More Great Rifles

Continuing our look at rifles that I found to meet my needs, this week is about the Tikka T3X. I currently have somewhere around 7 or 8 Tikka’s, and have had a few more that now live with friends of mine. Though I will focus on the T3X, I think most of this also applies to the T3, of which I have a couple.

The T3X is a very reasonably priced gun and most of mine are the basic blued model. The basic model comes with a plastic stock, and though you may not like that idea, it simply works. Like my other favorite guns, the Tikka puts its bullets in the same spot, hot or cold, bipod or ruck, slung up or in a tripod, and even standing.

Tikka’s have a long-deserved reputation for accuracy, and none of mine disappoint. One of them, a .223, is very close to a .25 moa gun, whereas the others are around a .5 moa. The exceptional accuracy of the Tikka is really the least interesting part of them though.

The bolt throw of the Tikka is as smooth or smoother than any bolt gun I have ever used. There is no binding, no rough spots and it feels almost effortless to throw the bolt. On my particular guns, this is aided slightly by the Sterk bolt handle. I believe he is based in Australia, but I have bought most of mine from Europotic, and they have always been great to deal with. I also tend to get the Sterk bolt shroud, but that doesn’t really do anything besides look pretty. Maybe it adds to the gun’s safety, but I just don’t know.

Carrying the gun at the balance, right in front of the magazine, works perfectly. While I favored short barrels for many years, I have now come around to more normal lengths. My current favorite T3X has a 24″ barrel and carries and balances beautifully. This balance also translates to better and easier weapons handling and target acquisition when mounting the gun quickly. My short guns tend to be fairly butt heavy and not as easy to carry in the hand as this 24″ model.

The trigger is excellent out of the box, and is easily adjusted safely at home in case you want it slightly lighter. I tend to leave them alone as they work great as issued. The safety lever is also very well set up and it locks the bolt, a feature I find to be non-negotiable most of the time. The safety system is also my only complaint, and it is a relative complaint. Like most rifles, the safety locks the trigger and not the firing pin. As I prefer to keep a round chambered, guns that lock the firing pin do score a bit higher with me.

Finally, the magazine is a high quality, detachable flush fit 3 rounder or a slightly dropped 5 rounder. It is a bit longer because it is a single-stack design. This means that while you have a slightly less compact mag than your traditional internal double stack mags, it is much more reliable and very smooth. Though I really like the idea of an internal mag on a hunting gun, the design and cost of the Tikka mags make it very easy to carry a spare with you. I will also admit that the dropped magazine look of the 5-round version gives it a nice purposeful aesthetic, as well as a leverage point when carrying the gun at the balance. To top it off, the magazine release is well protected and cannot really be hit by accident. Having lost an AICS mag in the field one time from an XM3, this is very important to me.

One of the improvements that come with the X version of the T3 is the stock. Among other features, it has a pistol grip that can be easily swapped to be more vertical for those who prefer that. The standard pistol grip is very useable in all positions though, which is a nice change from many stocks whose pistol grips only work well in one position. I have some guns with the standard grip and some with the vertical grip, and I can’t decide which I prefer. You can also give the forend a beavertail if you want a wider than standard sporting stock. Again, in this instance, I cannot decide which I prefer, as both work really well.

All in all, you get a ton of functions for very little money. Other than the safety, my only complaint, if you can call it that, is the weight. You can’t have everything for as little as Tikka charges, and the weight is really quite reasonable. Empty they tend to be in the 6.5# range, and with a good hunting scope like the Leupold VX-3 2.5-8X in a Mountain Tactical Raptor mount, they are only a pound more.

I consider the T3X to be one of the absolute best deals in a rifle today. I do prefer a lighter rifle for western hunting, but even with the little bit of extra weight, it is hard to go wrong with the Tikka.