Tikka T3x or T3x Lite

I am thinking about drinking the Tikka Kool Aid. I was looking at getting another 7mm Rem Mag and, looking at the specs, I noticed the Lite was 6.3 pounds vs 7 pounds for the regular (this is with the 24 inch barrel). Any advice on which would be best? I am not particularly susceptible to recoil, but 6.3 pounds seems awfully light.

I’d go with the non-lite version. Especially if you are keeping it in the factory stock. You won’t notice the extra weight when carrying it but it will help reduce the recoil.

If you are considering any aftermarket mods, our bottom metal will fit OEM stocks — we offer a discount for THF members, PM me if interested.

^^What Red said

Do you think the wood stock will provide the same accuracy as the synthetic?

Make sure the barrel channel is clearing the barrel. If not, emory cloth will correct it. After that, I'm sure it will shoot just fine.

I thought these didn't have free-floating barrels - that they had upward pressure on the fore-end tip. Has that changed?

Or did you mean make sure it was free *behind* the front pressure point?

You might be right. That may be the way they are designed. I got my stepson a T-3 in .308 Win, and I opened up the barrel channel on his synthetic stock, all the way to the recoil lug.

My T3 lite is free float; no pressure. I measured it from the factory and after I reseated the action once.

That's a beautiful stock they come with!

the Lite feels good in the hand walking around

if it's a hunting rifle, you won't feel a thing if/when you take a shot at game

I know that, cabosandinh, but I also like to shoot from the bench, working up loads. Also, I noticed that on the Tikka website the weight is listed as 6.6-7.0 pounds depending on caliber for the regular weight rifle, so the 7mm RM would be something less than 7.0 pounds. I'm still undecided. I went down to Academy today to heft these two rifles and they didn't have any, which was surprising to me and left me where I was before.

So, does anyone have a T3x standard to confirm whether it is free-floated or has front pressure points?

I have the Lite, Reg, CTR, Tactical, TAC A-1

They're all free floated, can run a dollar bill back to receiver

Sounds like the CTR will be your best bet,,,,, go for it

Tikka makes a CTR in 7mm Rem Mag?

my bad, wasn't paying attention to his caliber requirement

You may want to see if someone can let you try out a lite 7mm Rem Mag.

I've got a T3 "standard I guess" in 7mm Mag and it is not bad to shoot at all and light enough for an old man to carry. I've taken a bull elk at 373 in Colorado and an Aoudad in Texas at 370. Rifle was perfect for both scenarios.

Well, I'm hearing from a good authority that the Tikkas are NOT free-floated but that the pressure point is also not at the front of the fore-end but rather some way back. Anyone with an unmodified Tikka want to take a dollar bill and try to run it all the way back to the receiver?

Here ya go. It stops right here.

I already told you that story a few posts back. Step-son's .308 T-3 Lite.

My T3X Hunter came in today. It weighed a hair over 6 1/4 pounds. I don't want this to come in too light, so I ordered Warne rings, which are steel and a little heavier than others. I also ordered a bit heavier scope.

Interestingly enough, unlike the one above, the Hunter is free-floating:

BIL is going to be so disappointed in you.

well at least Tikkas bedding is consistent


not

I have my first Tikka T3 SS being delivered at some point this week.

T3 lites all have a “speed bump”in the stock 3-4” in from the receiver face, as shown in JLP83s pic above. I’ve had a several t3 lites, tried a few different aftermarket stocks and removed the pressure point from factory plastic on a couple more. I can’t say fully floating the barrel has improved accuracy noticeably, but it hasn’t hurt either.

As far as I know, all the aftermarket stocks for these (manners, McMillan, B&c) would free float the barrel, no pressure points.

I wouldn’t let any of this pressure point business be the deciding factor on which model I chose though, it’s all of 5 mins work to remove the pressure point from a t3 lite stock, should you choose to.

Edit: I just re-read the thread and see that the OP has already went with the t3 hunter. Nice rifle, I imagine you will enjoy it..