Tikka T3 Lite SS 6.5x55? - 24hourcampfire

Tikka T3 Lite Stainless in 6.5x55.
Thinking real hard on this.

Opinions?

Yes or No? Why?

Price?

Why not?

You'll never find better prices on them than right now. Except for next month maybe if they still have any left.

Europtic.com has one for $549, doesn't say how many they have.

Yes. I have (and do) own a few T-3's, each and every one of them shot sub MOA right out of the box. Good barrel, good trigger that is easily adjustable. Nothing to do except add a scope and go shoot.

drover

I have one in 6.5x55, and so do a couple of hunting partners. For each of us, they are one of the most accurate rifles we own. Mine won't always shoot 1/2" 5 shot groups, but it will do that pretty dang regularly. My 6.5 has quickly become one of my favorite rifles. I've tried a bunch of bullet and powder combinations, and it just shoots them all, with the best getting pretty close to the 1/2" accuracy noted above for 5 shot groups. I've found good loads for 120 NBT's, 130 NAB's, and my favorite 140 NAB. Fantastic rifle!

Here you go - don't dawdle or you'll be sorry.

http://www.eurooptic.com/JRTB351-Tikka-T3-Lite-Bolt-Action-Stainless-65x55-Swedish-Ri.aspx

You can thank me later.

drover

After he thanks me first...

"You'll never find better prices on them than right now. Except for next month maybe if they still have any left. wink

Europtic.com has one for $549, doesn't say how many they have."

Originally Posted by drover

Here you go - don't dawdle or you'll be sorry.

http://www.eurooptic.com/JRTB351-Tikka-T3-Lite-Bolt-Action-Stainless-65x55-Swedish-Ri.aspx

You can thank me us later.

drover

Fixed it.

drover

Pulled the trigger on this. Be here Thursday. Now do I put the 2.5-8x32 Conquest, 3.5-10x44 MeoPro or the 3-9x40 Conquest #4 on it? Hmmmm

If those are your options, the #4 would be great in South Ark.

I would likely run a 6x Leupold, or perhaps a low to mid range VX-2 or VX-3.

My Last Swede was a Ruger K1-A, dumped a buck at about 275 yards late one evening across a field, he was in some brush. Had a 6x with #4.........one of my fave reticles for K.I.S.S. set up. Fast to use....

Originally Posted by 65BR

If those are your options, the #4 would be great in South Ark.

I would likely run a 6x Leupold, or perhaps a low to mid range VX-2 or VX-3.

My Last Swede was a Ruger K1-A, dumped a buck at about 275 yards late one evening across a field, he was in some brush. Had a 6x with #4.........one of my fave reticles for K.I.S.S. set up. Fast to use....

How do you run a Leupold?

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...s_it_make_you_sound_cooler_#Post11363232

P

A 6.5 Swede in anything has to garner a yes!!

Originally Posted by magshooter1

Pulled the trigger on this. Be here Thursday. Now do I put the 2.5-8x32 Conquest, 3.5-10x44 MeoPro or the 3-9x40 Conquest #4 on it? Hmmmm

Not a contest but mines here Tuesday. 😄

VX2 2-7 most likely if not a 2-7 Zeiss Terra or something else I'm not using.

Pharmseller, not sure what you are asking? Config?

Originally Posted by 65BR

Pharmseller, not sure what you are asking? Config?

Just yanking your chain.

Read the link.

P

I hunted a T3 Hunter Grade 6.5 Swede for a couple years with a 3x9x40 Buckmaster on it...not great scope but not bad either...always felt like the BM was not enough scope to take full advantage of the Swede's accuracy at distance, and really like the idea of the 3.5x10 Meopro on a T3 as a doall shooter anywhere.

