New target rifle comment

[Solar]

I am looking at Tikka T3 Tactical and Remington XCR Tactaical in 308. Can someone comment on the advantages and disadvantages of either one of these rifles?
I know Remington can have a 26" barrel with 12" twist, and Tikka is 24" with 11" twist.
Thanks.

 

[pmt]

Remington - after market parts are readily available

Tikka - after market parts are not necessary.

 

[Baribal]

For Tikka, I'd say go for it. They are slick actions and out-of-the-box-accurate. They also look very sharp with the flash hider.
'Agree that Rem have more aftermarket stuff. Do you need/want it?

As for twist rate, to me, both are OK. A faster twist will be slightly better for the longer bullets.

 

[Obtunded]

I think they've summed it up. I've owned TikTacs and they are superb out of the box. Smooth Accurate, well balanced an they love 178 Amax's. Considering what you DON'T have to do to them, I think they are worth the price. However...

After market stocks are limited, re-barreling is a pain because of the contour the way the action curves down at the action/barrel junction...and if you use them, extra mags are expensive. If I had to buy a really accurate factory gun where I wanted and needed nothing done to it, this would be it.

 

[timoram]

I own the 26" XRC and have shot the TikTak in .308 as well.
I find the XRC to be much more accurate with factory loads and not nearly as finicky with hand loads. Keep in mind both of these rifles will group about the same with a well developed hand load so I think it comes down to personal preference.

 

[manitou210]

Had a monor problem with a Remington that I could have lived with, took it back to dealer they checked it out and walked out with a new one. At Epp's.
Two friends had Sako's -Tika same had marks on chambers never got any satisfaction with service, the service rep honed actions but marks where on brass after and when got warm shells would not extract.guns had to be rebarreled.

 

[Solar]

I own the 26" XRC and have shot the TikTak in .308 as well.
I find the XRC to be much more accurate with factory loads and not nearly as finicky with hand loads. Keep in mind both of these rifles will group about the same with a well developed hand load so I think it comes down to personal preference.

Thanks for the comment.
Since I will not have time to develop hand load for at least a year and maybe 2, how sensitive is either rifle when a factory load is used?
Are we talking about more than 1 MOA at 100 metres?

 

[Obtunded]

Tikka guarantees sub MOA accuracy with factory ammo and even ships them with a target shot with your rifle.

 

[timoram]

Thanks for the comment.
Since I will not have time to develop hand load for at least a year and maybe 2, how sensitive is either rifle when a factory load is used?
Are we talking about more than 1 MOA at 100 metres?

The question is open to to many variables to answer accurately to be honest.
What I stated is my personal experience with both rifles and nothing more.
If you feed the TikTak good quality factory loads (Hornady TAP, BlackHills, ect ect) you will see great accuracy. You feed it Federal American Eagle and you might as well grab a shot gun . The 700 seems to eat anything and be able to preform (personal experience).
At the same time the 700 is also cheaper than the Tikka and if you ever wanted to make it even better there are loads of gun smiths and parts out there to do so.

 

[Solar]

The question is open to to many variables to answer accurately to be honest.
What I stated is my personal experience with both rifles and nothing more.
If you feed the TikTak good quality factory loads (Hornady TAP, BlackHills, ect ect) you will see great accuracy. You feed it Federal American Eagle and you might as well grab a shot gun . The 700 seems to eat anything and be able to preform (personal experience).
At the same time the 700 is also cheaper than the Tikka and if you ever wanted to make it even better there are loads of gun smiths and parts out there to do so.

From what I have used before, each rifle is different. Some rifles will take cheap ammo with excellent accuracy, and some will take expensive ammo. Just have to match the ammo with the rifle. Hopefully, I will find a rifle that will match with cheap ammo.
With Tikka, I do not think I will need to have the trigger work done. However, based on what I have gathered with the Remington, I will need to have the trigger adjusted. I may have to change the Remington stock. By the time all said and done, the Remington may cost more than the Tikka. So for this discussion, I think I will leave the cost out of the equation.

I am mainly interested in reliability, ease of getting warranty worked done, "ease of use", long term "problem" as a comparison.

Thanks for all the feedback - please keep it coming.

 

[2bad4u2]

If you can buy a SPS Varmint and put a fully adjustable A-5 McMillan stock on it and STILL be several hundred dollars less than a Tik-Tac, I think that's a better route to go. Or, put the SPS in a AICS stock for the same money and be light years ahead of the Tikka.

 

[pmt]

If you can buy a SPS Varmint and put a fully adjustable A-5 McMillan stock on it and STILL be several hundred dollars less than a Tik-Tac, I think that's a better route to go. Or, put the SPS in a AICS stock for the same money and be light years ahead of the Tikka.

...or for hundreds less than an ordinary Remmy in an expensive stock look at the Tikka T3 Varmint - same action/barrel as the Tactical, but without the picatinney rail or adjustable cheek piece.

Like I said earlier - Rem has all the parts available to make it a shooter, where as the Tikka is a shooter.

 

[Cummins4x4]

I am mainly interested in reliability, ease of getting warranty worked done, "ease of use", long term "problem" as a comparison.

Thanks for all the feedback - please keep it coming.

My 2 cents having sold numerous rem and tikka rifles. Tikka's quality control and and warranty service is better than rem. Have had to send lots of rem back for warr work, generally your without your rifle for at least 2months. Have sent only a couple of tikkas back despite selling tikkas 2 to 1 over rem and service time average is 4 to 6 weeks. The comment about the varmint model tikka has some merit but the rifle barrels are not identical, the tactical has a higher quality barrel than the varmint or other hunting grade rifles. Also prefer the det mag over the floor plate.Hope this helps and doesn't stir up a hornets nest of rem fans out for my hide.

 

[2bad4u2]

...or for hundreds less than an ordinary Remmy in an expensive stock

That "expensive" McMillan stock is far superior to anything Tikka has available at any price. If you're comfort and ability to make adjustments is meaningless to you, perhaps you'd be better suited to the tupperware Tikkas generally come with.

My 2 cents having sold numerous rem and tikka rifles. Tikka's quality control and and warranty service is better than rem. Have had to send lots of rem back for warr work, generally your without your rifle for at least 2months. Have sent only a couple of tikkas back despite selling tikkas 2 to 1 over rem and service time average is 4 to 6 weeks. The comment about the varmint model tikka has some merit but the rifle barrels are not identical, the tactical has a higher quality barrel than the varmint or other hunting grade rifles. Also prefer the det mag over the floor plate.Hope this helps and doesn't stir up a hornets nest of rem fans out for my hide.

Curious, how do you know that the barrel quality is better on the Tac version? Is Tikka making that claim?

For what it is, the Tac is way over-priced. If it were a couple hundred more than the Varmint I could see it but $500-$700 depending on the retailer? Nope.

If "stuck" on a Tikka, I would buy a Varmint and then put one of Robertson Composite's new Tac stocks on it made for the Tikka rifles. Then you'd have a fully adjustable high quality stock and your investment would be the same (+/- $200) as the Tik-Tak.