I'm not incredibly experienced with big game rifles and am looking at getting just my second ever. My current rifle is a 6.5 creedmoor and isn't a lightweight (it's a Howa). It has a pretty good recoil pad and recoil is never an issue. I'm thinking about getting a Tikka T3X Lite, also in 6.5 creedmoor, and I noticed that the pad feels pretty stiff on the Tikka. The Tikka would be a full pound less than my current setup. For those of you with the T3X, how do you like the factory pad? I'd rather not add to the length of pull by adding a limbsaver.

They are much better than the original T3. More like a pachmayr. They help to soak up recoil. Id try it, and then if it works well enough, leave well enough alone. The 6.5 doesn't recoil as much as others, so you may not need a thicker limbsaver. By the way, i shoot a 5.9 pound superlite 6.5 cm and it is definitely manageable.

Just add the limbsaver, it's easy and screws right to the plastic stock. I have 2 like that and one has a bell and Carlson with a decelerator pad.

Limbsaver. End of discussion.




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I'm with BSA, try it first. The earlier T3 was pretty hard and my .308 got a Limbsaver almost immediately, but the T3x is softer, it just might pleasantly surprise you.

This right here,
I’d also go for the T3X super lite

I had a Tikka 30-06 at one time. With a Limbsaver pad it felt like 243. But 6.5 recoil is not that much more than 243 anyway. I doubt if you'll need to do anything to it.

I have no issues in the recoil department with a stock T3x in 30-06. I had no issues with a T3 in 308 or 270 which I owned either.

I put a Limbsaver on my .270 T3, I left the T3x 6.5 as is, no problems with recoil.