DA me swapped the Swede off, and later when I could not replace the Swede in a T3, picked up a T3 Hunter Grade 260 & a Minox ZA5 HD 2-10x50 30mm right before Doug came out with that Meopro. Not unhappy at all with the Minox...just a little larger scope than I like handling wise, but if/when it breaks I'll go back with the Meopro this time...and put the Minox on a larger rifle umm like a M70 Sporter.
Ron

Rifle arrived yesterday. Surprised but not bothered by the fact that it came with blued swivel studs and blued sling swivels. Most SS rifles I've dealt with had SS studs and swivels. Don't care for the silver finished rings that came with it. Still have to figure out which scope to top it with. Leaning toward the Conquest 2.5-8x32 over the Conquest 3-9x40, MeoPro 3.5-10x44, also available is a Docter 3-10x40. Decisions, decisions, decisions. LOL

The rings aren't pretty for sure. I used a set of the Leupold STD rings and bases, and they look good and function flawlessly. I'm a Leupold guy through and through so can't help you on the scope.

As for the rifle. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine. It's been a stellar cartridge, and might be the most accurate rifle in my safe.

I have a 6.5x55 hunter coming Monday.

blairvt - nice to hear it'll be in on Monday. Know how to tell a "Swede" shooter? Easy, he likes meat-balls in a creamy sauce with noodles and shops at IKEA. Most other shooters like theirs with pasta - LOL. Enjoy your "Swede" - I do mine! Homesteader

Originally Posted by JohnChilds

The rings aren't pretty for sure. I used a set of the Leupold STD rings and bases, and they look good and function flawlessly. I'm a Leupold guy through and through so can't help you on the scope.

As for the rifle. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine. It's been a stellar cartridge, and might be the most accurate rifle in my safe.

This'll be my second Swede. Have a CZ 550FS that shoots Sub MOA but, is a tad on the heavy side. Plus I 'needed' another foul weather rifle. lol

the only thing that might be better than than a Tikka in 6.5x55 Swede is one in 300 WSM, I have several in both and still can't decide which is better.... damn 6.5mm addiction anyway
.....

magshooter1 - +1 on owning both the Tikka and CZ550FS in the Swede. One might be a tad heavy BUT where else can you have the panache of a full stock rifle in a classic 6.5mm caliber AND the the weather resistance of the Tikka T3 Lite Stainless. One just won't do so you need both - IMHO. Homsteader

Originally Posted by Homesteader

magshooter1 - +1 on owning both the Tikka and CZ550FS in the Swede. One might be a tad heavy BUT where else can you have the panache of a full stock rifle in a classic 6.5mm caliber AND the the weather resistance of the Tikka T3 Lite Stainless. One just won't do so you need both - IMHO. Homsteader

My thinking exactly Homesteader. I've had the 550FS since 1999 IIRC. It shot well with both factory loads I tried and shoots really well with my recipe. People can say what they will about the hogback stock but it positions my eye just right for the scope. The Tikka, well it's light and ready for foul weather and should shoot very well if my past experience with Tikka rifles hold true. Their younger brother my Steyr SBS96 Forrester in .260 Rem. may get jealous.

Originally Posted by blairvt

I have a 6.5x55 hunter coming Monday.

When you get it could you let us know how it's throated? Apparently lots of 6.5x55 chambers still have very long throats to fit the old military ammo.

I have a T3 6.5x55 in both blue and stainless.

My stainless wears a walnut? stock Tikka must have been trying as a prototype. They popped up on ebay one day and I picked one up. I should have bought them all. Decent figure and the ? is because they are nearly as light in weight as the plastic stocks, so probably not walnut but the figure makes them look like walnut. It's not painted on either.

The only rifle I've shot more one hole groups with than those two is a .223 Cooper Varmint.

And yes, they have a very long throat. Mine like the bullets seated deep, too.

I'd strongly recommend going to Talley's or Warnes and leave the supplied rings in the box. Leupold's or Burris would be fine, too, but the supplied rings need different screws to get them tight enough for the scope not to slide under recoil. Even with a 6.5x55. I also have an '06 and of course, that's worse, as was my 270 WSM.

