Thread: Tikka lsa 55 in 243

Hi all
Considering getting hold of one of these as the sako cousins are going for stupid money.
Any thoughts/experiences with these please?

They are heavy. Otherwise very good if idyosynchratic design. My old man had one in .243 too. At that time Sako and Tikka were not related, they were separate competing Finnish companies. The rifles are not similar.

As above heavy to tote but accurate.Excellent barrels -hand cut rifling,excellent crisp adjustable triggers and egonomic stock design.The actions are over engineered for a hunting rig -more for bench rest paper punching

The best is the sporter which is a target shooting style stock with a long mag and a heavier barrel. Australian army used these as sniper rifles for a while. The stock on this model is amazingly good for off-hand shooting. The other models use a shorter magazine. The single stack magazines have been quite difficult to source but they may be being remanufactured in Australia. No plastic in these rifles. The scope mounts are integral with the action like a Sako but parallel width rather than dovetailed like the Sako. The barrels on the surviving rifles are probably damaged through neglect but a recent Tikka/Sako barrel will fit the action thread. Totally usable adjustable trigger.

Excellent rifles, built when accuracy was the norm rather than the exception. Smooth bolt, great trigger and bloody accurate. They have a unique bedding system that doesn't need any additional bedding or epoxy. And a nice wood/blued rifle. They are no heavier than many of the rifles of the same era, and they point well. But if you use the steel Tikka rings that were for the same rifle, then they start to put on a bit of weight. But they will never move. The original steel 3 and 5 shot mags are also bloody good, just dont lose 'em! Use some of the modern Tikka type alloy rings, throw on some good glass and you wont be disappointed.

One of my life's regrets was trading my LSA 55 in 22-250. The barrel was toast. I got bugger all for it. I should have kept it and rebarrelled.

In its prime it was incredibly accurate with as stated an excellent trigger for the day. Never recalled it being "heavy". Mag capacity was a bit limiting and I never bought the bigger mag when they were available.

Mags have for a long time been an issue - lose you mag and that's it.

Incidentally the LSA 55 wasn't a cousin of SAKO back then. Tikka was its own company. Gobbled up by SAKO and of course Beretta in later years.