Tikka T3X Upgrades

[Fireflyfishing]

"Hello internet car forum for hotrods, I just bought my first factory stock muscle car - what should I do with it for the ultimate in awesome if you were in my shoes?"

That's part of why you're getting answers across the board - lots of enthusiasts with great ideas, that may or may not align with your needs, but most based on good reasoning.

The only thing I'd add for consideration, is to take the first $1000-1500 you were going to use on any gear or mods for it...and take a rifle shooting class.

You will know after that exactly what you need changed, or just want changed, and why. And you'll be a much better shooter for it, much better positioned to evaluate the better investments.

Bingo

 

[KenLee]

I would just get the rear focus swfa fixed 10x if only shooting that far for $300. It's 20oz, reliable and doesn't break the bank. If you ever wanted another rifle they'd be a great backp scope. The fixed 6x is also popular or those ranges but much harder to find. I had both and prefer a little more mag on our smaller sheep and deer.

In my opinion, the 10x is terrible for close shots hunting. Field of view is too small for quick shots close in.
I use one for shooting paper only.

 

[JGRaider]

Some of these rec's are downright laughable for a guy shooting out to 200 yards in the woods of Indiana. Good grief.........

 

[sdupontjr]

Some of these rec's are downright laughable for a guy shooting out to 200 yards in the woods of Indiana. Good grief.........

Thus is why I posted my comment. I hunt a very similar situation. Hard woods about 85% of the time. So my hunting situation is similar in shots will be from 20 yards to 175/200 if I line the trees up correctly. We do have clearings out to 200+ and powerlines out much further. I'm also willing to bet that of that range, about 75% of the shots will be from 50-150, with 20 and 200 being a small percentage of the shots.

 

[JGRaider]

Right on sir. I agreed with you then, and still do.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Just because the scope is a Vortex doesn’t mean it won’t work...at all.

That’s literally exactly what it means.

Seriously though, why trust it when it has such a poor track record? It could completely screw your hunt.

 

[Bodycamp13]

I put the Tikka bolt knob on my 6.5 Creed and really like it (didn't come on my Lite). I put the Mt Tactical spring in the trigger - love it. I want a Trijicon Accupoint 3-9 with green dot but working with a VX3i 3.5-10x40 and killing stuff. You don't need to do really anything to the rifle.

I do want to cut to 20" and add a can.

 

[Shotinthedark]

GRS Stocks are literally crafted with Tikkas in mind ....
can't go wrong with one...feel fantastic...

Arken scopes all day long for the $$ the best ....

My 6.5 Creed T3X CTR with a new unfired Xcaliber 26" 5R barrel.......
waiting on my damn barrel nut !!

 

[Shotinthedark]

Cut a barrel ??? lol F that homie ! I want max velocity ! and it's much quieter when you actually burn the powder in the barrel.... SOCOM RC2 30 cal

 

[fmyth]

GRS Stocks are literally crafted with Tikkas in mind ....
can't go wrong with one...feel fantastic...

Arken scopes all day long for the $$ the best ....

My 6.5 Creed T3X CTR with a new unfired Xcaliber 26" 5R barrel.......
waiting on my damn barrel nut !!

What benefit would the OP, a hunter that makes most of his shots on deer between 10- 200 yards, get from a 26" barrel and a heavier competition style stock designed for long range shooting?

 

[btb1983]

I would do a vertical grip and cheek riser if needed and save for a suppressor.

If budget allows, an aftermarket stock would be great.

I would take a bone stock Tikka suppressed over any chassis/stock shooting raw.

Your scope probably won't be reliable so upgrade that down the road when cash allows.

On the vertical grip, I see one that is a hard plastic and one that is a soft touch rubber. Which one do you have experience with?

 

[swavescatter]

On the vertical grip, I see one that is a hard plastic and one that is a soft touch rubber. Which one do you have experience with?

Soft touch. I think it's probably worth the extra $10.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

On the vertical grip, I see one that is a hard plastic and one that is a soft touch rubber. Which one do you have experience with?

I only have the hard grip ones but the soft touch is better.

I have several tikkas and they all have the vertical grip.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

That’s literally exactly what it means.

Seriously though, why trust it when it has such a poor track record? It could completely screw your hunt.

Have you tried one? Or do you just regurgitate what you read on this forum?