Thanks for that info. I received my MRC 1999 6.5x55 last night and the very long throating in it is almost exactly the same as my 101 year old M96 Swedish Mauser. No problem, the proof is in the shooting which I'll find out about this weekend, just wanted to verify. It looks like that long throat is standard for 6.5 Swede chambers.

I have Talley LW lows on the way. Be here tomorrow or Thursday. I like Warne but they are heavy. That's why I'm thinking Talley LW's and most likely the Conquest 2.5-8 as it's the lightest of the scopes I have on hand. Never made sense to me to by a compact or LW rifle and top it with a big heavy scope.

I've been playing around with a stainless, plastic stock T3 6.5 Swede for about 6 months now. It has the 1/8 twist barrel and I topped the rifle with a Fixed 6 SWFA MQ.

For load development I settled on reloader 17 and have tried the accubond 130, hornady 143 ELD-X and nosler 142 lr.

The rifle is a consistent 2" 500 yd rifle with the ELD-X and 45 gr of 17 with Lapua brass. The ELD-X is loaded .005 of the lands and my Tikka is not long throated as some have mentioned. I'm assuming they have older T3s that are 1/10 twist rifles.

The 130 accubond printed 3 shots into an inch at 300 yds with the first load of 47 gr of reloader 17. I didn't shoot any further with that load.

142 lr printed 3 1/2" at 500 pretty consistent. That was .005 off the lands and I seated some .030 deeper and I'll see what happens.

I'd recommend the T3 in the 6.5 Swede and I'd highly recommend the Fixed 6 SWFA with the 30 MM medium warn rings to top it with. I've printed under 4" at the 700 yd line with my fixed 6 and 20 yds it's clear as can be. It's my most versatile setup I've had in 30 + years.

Shod

Originally Posted by Shodd

I've been playing around with a stainless, plastic stock T3 6.5 Swede for about 6 months now. It has the 1/8 twist barrel and I topped the rifle with a Fixed 6 SWFA MQ.

For load development I settled on reloader 17 and have tried the accubond 130, hornady 143 ELD-X and nosler 142 lr.

The rifle is a consistent 2" 500 yd rifle with the ELD-X and 45 gr of 17 with Lapua brass. The ELD-X is loaded .005 of the lands and my Tikka is not long throated as some have mentioned. I'm assuming they have older T3s that are 1/10 twist rifles.

The 130 accubond printed 3 shots into an inch at 300 yds with the first load of 47 gr of reloader 17. I didn't shoot any further with that load.

142 lr printed 3 1/2" at 500 pretty consistent. That was .005 off the lands and I seated some .030 deeper and I'll see what happens.

I'd recommend the T3 in the 6.5 Swede and I'd highly recommend the Fixed 6 SWFA with the 30 MM medium warn rings to top it with. I've printed under 4" at the 700 yd line with my fixed 6 and 20 yds it's clear as can be. It's my most versatile setup I've had in 30 + years.

Nice!

I've got an assortment of 6.5 bullets including the 129g ABLR. Have R-17 on hand and will be using Nosler brass. Scope is most likely gonna be a Conquest 2.5-8x32 in Talley LW's.

Shod

Magshooter,

Your setup should make for a nice lite rifle. 😃 I've got 2 other tikkas with Zeiss Terra 3-9X42 that I use for mountains and hunting where I do a lot of hiking. The Super Sniper I put on my Swede is kinda heavy but I'm planning on useing that rifle mostly for Eastern Montana hunting where long shots are usually the norm.

I could easily see myself going with a setup exactly like you've explained and useing my Swede for packing in the mountains of Western montana. I'd probably load it with a Barnes 120 or 130.

Best of luck with your new rifle and hunting this year

Shod

Shod,

Do you like the Zeiss Terra's? I know when they came out there was a lot of disappointment (from the shooting forums) because they weren't deemed as good as the Conquest. Lately I've heard that while that may be true they ARE good scopes.

