wheres the real tikka?

The M658 Premier grade is probably one of the finest examples of the art of rifle building ever. Heavy, but deadly accurate and as fine as any Sako sporter ever built. The action is much smoother and more solid than any new Tikka or Sako. Only imported for a short while into N.A. If anybody could build a modern sporter like it, they'd run at least 2K. Hell, the clip (steel) alone goes for close to $200. Mine's a 7mm Rem Mag and despite the hunting abuse it's seen for many years still has blueing that's unrivalled by anything new and the rollover stock is still gorgeous. A fine rifle I've replaced with a .300 Mag T3 Deluxe cause I can't bear to see the 658 hunted with anymore. It now reigns as monarch of my safe queens.
 
sbtennex said:
The M658 Premier grade is probably one of the finest examples of the art of rifle building ever. Heavy, but deadly accurate and as fine as any Sako sporter ever built. The action is much smoother and more solid than any new Tikka or Sako. Only imported for a short while into N.A. If anybody could build a modern sporter like it, they'd run at least 2K. Hell, the clip (steel) alone goes for close to $200. Mine's a 7mm Rem Mag and despite the hunting abuse it's seen for many years still has blueing that's unrivalled by anything new and the rollover stock is still gorgeous. A fine rifle I've replaced with a .300 Mag T3 Deluxe cause I can't bear to see the 658 hunted with anymore. It now reigns as monarch of my safe queens.
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That was exactly my point, Tikka was a separate company from Sako back then and the guns were aimed at at different market.
 
I've had an older and still own a T3 Tikka. Yes, there are differences in stock and metal finishes. I did prefer the older 2 action lengths for various cartridges than the 1 size fits all T3. Since I now have a 6.5x55 which requires the long action anyway it's perfect. I can seat the bullets out nicely and still keep them in the mag. I found accuracy and triggers the same. The older Tikka had those plastic inserts to make the bolt real slick, but the T3 bolt is very smooth on it's own beating any new Rem 700 I've tried lately.

Same can be said with old and new Rem 700's. The golden age of gun making is long gone.
 
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sbtennex said:
The M658 Premier grade is probably one of the finest examples of the art of rifle building ever. Heavy, but deadly accurate and as fine as any Sako sporter ever built. The action is much smoother and more solid than any new Tikka or Sako. Only imported for a short while into N.A. If anybody could build a modern sporter like it, they'd run at least 2K.
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Yeah, those were nice rifles... Not sure about the Premier Grade, but they went for around $8-900 bucks back when I was looking at them.

Heck you can't even get a Rem SPS for that price nowadays...

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The only REAL Tikkas were the M55's and M65's...these were the real deal. These were in production when Tikka sold out to Sako. I did own one M65 in the box that had both Sako and Tikka logos on the box...they didn't last long and I'm not surprised. I'm sure the Sako guys saw these as direct competition to thier own rifles as they were every bit as good as a Sako.
 
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