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Tikka T3 Thread

A few months ago I discovered I have a 30% Finnish ancestory(23andMe) so I found it fitting to change my hunting ride for this year. Zeroed this morning and holds 1/2 moa on 140eld. I’m super stoked to be back in this thread

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Nice! What barrel is that? How's the weight of that gun, looks like a hunting setup?

The barrel is 25 inches from receiver to the end of the brake.

Total weight is 9lbs 6 ozs. A little bit heavy as it is my going to be my long range hunting rig. But its also a 300... so a little weight isn't a bad thing when you pull the trigger.
 
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Oh. And the barrel is a stock Tikka. I had a custom brake put on it by a local smith in MN.
 
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Oh. And the barrel is a stock Tikka. I had a custom brake put on it by a local smith in MN.

What part of MN? I have a 300WM Lite barrel I wouldn't mind doing something similar too. I'm SE in Rochester.
 
What part of MN? I have a 300WM Lite barrel I wouldn't mind doing something similar too. I'm SE in Rochester.

Odenthal's in Prior Lake. I've had him do a few things my Sporting Clays gun, and saw some of the work he was doing on rifles.

He threaded the barrel and built the brake. Very happy with how it turned out.

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I’m new to precision rifles and looking at getting my first one. I have been looking at the Tikka T3 CTR and eventually replacing the stock or going the a RPR that I don’t need to replace the stock. What would be the benefits of going to a Tikka over the Ruger? Thanks
The CTR is a fantastic rifle, and for the cost of that rifle with a new stock you can pay the same amount as you would for a RPR. This is my CTR that I put into a KRG Bravo stock. It's surgically accurate. Shoots every single round I've ran through it absurdly well. They're fantastic rifles.
 

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The CTR is a fantastic rifle, and for the cost of that rifle with a new stock you can pay the same amount as you would for a RPR. This is my CTR that I put into a KRG Bravo stock. It's surgically accurate. Shoots every single round I've ran through it absurdly well. They're fantastic rifles.

Nice rifle. If I can find a used 6.5 CM in the t3x or CTR, I will have to buy it. I already have a t3x varmint 223 in xray and it is a fantastic gun. 4 inch steel at 300 is boring. 10/10 hits rapid fire. I went to 500 and what a humbling experience. Need more time at 500 to figure things out. Def. wasn't the rifles fault.
 
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Nice rifle. If I can find a used 6.5 CM in the t3x or CTR, I will have to buy it. I already have a t3x varmint 223 in xray and it is a fantastic gun. 4 inch steel at 300 is boring. 10/10 hits rapid fire. I went to 500 and what a humbling experience. Need more time at 500 to figure things out. Def. wasn't the rifles fault.
Yeah, once you get the dope figured out on your ammo it'll be a lot easier. Wind calls are the hardest part. What rounds are you running? Both of my 6.5's aboslutely love the FGMM Berger 130's.
 
Yeah, once you get the dope figured out on your ammo it'll be a lot easier. Wind calls are the hardest part. What rounds are you running? Both of my 6.5's aboslutely love the FGMM Berger 130's.
[/QUOT]

Any of the Hornady match ammo shoot sub moa, but it really likes the 75 grain HPBT. Been playing with reloads that a friend is helping me with. Those I'm using 77 SMK bullets.
 
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The CTR is a fantastic rifle, and for the cost of that rifle with a new stock you can pay the same amount as you would for a RPR. This is my CTR that I put into a KRG Bravo stock. It's surgically accurate. Shoots every single round I've ran through it absurdly well. They're fantastic rifles.

I like your setup. After doing some more research I am going to go with a Tikka in 6.5 CM. Now I am just trying to decide between the CTR or a varmint. I also like the KRG Bravo or the x-ray.
 
Tikka was shooting amazing today with 140g American Gunner. Group is 4 shots at 800. Luckily I had witnesses. Carry on.
 

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I like your setup. After doing some more research I am going to go with a Tikka in 6.5 CM. Now I am just trying to decide between the CTR or a varmint. I also like the KRG Bravo or the x-ray.
If you have a desire for a brake or a suppressor (without spending at least $100 to get it threaded), or a ten round magazine before stock change go CTR.
 
The only issue I've noticed is that you have to pop a fully loaded mag in with a little more force to make sure it's seated. No issues with feeding. I like the CTR mags.
 
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Has anyone tried running a Tikka in 223 AI with CTR 223 magazines? I’m considering it but would love to know if it will cause any feeding issues.
 
I like your setup. After doing some more research I am going to go with a Tikka in 6.5 CM. Now I am just trying to decide between the CTR or a varmint. I also like the KRG Bravo or the x-ray.
CTR without doubt. I'm a little surprised any other manufacturer can even sell a factory rifle with t3x ctr rifles on the street.
 
