Tikka S.S. Lite

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I had the day off today so I took a ride out to Cabelas. It's a great store to shop for rifles, they carry them all. Don't buy any there because they price them through the roof, but pick them up and give them the once over twice then order it from your trusted local gun shop. I drove the poor salesman crazy while I asked to see one after another, then left empty handed. I also stopped at a local Dicks Sporting Goods store and found a nice Tikka S.S. Lite in 30-06. The rifle weighs a mere 6lbs. 3ozs, has the smoothest bolt action I've ever felt and this one was priced at only $479 new in box! You know the rest, it followed me home.
Don

[juliang]

Well done Don, welcome to the Tikka club. Adjust the trigger down, simple 1 screw and you are good to go. I seem to have added a 243 to make mine a trio of T3's. The Lites are great to carry, I did however add a limbsaver recoil pad to my 308...... Lite is great dor carrying but not quite so good for shooting. The Limbsaver transformed my shooting pleasure on the 308, not needed on the smaller calibers.

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juliang,
Further proof that great minds think alike! The first thing I did when I got home was to install a Limbsaver pre-fit on the Tikka. I picked it up before I even got the rifle home. I had a Ruger Compact in .308. It weighed 5.5lbs. and had a 16.25" barrel. It could be a hammer with the right .308 loads and I know this 30/06 will kick even more. Those recoil pads can make a big difference. I had read that some Tikka rifles came with scope rings and others didn't. Of course my luck held true and the rifle didn't have the rings included. I looked on Midway for a set and ended up ordering a Deadnutz mount for it.
While at Cabelas I had picked up a used Sako to look over. It's amazing how close the Tikka is to the Sako, especially the smoothness of the bolt. Of course for the cost of the used Sako I could buy two of the Tikka rifles.
To give an idea of how expensive Cabelas is, they had a used Stevens 200 in 7mm-08 and were asking $389! Thats about $100 more than I just paid for the same rifle new.
Don

[juliang]

Well Don, great minds certainly do think alike.....I have now got my 4th DeadNutz mount, as you can surmise I like them. I got my first for my 22 mag, second for Savage 7mm and the rest is history. These mounts are solid, light and hol zero like nothing else I have. Should you want a set of Tikka rings, just pay postage and I'll send them to you, you're not missing much. The Tikkas shoot great, fantastic triggers and awesome bolts but rings.... Some of the new ones now come with Optilock rings but none of mine have. I checked out Bass pro and Gander mountain recently.... I will continue to order from the internet and save a bunch, you got a good price on the 30-06. I bought my 308 Lite 18 months ago for $400 NIB, off gunbroker, there are deals out there!

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Thanks for the offer on the rings, but your opinion of them seems to echo what I've heard, I'm not missing much. It's a shame more manufacturers don't use the same integral scope mounts that Ruger uses. You got one heck of a deal on your rifle, I haven't seen anything even close to that price. I have to wait until Monday for the scope mount so shooting it this weekend is unfortunately not in the cards. I'll have to bide my time and work on loads for it. I have it in mind to try 180gr. Sierra Gameking or 180gr. Remington PSP-CL bullets. I have an old favorite load using the 180gr. Gameking bullets over 56.0gr. of IMR-4350. There ain't much in the lower 48 that will stand up to that load and it's still slow enough not to chew up the meat before it gets to the table. Given that load and a 6" target I can set the rifle up to shoot point blank all the way out to 280 yards. I checked the trigger pull and as advertised it was factory set to 3lbs. I adjusted it a bit and now it's set at 2.25lbs. The more I handle this rifle the better I like it's feel. I can certainly understand why you made it a trio. If this rifle shoots as good as it feels, I might be forced to look for another.Of course with the deals you find I might have to ask you to do the shoppin'.
Don

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The scope mount came in the mail todat so it's just possible I'll get to shoot the rifle tomorrow. Here's a photo.
Don

[juliang]

Have you shot that bad boy yet Don? I ordered a T3 Lite in 243, another Dednutz and another Monarch 3/9. I have the Monarch on my 7mm. I have a VX3 on my 223. The VX3 is $500, the Monarch $200.......I prefer the Monarchs, great scopes at any price.

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juliang said:

Have you shot that bad boy yet Don?

