Tikka Rifle thread with pics
- Thread starter IV Troop
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iamkris
Member
No pic (yet) but I have a T3 Hunter in 300 WSM with a Burris 3x9x40 Ballistiplex scope on top. Sub-MOA all day long with my handloads. When I go out west for elk, it will be the rifle I take. Sweet bolt, sweet trigger, sweet rifle.
BevrFevr
Member
nice shootin there tex
Nice guns too. I wish I had a tikka with a heavy barrel. I am glad I don't have to lug one around though too. Your stock looks nice. I have a laminated on mine. Wife bought it for me so I love it but I prefer synthetic. How is the balance on yours?
Nice guns too. I wish I had a tikka with a heavy barrel. I am glad I don't have to lug one around though too. Your stock looks nice. I have a laminated on mine. Wife bought it for me so I love it but I prefer synthetic. How is the balance on yours?
beerslurpy
member
Nice. I've got a tikka with a light barrel in 7mm rem. I wish I could find more spare mags for it, but I'll live.
Zerstoerer
Member
What kind of scope are you using?
hoghunting
Member
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,604
Good pictures, but you might try covering up some of the blood in your next pictures.
To iamkris,
I also have a Tikka T3 Lite .300 WSM with the Burris Fullfield II 3-9X40
B-plex scope and it has become the only gun I reach for to take hunting.
To iamkris,
I also have a Tikka T3 Lite .300 WSM with the Burris Fullfield II 3-9X40
B-plex scope and it has become the only gun I reach for to take hunting.
Last edited:
Cosmoline
Member
Here's a fighting Tikka, now retired in Alaska:
atblis
Member
Also my go to rifle
Is the varmint stock any different structurally from the regular synthetic stock?
Sweeeeet trigger
Smoothest bolt throw I've come across yet
Will be buying more.
Is the varmint stock any different structurally from the regular synthetic stock?
Sweeeeet trigger
Smoothest bolt throw I've come across yet
Will be buying more.
Yes, It has a raised comb on the back which was well thought out. It fits very well without being obtrusive. For a heavy barrel gun it is quite light at 8 pounds stripped. I wrote an article on the rifle for an LEO periodical last year I will see if I can find and post it.
Here is the article with some names ommitted for OPSEC and PERSEC reasons. My partner does UC work and would not appreciate his name on the net.
The Tikka T3
By XXXXXXXX
As a firearms guy I am always eyeballing a new toy or object that I am intrigued by. I generally try to keep up to date on the latest high quality guns coming on to the market. Sometimes it is hard to form an opinion based upon what you read in the commercial gun magazines. Every gun it seems that is featured in a magazine is the latest, greatest thing since smokeless powder.
However it is not very often that a new gun really trips my trigger so to speak. I have grown rather jaundiced and cynical with all the advertisements spouting about the latest “Spec Op” “CQB” “Marine” “Ninja” blaster that only the most elite government and law enforcement agencies are using. Usually they simply have more attachments for accessories that Walter Wannabe has been convinced he must have to be truly “Tactical”. It has been my experience that simple reliable gear works best.
Highly accurate rifles are one area of interest for me. Be they called “sniper” rifles or “tactical” rifles or even “precision” rifles, I don’t care. For me it is all about performance on demand rather than the CDI ( chicks dig it) factor.
One new rifle on the American market that has not gotten a lot of press but I believe soon will is the rifle from the Finnish company Tikka. Tikka rifles are made in the same factory as Sako rifles. Sako has been a well known manufacturer of military, target and sporting rifles for a very long time. Recently I bought a Tikka T3 heavy barrel in 308 Winchester caliber. The factory accuracy guarantee of 3 shots under one inch for their sporting models peaked my interest. You will not get that from Remington or Winchester.
The rifle itself is rather sleek and unusual looking. However I was interested in its performance in the field. I mounted a top of the line Leupold MK 4 6.5x20 on the gun using Burris two piece bases. This is a truly fine piece of glass and it actually costs more than the rifle itself. On that note I have never understood why guys mount a $39 dollar Simmons or Tasco on a $500 rifle and then can’t figure out why their gun just is not up to par.
