Author Topic: Ordered my new Tikka t3 (Read 1733 times)

marylandeer · « **on:** June 11, 2004, 11:32:57 AM »

:grin: I finally ordered a new Tikka t3 stainless synthetic in .30-06. I got it through wally world for about $450.00. I can't wait to get it to the range. They told me it would be there between 3 and 20 days depending on where it was coming from (distributer, warehouse or manufacturer). Now I have to save up some $$$ for a scope. I was going to get a Weaver grandslam 3-9 but I have decided on the Bushnell elite 2.5-10x40 silver. I know Zachary would agree with this decision.
Is this rifle tapped for mounts? If so I may get the Talley light weight rings and mount instead of using the Tikka's. What do you guys think about the mounting options?
This waiting crap is for the birds (get here already). I bought shells for it already (165 grain gameking's) and won't have it set up for a month or two.

Zachary · « **Reply #1 on:** June 11, 2004, 11:56:51 AM »

Marylandeer,

Excellent choice! :grin: On ALL decisions!

I'm very surprised at the price. $450 for the T3 stainless synthetic? Wow! :eek: That's a GREAT price!

As for the scope, you can't beat the Elite 4200. Great decision!

As for the rings, the Talley lightweight series are what I too am considering. They are also great rings. My only gripe is that they don't come in a stainless finish - only black.

I think that I paid about $530 for my T3 SS in 300WSM from Ozark guns. Heck, I may buy my next T3 from Wally World as well.

Zachary

Wolfe · « **Reply #2 on:** June 11, 2004, 02:06:06 PM »

I hope your experience with getting a tikka from wallyworld is better than mine. After waiting for a month they finally admitted that they could not tell me how long it would take. They said it may take up to 4 months. The distributor that they buy from was no longer going to carry any tikka products due to the difficulty in getting stock.
I finally asked for a refund of my deposit and found one somewhere else. It ended up costing a little more but I did actually recieve my rifle. I assume all walmarts order from the same dist. and if thats the case you may have a very long wait. BTW this is a fairly recent order i am refering to.

Good luck!

Buckfever · « **Reply #3 on:** June 11, 2004, 02:10:48 PM »

I am sure you will love the balance and how the gun comes up to your shoulder. I heard a lot of great things about the T3 on this board and so far it was a great tip. Buckfever

marylandeer · « **Reply #4 on:** June 11, 2004, 03:28:14 PM »

Wolfe, I remember reading your post when you had that problem and I told the guy at Wallyworld about it. He assured me they would get the gun in a reasonable time, then he went into the details. He said if it's at the warehouse it would be 3-5 days - at the distributor 5-10 days - at the manufacturer 10-20 days. He also said he was selling quite a few of them. Maybe he was blowing smoke, don't know. I know one thing for sure, if I don't have it in 20 days and they don't know where it is. I'll be fighting for $$$$ back thats for sure. I'll keep you guys posted.

Wolfe · « **Reply #5 on:** June 12, 2004, 02:02:11 PM »

In my experience you will not have to fight for a refund. The positive thing was they were happy to refund my cash, and appologised nearly continuosly for all the trouble. Good Luck to you.

Jboscobuys · « **Reply #6 on:** June 12, 2004, 08:25:52 PM »

Post your results when you get your gun! I assisted my friend in selecting a Tikka T3 Lite .243 on Monday.... I couldn't believe how nice the action and trigger felt. When we got it out to the range, I was stunned at how accurate it was. It easily shot 1" MOA or less once we got it sighted, and that was off of my wife's yoga pillow!!! I wasn't even in the market for a gun and was so impressed with it, I purchased one myself on Wednesday, but paid $479 plus another $25 shipping from Sportsmans Warehouse in Idaho Falls, Idaho. It was the only place I could find the .243 except for gunbrokers.com.. and they wanted alot more for it.. plus the hassle of getting a local dealer with FFL to accept shipment etc. Too big a pain.

My scope doesn't get shipped out to me until this Monday, but I"ll post again stating how my .243 shoots as compared to my friends. I hope it's close to being as accurate. Was seriously considering the 3-9x40 Bushnell 3200, but opted to test out the Mueller 4-16x50. Hope it's as good as some of the things I've heard about it.

marylandeer · « **Reply #7 on:** June 25, 2004, 11:17:06 AM »

Update on my new Tikka t3 from Wallyworld. :grin:
Well it looks like Wolfe may be correct. :evil:
First off they told me 3-20 days to get it and it has only been 16 days so far, there is still hope. I'm sure the gun counter fellas are tired of hearing from me by now. I started calling after about 5 days, and every day there after. "NOPE it's not in the case" is all could get out of them first couple of calls. Today I asked to speek with the man that does the ordering. He took my # and called me back, he verified that it was ordered and assured me that it was in transit and definatly would be there soon. He said he gets most of his special order guns in on Sundays. I have my fingers crossed, this Tuesday will be 20 days.
Sorry just venting a little bit. :roll:

Zachary · « **Reply #8 on:** June 25, 2004, 04:27:41 PM »

I truly hope everything works out for you, but just hope for the better, but expect the worst.

