TIKKA Stainless - Phasing it out?

[HuntHarder]

Ship to a smith in Mesa, AZ with a return label is $20. $60 for the hours work. What quotes/prices have you seen?

Which Gunsmith are you using? I have a couple guns that need some threads cut?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

This guy

I said I normally just ship the barrels. These are barrels from Sako or take offs from folks who sell them to me.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Which Gunsmith are you using? I have a couple guns that need some threads cut?

You’ll have to come shoot with him (us) this spring and bring some beer for after shooting. He’s not currently taking on new work or customers. PM me.

 

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

There’s no reason to pull a barrel off to cut and thread the muzzle.

Depends on how big your lathe is.

 

[Unckebob]

1) Barrel life is a concern on bolt action rifles for the folks I shoot with, myself included. Ruger and Savage should be at the bottom of your list on this specific requirement. It sounds like you plan to barely ever shoot it?

2) and 3) None of the rifles you mentioned are a direct comparison or replacement for a Tikka. Having a Tikka barrel cut and threaded costs around $80 all in after shipping. The field requirements I mentioned above are not met by Savage, Howa, Ruger, or Weatherby. None of those brands make a rifle that lasts, maintains accuracy long term, and remains reliable in real world hunting/shooting applications (2) , mud, rain, dirt, snow, ice, etc). They make for acceptable rifles for folks who take them out of a safe a couple or handful of times per year and almost never shoot them.

1) I plan to shoot the crap out of it. I just don't think burning out a 223 barrel too quickly is a relevant consideration. I would simply buy a prefit barrel and swap it out myself.

2) I live and shoot in Texas. During my hunting trip last year in East Texas woods, it was like hunting in a wet sauna.

• Snow and ice are never a factor.
• Mud and rain, while possible, are frankly rare.
• Dust and wind are a big issue in West Texas, but cleaning a rifle is easy.

 

[Marbles]

You guys are making me want to buy and horde Tikkas. I want to nitride a CroMoly.

The fancy Tikkas are a piss poor deal in my opinion. I don't even want to pay for the fluted barrel.

 

[atmat]

$60

You’ll have to come shoot with him (us) this spring and bring some beer for after shooting. He’s not currently taking on new work or customers.

Haha dude, you’re a smart guy. Certainly you understand that your buddy doing it for $60 is nowhere near the going rate for a cut/thread, right?

 

[General RE LEE]

Prefer in what way?

I live in South Louisiana, so corrosion resistance is very important to me.

I live in Tennessee so I only deal with rain and humidity. I’ve never had a blued barrel rifle rust. I wipe down my firearms with a silicone cloth after each hunt. If rifle sits in the rain, I pulls the barreled action from stock and apply Birchwood Casey Barricade.

My stainless Tikka UPR got some rust spots after being in a quick shower and put in a gun bag for the 45 minute drive home.

I also prefer the look of a blued barrel with a black stock. It’s simple and low visibility.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Haha dude, you’re a smart guy. Certainly you understand that your buddy doing it for $60 is nowhere near the going rate for a cut/thread, right?

I’m just misinformed on it is all. What is the going rate? If someone was charging me over $200 for a cut and thread I’d leave the gun alone and shoot it haha.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I bought my blued 223 for $470. Just got dang lucky on a fire-sale.

I can't understand why anyone would pay more money for the cerakoted versions. Especially since Tikka has had some issues with the cerakote application.

Back when the T3x came out europtic was selling off the cabelas/bass pro floor model T3s. I got a blued 243 ~$330 iirc with a free badlands daypack tossed in (works fine for the kids). That was a heck of a deal.

 

[atmat]

I’m just misinformed on it is all. What is the going rate? If someone was charging me over $200 for a cut and thread I’d leave the gun alone and shoot it haha.

One of the cheapest guys I know charges $125. I would bet the average is $150 or more.

 

[gtriple]

One of the cheapest guys I know charges $125. I would bet the average is $150 or more.

That's about right. TBAC charges $150. I unfortunately don't trust my LGS after he botched a Model 70 re-tapping of scope base screws.

 

[ropeup79]

I just paid $150 to thread and add a shoulder to a Tikka.
Edited to add that I supplied the thread protector used to make shoulder.

 

[RocketRob16]

Quote today from LGS was $175 for chop and thread. No thread protector included.

 

[Liftman101]

The T3x Lite is carbon steel with blueing. The Roughtech is a carbon steel action and carbon steel D18 barrel with Cerakote. The Veil series and the D18 series from Bass Pro are all stainless with Cerakote. The Roughtech is not a bad value if you consider the cost of the cerakote job, fluted D18 profile barrel, fluted bolt, bolt knob, the threaded muzzle, muzzle brake plus thread protector and a coating on the stock.

I prefer the D18 Profile barrel for shooting high volume off the bench. Roughtech is $1099 at Bass Pros versus $769 for the blued model. I only buy Tikkas when Bass Pros or Sportsmans is having a sale at least 10% off. That makes the comparison $989 for the Roughtech versus $692 for the base T3x Lite carbon or $791 for the stainless.

One trick worth mentioning is that Bass Pros and Cabelas will occasionally allow the 10% off day to work for gift cards. It happened this year on Father's Day. I bought a bunch of gift cards then used them on the next 10% off CMM (Club Member Monday) to buy several Tikkas. It ends up being more than 20% off because the gift card discount is being applied to the tax as well.

 

[Liftman101]

Unknown Munitions has high quality machining and will do cut and thread for $135. Their price on return freight is a little high but they are an excellent value.

If you are shipping a barreled action, get a small 4"x 4" box less than 30" long and you can ship it very cheaply using Pirateship.com or something similar. With a Tikka, it is so easy to take the stock off that even shipping an entire rifle is much cheaper if you get it in a box less than 30". If you ship a rifle in a box over 48", it gets even more expensive with the additional surcharge.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

If doing a chop/thread/shoulder setup and you need to mail it out kampfeld lists that at $145. He's known to do good and consistent quality in a timely manner. https://www.kampfeldcustom.com/boltfluting0914_003.htm

 

[Marbles]

The Roughtech is not a bad value if you consider... fluted bolt...

I consider a fluted bolt to be a negative. I would pay someone to swap it for a standard bolt. So, for my that makes the value worse.

 

[atmat]

I consider a fluted bolt to be a negative. I would pay someone to swap it for a standard bolt. So, for my that makes the value worse.

Yep.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

So to sum this thread up…

Yes, after the success of the budget “Tikka” line from Sako they started introducing some “premium” variants. These include things that are not needed, but what folks think they need in “cool factor”.

They are using these models to bridge the gap between base model Tikkas and going all the way up to Sako pricing. This allows them to increase margins a bit on the Tikka brand while still not fully encroaching on the Sako line. I personally think the “premium” Tikka models do a good job in this instance, and sales volumes in the US would also indicate this was a good business decision for Sako.

In general these guns, even with their inflated price, still cannot be “beat” for an off the shelf hunting rifle. Are they “better” than a standard blued or stainless Tikka? My opinion is no. Are they still excellent rifles for the price? My opinion is yes.

So no, Sako is not “phasing out” the regular old stainless and blued model Tikka rifles.