Tikka actions vs Custom Actions

[Antares]

Was referring to aftermarket bolt shrouds , bolt handles , ejection port being reworked and folks lighting them up by milling in certain areas.

No advantage. Just window dressing and chasing a few extra grams of weight reduction.

 

[JohnJohnson]

Was referring to aftermarket bolt shrouds , bolt handles , ejection port being reworked and folks lighting them up by milling in certain areas.

I don't really think that stuff makes much difference. If you want to get picky I guess you could say it's nice that most custom R700 clones have integral scope bases and recoil lugs. But the fancy details don't make much difference. And for the scope base thing I imagine using UM rings direct to the action nullifies that advantage. I use custom R700 clones because of my obsession with fancy two-stage triggers.

 

[SloppyJ]

Just went through this. I wanted to build a 6mm. I came up with 3 options:

1. Buy an 8 twist Tikka .243, have it rechambered to 243ai, cut, and threaded. Add new stock.
2. Buy any 308 bolt face tikka. Buy new 6 creed barrel, buy new stock.
3. Build a short action origin.

I went with number 3 because I already have a long action origin. Now I have two actions that I can swap bolt faces on and barrels in 15min and shoot literally any caliber I want. The modularity was worth the little bit of additional expense. What killed the Tikka for me is having to find additional bolts for different rounds. They were extremely expensive and if I bought a bolt, that damn near puts me to even with a "custom" action. I'm left handed too so finding left handed Tikka bolts are even harder.

Having said that, I just bought a .223 Compact T3x for my son. This will be my first Tikka. So we will see where that road takes us. I can see them being great in that "medium" cartrifdge type setup which is what I want next.

 

[BigCountry82]

I definitely would like to run one in the factory configuration ( before I go full scale upgrading features). From what ive read they are top notch and have great accuracy potential.

 

[BigCountry82]

Just went through this. I wanted to build a 6mm. I came up with 3 options:

1. Buy an 8 twist Tikka .243, have it rechambered to 243ai, cut, and threaded. Add new stock.
2. Buy any 308 bolt face tikka. Buy new 6 creed barrel, buy new stock.
3. Build a short action origin.

I went with number 3 because I already have a long action origin. Now I have two actions that I can swap bolt faces on and barrels in 15min and shoot literally any caliber I want. The modularity was worth the little bit of additional expense. What killed the Tikka for me is having to find additional bolts for different rounds. They were extremely expensive and if I bought a bolt, that damn near puts me to even with a "custom" action. I'm left handed too so finding left handed Tikka bolts are even harder.

Having said that, I just bought a .223 Compact T3x for my son. This will be my first Tikka. So we will see where that road takes us. I can see them being great in that "medium" cartrifdge type setup which is what I want next.

I can see your point. Yeah i dont like the spare bolt prices myself. I looked at a few that have came up for sale. They are not cheap. I would eventually want a magnum and standard bolt.

 

[ElPollo]

Nope. Well, not with the 700 footprint anyway.

RS 700 - Strasser USA

Straight Pull Action in a Remington 700 Footprint

strasser-usa.com

Yeah that’s ugly and expensive.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I've had dozens of custom built rifles and dozens of Sako rifles. I just recently (last 4 years) starting using Tikka rifles which are just simplified and less frills Sako guns generally speaking. Used to shoot competitively, got gear for free, yada yada...

I say that to basically say, for an actual field hunting rifle, you cannot beat a Tikka or Sako. Tikka gives you a ton of options to build off the action as well if you want to get cute with it, but a factory Tikka in .223, .243, .260, 6.5 CM will serve you well for thousands and thousands of rounds. I'm currently working on my next Tikka based action cute rifle myself cause it's fun!

 

[Hnthrdr]

Been there and done that. Not a "true" custom action but did have a SS Rem 700 action blue printed, shilen select match barrel, custom trigger, custom stock, bedded the whole show. Barrel threaded 5/8-24 for whatever my choosing. Guy offered me way more than I had in it so i sold it. Picked up an older T3 308 SS. In its stock form, I free floated the barrel, put a limbsaver pad on it, and replaced the trigger spring. The stock tikka's action was slicker than the 700 and it also shot just as good of groups or better that the custom build for 1/10 of the price. I'll never go full custom again. Take a Tikka action, several barrel manf make prefit shouldered barrels in carbon or SS, and also several different stocks for it.

