I'm considering a T3 lite stainless model in .300 win mag for use on elk. I want the synthetic stock so I don't worry about a nice piece of wood getting dinged up over time. My concern is the recoil on such a light gun in this caliber. I imagine I would put a limbsaver pad on it and maybe put an insert in the stock to add a little weight, but would that be sufficient to cut down on the recoil? Can anyone who has shot this particular gun in this caliber offer an opinion on how tough the recoil was? I appreciate any input I can get.

How good of a shot are you ?
My point is how far would you be likly to shoot an elk.
I say for most of us 300 yards is a long way.
For 300 yards a 30,06 will be fine.
If you are sure you want a 300 than I would stay away from a light rifle.
However a 7mag is another good elk cartridge and I have never woried to much about the kick on a 7mmRem.
Don't sell the 30,06 short. Especially if you hand load.
...tj3006

I own a T3 lite cal. 270WSM and I can say that the recoil and the blast, with hot loads are stiff; of course it's a personal opinion.

The .30-06 is a fine cartridge and I've hunted deer here in Texas with it. For the last couple of years I've been deer hunting with a Browning Stainless Stalker in .270 with a synthetic stock and enjoy not worrying about it getting banged up. I'd feel more comfortable with a .300 win mag when I finally get to an elk hunt, and therefore that gives me an excuse to get a new rifle. I want to stick with a stainless rifle in a synthetic stock for the same reason I use one to deer hunt with.

You never feel the recoil when hunting. Don't bother about it. The Tikka factory pad is fine as it is.

i shot one awhile back not bad recoil at all imo

A friend of mine has a Tikka 300WSM that he plans to elk hunt with,. I have shot it a lot,the recoil from this rifle is not bad.
Anyway, IMO recoil is personal thing, differs from person to person as what is too much.

I have a 300 win mag with a Boss on it - the recoil with the muzzle brake is extremely light (about like a .243). Unfortunately, the noise will deafen you if you don't wear ear protection. If there's a muzzle break available, & you don't mind keeping foam plugs loosely inserted while hunting, it's the way to go.

I have two Lite Stainless, one in 270 wsm and 1 in 300 Win Mag. While the 300 has a fast recoil it is not too bad. You'll never feel it hunting, and it is fine for sighting in work. If you plan on extended range sessions I would change the pad, but that it. It's a great light weight, accurate package as it comes from the factory.

I installed Tally one piece alloy rings and a 3.5x10 scope. It's a great rig when your in an area where you know there's a good chance of getting thrashed.

Well, the tikka,s are a quality rifle, and the 300 win is a great round. So in that respect you , are making a good choice.
I just don't like the idea of light weight magnum rifles.
And I don't think the 300 win is a big enough step over the 06.
I skiped the 300 and got a .338 and a 7mmstw.
But Thats just me. Get your tikka 300 and enjoy.
I hate muzzle breaks and I wish they were not allowed at my range.
Kind of like 2nd and smoke.
How much heavyer would a standard tikka T-3 in 300 win be.
I think it would be bunch more fun to shoot there for more practice = better performance.
Thats why hunt with a smaller round , I hunt deer with a 30,06 at the most down to a .257 roberts.
I practice a lot with those cartridges , and a well placed 180 grain partition will do the job on elk weather its shot from a .308 or 300 mag, inside 300 yards.
...tj3006

Thanks for the comments folks. I'm on the fence as to whether I want the 300 wm in such a light gun. Maybe I'll try to track one down and shoot it before I commit.

When in the field and rough conditions I like to eliminate as many things to go wrong as possible. My objection to the Tikka is being magazine fed. I have seen people too many times lose the magazine, not have it all the way in the rifle, drop them out of the stand, etc. While the Tikka is a really nice, light weight, accurate rifle, just my suggestion but stay with a box fed rifle.

