TIKKA / SAKO FINISHING QUALITY

Although initially its focus was on military firearms, a deal with Sako allowed Howa to produce a copy of its soon-to-be-legendary L61 and L579 series, better known as the Finnbear and Forrester. Although hard to confirm, it is thought that the contract hadn’t allowed for an exact copy of Sako’s rifle, which indeed is what Howa had done with their Golden Bear model. Contract and patent infringements then forced Howa to stop producing the rifle, and today they are very hard to come by. Today’s model 1500 has changed somewhat from the Golden Bear of the 1960s, but it is still based on the great old Sako action, albeit with some design alterations.

Turning Japanese | Sporting Rifle magazine

Kj

They improved the action somewhat aye @BRADS

Yes It seems that quality Tikka finish has dropped somewhat over the years but T3s shoot well, that's what matters. I will stick with my heavy M595, I like the more open action and the stock suits me better, its also left handed. Just got a LAS-55 for a friend and they are very well made. If they came left handed I would get one also.

More importantly they don't look broken like a Blaser and you can buy a whole new rifle for less than the cost of a Blaser barrel:D

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Originally Posted by Toby

They improved the action somewhat aye @BRADS

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Your in fire today ballsacks!
745 this morning the first txt rolled in suggesting howa is somehow superior to sako[emoji13]

Pulled the Tikka Rem Mag out of the cupboard for the first time in ages the other day.
Its been a while so I checked the barrel for obstructions and cringed on seeing it has been left dirty.
Target was at 785 yards in about 6ms of 45 deg crosswind.
Four shots...nothing was more than 2 inches vertically from the centre of the bull.
Budget plastic stocked Tikka...will never part with it.

I don't see the problem with Tikka plastic stocks. Sure they aren't the best money can buy, but they are pretty rigid compared to other budget rifle offerings.
I find them comfortable and not too hideous. Certainly no worse than what comes on Remingtons and Savages.

Having not experiences the older model Tikkas, I can't comment on any degradation in quality, but again compared to similar offerings I think Tikka offer great value for money and an increase in build quality. The bolt on mine certainly is not gritty and the slop is nothing like the Savage and Remingtons I've seen.

Of all the comparibly priced rifles I handled, the plastic stock on the tikka was by far the stiffest. It does the job it need to, even if it doesnt look so pretty

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Originally Posted by Beetroot

Having not experiences the older model Tikkas, I can't comment on any degradation in quality, but again compared to similar offerings I think Tikka offer great value for money and an increase in build quality. The bolt on mine certainly is not gritty and the slop is nothing like the Savage and Remingtons I've seen.

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Maybe it depends on individual examples, going back to my Savage after using a T3 felt like luxury! I don't recall the T3 bolt feeling sloppy, but quite stiff - you had to work it pretty firmly rather than gliding smoothly like the Savage. The trigger was heavy and vague, though I expect that could be adjusted better. It grouped about 3" at 100yds... possibly just down to the ammo (it wasn't my rifle to investigate whether it was ammo or rifle issue) but safe to say it didn't leave me with a good impression of Tikkas!

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Maybe it depends on individual examples, going back to my Savage after using a T3 felt like luxury! I don't recall the T3 bolt feeling sloppy, but quite stiff - you had to work it pretty firmly rather than gliding smoothly like the Savage. The trigger was heavy and vague, though I expect that could be adjusted better. It grouped about 3" at 100yds... possibly just down to the ammo (it wasn't my rifle to investigate whether it was ammo or rifle issue) but safe to say it didn't leave me with a good impression of Tikkas!

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interesting. I had a savage .300WM that shot sub moa and had a decent acutrigger, it was however early production. I then had a poo43 one that shot 2 inch at best and the trigger was very vague. I also had two savage target rifles both in .308 the blued one shot really well, the stainless not that well.. Savage= variable build quality = yes. But I have yet to fire a Tikka with a bad trigger. you must have been unlucky.

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Originally Posted by 300CALMAN

interesting. I had a savage .300WM that shot sub moa and had a decent acutrigger, it was however early production. I then had a poo43 one that shot 2 inch at best and the trigger was very vague. I also had two savage target rifles both in .308 the blued one shot really well, the stainless not that well.. Savage= variable build quality = yes. But I have yet to fire a Tikka with a bad trigger. you must have been unlucky.

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Its funny with personal experience isn't it, because the bunch of Savages I've used made me think you must have been unlucky. I've seen some variable fit & finish/cosmetics etc, but mechanically they've been good. Occasional failure to eject from one of the 22LRs when it got too dirty, thats about it. FWIW my Savage 223 'American Classic' does half MOA groups pretty consistently with a variety of loads (unless I screw it up), and the 204 varminter I had before it did similar once the previous owners mongrel attempt at threading it was chopped off and recrowned. Others I know have had similar results.

Bit off topic though, I haven't used enough Tikkas to know whether their quality has gone downhill or not - just that there are some bad ones.

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Maybe it depends on individual examples, going back to my Savage after using a T3 felt like luxury! I don't recall the T3 bolt feeling sloppy, but quite stiff - you had to work it pretty firmly rather than gliding smoothly like the Savage. The trigger was heavy and vague, though I expect that could be adjusted better. It grouped about 3" at 100yds... possibly just down to the ammo (it wasn't my rifle to investigate whether it was ammo or rifle issue) but safe to say it didn't leave me with a good impression of Tikkas!

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Yeah the triggers are easily adjustable, mine breaks at 2lbs which is more than light enough and breaks very nicely. The bolts are a tad heavy too lift I find, but I don't find it to be too much of a problem. I Have handle one guys Remington 700 that was such an abomination of a rifle it could easily have put me off any Remington for life.

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Its funny with personal experience isn't it, because the bunch of Savages I've used made me think you must have been unlucky. I've seen some variable fit & finish/cosmetics etc, but mechanically they've been good. Occasional failure to eject from one of the 22LRs when it got too dirty, thats about it. FWIW my Savage 223 'American Classic' does half MOA groups pretty consistently with a variety of loads (unless I screw it up), and the 204 varminter I had before it did similar once the previous owners mongrel attempt at threading it was chopped off and recrowned. Others I know have had similar results.

Bit off topic though, I haven't used enough Tikkas to know whether their quality has gone downhill or not - just that there are some bad ones.

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My experience is that pretty much everything I've played with (not a lot) was pretty accurate with the right ammo. All the new rifles in the budget end of the bracket are generally accurate whether they come from Tikka, Remington, Savage, Howa, Marlin, Browning, .... There is plenty of choice. The only difference is the way the occasional dud is handled and that comes down to the supply chain. Pick the one that fits you best and has the features you like. The only dud I've come across is the plastic stocked Zastava that would at best shoot about 3MOA but with a suppressor now shoots well under 1MOA, generally around 1/2MOA as long as I do my bit.

Savages are gay too

Sako works well, has good features and my latest one shot about .6 MOA average over 8 different loads with 5 shot groups in load development which is extremely practical accuracy, who gives a shit if a screw on the rings is a bit roughly finished or something

Tikka have always been the "seconds" since they were bought out.