Tikka T3 Thread

One of my favorite hunting rifles is my T3 in 7mm-08. With its favorite load it is easily one of my most accurate rifles...for three shots. Once the barrel warms up things open up a little. My other is a stainless CTR 260 in an MDT chassis and PSA suppressor. It is a 1/4 moa or better rifle but I just began chasing the rifling. Re-barreling soon.
 
Went shooting my new to me tikka 6br today. Shot lights out.

2nd one is actually 5 shots
 

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Do any of ya'll have experience with that Seller & Bellott 140grn 6.5 creed ammo? Its about 55cpr online before taxes, I'm not expecting it to be as accurate as match grade stuff but it seems like a good deal for practice ammo.
I shot a ton of the 131gr offering. Out of my RPR with a prefit Proof Research M24 1:8... it shot FANTASTIC. SD's were between 15-20 on average and accuracy was mind blowing for the price!! It was like 3/4 MOA on average. Sometimes it was a cloverleaf group, sometimes it was a 1.2" group or so. Overall I would definitely recommend it.

This is where I got it.
 
Thanks! I asked CarbonSix as well and they advised minimum of 50-55 ft lbs. I’ll try that and check headspace and go from there, try to stay under 75 or so.

I agree with those numbers. I used 40 ftlbs for a barrel nut setup. I put a tiny dot of black nail polish on the mated surfaces just as a movement indicator. I'm willing to bet there will never be any.

-Stooxie
 
https://www.grsriflestocks.com/rifle-stocks/grs-bifrost

Does anyone have experience with the GRS stock in a Tikka? I’m strongly considering one so I can use the factory CTR magazines.

Thanks

Many posts on this topic already. Short answer is they are awesome and Eurooptic has great prices on them. Nothing will be as stiff as aluminum or steel but nothing is as ergonomic or as adjustable for the price. I have many Tikkas in GRS stocks and all make small ragged holes in targets and deer.

-Stooxie
 
I have started from the beginning here.. but was wondering what is your experience shooting the Lite barrel.

How many rounds before its to hot and started opening up groups?

In 223, 6.5x or 308?


10 quick shots then cool for 30 min?
 
Most but not all of all of the T3 light barrels I’ve shot will start to walk after four or five rapid pace shots. These have been .243, 7mm08, .260, 270WSM. Pacing shots to about 1/min is generally enough to maintain accuracy. The CTRs I’ve had on the other hand are way more robust and can shoot long strings without changing zero.
 
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I have started from the beginning here.. but was wondering what is your experience shooting the Lite barrel.

How many rounds before its to hot and started opening up groups?

In 223, 6.5x or 308?


10 quick shots then cool for 30 min?
My lite barrel would start to walk at 2-3, it was a hot loaded .260, but it shot lights out 1/4”. On a 10 round string you could easily sizzle spit on it and it would burn the shit outta you.
 
viking78: How smooth is the Tikka action with AICS mags and can you use Magpul mags with the rifle? I have a certain competitors stock/chassis that uses AICS mags, and 10 round mags are hard to load. I”m thinking about dumping the stock for a GRS that uses the Tikka mags. Thanks
 
Many posts on this topic already. Short answer is they are awesome and Eurooptic has great prices on them. Nothing will be as stiff as aluminum or steel but nothing is as ergonomic or as adjustable for the price. I have many Tikkas in GRS stocks and all make small ragged holes in targets and deer.

-Stooxie

Thanks for the reply. This is an entry level action after all, and this is my intro to precision rifle with a .308 platform. The GRS may make the most sense for me. If things get serious, I’ll ante up for an AI or Sako.
 
Just got my Tikka T3 back from the gunsmith. Really excited to shoot it. I'll update with pics this evening. It's full custom. I bought a donor rifle for the action and bought a McGowen blank and a Carbon 6 blank(carbon wrapped McGowen). Chambered them both in 6.5 SST II. Dropped it in a Whiskey 3. I also picked up a Sterk bolt handle and shroud. They look great but does anyone else have issues with the bolt knob interfering with their trigger finger?

Yes, I used to, and then I realized that it was only interfering with my trigger finger because my trigger finger wasn't properly 90 degrees, and I was gripping the rifle too high. Adjusting my grip to be a true 90 degrees, no longer have issues with the bolt.
 
Just got my Tikka T3 back from the gunsmith. Really excited to shoot it. I'll update with pics this evening. It's full custom. I bought a donor rifle for the action and bought a McGowen blank and a Carbon 6 blank(carbon wrapped McGowen). Chambered them both in 6.5 SST II. Dropped it in a Whiskey 3. I also picked up a Sterk bolt handle and shroud. They look great but does anyone else have issues with the bolt knob interfering with their trigger finger?

IMHO, Tikkas are the best actions to build off of. I absolutely love my custom Tikka and it looks sexy with an M24.

Definitely put up some pics when its done.
 
Make him a Sterk Microball!
A microball would maybe give a couple of millimetres of space haha, but making it smaller/shorter can create other problems too.
@reubenski it is hard to make things work for the upper and lower ergonomic percentiles, some stocks will have larger grips/palm swells that push your hand further out and closer to the bolt handle too. Having a shorter handle would bring your hand closer to the scope when the bolt is lifted, but a longer handle would fix that issue and create the new issue of getting too close to your trigger finger when the bolt is in the closed/down position.
 
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After a 5 month wait, I got my CarbonSix barrel yesterday. 17” 6.5CM, Sendero profile. Will be used with my left hand Tikka stainless action in a Grayboe Terrain, Steiner P4Xi 4-16x, and a Dead air Sandman S.

