Remington 700 or Tikka T3x?

PixInTheSix

PixInTheSix

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I'm in the market for a bolt-action gun chambered in .223 that will live it's life putting holes in paper at 100 yards or less and have narrowed it down to some variant of either the Remington 700 or the Tikka T3x. I'll be buying new.

Suggestions/experiences/recommendations one way or the other? Also, at its intended range use, would I find any value in going with a heavy barrel version of either of these?
 
I`ve bought and shot several of each over the years. Haven`t bought a new 700 for quite a while so can`t comment on present day 700s but the older ones were the rifle to buy at the time, all gave excellent accuracy and had decent adjustable triggers. Then the Tikka T3s came along. Bought several and all were excellent guns. Quality machine work, super slick actions, excellent trigger, feeds & functions perfectly and suburb out of the box accuracy. My .204 Ruger and .223 both will do 5 shot 1/4" at 100 yards or better with tuned hand loads. The Tikka bashers will complain about the "plastic" stock and expensive magazines. The stock is not wood and certainly not plastic, it is synthetic and very solid, rigid & forgiving, also just happens to fit me perfectly. Magazine is bullet proof, never had an issue of any sort with any of them. In short, if I was to buy a new gun today it would be a Tikka T3 Varmint stainless as I expect it to give suburb "out of the box accuracy" with no tinkering of any sort. I`ve got a custom built .223 in a HS Precision stock and my bone stock .204 T3 Varmint shoots just as good and costs a 1/4 as much. Happy shooting :)

Forgot to mention, 700 triggers need to be "Reworked" to be anywhere as good as a stock Tikka trigger.
 
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Tikka, Bergara, Remington all good rifles. 700 platform is tried and true, but you cant go wrong with a Tikka either.

But as Beeron said, no tariffs on Tikka. Aftermarket parts for Tikka are getting better and better and more available.

A Tikka CTR gets my vote.
 
Not to mention Tikka is one of the few “lower cost” factory rifles that is precisely machined enough that you can buy pre-fit barrels for so that says a lot about the precision imho. And the actions are super smooth and fast, much more so than a 700. My T3x lite in .233 is a hoot out to 500 yards (furthest thus far)… wind permitting haha. It really likes factory Hornady match or black 75gr. Tried some prvi-partisan 75gr match and it was the same hold for 500 yards as the hornady but I haven’t tried it on paper yet.
 
Tikka t3x. Have the stainless lite in .270 and hunter in 30-06. Love them both. Can’t go wrong with a little Ruger American Ranch in .223/5.56. Love mine! Although, I’ll be upgrading to a Tikka for .223 soon. Check out the varmint model. Very nice.
 
I like the Model 700 for rifle builds, however, Remingtons had a checkered past with very poor quality control. I would definitely purchase the Tikka T3X. The Tikka's have always been great out-of-thebox.
 
I’ve been playing with the idea of building out a semi custom rifle, to be honest I was trying to discredit the Tikka option in favour of the 700.
All the rhetoric online shows the 700 and its clones or derivatives as the answer, the “small block Chevy” of the shooting world.
I’ve had both platforms and currently have neither, both were good with no direct complaints for what they were but they just never kept my attention so they got sold off due to boredom more than anything.
So I did a spread sheet on my options and was surprised at the data…
Everything aftermarket is pretty much available for either action unless you are extremely picking with deep pockets, if so the 700 barely gets the win.
I found the 700 is more money and needs more work to get a similar result.
Used parts for the T3 are more plentiful and cheaper than the 700, this surprised me.
The Tikka also has the capability to run prefit shouldered barrels and with one action length it’s easy to swap cartridge classes so your 223 could become anything you wanted in one gun, if that sort of thing floats your boat.
As for an out of the box rifle, with the ability to easily plug in affordable future modifications the T3x platform in my opinion is your best option.
The Varmint versions with its heavier barrel would allow longer strings of fire before needing to cool down so I’d opt for one of those in stainless steel.
However, YMMV.
 
