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The Tikka trigger is an added bonus over any of the RemChesters......

You bet they are! The pre X-40 triggers should not be tuned by anyone but an expert! Let a wannabe tune mine. Later on during season I flipped the safety off and it discharged! Could have been a freakin' nightmare!!! This is, as I've learned since, not as rare as one might think.

Never again does anyone but a REAL gunsmith get to mess with my rifles! Never!!!

My gunsmith would just as soon turf them for a Shilen...which is, IMHO, good advice.

I had a well known gunsmith adjust two of mine. Both of them eventually fired when flipped off safety, and neither of them were adjusted less than 3 pounds.

I even had one of the new X triggers go off after flipping off the safety. That trigger did not even have the sear etc, messed with. Only had the weight backed off to 4 pounds. The Remington groupies refuse to believe it, but lots of lawsuits say otherwise.

Have on in a 300WM. All I did was slap a Limbsaver on, load up some 168 TSX's and 200 Accubonds and fire away. Both bullets are shooting around 1/2" groups. Like many others have said, the bolt/action are like butter and the trigger is awesome. Took all but a couple of minutes to lighten it using their instructions on how to do so.

I agree with the Tikka praise. They're not perfect, but they're very good rifles, especially for the money.

The plastic is what it is, but I've never had a moment's problem with any of it; however, I just replaced a cracked bolt shroud on a stainless Remmy Mountain Guide - a rifle I love - but stuff can happen on any of them. This one came that way - ordered it from Gander sight unseen a while back.

The Tikka virtues have been pretty well described - slick action, incredibly consistent accuracy, Sako barrel, great trigger, etc. All true.

A couple of things that haven't been mentioned much which impress me very much with my Tikkas:

They aren't finicky. I have 3 and another I gave to a friend, and all shot every factory load I tried under an inch. The ability to have confidence that I can shoot a specific bullet and almost count on it being accurate - even in factory ammo - is very nice. I wanted to shoot 100 TSX's out of my 25-06 - wasn't set up to reload for it - bought a box of Federal 100 TSX's - .75 first group - go hunt. It shot 120 Fusions, 120 Fed Game Kings, a buddies 75 V-Max load and everything else I tried the same or better. A 30-06 in a T3 would probably be a do it all machine with all the bullet options which it almost certainly will shoot well.

Exact same story as above with 270 and 223...

Weight - nice to have a light, handy rifle that is this accurate;

Barrel contour - like the beef they left in the barrel - makes it balance nice and shoot easy with less muzzle jump.

Price...Trigger....Barrel....Action....Feeding....all impressive, IMHO.

Dislikes:

Not crazy about plastic, but it seems tough and functional;

One size fits all action - makes me lean to long actions in a Tikka, since I'm carrying it anyway. 25-06 and 270 are just about right, and the 223 shoots everything light and heavy, so I put up with the LA and bolt stop on it.

Not real pretty...grin.

Bottom line - when I shoot them and use them, the stuff I like about them really overshadows the stuff I don't like.

DJ

Nope I noticed the shroud was moving around more then usual when I cocked the handle. I took the bolt off and there it was. To undo the shroud you have to grab the shroud and turn it clockwise(If i remember it right until it stops) and it slides right off. YOu then can remove the handle and service the firing pin. I tried to break that piece of plastic off yesterday and could not with my hands. If I buy another one I will use it for a backup and I will be sure to post pictures of the rifle here




Now that is the first I heard of one of those cracking. They do make a lot of stuff with powdered metal so not surprised.

Agree 100%. I've reread my previous post and cannot find where the word "plastic" is used to describe the barrel that Oldelk keeps referring to.

I have looked at them several times. Each time I almost buy one, but in the end i cannot get myself to buy because of the feel of the rifle. With all of the plastic it just feels like it would break to me. That being said everyone that I know who has one loves them. They all seem to shoot good and they have not had any problems with the plastic. For me though when I am holding a rifle in my hands I don't want to have it feeling like it was mad by fisher price.

