Tikka T3x Stainless 6.5 PRC - $599.99 - HUGE SALE

[Taprack9]

Do you think you’ll run another deal on the 6.5 PRC? I know it’s on sale now but similar to the previous one.

 

[EuroOptic]

Do you think you’ll run another deal on the 6.5 PRC? I know it’s on sale now but similar to the previous one.

Maybe, but I doubt it - the non threaded models are discontinued so we were blowing thru the first big batch we had. I can still help out a little bit on it, but you gotta PM me for that.
No.. this does not mean I can take it back to the $599 price..

Jake

 

[Kauaihunter]

I used Jake’s Rokslide25 code less than 2 weeks ago. $25 off but have to use his link. If it doesn’t work, say Please.

Has to be a $500 plus purchase.

 

[JayHoot]

Any chance of this one going way on sale again? I see that you still have some.

 

[Aussie Dan]

Id give my left nut to get a new tikka here in oz for $599, hell even $999

 

[Marcjr47]

I picked up a T3x lite .308 threaded, 20” for $783 shipped a couple weeks ago. The non threaded were cheaper

 

[dreamingWest]

I finally shot my "EuroOptic Huge Sale" 6.5 PRC this past weekend.
I had the barrel cut to 20" and threaded. I had been waiting on my 6.5 Airlock before zeroing.

Money well spent. The rifle was simply painting the bullseye with all three factory loads I put through it. The Hornady ammo was woefully slow but the Federal gives me a really simple quick drop! I bought some of Federal's ELD-X load to test out of curiosity. Reading this forum, the Hornady numbers shouldn't come as a surprise. I went ahead and bought some RCBS dies so I'll likely load one of the TMKs. But it's nice to know Federal gives me a great factory option.

For those curious (ProChrono, ~70*F, gusty winds):
Hornady Match 147 ELD-M: 2635 fps (avg of 9-shots)
Hornady Precision Hunter 143 ELD-X: 2735 fps (avg of 6-shots)
Federal 140 Tipped Fusion: 2810 fps (avg of 6-shots)

I was just banging steel to get the Trijicon zeroed. Not necessarily set-up for optimized groups. But all three of those loads shot better than the 77 TMK Black Hills load I use in my Tikka 223. And that combo has worked exceedingly well for me over the last few years.

Maybe the barrel will speed up a bit when I'm done shooting the factory boxes. Very pleased overall. I'll handload 130 TMK, 143 ELD-X, and 153 TMK soon.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

For those curious (ProChrono, ~70*F, gusty winds):
Hornady Match 147 ELD-M: 2635 fps (avg of 9-shots)
Hornady Precision Hunter 143 ELD-X: 2735 fps (avg of 6-shots)

100 fps between these two is kinda crazy.

 

[dreamingWest]

100 fps between these two is kinda crazy.

Could be bad readings. But I did circle back around to the ELD-M and was right back in the 2630s. Really the ProChrono seemed to be working well for me that day.

As a sanity check (same hour), my 77 TMK Black Hills (18" .223) measured 2780 fps and my handloaded 140 A-Max (20" .260 Rem) measured 2760 fps. Very close to my expectations and previous results.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Could be bad readings. But I did circle back around to the ELD-M and was right back in the 2630s. Really the ProChrono seemed to be working well for me that day.

As a sanity check (same hour), my 77 TMK Black Hills (18" .223) measured 2780 fps and my handloaded 140 A-Max (20" .260 Rem) measured 2760 fps. Very close to my expectations and previous results.

Oh I'm not doubting your data, I'm just surprised to see such a large swing between those two factory rounds.

 

[coast range]

Mine didn’t speed up at all. Is what it is, doesn’t matter it shoots lights out

 

[HairyScandinavian]

My 20" Tikka 6.5 CM gets 2579 with factory 147's last time I chrono'd factory. I'd b kinda ticked going PRC and only getting 55 fps faster than a CM. It's got to be a bad batch of ammo.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

my 22” tikka 6.5prc was doing 2790 with the one box of 147’s I bought, that was 20 round average per Garmin

The case of 147 Creedmoor ammo I bought has averaged about 2620 every time I’ve chronoed it, hits line up perfectly out to 600. It’s very consistent anyway. 24” barrel

 

[Bubblehide]

I really should get one of these.

 

[freezerfull]

I shoot very little factory ammo but did shoot some Hornady 147 eldm in my EO Tikka 6.5 prc special. Clocked 2730 ish out of the factory 24”. Also shot factory Norma bondstrike 143, it was a dog too at 2815 but stacked a ragged hole multiple times.

140 bergers and 127 lrx handloads were much more in line with what I would expect out of a 6.5 prc. 140 Berger h-VLD at 2920 and 127 LRX averaged 2995. For what it’s worth both loads run ~100 fps faster out of a 24” proof prefit.

 

[bojangles808]

My 20" Tikka 6.5 CM gets 2579 with factory 147's last time I chrono'd factory. I'd b kinda ticked going PRC and only getting 55 fps faster than a CM. It's got to be a bad batch of ammo.

I've seen 180fps descrepencies between different lots of match. it's a crapshoot

 

[J.B.]

I've seen 180fps descrepencies between different lots of match. it's a crapshoot

Verified the 147s at 2715 out of a new 22” ibi last year. They shot well, but slow.

 

[Escalante11]

Both my cousin and I have 24” Tikka 6.5 PRCs. Both chrono slower than my dad’s 21” 6.5 PRC of another manufacturer. Same chrono, same ammo, same range session..

For what’s it’s worth, my experience is Tikka barrels run slow, even more so on 6.5 PRC variants.

 

[dreamingWest]

My 20" Tikka 6.5 CM gets 2579 with factory 147's last time I chrono'd factory. I'd b kinda ticked going PRC and only getting 55 fps faster than a CM. It's got to be a bad batch of ammo.

Yep. I wrote a lot of notes in my journal that I decided not to post here during that range session. But one was questioning velocities of Hornady 6.5 CM ammo, because based on my results, if you were dead set on using Hornady factory loads, the 6.5 PRC makes no sense over a 6.5 CM. Certainly not if you're chopping the barrel.

I chose 6.5 PRC for a few reasons. One being this ridiculous sale price with rebate ($550). Two, I thought I could buy Hornady Match 147 ELD-M and never worry with reloading. Three, I thought I could get to traditional Creedmoor performance with a cut barrel.

Two, will not be true. For someone who has really believed in Hornady bullets and ammo, I'm not sure I'll buy another 6.5 PRC box from them.

Three will be true. I'll just use Federal factory ammo. I also have no doubt I'll be able to handload some very high performance TMKs. But my original intension was to not handload for this rifle. Since I exclusively reload my .260 Rem (10# semi-custom M700), even the Federal 6.5 PRC loads are only going to gain about 50 fps.

All that said, this Tikka T3X Lite 6.5 PRC appears to be the most accurate factory rifle I've ever owned. I'm going to be shooting Tipped Fusions or TMKs 2800+ fps out an 8.5# suppressed rifle. So it's going to be sweet western hunting rig.