Zachary

Longcruise · « **Reply #9 on:** June 26, 2004, 07:52:34 AM »

I picked up a T3 Lite in .223 last week and got it to the range a few days ago. Here are the results of the first trip to the range. I have a vision of a t3 .270 in my future

Tikka T3 Lite .223 shooting report.

Finally!! Was able to take some range time and shoot the new T3. All in all I'm very satisfied with this rifle. Those who recommended the Tikka were apparently speaking from good experience similar to mine.

Other rifles in the running were the CZ527 and the Rem Model 7. Things that made it tough to go with the T3 was my bad experieince with a savage with a plastic stock and one salesperson who told me the T3 stock is "junk, just like the Savage". I overrode that persons judgement based on other statements he made that I knew to be reckless misrepresentations.

My choice may not be your choice! The criteria for this rifle was that it be .223 caliber, a field weight carry gun and that it shoot with accuracy sufficient to take coyotes out to 200 yards with regularity (assuming the shooter does his part). If it does not systematically whack prairie dogs and ground squirrels at that range, well, that's ok and probably a trade off when one goes to a field weight rifle.

Most opf the shooting was done with Winchester Varmint Pak 45 grain HP ammo. Winchester touts this ammo as "high velocity 3,600 feet per second". My chronograph says otherwise but the velocity obtained was certainly acceptable. I shot five five shot groups at 100 yards. Here is how they measured up:

1.00 inch
.75 inch
1.06 inch
.75 inch
1.00 inch
-------------
.91 inch average

Velocities were: (i only chronoed 6 of these)

3288
3361
3320
3367
3400
3411
------------
3358 average
46.92 Std Dev
123 Extreme spread

Another load I had on hand was: Rem case, WSR Primer, Hornady 60 Gr JSP, 22.5 Gr H322, COAL 2.206

Only two groups

1.875
1.062
--------
1.47 Average

Two shots over the chrono showed:
2913
2902
-------
2907 average

Wolfe · « **Reply #10 on:** June 30, 2004, 02:08:45 PM »

Day 21, any news?? I hope you've got it and shot it already. I've had mine for a month or two and have yet to shoot it or anything else in that time. Damn little league.

marylandeer · « **Reply #11 on:** July 01, 2004, 03:54:22 AM »

:evil: :evil:NOTHING
I called on day 21 and got the same old story. Apology after apology after apology. "The gun is in route we have spoke to the people at the disribution center three times and they confirm it is in route. We don't know what is going on" etc.etc.
I told him I may have to get the money back and go somewhere else. He said "I'll tell you what give me your # again, I'm going to get you a concrete time when this gun will arrive i'll call you RITE BACK" I said awsome.
Well guess what home all day and phone never rang.
I no what you mean about the little league and no time, 6 year old boy in tee ball twice a week and 13 year old daughter in softball two or three times a week. Me and my wife have to split it up when they overlap.
I need a vacation and a TIKKA.

searsmann · « **Reply #12 on:** July 01, 2004, 01:49:36 PM »

marylandeer i know what you are going thru i had the same problem but with a local dealer. i ordered a sako 75 in 7mm-08 syntenic/stainless and after 3 months of constant phone calls back and forth i finally got my money back. i called and emailed ozark guns about a t3 in s/s in 7mm-08 because there web site listed a few avalable got no response from them either so i said to myself screw them. so last night i bid on a brand new t3 on gunbroker and won the auction. i called the guy today and he was very nice on phone and i should have my tikka in no more than 2 weeks.finally i will be getting what i wanted after all the run around people been giving me the last 6 months............

marylandeer · « **Reply #13 on:** July 01, 2004, 02:07:14 PM »

They must make some great guns. I have never owned any sako or tikka products, can't wait to get it. Talk about supply and demand. You know what really stinks, I live about a half hour drive from the beretta U.S.A. plant in Maryland. This is where all the tikkas are shipped to straight from Finland and then dispersed all over the country. unfortunately they do not sell them there, it would be sweet to drive 30 minutes and have first dibs.

