To everyone except the original poster- holy cow, this thread is like a hen house- a whole pile of clucking but little said in the way of helpful advice!
Rickster- a T3 Tac will be neat. A T3 varmint will be economical. A T3 Sporter will give you the best option overall. Why? It gives you more ergonomics than the Tikka plastic stock, and has the most thought out stock design condusive to consistency on the line. It is not a copy of the TRG stock, but it's similar enough. If you don't like the color, paint it. After that, no heavy barrel Tikka will give you any advantage over the others. They're all more accurate than you will be able to fully experience for a long time. The Varmint and Tac stocks, structurally, are identical; and in turn, are similar if not identical to the Lite stocks with some additional surface area fastened on. That's it- they're simple, straightforward, and work. All this nit picking on the basis of price tag is bunk. Don't waste too much of your time thinking these things make a difference. Some factory barrels are amazing, some are picky, that's the nature of the game. The benefit of Tikka is that if you get tired of your barrel, take it and a new blank to a smith, pay them $300 and pick up an awesome new configuration in two weeks. The tenon is 1"x16, which shouldn't bend too many minds. Along the way, you will learn how and why bedding works, and how to use it effectively. Some actions benefit from it, some just don't care. Some folks think bedding will squeeze water from stones. You'll also learn about the realities of external ballistics. Another item that folks try to avoid learning by either throwing money at equipment or modifications. After two seasons, you will be glad that you didn't spend more than necessary to learn the basics.
The SSG is a cool system that is totally unsupported in North America. An adapter that takes a novel idea and dumbs it back down to North Americam standards is not "support". Break or loose an internal part, and you're probably down for the season.
This chatter about the SSG is comparable to the TRG is greater than the Tikka, but the Tikka has a TRG barrel, but no its the trigger that makes the TRG more accurate somehow again is hot air. If one were to take all three types and shoot 20 shot groups with each at a given distance, with three different sorts of commercial (match) ammo, I would be quite surprised if there is any discernable difference between the resulting 60 shot aggregates (20rds x 3 types of ammo thru each). There are reviews of this sort of stuff all over the net, and if a factory barrel gives you 3/4 min it's cause for satisfaction- SSG included. A 1/2 min group is excellent. Two in a row is better. Past that, you're into statistics. A match is never 5 rounds and go home. Shoot 30 into a group and talk to me about "1/2 minute".
The CTR has no benefit over the previously mentioned models, and has a short barrel, which does not help you perform more better at longer ranges- or short ranges for that matter.
Have fun with your choice. No downsides to either rifle. Pick what looks good and the guy shooting next to you's girlfriend stops to ask about.
