Tikka T3 Superlite

[Ridge Hunter]

Hey all,

Just wanted to see if anyone has the Tikka T3 Superlite rifle, and if you could give your pros and cons to the rifle. I am looking at buying one in the near future and have done a bunch of research elsewhere but have not talked with anyone that has one. I am trying to decide between the .308 and the 7mm mag, I originally wanted to go with the 7mm as this is one of my favorite rounds but think it will be to much recoil and noise to enjoy for such a light rifle. I could put a break on a 7mm but then you either blow your ears out on a quick shot that you did not have time to put your plugs in, or you have to take the time to put plugs in and potentially lose your opportunity. For the above reasons I am leaning towards the .308 but would love to get some more input.

Thanks!

[RadSav]

I do not have one, but I have shot the 7mm a Canada guide friend of mine has.  With the Sims but pad it didn't seem to kick any worse than my 270WSM A7 with similar pad.  We were shooting grapefruit sized rocks at 430 yards with rarely a miss.  Seems like one heck of a gun to me!  I'm actually looking at getting two soon.  One in 270 for the wife and one in 7mm for myself.

[longwalker]

those are two completely different calibers your choosing between there. sounds like you need to decide what you want the rifle to do, and not base a decision solely on recoil and noise??

[Curly]

Why not give a 30-06 some thought?  It is not much different from the 7mm mag, performance wise. 

[Rick]

A 7mm mag in a Tikka won't kick that bad. Definitely not enough to warrant a brake IMO.

[Ridge Hunter]

Thanks everyone for there input!

[Weehunt66]

Not a superlite, but I have a tikka t3 lite in a 270 wsm. I put a simms recoils pad on it. Took most of the recoil out. Now just a good push. My 16 year old loves it. He keeps fogeting who owns it.

[muleyslayer#1]

7mm mag on a 5.8 pound gun is gonna have quite the kick but will obviously help on backpack hunts. I agree 30-06 would be perfect for that gun. If you re looking to get a tikka in a 7mm mag just go with the standard lite in stainless. Just a little bit more weight which will reduce the recoil. Or what you could do is get another butt pad for it that has a better feel and softer pad that wont hurt your arm as much. I do like the SLite model because it would be perfect for a backpack hunt. I also like that you can adjust the trigger pull down to like 3lbs. 

[Wea300mag]

I have a T-3 superlite in 7mm and love it. I tend to hike a lot when hunting so it's a great fit for me. I don't notice anymore kick than my regular T-3 lite in 7mm.

[Ridge Hunter]

That is good to hear as I was leaning more towards the 7mm over the .308. The only reason I was considering the .308 is because the rifle would be a few ounces lighter with a short action and a couple of ounces adds up fast when you are doing backpack hunting. As well as the fact that the .308 having less recoil and muzzle blast, I think I could still hand load the .308 with 150grn. bullets and get close to 3000fps out of it, hornady superformance ammo even publishes that velocity for that round out of a .308. I already have all of the reloading stuff for the 7mm though and should be able to push a little more velocity out of it if I had to, just not sure how much out of a 22" barrel as the mag typically runs a 26" barrel to burn up all the powder. Any other input would be much appreciated.

[romaknows]

That is good to hear as I was leaning more towards the 7mm over the .308. The only reason I was considering the .308 is because the rifle would be a few ounces lighter with a short action and a couple of ounces adds up fast when you are doing backpack hunting. As well as the fact that the .308 having less recoil and muzzle blast, I think I could still hand load the .308 with 150grn. bullets and get close to 3000fps out of it, hornady superformance ammo even publishes that velocity for that round out of a .308. I already have all of the reloading stuff for the 7mm though and should be able to push a little more velocity out of it if I had to, just not sure how much out of a 22" barrel as the mag typically runs a 26" barrel to burn up all the powder. Any other input would be much appreciated.

There is no "short action" tikka, so you wont save any weight there.

[Bofire]

7mm08?

[7mmfan]

7mm08?

Thats what I was thinking   

[thinkingman]

7mm08?

Perfect.