Not yet! On Sunday I had my car loaded with my range gear, some reloads to try and three rifles only to find that the range was closed for a fund raising block shoot. My solution was to join another range. The new one has 50, 100, 200, and 300 yard ranges and is only $20 a year. I'm still a member at the old range also so if one has an activity I still have a shot at the other. LOL
Nikon does make a great scope. I was considering a new scope just to have a silver one to match the S.S. rifle, but decided I can live with it as is. If I get another Tikka, I might go with something I've never had before like the 9.3x62 medium bore. Although I've been reading a lot about 6.5 mm cartridges and the Tikka Lite in .260 Rem. has a lot of appeal for a light weight easy on the shoulder deer rifle.
Don

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Temperatures were in the 20s today, but I did manage to get to the range. I loaded up several combinations of 180gr. Rem PSP-CL bullets and Sierra 180gr. GameKing bullets and various powders. One of the first that I loaded when I got this rifle turned out to be the best. I used 56.0gr. of IMR 4350 with both of the 180gr. bullets and had 1/4" groups at 50 yards. I moved the target out to 100 yards and had similar results with both bullets which tells me I'll probably be able to use almost any 180gr. bullet and get similar results. Here's a photo of the 100 yard two shot group I fired today. I loaded more of the same load and just need to return to the range to adjust the scope.
Don

[DocHolladay]

Glad it is producing like you thought it would.

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Doc,
I can't begin to tell you how nice this rifle is for the money. If you've never held one, next time your at a gun shop ask to do so. If the weight and feel of the rifle don't do it for you just try the bolt. There aren't enough Os in smoooooth to describe it.
Don

[juliang]

Don, I'm not sure how much Doc likes Tikkas, a little story:
Last January my boss was over here from England, the three of us went coyote hunting together. I had lent my boss my 223 Tikka. My boss picked up the rifle awkwardly by the trigger guard causing an accidental discharge, Doc was standing in front of him. Thankfully the barrel was facing downwards!!!!! The rifle was not at fault, my boss was so embarassed.
I just picked up my 243 from the FFL, he only charged me for 1 gun even though I had 2 delivered to him. My Tikka came with the rings!!! Don I paid about the same as you for this one, no more $400 Tikkas out there If my 243 shoots as well as your 30-06 then I'll be happy. I have some rounds which I loaded for my other 243, neck sized only so we'll see.
I sold my other 243, 3 guitars and an amplifier.

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juliang said:

My boss picked up the rifle awkwardly by the trigger guard causing an accidental discharge, Doc was standing in front of him. Thankfully the barrel was facing downwards!!!!! The rifle was not at fault, my boss was so embarassed.

Boy I'd bet Doc was embarrassed to when he checked his drawers!

juliang said:

I just picked up my 243 from the FFL, he only charged me for 1 gun even though I had 2 delivered to him. My Tikka came with the rings!!! Don I paid about the same as you for this one, no more $400 Tikkas out there If my 243 shoots as well as your 30-06 then I'll be happy. I have some rounds which I loaded for my other 243, neck sized only so we'll see.
I sold my other 243, 3 guitars and an amplifier.

I made another trip to the range and at 100 yards it shooting those 180gr. 30/06 bullets into a consistent 3/4" or less three shot groups. My eyes aren't near as good as they once were and in many cases two shots went in the same hole, so it may be my fault that the groups were even that big. I look forward to hearing about your .243. I've looked high and low and haven't seen one .260 or 6.5x55 listed with any gun distributor despite the fact that Tikka lists them as available. So I'm left looking at one of three. Either a .243, a .223, or a .270WSM. I'm not sure which, but one is in my not too distant future. I had gone to the gun shop yesterday with the idea of ordering one and had a slight detour. (See Handguns-Semi-auto forum) LOL
Don

[ibhuntng]

ive got a .338 win mag in the tiika s.s lite. man is it smooth. the first time i loaded a bullet from the mag, i thought it didnt pick it up. im still working on my load but i love the gun.

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How is that .338 WM on the shoulder? You might not be able to tell when it picks up a bullet from the magazine, but I'll bet that light rifle lets you know when it fires! I added a Limbsaver recoil pad to mine. It fits like a glove right out of the box.
I'm working on another load for my 30-06 using 175gr. Berger VLD bullets. They have a very high ballistic coefficient at .528. I've also heard a lot of good things lately about how well they drop game.
Don