Looking at Tikka

[Forestryguy]

I guess I am going to look at the Tikka a bit more. Seems like they are the better value rifle out there right now, and I keep seeing good reviews on here and other places.

I looked at the stainless TX3 lite and super lite. On Tikka's web page they are listed as the same weight in .308, 20" barrel. What is the real world weight of these two rifles, OEM? What are some of the issues people have ran into with their action?

Overall I am looking at making a light weight rifle for swamp and mountain hunting. Probably in a NULA fashion.

 

[Mr.Klutzy2017]

Tikkas action is solid! They are used in alot of custom and semi custom rifles. I'd buy with confidence.

 

[Decker9]

Tikka’s are fantastic rifles. I lightened up a T3 swede to 5 1/2 lbs bare, super nice to shoot and pack. After a couple full custom builds, I find my tikka still takes the cake for accuracy and consistency.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I guess I am going to look at the Tikka a bit more. Seems like they are the better value rifle out there right now, and I keep seeing good reviews on here and other places.

I looked at the stainless TX3 lite and super lite. On Tikka's web page they are listed as the same weight in .308, 20" barrel. What is the real world weight of these two rifles, OEM? What are some of the issues people have ran into with their action?

Overall I am looking at making a light weight rifle for swamp and mountain hunting. Probably in a NULA fashion.

There are zero issues with a tikka action, they're more precise than many customs which is why cheaper shouldered prefits are so readily available.
Tikka advertised weights are pretty dang accurate so I'd expect it to weigh what they claim.

The best thing you can do is put it in an ultralight carbon fiber stock.
Here's my 16" 6.5 saum with a heavier profile barrel threaded 5/8×24 in an MPI stock

 

[Tahoe1305]

My 24.3” 6.5 creedmoor superlite is 6.1lbs factory.

When I look online at sportsman’s it appears the 308 is 22” and advertised at same weight as the 6.5 C at 5.9lbs.

I’d bet it would come in really close to that weight with a shorter barrel and bigger hole. From my previous research the lites are roughly 1/2lb heavier than the superlites (5-8oz) depending on barrel length.

You can snag a sportys CF stock for $500 and shed another 1/2lb and be sub 5.5lbs for ~$1300 or so. Tough to beat that with a tikka action IMO.

 

[Macintosh]

Have a couple, really like mine. I have a wood-stocked hunter and a CTR, my brother has a Lite. To me, the action and cycling is much slicker than nearly any other off the shelf rifle, and I think they have the best trigger on a factory rifle that I have used. I highly prefer a DBM compared to a floorplate, so that's a plus for me as well. I don't care for the tupperware stocks, they work fine but I cant get over the flex--that's a me-problem though, they certainly work. The only thing I would add is that lots of people claim tikkas border on custom-rifle accuracy, but I have not seen that. I have never seen in-person an off the shelf tikka that will consistently hold 1moa 5-shot groups with factory ammo. My brothers is the best I have seen, and that gun is about 1moa with the best handloads, maybe a bit better of you drop to 3-shot groups. My ctr and my bedded-action Hunter both consistently shoot 1.25-1.5moa 5-shot groups, but I have to really pick and choose my groups to say either is a 1moa gun. I'd point the finger at myself, but I can hold consistent sub-moa groups with custom rifles I've used, using the same scopes I have on my rifles. I'm sure there are tikka's that will shoot better than my guns, I would just caution you to have realistic accuracy expectations. I dont think this is unique to tikka's, I think most rifles are like this, I just grimace a little when everyone piles-on talking tikka's up. Of course this will prompt 7 people to post their cloverleaf groups, I may be an outlier but that's my experience across 3 different rifles.

 

[roosiebull]

I always seem to circle back to tikka… I like trying other rifles, but tikka have always been my go to since I started hunting a little bit with a rifle… I think the kimber hunter is right there too, but way less aftermarket support and there is still that question with kimber… I think they have become way more consistent, but there have been a lot of issues in the past

The hunters I have been around have been great rifles for the money… still prefer tikka

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Tikkas are good guns, for the money, I do t really think there’s a better gun out there at the moment. I’ll take possession of a t3x lite stainless 30-06 this week, I already have the vertical grip, mountain tactical lug, sportsmatch rings and a nightforce shv 3-10 ready for it. I’ll eventually chop/thread the barrel and shoot it suppressed.

I have a t3x superlite in 6.5 creedmoor which is a great rifle too. It just stacks my 124g hammer hunter hand loads.

All that being said, I have my own preferences and favorites for rifles but tikkas make a compelling case for themselves.

 

[willfrye027]

Hard to beat a tikka. My factory t3 lite that I bought as my first rifle 16 years ago is the easiest barrel to load for I own. Here’s three shots with 151gr absolute hammers at 3230fps. Bare bones stock with an SHV 3-10. Perfect weight and handling for a lightweight gun that I can also shoot easily to 500 or a little farther.