searsmann · « **Reply #14 on:** July 01, 2004, 02:36:00 PM »

marylandeer i did call bretta down there and the rep said they had 11 guns in stock and i said to her why cant you get 1 to dealer she said to take it up with dealer so i did call him and he said if i dont have my gun in 2 weeks he was going to drive down there personaly.........what a crock of crap on his part. to be honest with you my heart was always set on the tikka but nobody could get the 7mm-08 in s/s so thats why i went with the sako but i could not even get the sako. i was very pleased when i won that auction on gunbroker last nite for that t3 and didnt mention it until now because my luck somebody on this board would of out bid me because that rifle is hard to get...bye the way i live in phila....

marylandeer · « **Reply #15 on:** July 02, 2004, 05:03:46 PM »

Update, called this morning 9:00am and talked to ordering manager. I told him I was finished playing phone tag and I'm not getting anywhere, I want a time frame or my $ back. He said I will have your answer today, i'll call you back by 3:00pm. I then sent a E-mail to sports south where walmart gets their guns asking them why the delay. So after not hearing from him all day I went to the store at 2:00pm. The guy at the gun counter said the guy your looking for went home. So I go home and sport south sends me an E-mail back saying you should get your $ back because the Tikka t3 is not available to walmart. Went back to walmart requested $ back, the head manager says "give me until Tuesday and I'll get this gun for you I will use another distributer if I have to".. We will see what happens on Tuesday.

Zachary · « **Reply #16 on:** July 03, 2004, 03:24:16 AM »

I just don't understand why you don't go on line and buy your Tikka? I have bought ALL of my last 15 guns on line. It's quick, it's easy.

Zachary

marylandeer · « **Reply #17 on:** July 03, 2004, 04:17:13 AM »

Zachary, some guys just never learn like myself. I was attempting to save $100.00 by going through wally world but I guess I got what I paid for. I'll wait until Tuesday and see what the manager says then if I have to I will go to Ozarkguns.com $516.00 +30.00 F.F.L. transfer fee.

Zachary · « **Reply #18 on:** July 03, 2004, 05:41:51 AM »

I bought a T3 Stainless in .300WSM from Ozark. Very nice people.

However, I don't know if you can buy it from them. Their website says that since the owner is deployed, the wife only sells Tikkas, and I think just to past customers. Check and make sure.

I can say this - if they do sell it to you, then they will ship it ASAP just as soon as they receive payment and the FFL. I got mine within about 5 days from the time they received both.

Zachary

Wolfe · « **Reply #19 on:** July 04, 2004, 11:27:46 AM »

www.eastcountyguns.com or www.tikkausa.com both are the same dude who lives near me. He's a very nice guy and honest. Prices might be a little steep I dunno. Boy I hate being right about this one :(
Well I finally shot mine on friday. Only had 25yds where I was shooting but I was very impressed With what the accuracy picture looks like 5 shots, 3 holes. All touching. Can't wait to get to a spot where I can stretch it out to 100 yds. Kicks like a mf'er tho but I kinda expected that from a 7lb magnum rifle.

Zachary · « **Reply #20 on:** July 05, 2004, 03:10:49 AM »

I bought a Sako 75 Stainless from them about a year ago. Had no problems with them.

Zachary

marylandeer · « **Reply #21 on:** July 13, 2004, 03:19:31 PM »

I got it
I finally gave up on wallyworld and got my money back. I spent the last three days DRIVING to and CALLING every gun shop I could and finally found one today. Tikka t3 lite stainless in .30-06 (the last one he had.) It sure feels sweet I can't wait to take it to the range.

Zachary · « **Reply #22 on:** July 13, 2004, 03:31:23 PM »

That's great! How much did you pay for it?

Zachary

marylandeer · « **Reply #23 on:** July 13, 2004, 05:05:32 PM »

It came to $588.00 with tax. Now I have to come up with some more money for the Bushnell elite 4200. The guy at the gun shop said the Tikka is a world class rifle so put this world class rifle scope on it. He then pulled out a 3-9x40 ziess conquest. He told me to take it outside and check it out. Man it was awsome, I pointed it into a store across the road that was closed and the lights were out inside. When I looked through the scope into the store it looked like the lights were on. I told him it was nice but I wanted a Elite, he said yes they are very nice also.

deerchaser · « **Reply #24 on:** July 16, 2004, 10:13:29 AM »

I just purchased a R700 BDL/SS and a Elite 4200 2.5x10x40 last week. I am very happy with both. The 4200 is bright and clear and the rainguard is a great feature. The best price I found was at natchezss.com, $309

marylandeer · « **Reply #25 on:** July 16, 2004, 06:37:29 PM »

(Welcome deerchaser) I just went to natchezss and it says $399.00 did I miss a sale or something?
Opticzone.com and Swfa have it for like $325.00

Zachary · « **Reply #26 on:** July 17, 2004, 04:59:44 AM »

I bought my Elite (actually quite a few) from the optic zone.

Zachary