Which Tikka??

eoin4789

Hi guys,

I am interested in buying a Tikka rifle for mainly foxing. However with the slight chance of getting a licence for deer I have been advised on a .243 as it will do both.

Any advice as to which calibre I should go, whether .223 or .243?

Which is the best Tikka rifle to buy in your opinion? I will be scoping and moderating it also.

Any opinions welcome. Thanks guys

It wasn't me!

If you're going to be after deer, then it's .243 as a minimum. If you want a good dual purpose cartridge that gives you more power for deer, there's the .25-06 as well. Great round. Hard to go wrong with any of the Tikkas, so try get your hands on a few of them, see what sits best in the hands for you.

eoin4789

Thanks appreciate the feedback, will keep that round in mind also.

DR6.5

I would definatley recomend the 25-06, bought a Tikka t3 lite back in july in 25-06 20" barrell, swarovski tds and an Atec cmm4 mod, its a very light setup especially for hill stalking, I have a 6.5/55 as well only used the 6.5 a handful of times this season due to how good the 25-06 is.

it is slighty louder than the 6.5, what i really like about the round is that you see the animal take the shot, its very flat shooting and fast, have been using 85 grain ballistic tips for hinds and calfs and the hundred grain for the stags.

The 85 grain would be a great round for the foxes, shot one the other week blew the head clean off.

In relation to the tikka, in my opinion they are the best rifle in the price range, very accurate out of the box, you dont need to do anything extra to the gun,

Would definatley recomend the Tikka t3 lite you wont be dissapointed.

The .243 is great round as well four of the lads i stalk with use it with great sucess.

dr6.5

eoin4789

thanks for your information, just wondering what sort and range of ammunition is available for it!??

DR6.5

I have used federal 85/100 grain ballistic tips, 90 grain hollowpoints, 117 grain soft points all very accurate in my gun.

http://www.hornady.com/store/25-06-Rem/

Havent tried the hornady but they are supposed to very good ammo.

The 100 grain ballistic tip is a great round perfect for deer in ireland and you could use them for foxes as well.

John Lambert allways has a good stock of 25-06 ammo, the federal were 35 a box if bought in bulk.

dr6.5

GixxerThou

Im a big fan of .243's and it is a perfect dual purpose caliber for deer and foxes. However with Tikkas they are all long action so you are losing one big benefit of going for a .243 or a .223, for this reason I also would advise towards the 25-06.. Maybe slightly overkill for foxes but super flat with light bullets and more than enough for any deer in this country with heavier rounds, Ive used 117g Hornadys and they are very good on Sika stags! It can be hard to get a good selection of ammo for them but as said above, John Lambert has a large selection of Federal, Hornady and Norma. If you do decide on the 25-06 try get the 22 inch barrel.. gives better velocities and would be more desirable if trading in..

endasmail

ive the tactical model in .223
with a mod on and a heavy scope ,your shoulder feels it if out after foxes
still very accurate and a good gun

the t3 lite
is exactly that ,alot lighter
also accurate and does the job ya want it to do

if your shooting targets ,youd want to be letting the barrel cool down after couple shots
the tactical will go a bit longer ,before having to let it cool
because of the heavy barrel
i prefer the tactical over the t3 lite

It wasn't me!

In the .25-06 I've used the following and found them all accurate.

117gr Hornady SST
117gr Federal Sierra Gameking
117gr Federal Powershok
100gr Federal Nosler Ballistic Tip
115gr Federal Nosler Partition
85gr Winchester Ballistic Silvertip

There may well be others but if there are, I can't remember them. All were accurate in my Sako, all are quality ammunition. If you want availability, it'll depend where you are, but since most dealers will post ammunition anyway it's not a huge issue. I particularly recommend John Lambert for his selection of .25-06 stuff but McCarthy's in Prosperous have yet to be beaten in price on the Hornady stuff (€33.50 a box and €40+ just about everywhere else) so it depends what you want. The 100gr Ballistic Tip load is the classic dual purpose, and if you buy it in bulk, it'll be reasonably priced. I think that's the one DR6.5 meant would be €35 a box in bulk, which is a great price for it. Cracking ammo. Only ever shot a bunny with it myself but it made a hell of a mess. Would be spectacular on foxes and deer.

eoin4789

Thanks for all the information lads

I am liking the sound of the lite and tactical from ye're experience. Has anybody any opinion on the varmint??

Also i think when it will be more foxing than deer that .243 should be enough?? I reckon 25 - 06 will make a lot of mess with the foxes?

It wasn't me!

eoin4789 wrote: »

Thanks for all the information lads

I am liking the sound of the lite and tactical from ye're experience. Has anybody any opinion on the varmint??

Also i think when it will be more foxing than deer that .243 should be enough?? I reckon 25 - 06 will make a lot of mess with the foxes?

Both are good. I just like the extra bit for deer. The .243 will make a horrible mess out of foxes too, make no mistake, but you're not looking for a pretty corpse. Tikka Varmint will be great, but heavy. If you want a gun to do everything here without messing around with different ammo types and such, the .25 will be slightly better. Just run the 100gr Ballistic tip for everything in this country.

eoin4789

You know your stuff sir so I think I will go with your advice, I might find it hard to licence the 25 - 06 without deer permissions beforehand so I will have to look into it. Thanks again.