Thread: Advice for first centrefire rifle

Hey there everyone, was looking for some advice in regards to my first centrefire rifle. My FAL just arrived and through looking through the forums for advice, Ive decided on a tikka t3 .308. My question is what rings should I look at getting? Do I need a picatinny rail? Is it worth suppressing it? Sorry for the common questions. Thanks all in advance

Not a bad choice of rifle. Yes, suppress it. Less recoil, less noise.

just use factory rings and put $ into a suppressor and away cheers

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Cheers for the quick response guys! Awesome advice!

Make sure you get a decent scope as well.

Howa, cheaper than a tikka but just as good. more money for optics and a suppressor too

Originally Posted by gonetropo

Howa, cheaper than a tikka but just as good.

Or Savage (not Axis though), also cheaper but just as good. Tikka do seem to have the best marketing though.

Double tui ad!

Originally Posted by GravelBen

Or Savage (not Axis though), also cheaper but just as good. Tikka do seem to have the best marketing though.

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@simpson9 has a good tikka 308 for 850 with a suppressor on it for sale I think. Would be a good start

Originally Posted by gonetropo

Howa, cheaper than a tikka but just as good. more money for optics and a suppressor too

Tui add!

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The standard tikka rings are total crap really. Get some talleys (low) for it and be happy ever after. $105 new from gunworks.

Originally Posted by GWH

The standard tikka rings are total crap really. Get some talleys (low) for it and be happy ever after. $105 new from gunworks.

I agree. I've just been through the "first centrefire" thing. Thought I'd make do with the Tikka factory rings until I got my hands on them. I'm sure they'd be fine for smaller calibres, but I had no faith in them. There is a mixture of good/bad reviews online. I went Talley extra low rings with a 40mm scope.

Mate.....not a wind up here,but interested in why you state they are “crap”,I’ve used the Tikka rings on a 300WM,HMR17,and the 223,never had any issues at all.I will support the fact that you can purchase better rings,but you can purchase “better” equipment even on the high end production guns.

I toyed with the idea of discarding Tikkas standard rings,but after doing a little research found they were having no issues,and if you did,Tikka replaces them free of charge.I will say this,with every Tikka purchased,they used to provide a set of rings with the purchase,they don’t seem to do that now.I even sent an email,stating I thought that was bullshit,they set the standard,so they should continue that,to which they have not replied.....

Originally Posted by GWH

The standard tikka rings are total crap really. Get some talleys (low) for it and be happy ever after. $105 new from gunworks.

I too thought I'd give them a go, after reading that many people found them to be fine (but also knowing others thought they were junk)

I fitted them on to my 17" T3 that had been rechambered in 284 win. Running fairly stiff 162gr loads.

I'd heard that upgrading the bolts to stainless steel was the go, so grabbed the kit from Gunworks.

For a start I dislike the design where the ring is not split in half. Same as the Leopold PRW/QRW rings. The top half of the ring has to be pushed over the scope tube which can mark the tube.

I found when doing up the screws/bolts they didn't feel nice and smooth when torquing up, they felt like they were binding rather than doing up smoothly.

When zeroing the rifle the scope started moving forward under recoil. Something I've never had happen before with any rifle or set of rings.

I was pretty much over the tikka rings by this stage, but loosened them off, readjusted the scope position and managed to tighten them up and got them to secure the scope without it moving.

I hunted with it a couple of times and shot a couple of deer, but it was always in the back of my mind that the rings weren't flash.

So I ordered some talleys for it. When I went to fit them, I couldn't remove the screws from the tikka rings, they were seized solid, I had to drill them out, what a total pain in the arse.

Hence my reluctance to recommend the factory tikka rings to anyone. They are just not worth the trouble.

It really doesn't make much sense to have a very capable rifle, use a decent scope then expect to join the two together with free shitty rings.

It'd be like having a 300kw V8 car and running skinny space saver wheels on it just because you already had some in the shed.

Originally Posted by A330driver

Mate.....not a wind up here,but interested in why you state they are “crap”,I’ve used the Tikka rings on a 300WM,HMR17,and the 223,never had any issues at all.I will support the fact that you can purchase better rings,but you can purchase “better” equipment even on the high end production guns.

I toyed with the idea of discarding Tikkas standard rings,but after doing a little research found they were having no issues,and if you did,Tikka replaces them free of charge.I will say this,with every Tikka purchased,they used to provide a set of rings with the purchase,they don’t seem to do that now.I even sent an email,stating I thought that was bullshit,they set the standard,so they should continue that,to which they have not replied.....

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Originally Posted by GWH

The standard tikka rings are total crap really. Get some talleys (low) for it and be happy ever after. $105 new from gunworks.

The low talleys? Will they be safe as. Just about to order them will they fit allgood?