Tikka T3X, all day long. I own several Tikka’s including the 223 T3X and it’s unbelievably accurate. Super fun to shoot, absolutely loves 62gn bullets and just all around a smoother rifle than any comparable Remington I’ve ever seen
 
I've had both. Good shooters. I ended up keeping the 700. It just makes it look like I can shoot. But Tikka is great and still being manufactured. Actually I think the 700 might be available again new. I'm not probably helping much. The 700 just feels better to me
 
AB.boy said:
My vote would be T3X in a Varmint or CTR configuration. Great rifles, lots of aftermarket items a available if you want to upgrade anything, and they just shoot well. Can't go wrong with the Tikka. I have a CTR and it is my favorite rifle.
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Agree. The 700s back in the day would be a no brainer. The Tikkas are just buttery smooth. My T3X Lite, Varmint and CTR are all sub MOA with good factory ammo. My Varmint 223 loves the heavier rounds. 10 rounds at 100m.
T3X-Varm-223 FEB 16 Targets.JPG
 
My experience and vote also goes to the Tikka T3x CTR and/or Varmint. I've got both and used them last year at our ORA long range events. My longest was out to 600 meters and was impressed with my ammo and rifle combo.

On the flip side. Just can't go wrong with the classic Remington 700 short action.

54241905737_6649e9f5b0_b.jpg
 
Well, i think a lot of folks are shy about being R700 boosters these days. The Tilka crowd is large and mean. Lol.

It seems like up to a few years ago (4 or 5) you could pick up a R700 barrel on the EE and you would have numerous “unfired” options at reasonable prices.

Nowadays, you see the occasional barrel for sale and even though its sold as a “take-off” its seen plenty of rounds and may well be shot out.

By contrast, you cant swing a cat without hitting a bushel of tikka barrels lying around.

I take that as a sign that tilkka may have more or less replaced the R700 as the lego brick action and barrel toy.

I put that down to two key events (series of).
1st Remington went through an aledged QC process. Something i never experienced personally but smoke often i dicates fire and there was plenty of smoke . Then of course bankruptcy (no smoke there. Just fire).

2nd tikka was purchased by beretta and they quickly made some significant changes towards plastic stocks, plastic mags, and the now infamous “one-action”.
They also significantly ramped up production and marketing.

These two things coincided enough that I believe tikka basically slid into the market share formerly enjoyed by the R700.

Today, tikka are ubiquitous! Does anyone else remember when they were kind of rare?

As many have said and I cant argue, tikka make good guns, right out of the box and their triggers are superior to the Remington.

The after market is at or nearly so that of the R700 and there is nothing bad to say really but I will still never own one.

I still own a number of R700’s and clones but for anything new, I have moved over to Howa. Especially because everything i am into now is light and the mini action rox. Also I have always been fascinated with Japan and their ATD.

Maybe check those out too.
 
I started shooting Tikkas back when the first T3s started landing in Canada, I bought the first one I could in 6.5x55 in the early '00s. Shot amazing. I've owned like 7-8 since then, currently own a Laminated Stainless 7mm Rem Mag and a Varmint .223 Rem. I'd like to add a Battue in 9.3x62mm down the line and maybe a CTR in 6.5 Creedmoor although I'm not really pushing the Varmint far enough to really warrant something with a bit more range.

Every one I have had has had consistently great triggers and has been consistently accurate, some more so than others, but all have been very good to excellent. I can't recommend them enough despite my preference for a hinged floorplate on hunting rifles.

I also own two R700's currently and a Bergara. They are rifles. That's about what I can say on that topic. I prefer the fit, finish, feeding, extraction and ejection, trigger, and out-of-box precision of the Tikka rifles I've owned over the Remington and Remington-esque guns. The Bergara B-14 action is very nicely machined as well and functions noticeably smoother and more reliably than my 700s but there is an extractor compromise which is one of the features of the 700 by design, and my Ridge Carbon is picky with ammo so I'm not sure I want to continue to invest in the platform when I've had such good results with the Tikka. I'm even a bit hesitant with Sako, I love the alloy bottom metal and magazines and the way they latch, but it's a big price delta to move up for potentially no to small gains.
 
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