First Rifle questions

[Fatcatbuster]

I have 3 Tikkas 300WM,308 Win & 243 Win. All shoot great out of the box, extremely smooth bolt & value priced.Expect 4-5 hundred for a scope. If you reload you can tame the 300WM down to 308 or 30-06 specs. If i could only have one it would be the Tikka in300WM. Shooting 180g Ammo.

 

[Ol' Red]

I think a 300 WM is a good do anything round. But having read all the posts, I don't think you can go wrong with a .270. I own both and like both calibers. The .270 can and will kill all game up to and including moose. You have hunted with a bow or shotgun for years, so hunting is far from new to you. I would start out with the .270. If you get lucky enough to get a moose tag, then consider a 300 Win Mag. You won't go wrong with a Tikka in either caliber. Happy hunting.

 

[adk hunter]

a very clean Tikka just came up in the classifieds...

 

[Lee7588]

For a first rifle the Tikka is a great rifle that will allow you to change it up if you desire. 300 wm IMO is going to be to much recoil for a first rifle. Touch recoil will start bad habits, like anticipated recoil flinch, snatching a trigger. If you go to something with less recoil you are less likely to start these habits. A 270 win, 280, 7mm-08, 30-06, 6.5 PRC would be better choices. Also maybe look at the Tikka t3x (not the lite). As far as illuminated reticles, I have them but rarely if ever use them. The only one I use is on my Ar15 when the thermal is on it.

 

[1mechanic]

a very clean Tikka just came up in the classifieds...

It's not left hand.

 

[adk hunter]

ahh "right"

 

[Kiowa Cowboy]

There's no inherent issue with the tikka stock. It doesn't feel high end, and has a plasticky feel, but it will shoot. Out of the box they are some of the most accurate rifles out there, without need for modification. If you get it and dislike the stock by all means have something custom spun up, but the rifle will shoot just fine with the regular stock. And 270 win is plenty of power for what you want to do.

I agree with this. I hunted with a Sako A7 for a long time in the original plastic stock. It shoots great with the factory stock. It's basically a Tikka. The advantages of the plastic stock are its resistance to weather and durability. Big deal if you scratch them. Big deal if they get rained on. I hate scratching a nice piece of wood. And wood can swell in the rain. I recently put my Sako in a Bell a Carlson stock. I really like the B&C. But the new stock has not noticeably improved accuracy. The gun still shoots great. I think this will also be your experience with the TIKKA. They shoot great right out of the box. If you decide to upgrade the stock it will be more of a preference thing. The plastic stock is not necessarily the worst thing, because it won't affect function or accuracy.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

When I first started looking at rifles I REALLY liked the S20. Whent to the "build your own" site, got through spec'ing everything out, and realized I couldn't select Left Handed. Such a bummer. I almost bought one right handed. All the rifles I've shot have been right handed, that I shoot lefty. No left handed friends with rifles.

I Buy Only, TIKKA T-3, SS, "Lefty's" and Modify them, a Tiny Bit ( Less than, $100.00, in Mod's, .. Kydex Cheek Riser, Trig Spring, LimbSaver Rec Pad ).
The WORST One, shoot's into, 3/4 MOA with, Hand loads ( the .270 WSM w/ 140's at, 3,200 FPS is, My "Elk Slayer" )
The .243 Win can get into, the high 2's (5 Shots at .277 ) w/ 87 gr. H-VLD's and My 6.5 Creed. gets Sub, 1/2 MOA with, 130 gr. ELD-M's,
5/8th's MOA, w/ 143 gr. ELD-X's But, they AIN'T,.. Fancy "Build's" !
Check Sportsmans Warehouse for, Lefty Tikka's.
There are Plenty of, GOOD after Market, Stocks in, Carbon Fiber and Fiberglass to choose from,.. IF, not liking, the Factory one.

 

[Mark37082]

Buds Gun Shop has a good selection of LH Tikkas.

 

[YZ-80]

I have 3 Tikkas 300WM,308 Win & 243 Win. All shoot great out of the box, extremely smooth bolt & value priced.Expect 4-5 hundred for a scope. If you reload you can tame the 300WM down to 308 or 30-06 specs. If i could only have one it would be the Tikka in300WM. Shooting 180g Ammo.

