Every now and then a guy gets lucky...

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Newtosavage

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Walked into our LGS - a very small but professional shop in a very small rural town. I wasn't even there to look at guns, as my safe has been very content of late.

BUT

I noticed a fella handling a rifle on the used rack, and immediately recognized it as a Tikka T3 (like kryptonite to me!). It was a .308 wearing a handsome 3-9x40 Redfield Revolution scope and had been threaded for a suppressor.

The shop owner, knowing I have a weakness for Tikkas, said "don't you at least want to know how much?" :D I said sure, lay it on me. The answer had me scrambling for my wallet. $350!

Are you kidding? I never score deals like that. The owner explained they had just taken it in on trade and got it for next to nothing, so they passed the savings on to me. Wow. The scope alone is worth $179. Good grief!

Now to see how she shoots. :D (but again, it's a Tikka so that's not even a real question...)

Is it Halloween or is it Christmas? LOL

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Lucky indeed, $350 is a killer deal for that whole package. How long is the barrel now, I assume it was shortened when it was threaded? 5/8"-24 threads?

I liked the Redfield Revolution I owned, they are good scopes for the money.
 
Lucky indeed, $350 is a killer deal for that whole package. How long is the barrel now, I assume it was shortened when it was threaded? 5/8"-24 threads?

I liked the Redfield Revolution I owned, they are good scopes for the money.
They are good scopes for the $. Same basic scope as the Leupold VX-1, which I really like (owned three of them over the years).

The barrel was shortened by about an inch. Not sure the thread pattern. I may put a brake on it or may not. I've never played with brakes or suppressors, so I'll probably start with an inexpensive brake to see how I like it. Not sure I'm gonna spend the $ for a suppressor. Kinda defeats the purpose of having a short, lightweight hunting rifle IMO.
 
That would have tempted me, too ... even though I just got out of .308. You did very well!
 
That would have tempted me, too ... even though I just got out of .308. You did very well!
So did I ! LOL

Well, as adcoch1 said, it may become a project gun. I've always wanted a Tikka action to build on using a barrel nut.

Although my first thought was, I can finally have my "mountain rifle" (stainless 7mm-08 Tikka) rechambered to .284 and keep this one for whitetails, and as a backup to the .284 ;)
 
Great find! Hopefully, they didn’t mess up the crown when they cut the barrel. If they did, I would recrown the barrel before I turned it into a project and switched barrels. Really hard to beat a Tikka. Especially at that price.
 
Kinda defeats the purpose of having a short, lightweight hunting rifle IMO.

Negative, suppressed is where short, light rifles are at their best, especially .308s. My Kimber is a little under 7lbs with can and scope, ready to hunt. With 14 extra ounces on the muzzle, it's much easier to shoot at longer range than in it's 6 lb form, recoils less, and still handles well. Something to consider, you have a perfect suppressor starter kit.

Either way, I'd steer clear of brakes. I ran my 20" .308 braked for a while, but no more, it's too annoying for me (and anyone in close proximity), even with doubled ear pro at the range. The same rifle meters ~137 dB with my can... Much nicer.
 
Great find! Hopefully, they didn’t mess up the crown when they cut the barrel. If they did, I would recrown the barrel before I turned it into a project and switched barrels. Really hard to beat a Tikka. Especially at that price.
Crown looks good. Factory good in fact. Looks like they cut and reblued the 11 deg. factory crown. Haven't shot it yet though.
 
Negative, suppressed is where short, light rifles are at their best, especially .308s. My Kimber is a little under 7lbs with can and scope, ready to hunt. With 14 extra ounces on the muzzle, it's much easier to shoot at longer range than in it's 6 lb form, recoils less, and still handles well. Something to consider, you have a perfect suppressor starter kit.

Either way, I'd steer clear of brakes. I ran my 20" .308 braked for a while, but no more, it's too annoying for me (and anyone in close proximity), even with doubled ear pro at the range. The same rifle meters ~137 dB with my can... Much nicer.
Good advice. Thanks. I'm probably too cheap to buy a suppressor in all honesty though. :D
 
I "came by" a 22 rimfire recently that is threaded for a suppressor. It would be a nice, super quite, little gun but like you I'm probably too cheap to actually suppress it. $200 just to be legal puts me off totally. I would make the can if I ever do decide to go quite.
 
Do you shoot long range? I've thought about rebarreling my CTR with a Criterion or PVA prefit in 6.5 CM, 6 CM or 6x47 and dropping it into a KRG Bravo for a budget LR backup rig. I never do it because the CTR shoots too well as it stands, but something like the deal you got would make a great donor. If you could sell the scope, stock and maybe barrel, you'd basically have a free high quality action and trigger to start the build with. ~$900 for the stock, barrel/nut and you'd be sitting pretty.
 
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$200 just to be legal puts me off totally. I would make the can if I ever do decide to go quite.

NFA stuff isn't for everybody, but if you did dive in, there's so many deals on cans now compared to years past that it wouldn't be very cost effective to build your own .22 F1.
 
Do you shoot long range? I've thought about rebarreling my CTR with a Criterion or PVA prefit in 6.5 CM, 6 CM or 6x47 and dropping it into a KRG Bravo for a budget LR backup rig. I never do it because the CTR shoots too well as it stands, but something like the deal you got would make a great donor. If you could sell the scope, stock and maybe barrel, you'd basically have a free high quality action and trigger to start the build with. ~$900 for the stock, barrel/nut and you'd be sitting pretty.
I'm on board with what you're saying, although I don't have a place to shoot beyond 300 at the moment. I let the first good deal I got on a T3 go to a very good friend of mine, with no regrets. But I told myself if I ever got another smoking deal on a T3, I would hang on to it if for nothing other than a donor action for a build someday. I have done some Savage barrel swaps at home and they all turned out great. A prefit custom (or two or three) would be a lot of fun on this action. Personally I like Tikka stocks after one of my home textured paint jobs.

As for the scope - I'm keeping that sucker. I have a number of rifles it will probably spend time on at some point or another. A good, clear, bright 3-9x40 that only weighs 12 oz. is a darn useful hunting scope.
 
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