I was recently invited on an Elk hunt and of course the first thing you should do when invited to hunt a critter you never hunted before is buy a new rifle. LOL At least it's as good of an excuse as any. Well I wanted to make sure I could use this rifle to hunt other critters like deer and black bear so I decided on getting a 30/06. Now if it's one thing I've learned about hunting over the years it's that I spend a lot more time carrying a rifle than I do shooting it so I wanted something real light weight. All of this deep thought process led me to a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless Steel in 30/06. I had also considered the Browning A-Bolt and Kimber 8400. I found a Tikka for sale locally for $479 which seemed pretty good based on what I see them selling for on the internet sites. The rifle is scary light and with the 30/06 I wanted a bit more recoil pad than the factory offered so I added a pre-fit Limbsaver pad. I also mounted a Leupold 2.5-8X scope using a Deadnutz scope base. The bolt on this rifle is as slick as any I've ever felt and the trigger is excellent, breaking at an advertised 3lbs. with no creep. The only downside I can see to this rifle is that the ejection port is much too narrow for my liking and could never be used to load a round through the chamber. I mostly load my own ammo and chose to use 180gr. bullets. I picked up some Remington PSP-CL and Sierra GameKing bullets and loaded them up with several powder combinations. Despite the cold temperatures yesterday, I finally got to the range. I usually start out at 50 yards for load development to eliminate any human error, so I tried all my loads there. Everything I tried was more than accurate enough to hunt with, but one stood out. I had two cartridges left using the Sierra 180gr. bullets over 56.0gr. of IMR 4350, so I moved the target out to 100 yards and took the two shots. That target is pictured below along with a photo of the rifle.
Don

BigBlue: there are pros and cons to all choices, but, the T3 Lite series has some outstanding features. Congratulations on a superb choice.

The T3Lite is often used locally out of the box for metallic silhouette competiton. It' s that accurate. Tikka save a lot of weight by narrowing the loading port and, therefore, not having to build extra weight into the action. Lock time is very fast.

The main downside is magazine capacity and the cost of those magazines!

The synthetic/SS model is a prime choice for Alaskan hunters who have come to rely on its many features, including the light weight.

Your scope choice mirrors the top choice for Leupold employees. They get a great discount on Leupold products but the 2.5-8 is their top pick because of its weight and reliability. MultiCoat, precision adjustments add to the package.

Much luck and success with the new rifle.

That would have to be one of the best rifles I have ever laid eyes on.
And it shoots too.

I got a 30-06 Tikka T3 SS lite last year, Leupold scope. I can't find anything not to like. Your group mirrors mine. I took two deer in October in Montana. I have no trouble loading one round at a time, I just drop it in the top and it chambers with no problem. The only problem is when you eject slowly and it doesn't come out you have to work at getting the empty out. I love the gun.

Nice rifle, I have been eyeballing the Tikka lite also. However hunting a new critter is not on my list of reasons for a new rifle. I prefer to hunt a new critter with an old favorite. So far my trusty .35 Whelen has downed six different species of North American big game. After I shoot a critter with the Whelen then I may use other rifles when hunting that species. My excuse for buying a new rifle is that I want to There are some here that may disagree, but for elk I would choose something other than the Sierra Gameking, in my experience they do not hold together upon impact as well as I would like.

OK, you got me interested in this rifle. The price doesn't look too bad either. What about the trigger pull on these? good, bad, so so? any after market triggers available for these yet? I'm thinking about adding a .270 to my arsenal.

My local gunsmith said to me last week "if you won't let me build you a custom rifle, the only one I would recommend is a Tikka T3 Lite in stainless." I respect this man as a gunsmith and he is as knowledgeable a person as I have at my disposal. This is a GREAT gun for the price. I think the trigger is very acceptable, but they do make some after market triggers.

Maybe I'll spend my half of GWB's check this May on one, I can get it at Dealers cost so I guessing for under $500.

The local Gander Mtn had one on the used gun rack, and "scary light" popped back in my head when I picked it up.

glockman55 wrote:

OK, you got me interested in this rifle. The price doesn't look too bad either. What about the trigger pull on these? good, bad, so so? any after market triggers available for these yet? I'm thinking about adding a .270 to my arsenal.

The trigger pull on the Tikka T3 is awesome. I have never fired a gun with a better feel. That said, I have never fired a custom made gun either. I can see no reason for an after market trigger. These are fully adjustable and sweet and smooth right out of the box.

jsmurphy wrote:

glockman55 wrote: OK, you got me interested in this rifle. The price doesn't look too bad either. What about the trigger pull on these? good, bad, so so? any after market triggers available for these yet? I'm thinking about adding a .270 to my arsenal. The trigger pull on the Tikka T3 is awesome. I have never fired a gun with a better feel. That said, I have never fired a custom made gun either. I can see no reason for an after market trigger. These are fully adjustable and sweet and smooth right out of the box.

That's good to know because on my savage I went with the rifle basix trigger and have it set just over two pounds.

I'm with jsmurphy the triggers are as smooth as their actions.

I've pretty much finished load development for my Tikka S.S, Lite 30/06. I had it at the range today and made some final scope adjustments. Here's some target photos and load info.



These were my first three shots from a clean barrel. No fouling shots fired. The load used Sierra 168gr. MatchKing bullets over 57.0gr. of IMR4350 with a COL of 3.300". Three shots at 100 yards measured.40" center to center.


This last group used Sierra 180gr. bullets over 56.0gr. of IMR4350 with a COL of 3.300". This group measured .54".
All groups were fired at 100 yards. These were the only four targets I shot today using the Tikka rifle.
Don

I can tell by those targets that you will like your Tikka as much as I do. My loads are Hornady SST 165gr over 56.5gr IMR 4350. At 100 yrds I have gotten 5 shots into 1.5 inch. Close enough for anything I need.