View attachment 734525

Or you can even just take a stock Tikka (this is my CTR in a roughtech tikka stock with standard T3 bottom and mag), free float barrel, put a recoil pad (if you desire), trigger spring, Victor cheek riser or one of your liking and spend the money you would have spent on the gun, on ammo and go shoot shit. JMO though.

View attachment 734526View attachment 734527View attachment 734528

This is the way… had coopers, a couple CA’s which I still own ( I know neither of them are true customs, but semi custom 700’s) then I started buying tikkas, I have 3 tikkas and they all shoot just as good or better than the 700 rem clones. Only disadvantages with tikka’s is your don’t get the true short action, but this makes me far more modular and there is a boat load of aftermarket support looking at a 6cm CA, and I think I would rather have a .243 tikka and worry about a new barrel and chop and thread later.

 

[BigCountry82]

I've had dozens of custom built rifles and dozens of Sako rifles. I just recently (last 4 years) starting using Tikka rifles which are just simplified and less frills Sako guns generally speaking. Used to shoot competitively, got gear for free, yada yada...

I say that to basically say, for an actual field hunting rifle, you cannot beat a Tikka or Sako. Tikka gives you a ton of options to build off the action as well if you want to get cute with it, but a factory Tikka in .223, .243, .260, 6.5 CM will serve you well for thousands and thousands of rounds. I'm currently working on my next Tikka based action cute rifle myself cause it's fun!

I have found a few used ones here locally 6.5cm , 22-250 and 300wm. Me getting a Tikka isnt out of necessity ( its just i want another rifle kinda deal ).

 

[plebe]

Yeah that’s ugly and expensive.

Lol, plenty of ugly and expensive guns get love on this site.

Heavy is the biggest issue imo. And you’re better served buying the regular RS14/Evo models.

 

[Axlrod]

Has anyone had any experience with the cycling smoothness of a UM lightened and nitrided tikka yet?

I have 55 rounds through mine so far. Very smooth, no issues.

 

[Gila]

All I have left of the three Tikka T3x rifles that I bought are the actions and the triggers. The stocks and the barrels aren’t worth much. If you have a newer fast twist barrel might be able to get a bit more….will sell faster anyway. Bolt and receiver parts are very difficult to find. Took me eight months to get a firing pin assembly once. Unless you have a spare receiver or bolt you could be SOL for a while with a failure. I have not had any issues with the Tikka recoil lugs on my rifles however the recoil lug drops into the stock and is not part of the action.

The T3X actions are not long actions, more like a “standard” action that will accept cartridges up to 3.5” in length. Subtract mag wall dimensions more like 3.45-3.47” for a max COAL. Factory ammo isn’t a problem since the max long action COAL is 3.34”. I have heard about UM mags but I would check the dimensions. Last I checked, some chassis models don’t offer a Tikka T3x long action option.

 

[Timberline001]

I have been following folks building off Tikka Actions. Is the Tikka action once you do all the upgrades really as good as a custom action or is the modularity of the action iswhat draws people to them. I have zero experience with a Tikka I have handled one in the LGS.

I have been thinking about buying one to see. I have defiance actions, bat vesper , lone peak and impact precision. Can anyone that has both Tikka action builds and custom action builds. Give some insight and honest opinion ?

I just sold my rifle built on a defiance action to build 2 more tikkas. I loved the defiance but it didn’t have any features that made me like it more than my customs built off tikkas. I’ve found the tikka action to not need any upgrades. My builds are just a new pre-fit barrel and a high quality stock like McMillan or manners. If I want it to look a little more nice I’ll buy an aluminum bottom metal but it’s not needed.

My customs off of model 700 clones needed bottom metal, trigger, and box mags on top of an action thats already twice the price of a tikka rifle that just needs the barrel removed. The tikka system is also more dependable in bad weather we’re 700 clones have a chance of trigger failure.

For me personally a full custom off a tikka is ideal and all my rifles in the future will be built off a tikka.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

UM has, or is working on, an extended magazine for the Tikka to allow you more cartridge length.

