Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka woe becomes Tikka whoa! Or,: More of the Tikka love fest

The Prologue: Something Wicked this Way Comes (Think along the lines of the Bradbury novel, not he line from Macbeth.)

I�ve never bought a Savage rifle. I know friends who have them, and I know they are accurate, I just didn�t like some of their features. When the Tikkas started to get more popular, I felt the same way. Besides the features I don�t like, they seem, I don�t know, inexpensive. I like CRF all stainless rifles. (Rugers and Winchesters.) But I have a couple friends who like their Tikkas a lot. Then I had a friend last December who bought one at S.W. when I was with him. We stopped at my house and I mounted his Leupold 3.5-10 he just bought with a Sinclair lapping rod. I put it in some Warnes he bought and put the Limbsaver on. Then we drove out to the range. To summarize, it was incredibly accurate. This is with no break-in and two brands of factory ammo. (Rifle was a left hand 30-06 stainless T-3 Lite.) I started to get the itch for one

I started playing with a few more T-3 lites. I really liked the way they felt. I started a thread asking about their durability. https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...&topic=0&Search=true#Post2051850
Most people said they really liked theirs. Then one guy said the plastic bolt shroud broke on his and I thought, �Yep, cheap junk.� Then another guy, a guy who backpack hunts in central Alaska (something I�ve done several times and something I see as a great proving ground for rifles and gear) said that he had two of the stainless t-3s rust on trips. And again I thought the rifles must be cheap. The thread then went on to say how durable Rugers are, and since I like Rugers I thought I�d just stay with what I have.
But I still had the itch to try one. So I did.

Part 1: The Agony
I bought a stainless T-3 in .270 in Win. I went home and put a proven Leupold 2.5-8 on it in the factory rings and screwed on the Limbsaver. I headed out to the range with handloads of three different 150 grain bullets and lots of different charges of H4831, H4350, and R22. I shot one and cleaned, shot two and cleaned and followed that pattern till I�d slowly burned up a box and had the gun dialed in.
I settled down for groups. Of all the groups I shot (three shot strings, letting the barrel cool), the best was 1.7 inches, the worst was 2.9, the average was 2.3, Ouch. All the screws were tight. I looked at the gun and noticed that my floated barrel wasn�t floated. It was for about the first four inches back, but there was contact under the front sling stud, then there was contact at a cross support a few inches behind that, then the stock was contacting the barrel all the way back to the receiver after that. So I went home and got the Dremel out. I floated it, but now the stock feels a little flimsy. Grrrr.Back to the range.

My groups dropped to an average of 1.9. (I didn�t shot as many, something was still not right.) I had also loaded up some Horn. 140 BTSP with the H4831 this time. I looked at the gun. My scope rings were slipping forward. A lot. I couldn�t believe I hadn�t noticed it before. Everything felt tight, but I remounted the scope again. (Yes, the front ring was pushed forward.) I put some masking tape on the scope and rings and drew witness marks on them. I fired again, and yep, the rings were slipping, and the scope was slipping in the rings. So I ordered a pair of Talley�s from the shop here.

Part 2: The Ecstasy
I headed back to the range. The last time the gun seemed to like the 140s best, so I had loaded more of them up. My first three (three shot ) 100 yard groups went under .6 My three at 200 averaged 1.1 and at 300 my three groups averaged 2.6. I am still smiling just thinking about it. (And it has been awhile. I�ve had a heavy BDL with a 6-24 Elite on it (Timney, bedded, et cetera) and three worked over target Ar-15 that shot well. This Tikka shots just as well or better for about a third the cost. I am happy.

The Epilogue: The Unbearable Lightness of Being
I love the way this gun feels. The rifle with scope and rings weighs less than seven punds four ounces. It balances well. If it holds up, this will be my new favorite gun. (I now live in south-east Idaho instead of Alaska, so the rust won�t be nearly as much a concern.) While I�m not ready to switch my analog watch in for a digital, the gun is less inelegant to me now I�ve been shooting it. I feel like I have a laser. Ballons, milk jugs, and distant rocks all feel like a sure thing at the ranges our club has. (300 yards, from prone over my daypack.) I need to head out to the sage to give this a better workout. While the rifle can�t be top loaded, has a lot of plastic and blue parts in a stainless rifle, a little extractor and a plunger ejector, and a clip that might get lost, it has a good soul and it will get to play this fall.

