Tikka T 3 Varmint or Savage 12 FCV

scott_r

scott_r

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Im looking at these 2 rifles for small varmint shooting, target shooting ect... Id also like to shoot the .223 out past 500 yards on paper and am tossing around which of these 2 rifles to buy. Im not interested in anything else as these are the 2 my local dealer has.
Tikka has the better fit, finish and smoother bolt as well as its stainless (I prefer). It does have the 1 in 8 which tends to shoot heavier bullets better then a 1 in 9 from my understanding and the trigger is better then the accu-trigger. After market parts are more $$ and harder to find for the Tikka
Savage is $200 less retail and is offering a $100 rebate, a good saving vs the Tikka's price tag. It has the 26" fluted bbl. It has the 1 in 9" twist.

So..what would you guys buy?? Is the extra $300 really worth it for a Tikka? Will it out shoot the Savage?
 
One way to look at is for the $300 saving on the Savage you can buy Boyds Pro Varmint stock and Rifle Basix trigger for it. On the other hand the Tikka varmints are nice but I would still change the stock as I am not a fan of plastic stocks.
 
IMO if your not looking at doing a lot of upgrading, get the Tikka. Barrel twist would be my deciding factor if I was choosing off the shelf with those options.

If your planning on major changes down the road, I would go with the Savage.
 
r204 said:
One way to look at is for the $300 saving on the Savage you can buy Boyds Pro Varmint stock and Rifle Basix trigger for it. On the other hand the Tikka varmints are nice but I would still change the stock as I am not a fan of plastic stocks.
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The stock looks great. Thats something I really like about Savage is the ability to upgrade and not cost an arm and a leg.
 
There really is only one answer and even Savage fans must agree; the quality of a Tikka T3 varmint will far surpass the Savage under consideration. I own Savages - fine rifles and accurate out of the box - but Tikka's are, quite simply, better.
 
Tomochan said:
There really is only one answer and even Savage fans must agree; the quality of a Tikka T3 varmint will far surpass the Savage under consideration. I own Savages - fine rifles and accurate out of the box - but Tikka's are, quite simply, better.
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I agree the quality is better but is it $300 better and is it gonna be more accurate? Ive also heard that Tikka's magazines are too short for the heavier bullets..if you want to use the mag for heavier then 75 gr bullets you need to use AICS mags. ?? Not sure is this is 100% truthful.

Cheers!!
 
Tomochan said:
There really is only one answer and even Savage fans must agree; the quality of a Tikka T3 varmint will far surpass the Savage under consideration. I own Savages - fine rifles and accurate out of the box - but Tikka's are, quite simply, better.
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Yes you are correct about Tikka's quality. One thing I really don't underrstand about them is they have 1 in 8 twist barrels on them so they can shoot the heavy bullets but thay make the mag to short to hold them.
 
if you are lucky and get a zinger barrel the savage may outshoot the tikka, on the other hand Tikka's overall will outshoot the savages. Its a much more refined rifle, better quality, will have a smoother bore from the factory, than will the savage, and will have better resale when you decide to sell. In the end ownership cost will be the same for both rifles, so buy the better one, which is the Tikka. I buy the tikka tac's as they use the same barrel as the TRG, quite a bit more spend than the varmint model. you can't go wrong with the Tikka.
 
Well...bought a T3 Varmint .223 from Prairie Guntraders this morning and ordered a tactical bolt knob, bottom metal to except AISC mags and a metal bolt shroud. Pretty good package deal from a guy in AUS. Now Im looking for an optic to top it off. Appreciate all the info guys!!. Turns out another CGN'er bought the only Savage 12 FCV PGT had so I had not choice but buy the Tikka, guess it was meant to be ;)

Cheers!!
 
Just bought a Tikka Varmint in .243 myself.
What's is everyone's thought on swapping out the aluminum recoil lug for a steel one?

Anywho, congrats on the new rifle.
 
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In the fall of 2012 I bought a Savage VLP DBM 223 with the 9 twist barrel. I put somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 rounds through it. Make no mistake, it was a sub-moa rifle. Groups in the 3/4 to 1/2" range weren't uncommon either. I shot it out to 650 yards and just about everything in between with factory 75 grain ammo and some handloads. Heavy bolt lift was a drawback.

Last September I bought a Tikka T3 Varmint 223, 8 twist barrel. I haven't put anymore than 100 rounds through it yet, but I no longer have the Savage. The Tikka is 2lbs lighter, better fit and finish, action is silky smooth and just as accurate. Honestly I haven't shot it enough to say it's more accurate, but I've shot it out to 500 yards so far without an issue. No heavy bolt lift here either, it's a much more refined rifle overall.

So onto the mag length issue. The Savage 223 Magazine is longer than the Tikka for sure, but it's still not long enough for some bullets. For example, the max COAL for a 75 grain a-max in the Savage was 2.514", which does not fit in the magazine. I don't have the exact number of what it will fit. I did take out the black block in the rear of the Savage mag to accommodate a longer cartridge but then the bolt doesn't come back far enough due to the baffle. All of these things can be remedied but you can get an AICS system for the Tikka as well. So neither one is great for the heavies, but the Tikka is worse there.
 
I had a tikka t3 Varmint in 243. Took the barrel off and put a 26" 6.5-284 on it. I had to change the bolt stop and the mag to allow enough room for the 140 bergers in the mag. Topped it off with a near 20 MOA rail and a alpha mount with a NXS 5.5-22x50 scope. Fun gun out to a 1000. Best group so far has been .281".
 
I was in this exact same dilemma a month ago, i went with the Tikka and couldn't be happier. I knew if I got the Savage i'd always wonder about the tikka, but not the other way around. Good choice.
 
I asked in another thread. But does anyone know if it's possible or where you can get the model 12 .223 bolt body swapped out from a jewelled look, to the standard matte black look? I have a 12FCV with the shiny jewelled look but would much prefer the black look. Any ideas?

Also can someone explain why some savage model 12' FCV's come with bottom bolt release and some with side? Is there a date of manufacturing when they changed systems??
 
Matt_dal123 said:
I asked in another thread. But does anyone know if it's possible or where you can get the model 12 .223 bolt body swapped out from a jewelled look, to the standard matte black look? I have a 12FCV with the shiny jewelled look but would much prefer the black look. Any ideas?

Also can someone explain why some savage model 12' FCV's come with bottom bolt release and some with side? Is there a date of manufacturing when they changed systems??
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The bolt body can be swapped out for sure, some (if not all, not 100% sure) of the tactical/LE models come with the black bolt body, I've also seem it on predator models. As for getting your hands on one, you can try getting a local gunsmith or one of the Savage warranty depots in Canada to order one. The bolt body is "restricted to gunsmiths" as per the Savage website.

As for the bottom bolt release, Savage started manufacturing that newer system in 2008 and since then it's been implemented in various models. Who knows exactly when it found it's way into the 12 FCV, but prior to 2008 they were all on the right hand side of the receiver. They should have kept it that way.
 
1ShotKing said:
The bolt body can be swapped out for sure, some (if not all, not 100% sure) of the tactical/LE models come with the black bolt body, I've also seem it on predator models. As for getting your hands on one, you can try getting a local gunsmith or one of the Savage warranty depots in Canada to order one. The bolt body is "restricted to gunsmiths" as per the Savage website.

As for the bottom bolt release, Savage started manufacturing that newer system in 2008 and since then it's been implemented in various models. Who knows exactly when it found it's way into the 12 FCV, but prior to 2008 they were all on the right hand side of the receiver. They should have kept it that way.
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Thank you so much for the clarification and info!! Most appreciated
 
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