I wish I would have tried a Tikka a long time ago. Over 30 years, I've had Coopers, Weatherby's, nice 70's vintage Brownings, etc., 700's (when they were good) but somehow had some kind of unconscious bias against Tikka. I think the name maybe reminded me of a kids toy or a dog name - Silly. Anyway, Thank God, I saw the light and recently bought 2 of them in as many months. So easy to develop a load for and really nice percs (spiral fluted bolts, threaded, great triggers, etc) for the price point. I hear they are easy to rebarrel?

 

[Calvin45]

The .300 win mag is a Jack of many trades….and a master of many as well haha.

You've mentioned you're experienced with both shotgun slug hunting and muzzleloaders, so I'm not worried about your recoil sensitivity. If this was your first firearm of any kind bigger than a .22 absolutely I'd be yelling SLOW DOWN!!!! . You'll be fine.

I love my .300 win mag. If I had to (Heaven forbid) get rid of all but one of my centerfire rifles that would be the chambering id keep (or a fast 30 of some kind). There are very few things it can't do well.

 

[pdavitt]

I have a strong feeling I won't end up a single rifle owner.... I'm not built that way either. This will be my first that I own, but I've shot more than a few. I'm not planning to rush out and buy "several" right away, and I want my choice to be a solid one.

I've pretty much settled on a Tikka T3x Lite Veil because many of the other models aren't made left handed. You righties ought to be ashamed of yourselves for all the options you have

I'm starting to back away from the 300 win mag, and leaning heavily towards a 270 Winchester. I know there's lots of great calibers between these two. Called one of my local gun shops to see if they'll order one for me. I'm assuming they will. If not, there's a place I've never dealt with before an hour away that will.

More than a few people here have shared not so good thoughts on the Tikka composite stocks. Is there a problem with them, other than the "plastic" look & feel? I do like the look & feel of wood, but I haven't found a model with a fluted ceracote barrel in left handed.

I got my granddaughter a savage 110 Ultralite lefthand in 270win. It's also offered in 6.5prc and 7prc. So far she has baged a Blackbuck at 295yds and a large mule deer at 427yds. It's all about marksmanship, you don't need a big magnum for west Texas hunting. Check out the Savage.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I bought a 30 cal magnum as my first bolt gun once (300RUM) and would not recommend it. A light 300WM like a Tikka is going to suck to shoot, especially in that synthetic stock that doesn't help absorb recoil at all. Tikkas also don't lend themselves well to threading and getting a proper shoulder for a suppressor because of the super thing barrels.

I'd step down to a 7mm RM or 7mm PRC and pick out a different rifle that will be a little better suited for the recoil and threading. Those new Bergara Wilderness Sierra models look nice and come with the bolt handles on the wrong side. Bergara's reputation is about equal to Tikka I'd say but the customer service is far better (its actually existent) if you do have an issue. I haven't had to deal with their CS but know people who have and they were great. I've had to deal with Beretta/Tikka a few times and each time was painful to say the least, you probably couldn't find a company in this industry with worse CS if you tried.

 

[Lee7588]

I bought a 30 cal magnum as my first bolt gun once (300RUM) and would not recommend it. A light 300WM like a Tikka is going to suck to shoot, especially in that synthetic stock that doesn't help absorb recoil at all. Tikkas also don't lend themselves well to threading and getting a proper shoulder for a suppressor because of the super thing barrels.

I'd step down to a 7mm RM or 7mm PRC and pick out a different rifle that will be a little better suited for the recoil and threading. Those new Bergara Wilderness Sierra models look nice and come with the bolt handles on the wrong side. Bergara's reputation is about equal to Tikka I'd say but the customer service is far better (its actually existent) if you do have an issue. I haven't had to deal with their CS but know people who have and they were great. I've had to deal with Beretta/Tikka a few times and each time was painful to say the least, you probably couldn't find a company in this industry with worse CS if you tried.

I will second Beretta's customer service sucks. My dealings were with Sako but it is still the same company. Had to wait 6 months for parts that were under warranty.