I’ve killed many animals with Vortex scopes. Only recently have I read the scope tests on this forum. I’m intrigued and don’t dispute the test results. In fact, I just bought a NF instead of a Vortex after reading those tests. But…if I grab one of my rifles with a Vortex out of the safe, I’m confident it will shoot well. Just because you mount one up on a rifle doesn’t automatically mean it won’t work. Same with Leupold and other scopes that have failed the tests.

Here’s a hot tip for you. Handle your weapon carefully and you’ll likely have better results. The scope tests would be at the extreme end of how I would handle a rifle. In fact, flat out, I don’t handle firearms the way form does. Accidents and failures do happen and this is why I bring multiple rifles on a hunt.

 

[Wolfshead]

I hunt in NY. Probably not much different conditions than from the OP.
I have a field or two that I can shoot out to 300 yds.
I bought my Tikka T3X Compact new two years ago.
.308 Win. 38” total length 6.5-7 lbs unloaded. I changed the floor plate to a mountain tactical one, and painted the factory stock.
It wears a handmade paracord sling, and has a Vortex Diamondback 1.75-5 x 32 scope on it as my hunting is done from 10-300 yds and I need nothing more.
I’ve hunted exclusively with this rifle the last two years using my handloads, and have put three shot groups into a six inch target at 300 yards.
I love the rifle I have, and how it is set up, and it is a pleasure to carry all day in the woods or sitting the field edge.

 

[btb1983]

I hunt in NY. Probably not much different conditions than from the OP.
I have a field or two that I can shoot out to 300 yds.
I bought my Tikka T3X Compact new two years ago.
.308 Win. 38” total length 6.5-7 lbs unloaded. I changed the floor plate to a mountain tactical one, and painted the factory stock.
It wears a handmade paracord sling, and has a Vortex Diamondback 1.75-5 x 32 scope on it as my hunting is done from 10-300 yds and I need nothing more.
I’ve hunted exclusively with this rifle the last two years using my handloads, and have put three shot groups into a six inch target at 300 yards.
I love the rifle I have, and how it is set up, and it is a pleasure to carry all day in the woods or sitting the field edge.
View attachment 724604View attachment 724605View attachment 724606

That’s a good looking paint job!

 

[Tundrawalker]

I know this suggestion has already been made, but my first thought is to put the upgrade money into ammo. It sounds like you do not have a lot of experience with a scoped rifle, and the simple fact is we usually need to upgrade ourselves way more than upgrading our equipment. I am as guilty as anyone wanting to create the best rifle, but sadly neglecting working on my skills. After all I opened this thread thinking, "Hey, what kind of new ideas will they have for my own Tikka?"

If you have the money for both, and the upgrades you make will translate into you spending more time practicing with your rifle, then yes, go for it. But if the new scope, suppressor, barrel chop, etc means you only have enough money for a couple of boxes of ammo to site in, I would say dropping a thousand on ammo is way more effective, or signing up for some training as well. The other aspect of that too is the more you use it, the more likely that any changes you want to make will be more apparent, or the things that you thought you needed/wanted originally will not turn out to be as important or the same direction.

Good luck, have fun, and enjoy your new rifle!

 

[Wolfshead]

That’s a good looking paint job!

Thank you.
Very easy with some spray paint from Lowe’s and a sponge.
Lots of videos on how to and it took a little over a day because of drying time.

 

[Castle Rock]

Lots of mention of stuff here that would actually be detrimental to the OP

Cheek riser, no because you want less head influence on the gun not more

Vertical grip, no because they carry like shit

Trigger springs, no if you can’t hunt or shoot well with 2-2.5 pounds you need practice not crutches

New stock, hardly if you’re not shooting extreme distances

New or different gun, FMD

Scopes, yes ditch the Vortex POS, 3-9 Burris on the cheap or NF 3-10 SHV

And that is just off the top of my head

Hunting isn’t hard or complicated unless you want it to be, the best hunters I know don’t know shit about gear, or care

 

[Boarmaster]

Any upgrades I ever made I did because I wasn't satisfied with rifle in some way.

Other than upgrading scopes on older rifles I only ever modified one rifle. A Rem 700 xcr2 . I upgraded the Stock (mcmillan) trigger (Timney) , scope and scope mounts (Talley LW). I wanted a little lighter but stronger rifle. Each thing I did made me like it more.

Original stock was crappy plastic, OEM trigger had a recall so I just replaced it.

I started with warne scope rings and mounts and switched them out for Talley LWs. Mounts were not an upgrade in my mind just a switch to lighter rings.

The rest of the rifles I shoot are all bone stock gizmos other than my MRC X2 in 7mm08 that I had the factory chop the 24 inch barrel back to 22.