Yup. I'm a Tikka fan....

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FWIW, I spent a little time last night modifying my "short action" 7mm-08 Tikka T3 to a "medium-long" action so I could take advantage of seating the long 160-grainers out to the lands. 160 Accubonds hit the lands in my rifle at 2.95" but the "short action" mag had a spacer that limited it to 2.80"

I pulled apart the magazine, cut out the spacer block, installed a thinner plastic spacer and then removed and filed back the bolt stop so the bolt face could pick up the cartridges.

All this took me about 20 minutes with just a file, a hacksaw and a rotary cutting bit on my Dremel tool. I used plastic from an old bullet box lid to make the new spacer in the mag.

Now I can seat a round right to the lands if I want, and they pick up and feed just fine out of my magazine.

If you have a "short action" Tikka and the throat in your rifle allows for longer than 2.80" OAL, give it a try. It's not real difficult if you're the least bit handy with tools.
 
Hokkmike said:
I shoot the 6.5x55 in a SAKO. I have a recipe with a 120 grain Ballistic Tip that is a tack driver. I would suggest to you that this adequately fills the SAME niche as the .270 and that you could replace that with another caliber to broaden your three-some. I like the .06 because of its versatility. Maybe a 22.-250 for the .270?

(now you have an excuse to shop for another rifle)
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Funny you should mention the .22-.250.
I have an old Remington 788 in .308 I've been hankering to tinker with. My first impulse was to go for a .22-.250 barrel from Shilen or Bartlein. Then I got to thinking about how well my old Savage M12BVSS in .243 Win. shot. (I'm still kicking myself for stupidly selling that one!)

Whatever. I am not going to let any of my Tikkas escape my clutches until I assume room temperature...

Would be interested in your 120 grain load for the 6.5x55, though. It would probably make an ideal silhouette load.
BTW, I did a chrono test of a 125 grain Nosler Partition load that shot .937" at 100 yards. 11.37 fps ES, 8.89 fps SD. Average velocity 2612 fps. I think maybe I'll take it deer hunting next year....
 
I really do like the full length stocks! Very reminiscent of military rifles like the Lee Enfield and Mosin Nagant.

I don't know when the receiver went to the smaller ejection port, but I'd hazard a guess it was between the periods of the acquisition of Tikkakoski by Sako, or the subsequent acquisition of Sako by Beretta. I imagine that the one piece rail was not machined to produce a two piece as shown in robinpeck's picture of the M65 above, in a bid to reduce machining time and cost and sold to the customer as a feature for a more rigid action. This is evident on the Tikka T3 models which entered the market earlier 2000's (wikipedia says 2003).
 
Poper said:
I have three Tikka rifles. A .270 Win. I bought way back when because it was on sale for $399 at Sportsmans Warehouse, .30-06 - because everyone should have one and it, too was on-sale, and a 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser because I really wanted one.

All are exceptionally good shooters. I use the .270 and 6.5x55 in hunter class high power silhouette matches. I have used both the .270 and 6.5x55 for hunting and both have killed game for me. I have only very minor complaints about the quality and performance of these rifles. The .270 is a T3 Lite in a plastic stock and the 6.5x55 and .30-06 are the T3 Hunter in the wood stock.
Complaint #1: The "checkering" on the plastic stock does nothing to aid in maintaining a grip on the rifle. Easy fix: hit the high spots lightly with 60 grit sandpaper.
Complaint #2: The wood on the '06 and 6.5x55 is very, very plain. Almost no grain or figure. Fix: get a nice Boyds stock or other of your choice.
Complaint #3: The checkering pattern on the wood stock is kind of whimsical if not goofy. Fix: Same as #2.

With all that said, I am a handloader and have not had difficulty finding loads that shoot well in any of the three. They have been remarkably tolerant of powders and bullets. It is relatively easy to get them shooting 5-round groups less than 1" at 100 yards. The 6.5x55 will do less than an inch at 300 meters on a still day and when I am at my best. The .270 will do 2-3/4" 5-round groups at 500 meters.

Hard to believe, I know, and that's why they are my silhouette rifles.

The price of Tikkas has risen significantly since I bought mine some years ago, but In my estimation, they are still a good value for the money. Oh, and did I mention that after many hundreds of rounds fired, I have yet to have a malfunction of any kind from any of the three?

Me like! :)
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I once shot in an inter-club match at the Lincoln County Range in Damariscotta, ME. It was a fun match that included trap, metallic silhouette, and "unimproved" historical military rifles. I didn't have a military rifle to shoot, but they needed one more shooter, so I borrowed a 6.5 Swedish Mauser and paper-patched, cast bullet ammo. We had to use the military sights, but with a higher front sight to zero at 100 yards. I put a black hole-patch on my glasses to sharpen the sights and from a bench, shot a 1 1/2" group at 100 yards, for the win! Only time I've ever shot that kind of rifle, or that cartridge, but was impressed with the accuracy.
 
I have two Tikkas, a 595 in .223 and a T3 Lite in .243 Win. They both shoot 1/2min or better. The 595 has shot a few varmints and the .243 has killed a coyote or two and a 140lb. buck. It's my favorite walkabout rifle on the farm.
 
My stainless T3 7mm-08 has quickly become my go-to deer rifle. It's accounted for three deer in the past three weeks, the closest shot being 178 yards and the furthest 220. None of the three shots were off the mark by more than 2 inches. I don't think I've ever developed so much confidence, so quickly, in a hunting rifle.

That same rifle is now giving me 0.75" groups with my 162-grain ELD-X and 160 Partition handloads, and will be ready for an elk hunt if I so choose.

I can't think of a better combination for an all around lightweight hunting rifle.
 
Picher said:
I once shot in an inter-club match at the Lincoln County Range in Damariscotta, ME. It was a fun match that included trap, metallic silhouette, and "unimproved" historical military rifles. I didn't have a military rifle to shoot, but they needed one more shooter, so I borrowed a 6.5 Swedish Mauser and paper-patched, cast bullet ammo. We had to use the military sights, but with a higher front sight to zero at 100 yards. I put a black hole-patch aperture on my glasses to sharpen the sights and from a bench, shot a 1 1/2" group at 100 yards, for the win! Only time I've ever shot that kind of rifle, or that cartridge, but was impressed with the accuracy.
Click to expand...
 
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