Techsan,
I have a 300 WSM in a T3 lite and it has a fairly stiff recoil. It is however less than a 270 WSM that I have in a M70 sint/stainless. I was going to replace the pad on my T3 but after shooting 3 boxes through it I like it more than the 270 WSM. What I have noticed is the WSM's have a much sharper recoil than the 300 win mag, ymmv.
Good luck.

If recoil is a concern with the Tikka T3 light, then fit a LIMBSAVER precision-fit recoil pad #10011.
They are made to for the rifle. Fitting takes as long as you need to undo two screws take off the pad put the new one on and replace the screws ie a little longer that it takes the type the instructions.
Happy Hunting and Seasonal Salutations to one and all.

Yep - what oldun said. I have a T-3 Lite in .300 Win Mag and that is exactly what I did. The recoil is still sharp off the bench, but livable. In the field, of course, I never even notice it. Mine likes a max load of H-1000 or IMR-4350 under a 150 Hornady Interbond for deer. The buck I shot this year was over 250 pounds and the bullet retained 90.6% of its weight and penetrated over 2 feet of deer at 100-125 yards. (I was expecting longer shots and the other guys in the group all bagged their deer at 250 to over 300 yards.)

Replace the recoil pad and use a PAST pad when shooting from the bench. You'll be fine.

Got myself a T3 stainless light in 338 wm last year i will admit i dropped my reloads back a grain but they were a shade hot to start with,still a grain heavier than the max listed by ADI now,as a hunting rifle superb accurate light with a good trigger

I never really notice recoil in the field, and normally use a lead sled off the bench. A few bags of lead shot on there and you'll barely notice the recoil at all.

I do make a point of firing my guns from various shooting positions though instead of just from a bench just to get a feel for the rifle and its characteristics, but in almost every position but prone recoil doesn't bother me much.

I don't have a problem shooting midbore magnums off the bench in this manner, a T3 in .300WM would make a good all-around rifle.

Put me on the list of VERY VERY SATISFIED T3 300 win mag owners. I have replaced my pad with aftermarket and I would recomend you do so also. I'm not real recoil sensitive but full loads of 180's and 200's are more potent than a cup of coffee in the morning.
The idea of practicing with a past pad or something like it is good. You won't feel the recoil in the field.
I love the idea that I can download the 300 win mag to be like a 308 or '06. I've got a 150 grain load slowed down to 2800 with I4320 that doesn't kick much and is really accurate. With my Ballistic plex scope I can site in a hair high at 100 yds and then take my 3rd hashmark and break clay birds pretty regularily at 300 yds. Plus being such a mild load I can resize a few times with the lee collet die and not have to bump the shoulder back.
The gun weighs 7#'s 2 oz with burris bp 3-9.
My best group is a 5 shot 300 yds with RE22 under a 180 bt coming in at a tiny .9".
It is not at all fussy about bullets and powder and seems to shoot to the same poi with almost anything...at shoots most any combo I've fed it near 1 moa.
I always wanted a lite wt custom gun that would shoot great.....well this isn't custom but shoots like it is.....and for about $550 you can't do better in my book.

+2 on using a PAST recoil shield. I used one this fall to do load development on my 300 Weatherby in a fairly light Win 70 XTR. After 25-30 rounds I was still a bit sore, but not near as much had I not used the PAST. Good investment, along with a good recoil pad. I have also used muzzle brakes, and I like them. As long as its a removable style, I see no problem with having one. Just be polite at the range, and shoot away from others if possible. Unscrew the brake while hunting and you don't have to worry about the noise as much. I just chose not to put on my M70 because the brake would've cost almost as much as the rifle (got it for a song on the used rack) so I could'nt justify spending the money on a "beater" rifle.

I have a T3 lite, stainless in 270 WSM. It is a shooter. Recoil is not bad at all. My 8 mag is violent for some reason and I would say that the T3's muzzle blast is tolerable. I doubt you will have any troubles at all if you are used to shooting a 300 win mag. Mine shoots 140 AB's lights out and love the little rifle.

I have a 300Wmag and A 3006. Both are stainless and I have killed two elk with the 300WM. I never feel the recoil while hunting, but I use a lead sled at the range.

