tikka vs savage

[one crazy kid]

I need some help deciding between a Tikka t3 lite stainless and a savage 16/116 fhss. I am starting to do some high hunting and that will be this guns primary use all feedback is welcomed thanks.

 

[D.ID]

Fun and simple decision. Pick up a tikka and if you like it the way it is, buy it. Otherwise buy the savage. Both are great rifles but only one is really well suited to customizing. The tikka can be built on by a good smith and some bucks, the savage can be built by the owner with minimal expense. The tikka's downfalls are really limited after market support, limited caliber-twist-barrel weight options and a small amount of plastic in weird but insignificant places. But if you like what they are already, they are great. Savage can of course run from a match rifle to a truck beater and is just too easy to make into either or anything in between.

 

[one crazy kid]

Fun and simple decision. Pick up a tikka and if you like it the way it is, buy it. Otherwise buy the savage. Both are great rifles but only one is really well suited to customizing. The tikka can be built on by a good smith and some bucks, the savage can be built by the owner with minimal expense. The tikka's downfalls are really limited after market support, limited caliber-twist-barrel weight options and a small amount of plastic in weird but insignificant places. But if you like what they are already, they are great. Savage can of course run from a match rifle to a truck beater and is just too easy to make into either or anything in between.

Thanks for the info what do you think the tikkas max range is?

 

[D.ID]

It will depend on cartridge selection,scope,ammo and shooters ability with a light weight rifle. I have used mine out past 900 and it is very capable but I prefer a heavier rifle and the stock doesn't fit me as well as some of my savage custom set ups so it is harder for me to get everything she's got. Mine will hold .25moa @100 and about .5 at 900 if I can get settled down behind her.
I love mine, it is a great rifle but put a savage with a good barrel in a choate tactical stock with the perfect cheek rest and an extra 1.25" on the length of pull, balance out the weight between 13 and 15 pounds and there is no contest in ease of delivery. For me to do my part every-time I want it set just right so I do not have to concentrate to overcome a poor fit.......

The tikka will either fit or not, with the savage I just plan on making it fit right from the start and it is easy and cheap to do thanks to the aftermarket items available for the savage. If you spent the money to set up a tikka just right: who knows?

 

[one crazy kid]

It will depend on cartridge selection,scope,ammo and shooters ability with a light weight rifle. I have used mine out past 900 and it is very capable but I prefer a heavier rifle and the stock doesn't fit me as well as some of my savage custom set ups so it is harder for me to get everything she's got. Mine will hold .25moa @100 and about .5 at 900 if I can get settled down behind her.
I love mine, it is a great rifle but put a savage with a good barrel in a choate tactical stock with the perfect cheek rest and an extra 1.25" on the length of pull, balance out the weight between 13 and 15 pounds and there is no contest in ease of delivery. For me to do my part every-time I want it set just right so I do not have to concentrate to overcome a poor fit.......

The tikka will either fit or not, with the savage I just plan on making it fit right from the start and it is easy and cheap to do thanks to the aftermarket items available for the savage. If you spent the money to set up a tikka just right: who knows?

Thanks once again for all the information it has bin a really big help as I am just a kid still in high school. I have never shot past 350 yards but hope to increase my effective range considerably in the next five years but probably will not get to 1,000 due to lack of open space to shoot.

 

[crittrgittr]

+1 D.ID They are both great shooters. Pick the one you like the feel/fit of and use it. If you want to customize go Savage. I have a Tikka also and love it. It's a 22-250 and will one hole at 100.

 

[one crazy kid]

Does anyone have experience with tikkas in magnums?

 

[D.ID]

Mine is a 300wsm. It loves the berger 190vld with h4350 and a 215m. It will one hole if I let it cool between shots after the first two, but it will still hold .25 with five consecutive shots.

 

[one crazy kid]

Mine is a 300wsm. It loves the berger 190vld with h4350 and a 215m. It will one hole if I let it cool between shots after the first two, but it will still hold .25 with five consecutive shots.

do you think there is any advantage to be had by getting a short mag vs a standard magnum and if so witch of the four WSM would you choose?

 

[D.ID]

In about any other factory mag I would say get the full (long) win mag and go to a heavier bullet but the tikka has a 1 in 11 twist so that is not really practical to be loading 230 grain bullets anyway.
.
With that in mind: I can only think of three factory chambered wsm cartridges and the 270 has pretty limited long range bullets, the 7mm would be the cats meow IF you reload and have a fast enough twist for the 180s but good luck finding that one on the shelf, that leaves the 300wsm= simple, versatile and capable. If you do not reload the standard 300win mag is the better option do to match ammo availability.

 

[northernexposure]

I gotta agree with the 300WSM part. I too have a Tikka 300WSM stainless HB. 100 Yards with four shots is a one hole operation. I'm sure you're asking... "four shots?? what's up with that?". Well, the Tikka only holds 3 shots in the mag and one in the chamber.
Honestly, Savage or Tikka... you can't go wrong. Both are straight shooters out of the box. Your big question is gonna be what cal will you choose.

 

[one crazy kid]

Witch of the short mags would you choose for mule deer and black bear between 200-800 yards?

 

[northernexposure]

My choice would be the 300 WSM. Not because I have one, but simply because of the availability of projectiles on the market. Yes, the 7mm and 270 are quite abundant, but the "go to round" for decades in the law enforcement and military families was the 30 cal. That alone was my deciding factor in my purchase of the 300 WSM.
Yes, I could have picked a different caliber that wasn't a WSM, but my thought when comparing the 300 mag and 300 WSM was on the financial side. Yes, the WSM is a more expensive caliber to purchase... but when reloading, you use less powder and get NEAR the same speed and trajectory.
I know... how much powder does one really save... not much. But lets just say for a moment that you're a shooting nut like I am. 50 rounds on a weekend... 52 weekends a year. That's 2600 shots a year! Now, lets say you save 3 grns per shot... that's 7800 grains (over 1 lb) of powder a year! Now, you keep the rifle for five years... that's well into the realm of 6 lbs of powder saved over some 13000 shots! 6 lbs of powder goes for say...32 bucks a lb, that around 190 bucks. BEER MONEY!
You see where I'm going with this. In the end, the choice is yours and yours alone.

 

[one crazy kid]

Thank you for all of the information.