Tikka T3 .204 Ruger

[scott_r]

Any of you fine gentlemen shooting a Tikka in the .204 ? Looks like I may be getting either the T3 Lite or T3 Varmint and am wondering how you guys like em. I'm not crazy about the one sized fits all action but anything will be better then my Remington which has an oversized bolt face and ejection issues.

Cheers!!

[greystone]

I just bought a CZ chambered in a 204 but before that I was looking at the Tikka's. At the time Tikka didn't send any 204's to the US and I don't think they do yet. Don't know why

[B-78]

I shoot a 204 Tikka in a T-3 Laminate Stainless. I originally bought a Browning Varmint Stalker but found it a bit heavy for calling coyotes so I tried to find a Browning Stainless Stalker in 204 and was having no luck. When I found out Tikka was offering a Laminate stainless in 204 I ordered it but it was taking a long time to get here so in the mean time I found the Browning Stainnless and bought it as well. When I finally picked up the Tikka last Aug I never had time to put a scope on it and really work up a load for it so I just used the Brownings last winter.I now have a load worked up for it with 35 gr Bergers but as soon as it warms up alittle more I'm going to try 39gr Blitzkings and some 32 gr Noslers. It did not really like the 40gr Bergers or 40 gr Vmaxs with either H4895 or BL-C(2).

[Pydpiper]

I do. I have the T3 Varmint, stainless.
I love the gun, without going custom it seemed to be the most reliable rifle I could find, I did a whole lot of reading before I took the plunge.
It is a daily shooter for me, I do wildlife/predator control for a living and always have the rifle with me. It shoots factory ammo absolutely spectacular, but seems to prefer the 39 grain Blitz, and will under no circumstances shoot 40 grain Hornady, I would swear those things come out of that gun sideways. But I was fairly warned before trying them.
There are no "colonies" where I live, so I have some regrets for going with the heavy barrel, it is big lug of a gun but makes up for it with a whole lot of instilled confidence.
I would not give this gun up for anything, it has been maintained with the products recommended here and I can not imagine any other gun out-shooting it, with factory ammo.
My next rifle will be a .270, I really want to custom build one, but with the way this .204 shoots I just may grab another one of these. Try one on first, I have heard they don't fit everyone, and with the lack of aftermarket parts that should be a pretty important factor. However, there is a very nice custom stock available for the Tikka platform.

[stevecrea]

Pydpiper:

Is Beretta importing the .204 Varmints to the US? I think this rifle is a fantastic value.

I am unsure about this, but seem to recall that Beretta was not importing the lefthand versions to the US (I am lefthanded).

One of my friends reports to me that a friend of his has the T3 Stainless Lite in a 22-250. I believe the rifle is stock and unaltered, and he loads for it. He reports that it will routinely shoot .25 MOA, which is almost incredible. And again, it is the Lite version and not the Varmint.

I bought a lefthand 595 Hunter in walnut in .223 and blue not long ago, and have been very happy with it. The Tikka triggers are just about the best one can buy off the shelf for moderate prices. I should get one of the bigger magazines, because three rounds seems to go too fast. I have yet to load for it and have been shooting mostly the Federal 50 grain hollowpoints, which seems to group around an inch or so at 100 yards. About my only compaint is that if I do not use enough speed when extracting an empty, that the extractor leaves the empty in the cartridge bay, rather than flipping it out. I do not know if this is a common problem, or if my rifle may need a new spring or something. Any thoughts? Does yours do this?

[stevecrea]

Scott:

If you discover that the .204 is imported to the US, you may have a hard choice to make between the CZ and the Tikka. However, you can make the decision easier by buying one of each.

The CZ is on my wishlist as probably my next rifle, but perhaps only because, I do not believe that Beretta imports the lefthand versions in .204 to the US. If you discover otherwise, please let me know.

Regardless, both the CZ and Tikka would be good choices, in my opinion.

[stevecrea]

Greystone:

Which CZ did you buy, the 527 American?

What has been your experience with it, such as accuracy, trigger quality, quality of workmanship, etc?

The 527 American in .204 is on my wishlist. I have a 452 in 17 HMR and have been very happy with it after having the trigger slicked up a bit by my gunsmith. I must have 5,000 rounds through the 452, and it is fantastic. I shot a handful of chucks with it yesterday, and it is death on Townsend ground squirrels. It is almost not fair chase unless you limit yourself to shots over 125 yards!

[glenn asher]

Last year's NRA Show and Convention was held nearby, and I visited with the Beretta/Sako crowd for awhile, mentioning the limited numbers of .204s they were making/selling here. The reps didn't seem the slightest bit interested in making larger numbers of .204s for sale in the US, in fact, I didn't spend too much time with them, they were more than a bit dismissive and rude. They didn't seem to think the .204 was really going anywhere, sales-wise, so they didn't even act like they were going to mention it to the "head office".

They sure can't sell many, if they don't make many.............

In any event, there was enough other stuff to see and learn about, so I went on my merry way, Speer/ATK seemed very interested in making some .204 stuff, though we're still waiting to see any.

[Bayou City Boy]

Last year's NRA Show and Convention was held nearby, and I visited with the Beretta/Sako crowd for awhile, mentioning the limited numbers of .204s they were making/selling here. The reps didn't seem the slightest bit interested in making larger numbers of .204s for sale in the US, in fact, I didn't spend too much time with them, they were more than a bit dismissive and rude. They didn't seem to think the .204 was really going anywhere, sales-wise, so they didn't even act like they were going to mention it to the "head office".

They sure can't sell many, if they don't make many.............

In any event, there was enough other stuff to see and learn about, so I went on my merry way, Speer/ATK seemed very interested in making some .204 stuff, though we're still waiting to see any.

Sometimes getting a truthful answer, even if its not what we want, is better than being fed a line of BS just because we seem to be receptive to BS at the moment.

In a lot of cases, the world turns on incorrect perceptions simply because being truthful isn't politically correct, in both liberal and conservative circles.

JMO - BCB

[greystone]

Greystone:

Which CZ did you buy, the 527 American?

What has been your experience with it, such as accuracy, trigger quality, quality of workmanship, etc?

The 527 American in .204 is on my wishlist. I have a 452 in 17 HMR and have been very happy with it after having the trigger slicked up a bit by my gunsmith. I must have 5,000 rounds through the 452, and it is fantastic. I shot a handful of chucks with it yesterday, and it is death on Townsend ground squirrels. It is almost not fair chase unless you limit yourself to shots over 125 yards!

I bought the 527 American and so far I'm really impressed with it. The finish on the gun looks to be excellent. However they're advertised to be free floated but mine wasn't and apparently alot of them aren't. It doesn't take much work to free float it tho. Once I got the trigger adjusted I love it. There's 4 adjustment screws and you can eliminate all the creep and overtravel. I have mine set to 3 lbs and 10 oz's on the set position. I finally going to do some range work with it next weekend. Its finally warming up here in Minnesota. I like the gun. Very well balanced and easy to carry which is a big plus for me.

[Pydpiper]

I can not comment on the US importation stuff, I reside in Canada.
I a have not had any extraction issues either, in the beginning the magazine refused to load up a second round, it only did that twice in the first ten rounds, never again. Likely user error.

[scott_r]

Well my T3 Varmint is in the mail should be here next week