I have a T3 Stainless synthetic in 6.5 Swede, and I haven't found a load yet that shoots over an inch at 100 yards. Took five different loads to the range one day ... Two different bullets and three different powders, and I was looking for the best deer load. Smallest group shot off makeshift rest was a tad over 0.6" and the largest was 0.9". The answer I got was ....... Shoot whatever you want, cause if you miss, it isn't the rifles fault.

I love mine.

Quote

I'm assuming they have older T3s that are 1/10 twist rifles.

I don't think so. I've had my stainless one for at least 15 years and never heard of anything besides 1/8 from Tikka in the T3's.

Originally Posted by Jim in Idaho

Why not?

You'll never find better prices on them than right now. Except for next month maybe if they still have any left.

Europtic.com has one for $549, doesn't say how many they have.

They are down to single digits ....

Originally Posted by RickyD

Quote

I'm assuming they have older T3s that are 1/10 twist rifles.

I don't think so. I've had my stainless one for at least 15 years and never heard of anything besides 1/8 from Tikka in the T3's.

My T3 is a 1:8 twist. It is likely about 8 or so years old.

Originally Posted by magshooter1

Shod,

Do you like the Zeiss Terra's? I know when they came out there was a lot of disappointment (from the shooting forums) because they weren't deemed as good as the Conquest. Lately I've heard that while that may be true they ARE good scopes.

Magshooter,

I have a conquest on a Sako Finnbear and I have 2 Terra's on T3s. I actually prefer the Terra 3 on a Tikka because it's lighter and more compact than the Conquest. I haven't had any issues with the Zeiss Terra 3. My 270 T3 with a Terra has around 1100 rounds downrange and has been hunted for 3 years. The Conquest from what I can see has slightly better glass but not by much. IMO it's not enouph to make any difference in any hunting situation. I like my Terra 3 well enouph I bought a 3rd scope when they went on sale at sportsman warehouse for $230 a while back. The Terra 3s I have all have the RZ6 reticle and the parralax on those scopes is set at 300 yds. I've shot under 3" at 500 yds with the Terra 3 a lot more than once.

As far as I can tell the Terra 3 is just as reliable as the Conquest with glass that is pretty close with an advantage on weight and more compact. The eye relief however is about 1/2" less than the Conquest is. Its not an issue for me on the non magnums I use the Terra scopes on.

Shod

Thanks Shod. I like the specs on them myself. Good to here some real world usage results. Probably pick up one for myself. How big is the ocular end compared to the
conquest?

I wound up robbing a Diavari MC 3-9x36 from another rifle for the 6.5x55 Tikka. Now on to load development.

Here's a few suggestions that have worked well with both of mine:

49.8 grains of Ramshot Magnum works great in both of mine with 140 Partitions.

47.5 grains of RL19 with 130 TSX's.

51.5 of RL19 with 100 NBT's.

I don't recall the exact grain weight of IMR4831 under a 130 Accubond but know it was half a grain under max.

Many of the above loads have been deprecated by corporate lawyers but they were accepted at one time and still are by me.

Work up, if you use any of the above.

RL 19 typically works good for anything up to 130, and RL22 with 140's, overall. I tried the RS Magnum a few years back and it worked great with the Partitions. Good cup and core bullets are all that is needed with a Swede, but the Partions add a little heavy bone insurance with good expansion in most anything. Since they can often be found as blems at considerable savings, I often use them.

Originally Posted by magshooter1

Thanks Shod. I like the specs on them myself. Good to here some real world usage results. Probably pick up one for myself. How big is the ocular end compared to the
conquest?

I wound up robbing a Diavari MC 3-9x36 from another rifle for the 6.5x55 Tikka. Now on to load development.

Magshooter,

I'm on vacation at the moment so I can't look but what I remember is the ocular end is the same size while the opposite end is 42 on the Terra vs 40 on the Conquest.

Shod

Thanks Shod. I found the specs online. It (ocular) is supposed to be the same as the Conquest. I was hoping it was a little smaller.