Tikka T3 Lite .223

fotohunt · #1 02-24-2007, 05:35 PM

Hello,
I need opinions from all you Tikka shooters. BTW, I got the gun for $400 cash, with rings, and hardly any bluing wear.
The gun is very light and I will of course use it as a calling rifle.

My questions are as follows:

1. Did I get a good deal?

2. It has the factory 1 in 8" twist, to me that translates into 69-80 gr bullets for max accuracy. Am I correct in this assumption or will it reliably stabilize the 50-60 gr bullets?

3. The mag only holds four rounds and seems to be of stable construction. Will it reliably feed a shorter-cased round such as a 17-222 or 17-223, and are those a good choice. I am not going to go with the 17 rem as I want something smaller that I have to form.

4. On the other hand, a 17 Magnum sounds cool too shooting the 30 gr bullets.

I wouldn't ask you guys if I didn't have respect for your opinions. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Darrell

Fireball · #2 02-24-2007, 07:06 PM

Darrell,

1. You got a good deal on the finest rifle made today for the money.

2. I regret Tikka going to the fast twist barrels on their .223s. They got pressure from the Amercian mass market hysteria that the .223 needs a fast twist for the heavy bullets. Hogwash. This is an AR-15 thing. They should have left them with the old slower twists. That being said it will shoot the lighter bullets fine.

3. The mag will feed any cartridge design based off the .222 or .223 case.

4. If you end up rebarreling your T3 you should send the barreled action to Lilja barrels and have them program a lightweight T3 barrel contour for you (if they haven't already done it for someone else already). I did this for my older Tikka M595 sporters. Both my .20 Practical and my .20-222 sporters have the custom Tikka M595 contours from Lilja on them. The reason why this is important is there isn't much room in the stock's barrel channel for fitting custom barrels into them. Tikka uses a straighter European contour on their barrels and this also makes it difficult to fit a classic American contour into them. Once Lilja does a program it is available to all. My M595 program can be used by anyone who wants to rebarrel a M595. Lilja may already have a T3 profile by now. I need to check with Dan one of these days.

Here is a link to one of the M595 Tikkas I mentioned. it isn't a T3 but it is very similar for what you may want to do some day down the road with yours.

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek061.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotohunt

Hello,
I need opinions from all you Tikka shooters. BTW, I got the gun for $400 cash, with rings, and hardly any bluing wear.
The gun is very light and I will of course use it as a calling rifle.

My questions are as follows:

1. Did I get a good deal?

2. It has the factory 1 in 8" twist, to me that translates into 69-80 gr bullets for max accuracy. Am I correct in this assumption or will it reliably stabilize the 50-60 gr bullets?

3. The mag only holds four rounds and seems to be of stable construction. Will it reliably feed a shorter-cased round such as a 17-222 or 17-223, and are those a good choice. I am not going to go with the 17 rem as I want something smaller that I have to form.

4. On the other hand, a 17 Magnum sounds cool too shooting the 30 gr bullets.

I wouldn't ask you guys if I didn't have respect for your opinions. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Darrell

Bayou City Boy · #3 02-24-2007, 11:31 PM

I own several Tikas, both 595's and T-3's. You got a good deal in my estimation.

My T-3 in 223 Remington shoots 50 grain bullets and various other weights up to 70 grain (Speer semispitzer) very well. I've actually tried bullets lighter than 50 grains in it, but I don't plan to shoot anything lighter than 50 grain regularly. I have not owned a Tikka that did not shoot extremely well.

The Tikkas have been criticized for their "plastic parts", but the magazine and trigger guards are actually made of a very tough composite plastic that is very durable. I think it would take a little effort to break one...

JMO - BCB

fotohunt · #4 02-26-2007, 12:21 PM

Thanks for the prompt replies FB and BCB. I was afraid you were going to tell me I got a good deal, and that the gun would shoot great. I guess I'm not living up to the Saubier Mentorship program by not spending a lot on a good custom yet.

Oh well, the year isn't over. I'll try to get the scope mounted, and get her sighted in with a couple of 55 sierra spitzer loads. Thanks again, and Fireball, that's one helluva nice looking gun.

Darrell

Larry in VA · #5 02-26-2007, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotohunt

Thanks for the prompt replies FB and BCB. I was afraid you were going to tell me I got a good deal, and that the gun would shoot great. I guess I'm not living up to the Saubier Mentorship program by not spending a lot on a good custom yet.

Oh well, the year isn't over. I'll try to get the scope mounted, and get her sighted in with a couple of 55 sierra spitzer loads. Thanks again, and Fireball, that's one helluva nice looking gun.

Darrell

Paying big bucks on a custom gun is NO guaranty that it will be accurate and from what I've read, heard and seen the Tika's will do just fine against good shooting custom guns.
I’ve only just started buying, so called custom guns, and I’m less than thrilled with there cost-to-performance ratio.
Just my 2 cents.
Larry