Are you interested in a Tikka T3X in .223 with a stainless steel, 16" factory-threaded, 1:8" twist barrel?

[Nine Banger]

I went back to check on the messages to Brad. He said it would likely be quite costly and he would have to get a commitment of at least 100.

Cheapest solution seem off-the-rack stainless cut/threaded. Or even better, an off the rack blued that you have nitrided.

I nitrided 2 stainless guns.

They look the same as the 1 blued gun I had treated except the barrels look more muted.

Overkill perhaps or the best of both worlds?

One is in the configuration y'all are after.

 

[BLJ]

I bought this rifle last year for almost 100$ less than the link above. It rusts up just from grabbing the barrel and leaving fingerprints on it if you don't wipe it down. Not that big of deal really but it's the bore that matters and ill take ss over chrome moly any day of the week.

View attachment 1018081

Are you noticing rust on the patches when pushed through the barrel?
Do you live in a humid environment?

 

[RockAndSage]

A couple of months ago, @EuroOptic asked if folks were interested in a Tikka T3X in .223 with a stainless steel, 16" factory-threaded, 1:8" twist barrel. A few folks said "yes," but it was buried in the middle of the wonderful .223 for walrus thread.

Post in thread '.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.'

Dec 22, 2025

You guys want factory threaded 16" stainless Tikka's?
If you do make some noise, Im litigating..

Jake

• EuroOptic

• 

I asked Jake whether it would be useful to get a bit more data to support his efforts to bring these to EuroOptic and he said it would be helpful. So, please indicate your interest in potentially getting that rifle from EuroOptic.

Ideally this would be at least the Lite model, but I've no opposition to Super Lite, Hunter, Compact, etc. The important thing, to me, is "Tikka T3X in .223 with a stainless steel, 16" factory-threaded (5/8-24 or 1/2x28, whichever is available), 1:8" twist barrel."

Jake can clarify the precise model and likely cost (and I will update the OP if he does so). The only 16" threaded Tikka .223 I see on the Sako-Tikka website is a blued T3X Hunter (TF1T1126A100F20B), but presumably Jake wouldn't be trying to sell us something that doesn't exist.

If you want to use this thread to ask Jake about some other Tikka model as well, feel free to do so, but otherwise please try to stay on topic.

I'd have been very interested in this, but committed to a CTR with EuroOptic back in November or so. But cast a yes vote to reflect that interest.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Bumping this up.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I'd have been very interested in this, but committed to a CTR with EuroOptic back in November or so. But cast a yes vote to reflect that interest.

Did you commit to a stainless CTR in .223?

 

[Gstew1930]

@Wprinkle needs one. Shoot him a PM

 

[Q_Sertorius]

No final word on price, but Jake says that prices should be comparable with other stainless steel Tikkas.

 

[atmat]

No final word on price, but Jake says that prices should be comparable with other stainless steel Tikkas.

Interesting.

@EuroOptic you got some splaining to do.

 

[RockAndSage]

Did you commit to a stainless CTR in .223?

Yes, stainless CTR, .223. IIRC, it's a 20", but I have an 18" .223 AI barrel on the way for it, that'll be nitrided. Mostly I went with the CTR for the mags.

 

[270-300]

Not in the least. Only guns i buy with less than 22" barrels are rimfire.

 

[RockAndSage]

Yes, stainless CTR, .223. IIRC, it's a 20", but I have an 18" .223 AI barrel on the way for it, that'll be nitrided. Mostly I went with the CTR for the mags.

BTW, should clarify - the 18" nitrided barrel was a compromise on a group buy. Preference would have been 16".

 

[Schmo]

Why not 22 250? More velocity, better factory selection of ammunition. Wyoming requires 60 grain soft lead bullets for shooting antelope, deer, mountain lions with 22 cal. Ive never found that commercially available in 223.

We’re talking trainer/hunting rifle. You can get 223/5.56 factory loads with the 75 gr Speer gold for (loaded as factory Federal Fusion), 73 ELD-M, 77 TMK, etc. 22-250 doesn’t have long enough barrel life for what we’re talking about here.

Not in the least. Only guns i buy with less than 22" barrels are rimfire.

I’d guess you don’t shoot suppressed then? 16”-20” 223/5.56 bolt guns are great for target practice out to 1,000 yards and beyond. I can load 75 ELD-M and 80 ELD-M out of my 18”.

 

[270-300]

We’re talking trainer/hunting rifle. You can get 223/5.56 factory loads with the 75 gr Speer gold for (loaded as factory Federal Fusion), 73 ELD-M, 77 TMK, etc. 22-250 doesn’t have long enough barrel life for what we’re talking about here.

