Tikka for hunting? Thoughts in general

[Lee M]

My stainless 7MM mag T3 light with factory black stock has been my go to for 15 years. I’ve taken Elk, deer, black bear and numerous African plains game. I just put a new trigger spring (Carbo?) and it breaks around 2 lbs. i keep saying I’ll buy a second plastic clip, but original one works fine. Never had an issue. Shoot just about all ammo i put thru it well.

 

[Rick Cox]

What do people think of the current generation Tikka? T3/T3x.
Setting aside the CRF/Push feed debates etc, what do people think of Tikka for general hunting across the world?
I own a Rem 700 .223 Varmint, a CZ550 a Howa and I had a Parker Hale and Zastava in .308 as hunting rifles although I don’t hunt as often as I’d like.
My first Tikka was/is a brand new T3 stainless laminate in about 2012 i was doing a bit of shooting and bought something I had wanted for a bit.
I bought it online sent to my club armourer. I hadn’t really seen them close or handled them. I was disappointed when I found it was half plastic. Now I tinker with my firearms and have done some bedding etc trying to learn and enjoy my rifles, I found the recoil lug was back to front. I didn’t like that one bit! So it’s reverse to what I’ve seen on many other rifles as the lug sits in the stock and the action has a recess that locks on over the lug.
Well I stewed on it and wasn then happy about the plastic either, I looked at upgrades and thought some more. Then I realised that I a man smart enough to realise the Tikka designers and engineers are smarter than me. OK so the backwards recoiled lug works. I purchased a titanium lug and bedded the action in the stock. (Apparently the Aluminium can be impacted by repeated recoil.) T3x factory upgrades include a stell recoil lug.
The plastic, I later decided it must be a suitable quality and reduces weight.
I later bought a CTR version and it suits me, I like it. I bough this a .243 with a shot out Barrel my gunsmith set me up with a .22-250HB and varmint stock and it shoots well. I am thinking I might want one in .300wm or maybe 7mmRM after Africa?
I started a thread on 7mm rounds and people have me thinking about the 7x64, offered by Tikka but I’m not sure if it’s readily available in Australia.
What are your thoughts?

Tikkas are very popular in Canada. My brother has one in 7mmRemMag that he loves having shot multiple deer, bear, elk, and moose with. I have one in .223 that I have killed deer and coyotes with. I could go on as most folks I know have one. They have a reputation for being very accurate, reliable and excellent value.

 

[Rick Cox]

Suggest if you really want 7mm the magnum
7x64 is a great cartridge but I do not know anyone in Australia who has or had one.
The 7mm magnum is very versatile and is fairly close to the 300 Winchester magnum.
Tikka is a great rifle. But; I prefer the Sako. That’s my choice. I like stainless steel and wooden stocks. But I do have Sako in 270 with a synthetic stock.
Overall it’s a natter of personal choice.

I agree with you - I too prefer the Sako. But it is more than "a matter of personal choice". It is a matter of money, at least here in Canada. Sakos are about twice the price.

 

[Ridgewalker]

My 300 WM is quite accurate as you can see from this 3 shot, 1 hole group. Even the Barnes factory load is very close to this.

 

[Dr Ray]

My 300 WM is quite accurate as you can see from this 3 shot, 1 hole group. Even the Barnes factory load is very close to this.
View attachment 317945

Now that is a fantastic group. Congratulations on such fine shooting.
I’m truly impressed!
No releasing Fierce Jess lol!!

 

[ack]

Nothing wrong with "polymer" mags and bolt covers like a lot of pistol frames..You will never break the mag and very easy to load ..All barrels come off same line as Sakos..Trigger can be adjusted down to 2 #s by owner turning a screw...Wife got a stainless /06 with wooden stock..She tried several brands and said "this is it"..Hers also has an 11/1 twist rate...Been to Africa twice,,taken much game..

 

[Ridgewalker]

No releasing Fierce Jess

lol!!

Scary thought!

 

[shootist~]

I bought my first Tikka, a T3X Stainless Lite in late February of this year in 6.5 Creedmoor. It was my 3rd CM and I think 7th or 8th 6.5, but that's another story.

It's scary accurate with 140 grain reloads - both A-Frames and NPTs, with respective velocities in the 2,740 to 2,760 fps range. The bolt and magazine system runs smooth as butter. Tikka serms to have the bugs works out of the T3 platform.

It's coming up on 900 rounds fired with zero regrets.

Decided I needed a 30-06 for next year's Plains Game hunt and the second Tikka,(a wood stocked Hunter model), was added several weeks ago. I'm having a good time working up loads for it.

I like the all weather look on the stainless CM just fine. No issues with the plastic stock, either. The wood stock on the '06 adds a little needed weight as does a NF SHV 3-10x42 optic. Unloaded weight on the 30-06 is 8.2 pounds.

