Thoughts on Tikka t3x super varmint in 223

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Siege

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Greetings all,
I'm looking at getting into long range shooting. Range only, nit intending to hunt or anything. I'm limited to 223 at my gun club. So 223 is my choice of calibre. I'm looking at the t3 x super varmint. I figured I'd ask here to see if anyone had experience with this rifle, and how tikka is as a brand. Quality, service, etc. I was looking at the remington 700, but I'm thinking that sinking the extra cash and do this once. Thoughts and guidance requested. Thanks!
 
Siege said:
Greetings all,
I'm looking at getting into long range shooting. Range only, nit intending to hunt or anything. I'm limited to 223 at my gun club. So 223 is my choice of calibre. I'm looking at the t3 x super varmint. I figured I'd ask here to see if anyone had experience with this rifle, and how tikka is as a brand. Quality, service, etc. I was looking at the remington 700, but I'm thinking that sinking the extra cash and do this once. Thoughts and guidance requested. Thanks!
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I have a T3X Varmint in 223 and can attest to it being a terrific gun, both build quality, accuracy (reloads) an excellent trigger.

I think a quick google will yield the same results from many others. 223 is super plentiful and cheap to shoot too. How long of range are you planning to shoot?
 
Hard to beat a tikka. What does the super varmint have that the regular doesn't? Could also look at the ctr if you want to run other mags. I guess they're pricey though.
 
Thanks for your thoughts. I'm shooting at a range that has 600m. I'm not expecting to get close to that anytime soon at all. But I was Hoping to be getting into 300ish would be nice.
 
I’ve had several Tikkas in .223 and they all shot well. I currently have a T3 Varmint in .223 in a bravo chassis and I really like it. Consistently accurate at 600m with 69gr SMKs over 26gr Varget.

Make sure you get the 1/8 twist.
 
Great gun I have two Varmints .233 and .308 awesome guns well worth the money. The super just doesn't make financial sense to me. $700 more for a pictauny rail and adjustable chin rest is crazy to me. Go with the regular Varmints my advice. Awesome riles just a little heavy but that said great for bench shooting long range.
 
Tikka is a nice rifle …. however... unfortunately not the best choice for a 223.... specifically.

The problem is the Tikka action and magazine length is designed for a SAMMI spec 223 with an OAL Of 2.25"

If you want to use the rifle for "long range" you will be into long VLD bullets... I assume you hand load, or will... and you will seat these long 75-80 grain bullets to an OAL of 2.5000-2.600 OAL if you want to get any speed out of it.... Don't forget you need a throat for it, but that is easy to do if you find a guy with a throating reamer... if needed.

In the 223, you are actually better served with an action that can feed AI mags since they are designed for a 308 length round.

You might even consider an RPR in 223 if you can find one for sale because it can do the above.... I have one BTW, that I will be selling toward the spring.

Short of that, you can go with a Rem 700 (or clone) and put it into a stock that will feed AI mags... or perhaps find something from Savage and do the same.

Either way, this is one caliber where Tikka may not be the best choice... if you want to hand load a competitive 223 round.
 
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I have the T3X in 223 very very well built am looking at the Varmint myself - may purchase new and then go all in on a Krieger barrel and keep my T3X as is (yeah it's that good)
 
Hey There,

I have just purchased (2 weeks ago) the Tikka t3x Varmint stainless in 223. This gun is a shooter! Tight groups with inexpensive ammo. and shockingly accurate at distances over 200 meters. The barrel, a 600 mm 1-8 twist is touch on the heavy side but zero recoil and so far I always am hitting what I am aiming at!
 
204 is also a sweet caliber for the tikka varmint. Scrap the super varmint. You are wasting a bunch of money on a scope rail you can buy separately for the tikka varmint and save money. Rifle is the same.
 
Maple57 said:
Tikka is a nice rifle …. however... unfortunately not the best choice for a 223.... specifically.

The problem is the Tikka action and magazine length is designed for a SAMMI spec 223 with an OAL Of 2.25"

If you want to use the rifle for "long range" you will be into long VLD bullets... I assume you hand load, or will... and you will seat these long 75-80 grain bullets to an OAL of 2.5000-2.600 OAL if you want to get any speed out of it.... Don't forget you need a throat for it, but that is easy to do if you find a guy with a throating reamer... if needed.

In the 223, you are actually better served with an action that can feed AI mags since they are designed for a 308 length round.

You might even consider an RPR in 223 if you can find one for sale because it can do the above.... I have one BTW, that I will be selling toward the spring.