I’d guess you don’t shoot suppressed then? 16”-20” 223/5.56 bolt guns are great for target practice out to 1,000 yards and beyond. I can load 75 ELD-M and 80 ELD-M out of my 18”.

Ive never felt the need to. For a large chunk of the year im hiking in 35+ mph winds so i wear ear plugs to prevent the wind buffering when im in the mountains anyways. No one is around to hear my shots or care. And most importantly all of my rifles are vintage and predate suppressors being common in america. Im not going to thread a 70 year old rifle barrel.

 

[Schmo]

Ive never felt the need to. For a large chunk of the year im hiking in 35+ mph winds so i wear ear plugs to prevent the wind buffering when im in the mountains anyways. No one is around to hear my shots or care. And most importantly all of my rifles are vintage and predate suppressors being common in america. Im not going to thread a 70 year old rifle barrel.

I gotcha. No problem with that. It’s just that the majority of us do run suppressed, so that’s why you see most of us talking about shorter barrels. Trying to keep finished length with suppressor reasonable.

 

[270-300]

I gotcha. No problem with that. It’s just that the majority of us do run suppressed, so that’s why you see most of us talking about shorter barrels. Trying to keep finished length with suppressor reasonable.

That makes more sense i guess. Id rather just have a long barrel and not have the weight of a suppressor. Im not at the range oumping out shots usually though.

We’re talking trainer/hunting rifle. You can get 223/5.56 factory loads with the 75 gr Speer gold for (loaded as factory Federal Fusion), 73 ELD-M, 77 TMK, etc. 22-250 doesn’t have long enough barrel life for what we’re talking about here.

I’d guess you don’t shoot suppressed then? 16”-20” 223/5.56 bolt guns are great for target practice out to 1,000 yards and beyond. I can load 75 ELD-M and 80 ELD-M out of my 18”.

You lost me at 22 250 barrel life. I have one that will shoot sub 3" groups at 500 yards in 35 mph wind and that barrel is older than most people on here. Most of my rifles dont see 15 shots in any given year. Im too busy hunting and hiking around the mountains to go blow thousands of rounds at a range.

 

[Schmo]

You lost me at 22 250 barrel life. I have one that will shoot sub 3" groups at 500 yards in 35 mph wind and that barrel is older than most people on here. Most of my rifles dont see 15 shots in any given year. Im too busy hunting and hiking around the mountains to go blow thousands of rounds at a range.

If your rifles only see 15 shots each per year, how can you be really good in hunting situations? Your barrel may be old, but it doesn’t have a lot of rounds through it. Why are we concerned about barrel life? Because my goal for this year alone out of my trainer is 2,000 rounds. And these are not rounds off of a bench with a nice rear bag. Some are load dev and zeroing, but most of these are shots from field positions. Prone off of a hunting pack, sitting/kneeling off of my hunting bipod, etc. The only way to get really good at something is to do it A LOT!

Note: I do not in any way mean this to come across as rude or condescending. It mean it as a genuine answer to your post. No hard feelings at all.

 

[ThunderJack49]

not living in a humid environment, I really don’t see the appeal of a stainless steel barrel.

 

[MT762]

I made one of these in blue already--europtic was selling blued 223's cheap-- had it cut to 16 and threaded locally.

The downside is it's heavy. Same contour as the other calibers but tiny hole in the barrel.

I would def buy that rifle in a super light, despite already owning one. But I'm thinking that might be even more work and tooling.

When I shoot the barrel out of this one it will get a #1 or a Kimber-type contour barrel to replace it.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Not in the least. Only guns i buy with less than 22" barrels are rimfire.

I’m not going to address the things that Schmo already covered, but for the sake of discussion, not argument, have you tried a .223 with a shorter barrel?

What is your opposition to a shorter barrel? Apart from the love for vintage rifles… I understand the love for vintage rifles. I own a few myself (and sold a few others with no sentimental value). I certainly wouldn’t cut down a vintage rifle to suppress it.

What do you think you are really giving up with a shorter barrel? At least on a .223, my experience has been that I don’t give up much at all.

The ADI 69-grain factory load advertises 2760 FPS. I get 2740 FPS out of my 16.5” Tikka OEM barrel. Not giving up much with that one. And it matches the trajectory for my 6.5 CM “deer rifle” very closely. It doesn’t handle wind as well, but frankly, neither do I. That’s the thing with which I need the most practice anyway.

At about half the price, I get a cartridge that enables me to practice field shooting and get a lot of reps in every year (my goal is 10k rimfire, 5k .223, 1k hunting rifle ammo this year). It’s also a joy to carry and shoot.