Hopefully will get the barrel installed and scope mounted this week!
 
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Yeah, I didn't get the hunting contours. For a while I thought it was a mistake/misprint... nope!

I'd still be willing to send it to a dedicated smith and do flats like you have. Definitely and option, now.
 
Yeah, I didn't get the hunting contours. For a while I thought it was a mistake/misprint... nope!

I'd still be willing to send it to a dedicated smith and do flats like you have. Definitely and option, now.

PVA will do shouldered prefits as well now. They also cut their lead time down to like 5 weeks of recent and have been consistently delivering on them. I had my barre from them in 2 weeks
 
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Too early to tell. I just screwed everything together yesterday and shot 11 rds. I've got a ladder loaded up that I'll shoot today.

In terms of the switch barrel, I just saw no reason not to. No recoil lug to deal with. Doesn't cost extra to have the flats cut. 40 ft/lbs is about where you'd want to be anyway. We'll see how the RTZ goes. Even if it's not perfect like my TL3s it's still easier than tearing the gun out to swap barrels.

I have 5 barrels across two of my tikka actions but I use the PVA action wrench to swap out shouldered barrels at 50ft/lb. Takes 5min and I leave the optic on. That said having flats cut is a pretty elegant solution, especially if running a carbon barrel as I'd be weary of crushing one in my vice
 
After a 5 month wait, I got my CarbonSix barrel yesterday. 17” 6.5CM, Sendero profile. Will be used with my left hand Tikka stainless action in a Grayboe Terrain, Steiner P4Xi 4-16x, and a Dead air Sandman S.

Hopefully will get the barrel installed and scope mounted this week!

Got this rifle put together tonight.
Put anti seize on the barrel threads, snugged it up in my barrel vise and put the action on at 55ft lbs using a PVA inside rear entry wrench. The barrel slipped and spun right after the torque wrench popped, so that was a good value, ha. Passed headspace check on GO and NO-GO gages. Put on the Dead Air muzzle brake and mounted the Steiner scope.

Will get some pictures up in a day or two, but I really like the feel and balance of this rifle. It’s a handy size that’s for sure. Not necessarily light by most standards, but compared to my Tac A1 it’s a feather.
 
Well it seems to return to zero and maintain accuracy.

Outstanding. Honestly, I have a Surgeon action but it's extremely difficult for me to justify building anything on a "Custom" action with the price they go for here in Australia. I've never felt even remotely disadvantaged with a Tikka (quite the opposite), even took one hunting in African years ago. Also nice to have a stack of triggers, bolts & stocks that function across multiple platforms.
 
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Outstanding. Honestly, I have a Surgeon action but it's extremely difficult for me to justify building anything on a "Custom" action with the price they go for here in Australia. I've never felt even remotely disadvantaged with a Tikka (quite the opposite), even took one hunting in African years ago. Also nice to have a stack of triggers, bolts & stocks that function across multiple platforms.

Completely agree. I just picked up a Curtis Vector, and side by side I prefer the feel of the Tikka more. Granted, the Vector isn’t broken in but Honestly, you cannot go wrong with a Tikka action. Hell I cannot even tell the difference between my factory stock Tikka trigger and my triggertech’s.
 
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So, with a Tikka T3, I can buy an aftermarket barrel, headspaced on the shoulder and do not have to send the action to the Smith. Can you give me a list of Gunsmiths who do this? Is it best to buy a blank and send to the Smith or buy the blank from him?

I have read that some factory barrels can be difficult to remove. what is the best way? I have barrel blocks, can you fit a wrench to the flat sides of the action and remove..... or is there a lot more to it?? I have experience removing Savage barrels.

Thanks,

Bill
 
So, with a Tikka T3, I can buy an aftermarket barrel, headspaced on the shoulder and do not have to send the action to the Smith. Can you give me a list of Gunsmiths who do this? Is it best to buy a blank and send to the Smith or buy the blank from him?

I have read that some factory barrels can be difficult to remove. what is the best way? I have barrel blocks, can you fit a wrench to the flat sides of the action and remove..... or is there a lot more to it?? I have experience removing Savage barrels.

Thanks,

Bill

You can get shouldered barrel prefits from PVA, CarbonSix, Proof, Hardy that you just torque on and check headspace.

You can get barrel nut prefit from PVA, Criterion, SPR/Bugholes.

Maybe others.

If you have a barrel vise and action wrench you can do this at home yourself without sending to a smith. I used a Brownells Universal action wrench head to remove my factory barrel and a PVA inside/rear entry action wrench to install new barrel.

The factory barrel is tough. The most difficult part for me was holding the barrel and having it not spin in the vise when trying to loosen it with the wrench. Here’s what worked for me - I used brown sugar around the OD of the barrel shank that I put in the vise. Tightened it way down. Put Brownells wrench on OD of action gripping the top flat part (when in hand you’ll see the way this fits on). Put cheater pipe over action wrench handle. Smack with hammer. A couple impacts are enough to get it loose enough to then hand turn it off with the wrench.
 
Okay, some pictures of my finished rifle.

Left hand Tikka T3 stainless action, Mountain Tactical short action bolt stop, CTR bottom metal and 10 rd magazine, Grayboe Terrain stock, CarbonSix carbon wrapped prefit shouldered barrel in 6.5CM with Sendero contour and 17” length, Dead Air muzzle brake (Sandman still in ATF jail), Area 419 20MOA rail, Steiner rings, Steiner P4Xi 4-16x scope.

Rifle is real handy, balances great. Not a true lightweight, but a damn sight lighter than my Tac A1. Can’t wait to get this guy zero’d in and see how it shoots.

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