Short of that, you can go with a Rem 700 (or clone) and put it into a stock that will feed AI mags... or perhaps find something from Savage and do the same.

Either way, this is one caliber where Tikka may not be the best choice... if you want to hand load a competitive 223 round.
Click to expand...


Very easy to overcome with a Bob Sled put in your mag, allows for flawless single shot loading, which is my preference for bench:

MagazineInsertDisplay2-600x600.jpg
 
Maple57 said:
Tikka is a nice rifle …. however... unfortunately not the best choice for a 223.... specifically.

The problem is the Tikka action and magazine length is designed for a SAMMI spec 223 with an OAL Of 2.25"

If you want to use the rifle for "long range" you will be into long VLD bullets... I assume you hand load, or will... and you will seat these long 75-80 grain bullets to an OAL of 2.5000-2.600 OAL if you want to get any speed out of it.... Don't forget you need a throat for it, but that is easy to do if you find a guy with a throating reamer... if needed.

In the 223, you are actually better served with an action that can feed AI mags since they are designed for a 308 length round.

You might even consider an RPR in 223 if you can find one for sale because it can do the above.... I have one BTW, that I will be selling toward the spring.

Short of that, you can go with a Rem 700 (or clone) and put it into a stock that will feed AI mags... or perhaps find something from Savage and do the same.

Either way, this is one caliber where Tikka may not be the best choice... if you want to hand load a competitive 223 round.
Click to expand...

He is talking 300ish yards, not going to be an issue!
I just started playing with a Tikka CTR in 223 a few weeks ago and it is a superb shooter both with factory ammo and hand loads. Just for the record my best group at 530 yards (just how it is to work with the space I have!) was under 3 inches.
 
8 ball said:
He is talking 300ish yards, not going to be an issue!
I just started playing with a Tikka CTR in 223 a few weeks ago and it is a superb shooter both with factory ammo and hand loads. Just for the record my best group at 530 yards (just how it is to work with the space I have!) was under 3 inches.
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His range is 600 but he does not seem to have the confidence for 600 so he would be ok with only 300.... Until he gains confidence at 300 right?

In my experience the trigger weight has never increased beyond my ability to pull it as distance increases.

Additionally, my rifle has never adopted some uncontrollable vibration as distance increases either...

All he really needs is the ability to fire a round with a decent BC at a decent velocity, the rest is just learning to dope the wind.

I think he will be shooting 600 before he knows it.
 
if 223 and 600 meters is what your limited to I would save the money on that version and get the regular Tikka or a different rifle. If your intrested in reloading the money would be better spent getting into that. It's taken my budget rifles like my stock Savage XP package rifle and made into a rifle that'll make regular 500 M shots on a silhoutte plate without issue with a 223 shooting Hornady FMJ which is one of the cheapest choices for projectiles. 10 shots groups at 100 usually ring in at 1 MOA.

even with factory ammo I beleive most bolt action rifles will shoot 1 MOA or better as long as you find an ammo it likes
 
Maple57 said:
Tikka is a nice rifle …. however... unfortunately not the best choice for a 223.... specifically.

The problem is the Tikka action and magazine length is designed for a SAMMI spec 223 with an OAL Of 2.25"

If you want to use the rifle for "long range" you will be into long VLD bullets... I assume you hand load, or will... and you will seat these long 75-80 grain bullets to an OAL of 2.5000-2.600 OAL if you want to get any speed out of it.... Don't forget you need a throat for it, but that is easy to do if you find a guy with a throating reamer... if needed.

In the 223, you are actually better served with an action that can feed AI mags since they are designed for a 308 length round.

You might even consider an RPR in 223 if you can find one for sale because it can do the above.... I have one BTW, that I will be selling toward the spring.

Short of that, you can go with a Rem 700 (or clone) and put it into a stock that will feed AI mags... or perhaps find something from Savage and do the same.

Either way, this is one caliber where Tikka may not be the best choice... if you want to hand load a competitive 223 round.
Click to expand...

You can put a Tikka into a chassis and use AI mags just as easily as with a Rem or Savage. The Tikka action isn't designed at all for .223 - they're all long actions and the only difference for the short cartridges is the bolt stop length. I put a T3 Varmint into an MDT chassis with AI mags and shot piles of 75 AMaxes through it.

Rather than a super varmint, just buy the base T3x varmint and slap it in a chassis. The SV isn't at all worth the premium IMHO.
 
As I read these posts I am glad that I purchased my Tikka T3x - it is simply one of the top brands out there - I will detouring into the "custom" dark side with it - likely purchasing another T3x (new) and use it as a donor - will recoup costs by selling the stock / trigger / barrel
 
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