Is the Tikka T3 the new Remington 700?

Hi,
Reading the responses to this thread has left me with one or two conclusions:
Firstly, if you are a Remington fan then no amount of comment either fact or conjecture is going to change your mind - you cannot change a zealot.
Secondly, economics are indisputable. Despite the recent price increases more and more people are choosing the Tikka over the Remington. The reasons I am hearing are that customers want a tough, reliable rifle with as near to a guarantee of accuracy out of the box as a volume manufacturer is able to provide.
Thirdly, as the sales of the Tikka increase, its perceived flaws will be addressed. Necessity or opportunity is the mother of innovation, so to speak. Replacement stocks are already available through Robertson Composites, Richards Microfit and a few others. Bottom metal will surely follow, as will other accessories.
I own two Tikkas and I have found that they will out-shoot anything I have shot before. The range of calibres available is huge and only availablity issues here in Canada prevent this rifle from completely dominating the $1000 market. Incidentally this may be because of anecdotal evidence of our friends from below the border buying up every T3 available.
Regards
Tack
 
You will never catch me hunting with a Remington of any kind after an experience I had with a borrowed 700 in .270win. It let me down when I needed it the most. I took an offhand shot at a tender spike buck and missed. When I went for round two I could not get the round in the chamber. It took me a few seconds to realize that the brass from the first round had not been extracted. After that initial failure the extractor only works 50 percent of the time at best. WW2 era actions are built better than this. I bought a Tikka T3 Lite S/S in .270win and couldn't be more pleased. People make a big deal about the plastic clip, but I have yet to hear of anyone breaking a clip. European quality is where it's at for me. Yeah, I'll take an Audi over a Chevy any day!
 
zimbu said:
You will never catch me hunting with a Remington of any kind after an experience I had with a borrowed 700 in .270win. It let me down when I needed it the most. I took an offhand shot at a tender spike buck and missed. When I went for round two I could not get the round in the chamber. It took me a few seconds to realize that the brass from the first round had not been extracted. After that initial failure the extractor only works 50 percent of the time at best. WW2 era actions are built better than this. I bought a Tikka T3 Lite S/S in .270win and couldn't be more pleased. People make a big deal about the plastic clip, but I have yet to hear of anyone breaking a clip. European quality is where it's at for me. Yeah, I'll take an Audi over a Chevy any day!
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Fair enough, but that doesn't really speak to the quality of the Remy 700, just your experience with the gun. My Remy 700 in .270 win never failed and is as accurate as I am. So where does that leave us?

Every gun has problems on an individual level. Is Remy's overall QC suffering? Maybe. The design is sound. The price can be cheaper or more expensive depending on what you want.

You can buy whatever you want and I hope your happy with it, but I don't think the praise of the Tikka is necessarily warranted nor is some of the flak of the 700. I've shot Tikka T3s that were mediocre and I've shot factory 700s that kicked ass. In fact I've never shot a 700 that sucked, just a few that wern't as accurate with factory ammo as I'd like.
 
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You ever work on a Volvo???lol , created new swear words on those cause I ran out of the originals!


K-2 said:
The Remington is a GM, the Tikka T3 is a Volvo - better quality at a premium price.

Before I bought my first gun I had 2-3 months to research while I waited for my license. I wanted a highly accurate long distance rifle and I narrowed my choices down to the Remington 700 Police and the Tikka T3 Tactical.

I read tons of opinions on lots of forums and the clear winner was the Tikka T3 Tactical. The main reasons were that while accuracy may be similar the Tikka was much better quality out of the box, while with the Remington 700 you have to upgrade it to bring it to a comparable level.

So I paid about $500 more than the Remington to get the Tikka for around $1600 and then added a good scope and rings for a grand total of over $3,000. Needless to say I absolutely love the gun and when I'm at the range it makes me feel like a master sharpshooter.
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I own both a 700 and a T3. Both excellent firearms. But if I could buy a factory 700 with the original 700 trigger and a Tikka barrel screwed into it, action bedded, barrel free floated for $1000-$1200 I'd buy a few in different calibers.

Remington's stocks fit me better. The older 700 triggers were superbly adjustable. Tikka makes a better rifle barrel and knows floating works. While I love Tikka's short bolt lift, I still prefer the open action of a Remington at the bench. Therefore I'd love a hybrid!
 
Hey, necro-posting! Sounds like fun.

I own 2 700's. A Mtn rifle in .280 [blued and walnut] and an SPS DM in .30-06.
I own a Tikka T3 Hunter. Originally chambered in 6.5x55, but now chambered in 6.5-06.

I think the two are different, not finding one a lot better than the other. I like them both. If someone says all 700's are crap, I don't believe them. Mine are nice. Okay, the SPS isn't a work of art or anything, but it shoots straight. I bought it new and it shoots MOA with a Nikon Buskmaster scope. Don't feel bad carrying it in bad weather. I paid $540 new for the gun, and it shoots MOA out of the box. What's wrong with that? I'm thinking I might one day own a Mtn rifle LSS. I like remington, and I don't find myself pining for the days of yore when a rifle could make the person carrying it walk on water.

If someone says all T3's are junk and the plastic will fall apart or melt in your hands or something, I don't believe that either. I've carried mine many miles in cold weather, and it's accounted for 7 deer in the 3 years I've owned it. Never once did it fall apart in my hands.
I own some older rifles as well, so I have those to compare the newer rifles to.
I don't think the T3 will become the next 700. The 700 has so many different variations and is so easy to customize. I don't see Berretta making that many variations of it's T3 rifle.
My next rifle will either be a 700 Mtn rifle LSS, or a M70 Extreme Weather, or a X-bolt SS. My X-bolt composite stalker is my most accurate gun. Almost every time I take it to the range it prints the smallest groups. My Tikka has beat it a couple of times, and the Tikka has given me my smallest group ever [0.25" at 100 yards], but the X-bolt is the most consistent.
 
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My new Tikka T3 Lite Stainless Steel in 30/06 makes my old Remington Mod 700 BDL in .300winmag seem very primitive. Like comparing a a 1983 Ford Mustang to a 2010 BMW 5 series. The Tikka has incredible build quality, and seems like no attention to detail has been overlooked. My old Rem 700, shot pretty good. Roughly 1 1/2 MOA maybe 2 MOA(which is fine for hunting), but it had kind of lousy wood, that was heavy to carry, and the Blued Barrel would show surface rust, after a hards day of hunting.

Now my new Tikka, shoots Sub MOA, has a 5 round extendable detachable magazine(plus a stock 3 round), it weights about 1 1/2 lbs lighter then the Mod 700, and the Synthetic Stock/Stainless Barrel is about as weather resistant as they come.

Tikka T3 rifles have been the benchmark of rifles for the last few years, and I could see them being "the new model 700".

Did I forget to mention that the Tikka's Bolt action feels like it is running on ball bearings compared to the Remingtons sticky bolt. I hate to say it because my first 3 guns were Remington, but they seem pretty crappy lately. The 870 Express SuperMag, is a embarresment. It seems like 50% of them have issues of some kind. I honestly think that Mossberg has a better name than Remington right now.
 
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