The internal action is the constraint on the Tikkas. Unless you're willing to compromise significantly on powder capacity, the standard Tikka action doesn't support extra long high BC bullets. For example, you cannot take full advantage of the 130 class bullets in .25-06 in the standard Tikka without seating them deep. A guy would have to mill out the action to get more length assuming you had a barrel throated appropriately as well. This is often solved by a 25 Creed or 25-284 semi-custom build on the standard action.

 

[BigCountry82]

I just sold my rifle built on a defiance action to build 2 more tikkas. I loved the defiance but it didn’t have any features that made me like it more than my customs built off tikkas. I’ve found the tikka action to not need any upgrades. My builds are just a new pre-fit barrel and a high quality stock like McMillan or manners. If I want it to look a little more nice I’ll buy an aluminum bottom metal but it’s not needed.

My customs off of model 700 clones needed bottom metal, trigger, and box mags on top of an action thats already twice the price of a tikka rifle that just needs the barrel removed. The tikka system is also more dependable in bad weather we’re 700 clones have a chance of trigger failure.

For me personally a full custom off a tikka is ideal and all my rifles in the future will be built off a tikka.

Thank you for the information. I am definitely gonna try a Tikka stock rifle out. I am gonna just pick a headstamp I like and roll. What did you build ?

 

[Timberline001]

Thank you for the information. I am definitely gonna try a Tikka stock rifle out. I am gonna just pick a headstamp I like and roll. What did you build ?

I’ve built a 6.5 PRC, a 6x45, a .260, and 2 6.5 creeds in the past for myself and friends. I’m building myself a 7 PRC and 6 creedmoor right now with the funds from my defiance build. Rock creek barrel chambered and threaded by PVA on the 7, and a mcgowen prefit on the 6 and Manners EH1s on both.

 

[BigCountry82]

The internal action is the constraint on the Tikkas. Unless you're willing to compromise significantly on powder capacity, the standard Tikka action doesn't support extra long high BC bullets. For example, you cannot take full advantage of the 130 class bullets in .25-06 in the standard Tikka without seating them deep. A guy could mill out the action to get more length assuming you had a barrel throated appropriately as well.

Me personally if i rebarreled one on a standard boltface 30-06AI or 280AI. Magnum bolfface it probably be 300wsm or 300wm.

Reason being i have two custom 6.5prcs and a newly completed 6.5saum. Probably dont need anything more than the 6.5 cal. But i do like to have a 30cal rifle around.

 

[stv117]

1. Trigger. 2. LA mag max COAL 3.56. 3. Smallish barrel tenon may find pressure early on bigger magnums. 4. LA stock/chassis options.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Me personally if i rebarreled one on a standard boltface 30-06AI or 280AI. Magnum bolfface it probably be 300wsm or 300wm.

Reason being i have two custom 6.5prcs and a newly completed 6.5saum. Probably dont need anything more than the 6.5 cal. But i do like to have a 30cal rifle around.

I thought about fast twist .25-06AI shooting the 130 class Bergers and ELDMs for a long time. However, you can't seat them long enough in standard Tikka action.

The .25-284 build is nice because you already have LA bolt stop, LA mags, and can use standard bolt. The case also has a 35 degree shoulder vs. 40 degree which slows case growth. Case capacity for .25-06 is ~65 grains and the 25-284 is ~66 grains. The case is also short enough to seat the 130s way out in the standard action if you want to.

Case is formed by simply necking down 6.5-284 brass with one pass through 25-284 FL sizing die.

Sounds like you're a 6.5 guy, so why not add a 6.5-284 semi-custom Tikka to your stable?

 

[Timberline001]

Me personally if i rebarreled one on a standard boltface 30-06AI or 280AI. Magnum bolfface it probably be 300wsm or 300wm.

Reason being i have two custom 6.5prcs and a newly completed 6.5saum. Probably dont need anything more than the 6.5 cal. But i do like to have a 30cal rifle around.

The COAL restrictions are a downside to the tikkas but there’s plenty of alternative cartridges to work around the restrictions so it has t bothered me. I built the defiance because I wanted a 300 PRC for ELR but I’m replacing it with the 7 and it’ll do the job well with less recoil.