky BS remark..

g

Pete, If your gonna glass bed it, you might want to get one of these. It's a Titanium replacement for the factory recoil lug. you can also get one in stainless steel. They are available on ebay or you can order straight from the factory. It's a nice upgrade. Especially if your gonna glass it in.

I keep seeing replacement recoil lugs and I don’t get it.

I shoot a lot less than some but a lot more than most and none of my Tikkas have a replacement. Sure, 7mm-08 and such isn’t an issue but I push my 7mm Rem Mag and .30-06 hard.

No issues.

But hey, it’s your money, if you feel better about a replacement lug go for it.




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It's just a better quality material. If its gonna be glass bedded its gonna be there for a long time.

I've shot the steel ones loose before. The receiver starts to eat into the aluminum and steel lugs. They always get replaced with a stainless lug now. It does happen, and it will affect your accuracy/precision. You generally won't see a change in accuracy, until after around 300 rounds, but it depends on what it's chambered for. I've bought some T3's that supposedly didn't shoot well, so they were priced low. All they needed was a new recoil lug. Just a FYI. You may not shoot as much as you think you do.

I also glass bed my Tikka's, so I'm not going to bust Pete's balls for wanting to make his right from the get go. Not a damn thing wrong with that way of thinking. Sounds like he's a Winchester guy, and that is what you do to those if you want a great shooting rifle that will be reliable for a lifetime of shooting. Most rifles benefit greatly from a proper glass bedding job. That's not guessing or bs.. Guys that don't know how to glass bed their rifles, tend to make excuses for why they are not doing it.

Great thinking^^^

^^^True statment^^^

I wish I could properly glass bed mine. They shoot great now. But properly done, glass bedding could only help. The problem for me is I have never done one. I'm afraid I will take a already great shooting rifle and screw it up on my first attempt. My thought, or excuse is, if it aint broke don't fix it. But I agree and wish all of mine were bedded. Maybe some day.

if you lived close to me i would help you fix and bed your rifle. where i live many many rifle guys have me bed their rifles and all were very happy. > and this Tikka i do now understand why Tikka did this metal plate piece was a cheap way to help accuracy that took very little time for a gun manufacture to install. i will probably never shoot more than 40-50 rounds thru this Tikka rifle its just a back-up hunting rifle, i don`t enjoy recoil much anymore . so once its glass bedded , that metal piece is also bedded in and the snow melts from my rifle range i will let every one know how well this rifle does shoot. Pete53

Thank you Pete for your generous offer. If I lived closer to you I would take you up on it. I'm sure glass bedding would eke a little more accuracy out of my T3x 308.

I’m pretty sure I shoot as much as I think I do.

That was a weird statement.




P

I'll be odd with you.

The T3 SS Swede got bedded before it got shot.
The barrel channel got opened to eliminate contact too.


I understand why you might not.
But the argument doesn't hold water.
If you shoot it as new, and it shoots well?
Do you bed it? Or not?
If not, you are in the same boat as the guy who bedded first and liked how his shot.

this Tikka 30-06 rifle is glass bedded with recoil lug now and put back together ,before i put rifle back together i cleaned the wood barrel channel and sealed the channel better with Tru-oil , i also clean the barrel real good with Wipe-Out and before i cleaned barrel it was very dirty. i did sight in rifle seems this rifle is going to shoot well. weather has been really nasty in Minnesota where i live snow storms , rain , so the clay ground is muddy and just dang ugly ,i do plan on shooting this rifle more soon and will post my progress . Pete53