I have heard all the Tikka fans for awhile but....

[awaldro7]

I have heard all of the Tikka fans rave about their rifles for awhile but I couldn't believe a rifle could be THAT good for the price. I was searching for a rifle to take on my upcoming moose hunt because I really didn't want to take my browning bar semi auto rifle. I found a deal on Whittaker guns for a Tikka t3x stainless 7mm rem mag for $569 shipped to my FFL. I put a Vortex Viper HST 4-16x44 on the rifle. The rifle weighs 7.7lbs with scope and rings. I was initially impressed by how slick the bolt and trigger was. I loaded up 9 separate incremental loads of 160gr accubond loaded to magazine length with H1000 powder and took it to my Dads property to test. I broke in the rifle using 25 rounds of factory ammo cleaning after every round for the first 5 then cleaning after every 5th round. The first 5 incremental 3 shot loads printed 1 ragged hole groups. In particular the second incremental 3 shot load shot a 0.26" group. I am a Tikka believer now! That is by far the best group that I have ever shot with a hunting rifle...or any rifle for that matter. I still have 3 more loads to test, however, every load that I have tested thus far has been sub-moa. The load that printed the 0.26" group was on the low end of charge weights at 66.5 gr and by referencing the load data it should be close to 2900 fps. I am hoping that I can get just a shade over 3000 fps however if accuracy does not come with that velocity then I will be glad to shoot the slower load.

 

[4IDARCHER]

Awesome shooting from an awesome rifle.

 

[JollyRoger]

I've got the same rifle and have loved every minute of it. Good choice and good price on that one!

 

[GKPrice]

must be a fluke !! NO affordable working man's rifle can shoot as accurately as a $5000 custom job !! "Those" Tikka shooters must be a bunch of LIARS !! Or maybe it's a conspiracy !! (SARCASM ......)

sounds like you have a WINNER ....

 

[awaldro7]

My dad liked my tikka so much that he ordered a 300 wsm t3x and put his 700 30-06 back in the safe. We have not had an opportunity to develop a load for it yet but it is shooting factory soft points around an inch. We are planning on loading it with 180 gr accubonds and imr 4831.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

SAme thing happened to me a few weeks go, Id heard all the Tikka Hoopla for a few years and figured they were good "for the money". I stopped into a sportsmans warhouse and they had the t3x superlites, I asked to see one and he handed me a 270, I was really impressed by it, it was much nicer than I had expected so I did the paperwork and its going back to Alaska with me in a few weeks.

 

[cooperjd]

The load that printed the 0.26" group was on the low end of charge weights at 66.5 gr

may i ask what data you're using for the H1000?

hodgdon's website says max of 66.0gr for 160gr nosler partition (i know it's not accubond), and Nosler's website only lists charge weights for H1000 with 168gr ABLR's, which lists a max of 70.0gr for those bullets.

my 7mag shoots the 160 ABs, seated .020 off the lands, with 66.0gr of H1000 into easy sub moa groups...best so far of 0.183". i love it.

 

[16Bore]

Yet haters keep hating.....

 

[Bubblehide]

Not at all surprised, welcome to the club.

 

[lewy]

Been hunting mine hard for 10 years, never let me down! Lots of one shot kills between 4&7 hundred yards, great rifles

 

[16Bore]

You guys should throw in a 1:8 223 SL for shits and giggles.....you'll be glad you did.

 

[mtmuley]

I looked at buying one about 12 years ago (before all the hype). Just couldn't warm up to it. No matter how they shoot, they just don't feel like a rifle I can trust. mtmuley

 

[16Bore]

You must have a pile of M70's, and that's not a smart ass comment.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I keep telling people that all the time..........oh, and the very best part??????
It doesn't cost $5895.00.

Randy

 

[awaldro7]

The load that printed the 0.26" group was on the low end of charge weights at 66.5 gr

may i ask what data you're using for the H1000?

hodgdon's website says max of 66.0gr for 160gr nosler partition (i know it's not accubond), and Nosler's website only lists charge weights for H1000 with 168gr ABLR's, which lists a max of 70.0gr for those bullets.

my 7mag shoots the 160 ABs, seated .020 off the lands, with 66.0gr of H1000 into easy sub moa groups...best so far of 0.183". i love it.

I used nosler data and referenced hornady and Sierra data also. The loads for the partition are lower charges due to the pressures that the flat base partition generates. You are correct about nosler listing only h1000 for 168gr accubond and not 160. Typically as a similar bullet style gets heavier the charges always get smaller so I assumed that with the 8 grain lighter bullet that I would be safe up to at least nosler's max with the 168 by working up from the bottom. I may push it past book max if I don't encounter pressure. I'm up to 68.5 grains currently and have not encountered any pressure signs.

 

[cooperjd]

I used nosler data and referenced hornady and Sierra data also. The loads for the partition are lower charges due to the pressures that the flat base partition generates. You are correct about nosler listing only h1000 for 168gr accubond and not 160. Typically as a similar bullet style gets heavier the charges always get smaller so I assumed that with the 8 grain lighter bullet that I would be safe up to at least nosler's max with the 168 by working up from the bottom. I may push it past book max if I don't encounter pressure. I'm up to 68.5 grains currently and have not encountered any pressure signs.

gotcha, thank you. yeah i looked on noslers website, and comparing the 168 ABLRs to the 160ABs, it looks like all the powders that are listed for both, if you just subtract 1 grain from the max/min on the 168ABLR, you'll have a good max/min for the 160AB. I'll try to load up a few creeping up to a max of 69.0gr of H1000. its tough to leave the 66.0 load though since it shoots so well. maybe i'll find another good node with a couple more grains and get closer to 3k fps.

 

[16Bore]

100 fps isn't going to amount to jack.

 

[awaldro7]

100 fps isn't going to amount to jack.

I agree however I am still going to test the rest of my loads to max to see if I can beat or match the 66.5gr accuracy. If not then I will definitely work off of that load.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Love tikkas, I talk them up to most new hunters. Very solid accuracy for the price point and average hunting use. That said I think realistically yes there is an improvement USUALLY seen between a semi-custom/custom and a factory tikka (IE take 10 of each and see how well they shoot a factory load and also tuned loads, that sort of thing) but whether that is meaningful to the user is the question. Tightening a gun up 1/2MOA isn't going to really matter to someone hunting under 300yd for instance. I've read reports similar over the years and I find that to be the case with my personal stock Tikka and also Tikka wearing an aftermarket barrel (in 280AI which isn't a stock offering), the latter is consistently tighter at 400yd (at 100yd they both print small groups).

That said get a tikka, shoot the shit out of it and when the barrel gets burned up and also you're itching to stretch your wings on how far you are shooting that action is a good platform for a short/medium action semi-custom that can fit heavies in the magazine still.

 

[16Bore]

I agree however I am still going to test the rest of my loads to max to see if I can beat or match the 66.5gr accuracy. If not then I will definitely work off of that load.

Yup..accurate loads always win.