Five round magazines were easy to come by for both, and feed just as smooth as the factory 3 round mags. Note the 6.5 Creedmoor mag is different than a standard .308 mag and accepts longer OAL ammo. (I found that out the hard way.)

LOP on the 30-06 is 14", which is my preferred length.
The 6.5 CM might be a hair shorter.

I'm probably taking both to Africa.

 

[CBH Australia]

@Ridgewalker try a half inch to the right mate.

Excellent group by the way. Probably perfect for braining a Croc in Africa, I watched way too much you tube dreaming of Africa.

Another thought I had when I tampered with my first Tikka is it was modular. One action size so many parts are interchangeable. I now see that being handy as I have at times swapped some stuff around playing dress ups with them.

Tikka work but it’s good to see what others think and what they have done.

 

[dtec41]

I got my first Tikka about 10 years ago, a M695 in 270 win. Since then, I’ve added a stainless 7mm mag and 338 win mag, all in the M695. I had a M595 in 7mm-08, but gave it to my brother for Christmas. He says it’s one of his favorite guns for hogs and deer. I also have T3’s in 243 win, 6.5x55 Swede, and 25-06. The Swede got the buck in my avatar this year with a 130gr Accubond.

The Tikka’s, being built in the same factory as Sako, have some of the smoothest actions and factory triggers that I’ve seen. The wood stocked versions, of which I have 4, obviously are not as good as a Sako. However, I find the older M695 wood (338 win mag) to be far superior to the T3. The M695’s have a very nice palm swell that has been all but eliminated on the T3. I have no experience with the newer T3X.

All of my Tikkas have been better shooters than I am and get a lot more carry time than any of the other rifles I have. Biggest plus is I haven’t paid more than $500 for any one of them.

Mountain tactical offers Tikka upgrades. Bottom metal, trigger springs, barrels, stocks...

 

[Dr Ray]

Scary thought!

Yes Fierce Jess will make you pat her!

 

[CBH Australia]

Yes Fierce Jess will make you pat her!

Ok I will ask, who is Fierce Jess?

 

[Smitty]

Greg Young at bugholes.com sells a barrel nut for Tikka rifles so you can swap barrels yourself just like a Savage. I re-barreled my Tikka to a 7mm mag with a Bartlein 5R barrel, 8.7 twist. It shoots 1/2 moa with factory Barnes LRX 160s and better than that with 139s.
Be warned, removing the factory Tikka barrel is tough! You will probably need a gunsmith to do it.

 

[perttime]

...
Be warned, removing the factory Tikka barrel is tough! You will probably need a gunsmith to do it.

Elsewhere, somebody just posted this, working on a T3X:

"""
... removing the barrel was a piece of cake. I was actually disappointed when the thing came off without any problems. Had my eye and ear protection on, 4 pound hammer in hand and was ready to give the action wrench a good smack. I did a half-assed test hit and the thing spun right off.
"""

 

[Dr Ray]

Ok I will ask, who is Fierce Jess?

Fierce Jess is my buffalo hound!lol!

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

I have 2 tikka rifles.
A 22-250 that shoots amazing and a laminated stock stainless 270wsm that so far I've only found 1 factory load that it likes. 130gr ballistic tip. Far too explosive for anything except pronghorn so it's sitting in the safe until I can do more testing.

 

[Dr Ray]

I have 2 tikka rifles.
A 22-250 that shoots amazing and a laminated stock stainless 270wsm that so far I've only found 1 factory load that it likes. 130gr ballistic tip. Far too explosive for anything except pronghorn so it's sitting in the safe until I can do more testing.

Maybe you should try a 140 grain bullet.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

I've only tried 1 140gr so far. Went 2moa.
To be honest I've only tried 4 loads so far. Haven't taken time to pursue further yet.
The 130 ballistic tips put pronghorn down hard. So I've only been using it for that.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Took my T3 Superlite 7mm Rem Mag to Africa and NZ over the past year. I'm not particularly attached to it, it's a tool that works, and works well.

I ditched the plastic stock for a B&C Medallist which I like.

 

[Smitty]

Elsewhere, somebody just posted this, working on a T3X:

"""
... removing the barrel was a piece of cake. I was actually disappointed when the thing came off without any problems. Had my eye and ear protection on, 4 pound hammer in hand and was ready to give the action wrench a good smack. I did a half-assed test hit and the thing spun right off.
"""

Wouldn't you know it?? I had a gunsmith pull one barrel, and he said he had to mill flat spots on the barrel to get a wrench on it. An entirely different gunsmith said he had to back cut the barrel up to the receiver in order to get it off. Just my luck.