They really are a good value compared to guns that cost even hundreds of dollars more. Sako and Tikka have such high QC that everything that comes out of that plant is identical. That is the mark of knowing what they are doing and pride in workmanship. Even if they use plastic Barrels

I have had two tika rifles !!! They both prefered reloads at the very top of the reload weight !!! The first was a 695 white taile hunter in 25-06 . That rifle truned out to be a sub moa gun with 100 gr barnes mole coated boat tail and 62 gr of hodg 4831sc !!! The one i have now is a t3 light ss 270WSM and it is just like the first one it likes the load as high as you can go !!!! I am loading barnes TRX 110 gr bt with 67 gr of hodg 100v hybrid ( awsome powder ) with this load iam getting 1/2 and when i do my part below moa for me there are only two makes of rifles i will own now tika and savage
shoot sright shoot far and shoot safe

Ever chronograph that 110 grain TRX load? I would be interested to know what kind of velocity you are getting?

yep and on average it is running at 3342 to 3368 !!! that is why i have feel in love with H100v hybrid very consistant powder ! The next best is with H4350 at 67 gr same round the 110 trx it comes out at 3400 to 3465 still very consistant but has a bit more recoil than i like !

shoot far shoot stright shoot safe

Problem solved....go buy a stainless laminated version if you can find one.

heavywalker said:

It's the same with me. In fact, I don't own any rifle with a synthetic stock. I can come very close to buying one, nearly put down my hard earned money for it, but I just can't get past that last hesitation.

I know they have a reputation for accuracy and they were my top pick back in 2004 when I was looking for a 6.5x55 SE. They had been back ordered for about a year in that caliber when I finally gave up and bought a CZ 550 American. The Turkish walnut is gorgeous and I never get more compliments on a gun than when I take it to the range. I haven't regretted the decision one bit.

I looked at the Tikka's again last year when I was again ready to buy. Again, I loved the smooth action and many people heaped lots of praise on them. But I just can't get myself to own a rifle with that much plastic or a synthetic stock. Funny, as it doesn't seem to bother me as much with a pistol. I have a Springfield XD-9 and I love it.

Just one of my quirks I suppose.

They build the T3 with wood stocks and blue steel.
Handle one of those.

I would, but I've never seen one in stock. No one around me stocks anything but the synthetic stocked Tikka's.

There are a bunch of new T3 Hunters in walnut for sale on GunsAmerica.

Tikka T3 Hunter $629.99 new - Joe's Sporting Goods

Tikka Model T3 Hunter Bolt Action Rifle JRTA343 ... $558.00 new - Able's

tikka (beretta usa) t3 hunter rifle, jrta343, rh ... $547.55 new - Midwest Hunters Outlet

I have 2 T-3 Lites - a .300 Win Mag (with a limbsaver pad!) and a .243. Both are extremely accurate, and the loads I have developed for them shoot pretty much to the sam POI at the ranges I will shoot at. I love the light weight and the accuracy. I got a good deal on them when my brother worked at Bolsa Gunsmithing, a factory Beretta/Tikka/Sako/Browning repair shop.

I have a 595 LH in 7-08 that is a bit heavier than the newer T-3, but is every bit as accurate and smooth. While not happy with the plastic parts in the T-3, for the most part they seem to work. My chief complaint is not with the rifle, but with Beretta. The Left-hand guns are made in the same calibers and models as the right hand guns, but Beretta will only import them in the "standard" calibers(270/30.06/300 mag along with the "wildly"popular 270/300 WSM) I can not even special order a left-hand 6.5x55, or even 25-06! If I want a left-hand 6.5x55, I am out of luck - no, wait - I can special order one from Savage! Guess Beretta loses another sale due to their bean counters discounting the left-hand market(again!) But I'm not bitter! And I don't need the 25-06 now that I have my left-hand 257 Roberts made by - Savage!