Unless the varmint is available with integrated rail and "metal" bottom metal, the CTR takes the advantage for me. Threaded barrel is cherry on top.

I dont believe there is much, if any, accuracy nor heating advantage to the varmints barrel. CTR is, I think, close to a light palma contour. Plenty heavy for shooting 20 rounds in 20 minutes.
 
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Unless the varmint is available with integrated rail and "metal" bottom metal, the CTR takes the advantage for me. Threaded barrel is cherry on top.

I dont believe there is much, if any, accuracy nor heating advantage to the varmints barrel. CTR is, I think, close to a light palma contour. Plenty heavy for shooting 20 rounds in 20 minutes.

True, but seems most people take them and stick them in a chassis anyway which negates the bottom metal. Threaded barrel is definitely nice to have. I have heard people having problems changing the scope rail too, so if one wants to do something other than what it came with, might end up with a headache.

Either way, tikkas rock. I don't know why Remington can't produce anything that comes close.
 
True, but seems most people take them and stick them in a chassis anyway which negates the bottom metal. Threaded barrel is definitely nice to have. I have heard people having problems changing the scope rail too, so if one wants to do something other than what it came with, might end up with a headache.

Either way, tikkas rock. I don't know why Remington can't produce anything that comes close.
Rail is actually easy to switch if you know how, otherwise leave it and do a mount with your desired incline. There are several chassis that offer CTR magazines and virtually every stock. CTR mags are actually better than AICS in my opinion.
 
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I’ve learned that removing the OEM barrel on a T3X is a major, major pain.

Some have had an issue, others not so much. Told a buddy of mine who has little experience with rifles how to do it. He bought a vice and an action wrench. first one came off easy, second one needed a bar and a couple taps with a hammer.
 
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Some have had an issue, others not so much. Told a buddy of mine who has little experience with rifles how to do it. He bought a vice and an action wrench. first one came off easy, second one needed a bar and a couple taps with a hammer.
I was wondering about how hard it would be to change the Tikka barrel. I just bought a 308 Tac A1 and realizing I made a mistake going with 308 instead of 6.5
 
I was wondering about how hard it would be to change the Tikka barrel. I just bought a 308 Tac A1 and realizing I made a mistake going with 308 instead of 6.5
They can be a PIA to take off. Although some seem to be not as bad. I had a smith take mine off. He could not get it off without messing up the finish. But he got it off without needing a relief cut on the barrel.
 
Went to my local gun store today looking for my first Tikka in 6.5 CM and they had a CTR in a 20" barrel and a varmint in a 24". Not sure how much velosity I will loose in 20" vs 24"? Any thoughts?
 
Tikka barrels are known for being a little slow, so I'd lean toward the 24 inch barrel. I'm guessing the extra 4 inches might provide an additional 75-100 fps, but others may have more accurate info.
 
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Went to my local gun store today looking for my first Tikka in 6.5 CM and they had a CTR in a 20" barrel and a varmint in a 24". Not sure how much velosity I will loose in 20" vs 24"? Any thoughts?

Factory barrels are a bit slower than custom barrel, like Krieger on my Tikka, but it aint nothing too bad.
I made a small video of it once.
+20 m/s for Krieger.


20" CTR barrel aint bad either, i like it, since i use suppressor, it is not getting too long.
And it still delivers 123gr Scenar to +700 yards with out problems.
 
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It's not as fancy as some of ya'lls setups, but it's quite an upgrade from my TC Compass I sold earlier this year! Still waiting on my YHM Resonator R2, and need to get a bipod, but it's close!

Tikka CTR 6.5CM 20"
Vortex PST II 5-25 EBR7C
KRG Bravo
Vortex Pro Low Rings
YHM Muzzle Break (Resonator R2 Pending)
 
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I took my new T3X to have the factory barrel removed and a Proof pre-fit barrel installed this week.

I’ll update with the difficulty level from the gunsmith since the factory OEM barrels are known to take tons of foot pounds of torque to remove.

I did tell him to relief cut the barrel if needed since I doubt a “lite” factory barrel is worth anything.
 
Yeah the Vortex Pro rings, low height. Gonna take it out and shoot it for the first time this weekend.
Excellent haven’t shot mine either but did put a BLK LBL bipod, amazing machining on that.

Have been struggling with the scope set up due to the 1000’s of options and variables but definitely like your selection

cant wait to get mine ready for the range
 
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My barrel came off with little fuss. This newer Tikka T3X had a good bit of anti-seize on the threads.

Sold the stainless 6.5 Creedmoor barrel for $150, was worth NOT making a relief cut for me.

Edit: I may have posted this pic earlier, I can't remember.

PSA: In general, I would not be scared of removing a new Tikka T3X barrel. (If you are competent)
 
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I would have salvaged my T3X lite barrel and resold if it hadn’t been a pencil barrel and worthless on the secondary market.