Anyways, I set out to test my new rifle. I was quite impressed right out of the box. During the barrel break in process I was getting sub .75" groups at 100 yards from the bench. Always a good sign. The more I shot it, the better it got. About this time DetectiveXXX XXX decided he wanted to play with the gun. He spent an afternoon with it and went down to the local Sportsmans Warehouse and ordered an identical one. With a little load development between the two of us, we found a hunting bullet load that would shoot 5 shot groups under a half inch. For those of you that are not into rifles, that is super impressive. We started shooting a lot of 1/4 inch 3 shot groups. Not always of course, but often enough to know it was not a fluke. Suffice to say these guns shoot way beyond their modest price.
The Tikka is rather light weight for a heavy barrel rifle. It tips the scales at only 8 pounds.The stock design, with its raised cheek piece and flat fore end make it a fine field piece. The barrel is an odd 23 and 3/8ths inches. It is fed from a single stack, detachable box magazine that holds five rounds in 308. Overall I was impressed but I still wanted to give a good test.
What better way to test the gun than the NRA Law Enforcement precision rifle (sniper) instructor school. So I took vacation and off to the school I went. Word to the wise, DO NOT go to Mississippi in late spring. Between the bugs, the heat and the horrible humidity it is not pleasant.
Anyways, I was the only guy present not shooting a Remington 308. However everyone shot Leupold scopes. By the end of the week it was apparent that the handling characteristics of the Tikka had much to offer over the Remingtons. The five round detachable box magazine made many of the drills so easy it was like cheating. The light weight of the rifle made many of the snap shooting drills and movement to contact drills a relative breeze. The only negative aspect of the rifle I found was that the ejection port was rather small and hard to get my big fingers in to compared to the Remington 700. My biggest problem was that I was afraid I was going to run out of ammo as most the cadre at the academy wanted to try the gun.
I returned to XX just in time to shoot the XX State Sniper Championships with Detective XX as my partner. The airlines had managed to disassemble my bolt and screw with my gun to the point of temporary inoperability. Fortunately XX brought two guns. One being an identical Tikka 308 with a 4x14 Leupold scope. I knew from previous experience that we shoot pretty close to the same point of impact so only minor adjustments were made for me to use the gun. XX, using the Tikka posted the best 3 shot group out of 50 some odd teams. He shot from the prone at 100 yards and shot about a 1/4 “ group. Not bad considering the caliber of the military and law enforcement teams present. He took home a new MK IV Leupold for his “best three shot group” prize. In the end a third place was earned. We were pleased considering we were shooting against guys with three to five thousand dollar rigs.
In short, the Tikka has a lot to offer for a very modest price tag. One should be able to pick one up from Sportsmans Warehouse for around $700. That is flat out inexpensive for a precision rifle of this quality. After looking at a couple of examples I brought in to one of the local city agencies, they opted for new Tikka 308s for their snipers. A good choice both in terms of performance and budget. So if you are in the market for a long range hunting, competition, or work gun, give one of these a look.
My only gripe is I have spent way too much money building custom guns that cost two to three times as much, only to equal the Tikka in performance.
IV Troop
The Tikka T3
By XXXXXXXX
As a firearms guy I am always eyeballing a new toy or object that I am intrigued by. I generally try to keep up to date on the latest high quality guns coming on to the market. Sometimes it is hard to form an opinion based upon what you read in the commercial gun magazines. Every gun it seems that is featured in a magazine is the latest, greatest thing since smokeless powder.
However it is not very often that a new gun really trips my trigger so to speak. I have grown rather jaundiced and cynical with all the advertisements spouting about the latest “Spec Op” “CQB” “Marine” “Ninja” blaster that only the most elite government and law enforcement agencies are using. Usually they simply have more attachments for accessories that Walter Wannabe has been convinced he must have to be truly “Tactical”. It has been my experience that simple reliable gear works best.