It amazes me the swing in opinion that you hear about these guns!

about the same as i feel about my lefthanded tikka t-3 lite in 270win,its a great little gun for the price.

nice post!i've killed a bunch of deer and a few bear with those 140btsp bullets. 4 different 270's i've owned all them well.

Was the scope moving, the first time you took it out? Wondering what fixed it, the dremel work, or the rings, or both?

Glad is is working out for you now.

I took my new left hand T-3 .308 Win to the range last weekend and fired six shots. the first three using 165 grain hornady BTSP over IMR 4895 went into 0.5 inches at 100 yards. The next 3 using 150 grain accubonds went approx. 0.4 inches. These were handloads I had left over from my 7600 .308 Win. The right-handed 30-06 I recently sold was also very accurate shooting around 0.5-0.6 inches all day long at 100 yards (3 shots). They are lightweight, accurate, and smooth. I was nervous about the plastic at first but it seems as tough as nails. Awesome rifles.

Happy B-day.
BMT

Tikka woe or Tikka whoa . . . sounds like another Tikka ho!


Please don't take this wrong. I couldn't resist.



_

Some Tikkas are fussy. I have two of them, and the only way I can get better than an 1 1/2 inch group out of either one of them is to trudge out to the 300 yard bunker, pick up my targets, move them back to 100 yards. Then, I can get sub inch groups. Funny how that works...
TIC

Fred

IDMilton:

Your story is making me feel better and better. I have a Tikka T3 Hunter on order (6.5x55) and can't wait to get it to the range. The bad news is that Tikka are falling behind on their orders because of their popularity and I won't get delivery of mine until sometime in October or November.

Out of curiosity, what # Limbsaver fits the Tikka ?

IDMilton,
You may want to try some factory Federal TSX and Accubonds. Something may be wrong with your handloads.

The correct limbsaver is the one listed for the sako 75.

Warning, despite the defaults (I would love to see at least alum bottom metal and cheaper mags) they are addicting and depressing. My Tikka Varmint .223 is beating a blueprinted M700 with a Pacnor supermatch barrel at every distance with almost every load for about 1/2 the cost.

Yor initial paragraph about the guy in Alaska was me (both the bolt shroud and rust issues). I owned 3 of them at one time 270 Win, 7mm, and a 300 WM. I'll never argue with anyone that Tikkas are good shooters, it was everything else about the rifle that I ended up not liking. I dont own any of them anymore. Glad yours is making you happy though, as thats all that matters.

I love mine... and will be getting more of them I know.....

The Limbsaver part # for the Tikka is 10011. The part# fits the Sako and the recessed synthetic Ruger stocks too.

I like Tikka rifles...I recently sold my T3 SS/syn 308 to a buddy from AZ...I worked up a good load for it using RE15 & 165 SGKs..he came here in June to pick it up..he never even saw the rifle until the day he shot it...one fowling shot killed a rock @ 140 yds..then the next three on paper @ 100 punched a .50" hole w/three rds...scope was a 3200 3-10 compact mounted in Burris Signature rings..he was happy with his purchase...also having my T3 6.5x55 lam/ss that day..I said try this one..he called it 'an old man's gun'...I said kill a rock...then three on paper...the three on paper punched a .48" @ 100 yds...he is now a Tikka shooter....the sythetic stock models all seem to need the barrel channel sanded out some to keep the barrel away from the stock...

Do you know if it also fits wood stocks? For me, a stock is not a stock unless it's wood. That's why I ordered the Hunter.

Now....only if you could get a 'Laminated SS Varmint' T3 in 223 in the USA...or 20 Vartarg...or 20 Practical.......or 260....

only if the t3 came in 257wby

....Amen brother

The Limbsaver site lists the 10011 as fitting "most" Tikka T3's, both synthetic and wood. It says to check the template page to be sure.
Here is the link to the template drawing.
http://www.limbsaver.com/pdfs/templates/rptemplates/10011.pdf

I too love a nice walnut stock but the only lefthand T3's available for under $380 was the T3 Lite with it's synthetic stock so I purchased one of these.