Thread: Advice for first centrefire rifle

its a good thing to practice rimfire but then use a relatively powerful centerfire on the same target. i found that allot of new shooters pre-empted the recoil even to the point of looking away before pulling the trigger

Originally Posted by gonetropo

i..allot of new shooters pre-empted the recoil ..

"pre-empted" implies avoidance by considered anticipation. You actually mean a full-blown flinch..

first rifle I ever brought was at age 16 was a 308 off my uncle id already dropped 3 deer with it prior to finally being old enough and licenced to be able to by it so don't worry about buying .22 or a 223 or any other calibre just buy what you want not what others say they think you should buy

Thanks to everyone who shared their input, I appreciate it alot. I have bought my tikka t3x .308. Ill let you all know how my first hunt goes with it. Cheers guys!

try some boring old winchester factory 180grn power point through it for bush hunting.....they hit hard without knocking shooter around. great choice on the good ol 08.

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.

......a side note.....I thought my issues with the Tikka rings would be with the 300WM,,not so,haven’t had any issues.I have knocked the gun around for several years hunting and they are still intact and solid.My advice to the young fella would be to use the factory rings,save the cost there,at a later date if he’s not satisfied,then replace them.........scope ring replacement is not a big deal

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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Well mate..certainly appreciate the reply and the detail with which you have gone too.....not sure why we’ve had such different experiences with these rings,Tikka produces some fine rifles and it seems pointless to let the product down by producing and giving out shit rings....after reading your explanation,and don’t take this the wrong way........are you sure you are getting certified Tikka rings?.
I’m sure Tikka would be interested in your side of the story.....

Originally Posted by A330driver

Well mate..certainly appreciate the reply and the detail with which you have gone too.....not sure why we’ve had such different experiences with these rings,Tikka produces some fine rifles and it seems pointless to let the product down by producing and giving out shit rings....after reading your explanation,and don’t take this the wrong way........are you sure you are getting certified Tikka rings?.
I’m sure Tikka would be interested in your side of the story.....

Optilocks are the premium rings for Sako and Tikka, the ones that come with the tikka's are shite. You may rate them but sit them next to many other quality rings and you will see

One of the rings (rear) has a recoil lug/pin on the bottom of it that seats into a recess at the rear of the receiver. The pin is threaded in so its possible for it to be removed before installing or for use on another rifle - but if installed correctly with the pin intact then there is no way they can move forward under recoil.

Scope moved in rings, ring didn't move.....well until I threw them in the bin.

Originally Posted by ChrisW

One of the rings (rear) has a recoil lug/pin on the bottom of it that seats into a recess at the rear of the receiver. The pin is threaded in so its possible for it to be removed before installing or for use on another rifle - but if installed correctly with the pin intact then there is no way they can move forward under recoil.

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Originally Posted by GWH

Scope moved in rings, ring didn't move.....well until I threw them in the bin.

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Yes I misinterpreted that.

Out of spec scope tube
Just kidding.

Lol.

Weaver SuperSlam, it's been fine in talleys ;-)

Originally Posted by ChrisW

Yes I misinterpreted that.

Out of spec scope tube
Just kidding.

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No argument at all that there are better”quality”rings...just never had a problem with the Tikka supplied rings....certainly appreciate the feedback....

Originally Posted by Gibo

Optilocks are the premium rings for Sako and Tikka, the ones that come with the tikka's are shite. You may rate them but sit them next to many other quality rings and you will see