Highly accurate rifles are one area of interest for me. Be they called “sniper” rifles or “tactical” rifles or even “precision” rifles, I don’t care. For me it is all about performance on demand rather than the CDI ( chicks dig it) factor.
One new rifle on the American market that has not gotten a lot of press but I believe soon will is the rifle from the Finnish company Tikka. Tikka rifles are made in the same factory as Sako rifles. Sako has been a well known manufacturer of military, target and sporting rifles for a very long time. Recently I bought a Tikka T3 heavy barrel in 308 Winchester caliber. The factory accuracy guarantee of 3 shots under one inch for their sporting models peaked my interest. You will not get that from Remington or Winchester.
The rifle itself is rather sleek and unusual looking. However I was interested in its performance in the field. I mounted a top of the line Leupold MK 4 6.5x20 on the gun using Burris two piece bases. This is a truly fine piece of glass and it actually costs more than the rifle itself. On that note I have never understood why guys mount a $39 dollar Simmons or Tasco on a $500 rifle and then can’t figure out why their gun just is not up to par.
Anyways, I set out to test my new rifle. I was quite impressed right out of the box. During the barrel break in process I was getting sub .75" groups at 100 yards from the bench. Always a good sign. The more I shot it, the better it got. About this time DetectiveXXX XXX decided he wanted to play with the gun. He spent an afternoon with it and went down to the local Sportsmans Warehouse and ordered an identical one. With a little load development between the two of us, we found a hunting bullet load that would shoot 5 shot groups under a half inch. For those of you that are not into rifles, that is super impressive. We started shooting a lot of 1/4 inch 3 shot groups. Not always of course, but often enough to know it was not a fluke. Suffice to say these guns shoot way beyond their modest price.
The Tikka is rather light weight for a heavy barrel rifle. It tips the scales at only 8 pounds.The stock design, with its raised cheek piece and flat fore end make it a fine field piece. The barrel is an odd 23 and 3/8ths inches. It is fed from a single stack, detachable box magazine that holds five rounds in 308. Overall I was impressed but I still wanted to give a good test.
What better way to test the gun than the NRA Law Enforcement precision rifle (sniper) instructor school. So I took vacation and off to the school I went. Word to the wise, DO NOT go to Mississippi in late spring. Between the bugs, the heat and the horrible humidity it is not pleasant.
Anyways, I was the only guy present not shooting a Remington 308. However everyone shot Leupold scopes. By the end of the week it was apparent that the handling characteristics of the Tikka had much to offer over the Remingtons. The five round detachable box magazine made many of the drills so easy it was like cheating. The light weight of the rifle made many of the snap shooting drills and movement to contact drills a relative breeze. The only negative aspect of the rifle I found was that the ejection port was rather small and hard to get my big fingers in to compared to the Remington 700. My biggest problem was that I was afraid I was going to run out of ammo as most the cadre at the academy wanted to try the gun.
I returned to XX just in time to shoot the XX State Sniper Championships with Detective XX as my partner. The airlines had managed to disassemble my bolt and screw with my gun to the point of temporary inoperability. Fortunately XX brought two guns. One being an identical Tikka 308 with a 4x14 Leupold scope. I knew from previous experience that we shoot pretty close to the same point of impact so only minor adjustments were made for me to use the gun. XX, using the Tikka posted the best 3 shot group out of 50 some odd teams. He shot from the prone at 100 yards and shot about a 1/4 “ group. Not bad considering the caliber of the military and law enforcement teams present. He took home a new MK IV Leupold for his “best three shot group” prize. In the end a third place was earned. We were pleased considering we were shooting against guys with three to five thousand dollar rigs.
In short, the Tikka has a lot to offer for a very modest price tag. One should be able to pick one up from Sportsmans Warehouse for around $700. That is flat out inexpensive for a precision rifle of this quality. After looking at a couple of examples I brought in to one of the local city agencies, they opted for new Tikka 308s for their snipers. A good choice both in terms of performance and budget. So if you are in the market for a long range hunting, competition, or work gun, give one of these a look.
My only gripe is I have spent way too much money building custom guns that cost two to three times as much, only to equal the Tikka in performance.
IV Troop
garrett1955
Member
WOW good read!! nice rifle too!
lawson
Member
Cosmoline said:Here's a fighting Tikka, now retired in Alaska:
looks like she's having a pretty active retirement
jeremywills
Member
hehehe, I love that rifle cosmo
The posters rifle is a beauty too
I found an old m91 in a pawnshop recently and it has the lovely Tikka mark on the reciever, I about you know what my pants and would have been all over it like stink on uhoh until I shone a bore light down the tube, I about cried, actually I did, it was a sad sight.
It might have been salvagable with some elblow grease but I doubt it. It was pretty rough looking
The posters rifle is a beauty too
I found an old m91 in a pawnshop recently and it has the lovely Tikka mark on the reciever, I about you know what my pants and would have been all over it like stink on uhoh until I shone a bore light down the tube, I about cried, actually I did, it was a sad sight.
It might have been salvagable with some elblow grease but I doubt it. It was pretty rough looking
The two deer together that we got @ 598 yards. The second one stood there looking at his buddy and did not run, I assume because he did not know which way the danger was coming from.
They were both quite healthy big toads. The pack out with one deer apiece was a test in mental toughness and reslove to say the least. Next year, one at a time.
Sorry for the poor quality pic, it is a 35mm I had to scan.
Bottom line is the Tikka is a fine long range gun.
RWSshooter
Member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2006
- Messages
- 2
Tikka Varmit or Tactical???
I am also trying to decide between a Varmit or Tactical model in .308 with a ~24" barrel as well. The Tactical model has a threaded barrel for an optional muzzel brake and a adjustable cheek rest. I am not sure if there are any other differences between these two models. The Tactical is $500 - $600 more than the Varmit model.
Any one know what the differences are between the Tactical and Varmit model?
I talked to a gun dealer today. He said all Tikka rifles (except Tactical model) were on sale till the end of March.
I am also trying to decide between a Varmit or Tactical model in .308 with a ~24" barrel as well. The Tactical model has a threaded barrel for an optional muzzel brake and a adjustable cheek rest. I am not sure if there are any other differences between these two models. The Tactical is $500 - $600 more than the Varmit model.
Any one know what the differences are between the Tactical and Varmit model?
I talked to a gun dealer today. He said all Tikka rifles (except Tactical model) were on sale till the end of March.
Other than a shorter barrel, M1913 picatinney rail and a very slightly different stock there is not a nickles difference between the two rifles. The 5 to 6 hunddred dollar difference would be better served putting into better quality glass such as a Leupold MK IV or Nightforce.
The city snipers that looked at a couple of my remingtons and a Savage and the Tikka went with the Tikka Tactical. They prefered the short barrels for urban use which I think was a fair choice all things considered.
My next Tikka Heavy bbl will also be a "varmint" model. If one ones a M1913 rail like on the Tactical model it can be ordered from the Berretta custom shop. The longer these fine rifles are on the market, the more accessories you will begin to see for them. I know a number of snipers who were hardcore Remington guys that are buying Tikkas left and right. You simply cannot touch their performance for their price. It is one of the rare times when you get more than you paid for. I would expect the prices to keep going up as the word gets out.
The city snipers that looked at a couple of my remingtons and a Savage and the Tikka went with the Tikka Tactical. They prefered the short barrels for urban use which I think was a fair choice all things considered.
My next Tikka Heavy bbl will also be a "varmint" model. If one ones a M1913 rail like on the Tactical model it can be ordered from the Berretta custom shop. The longer these fine rifles are on the market, the more accessories you will begin to see for them. I know a number of snipers who were hardcore Remington guys that are buying Tikkas left and right. You simply cannot touch their performance for their price. It is one of the rare times when you get more than you paid for. I would expect the prices to keep going up as the word gets out.
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