I went to Cabelas today to look the Tikka over. Seems like a well put together gun, although the detachable magazine is a little different than what I'm used to. It's an incredibly light gun, but felt fine shouldered in the store. But, I happened to see the new Browning X-Bolt in the stainless stalker and looked it over as well. Nice gun with a different synthetic stock than the A-Bolt. I have an A-Bolt Stainless Stalker, and while I enjoy hunting with it, was looking at the Tikka to have something different. Any opinions on whether the X-Bolt is a better buy when it costs $300 more than the T3?

Quite by chance I looked at the Xbolt this morning on the web. It seems, as far as one can tell, to be a good rifle with one feature that is not to my liking and that is the trigger, which is adjustable twixed 3 and 5 lbs. This is, I think, a little on the heavy side. The Tikka is a 2-4 lb trigger and a very good one. The choice is yours, but having read the infiormation on the Xbolt I will not be selling my Tikka to buy one, particularly in my case, since it isn't offered in the 6.5x55.
Here in New Zealand the Tikka is seen as the best value for the money rifle on the market.
In a recent evaluation, in one of our respected magazines, it came out better than Ruger, Remington, Weatherby, Mossberg and Savage in models costing about the same. It was also the most accurate.
There may be some, but I don't know anyone, who regrets buying a Tikka

We sell the Tikka at work, and everyone who has bought one has raved about the accuracy. The only troubling comment I have heard is third-hand reports of the magazines cracking in very cold weather, which I must admit I find hard to believe. This would be a concern, however, if in fact those little mags cost $100 to replace.

Need to amend my previous comment; the Tikka magazines are widely available for just over $50.

Techsan you have all the corect answers here already for the tikka, limbsaver and a past recoil shield, I have/had 2 tikka's 30-06 my deer rifle 338 win mag too much gun for even with limbsaver sold it, I went with a x-bolt in 300 win mag this time just because the extra 1.5 inches in barrel length, I wanted to try something new but have to admit the x-bolt is probably not worth the extra money.

Techsan,

I have a Tikka T-3 in a 243 Winchester, 22-250 in a Stainless Synthetic Varminter and a Sako 75 in a Stainless Synthetic and all shoot superbly.

Don't worry about the quality I'd agree the caliber is more important. I would not advise to buy a magnum unless you know you will be able to shoot it well or learn to shoot it well. Standard calibers 270,280,30-06 and even 338/06 etc. will do fine to 300+ depending on your abiltiy. I saw a bull elk nailed with a 338/06, at 356 yards-lazer rangefinder measured) shooting a 210 Nosler Partition with one shot to the shoulder/heart.

Good Hunting,

Again, thanks for the comments. I have a Ruger No. 1 in 300 win mag and can handle the recoil. The 340 Weatherby I recently bought because I thought I needed a Weatherby, well, that's a little different. Still getting used to it's sharp recoil. Anyway, while the No. 1 in 300 wm doesn't bother me, I'm concerned that a lightweight gun in that caliber might not be fun to shoot. I'm still looking around, even done some research on the Vanguard in sub-moa synthetic stainless. There's just more options out there than I originally thought.

My Tikka T-3 Deluxe is noticably lighter than the varminter or the stainless synthetic. I'd say that is you feel comfortable shooting the 300WM especially in a Ruger #1 you are good to go. The 340Wby is hard on everybody. Ross Seyfreid is a big fan of the 340 Wby but even he admitted you have to "man up" when you shoot it!

I recently put a T3 ss/syn 300 Win together for a guy I know...used Leo two pc base along with Burris Signature rings...no recoil slip with these rings..or any mars on scope body...the 300 Win in a 6# rifle is gonna boot ya..recoil for me was sharp...but manageable using 180s..I'd suggest a Limbsaver pad for range time...shooting at game is no problem...I have several Tikka rifles from 223...7-08...6.5x55 & all are very accurate and well made..yes the drop mags are plastic for $60..but feed very well with an action thats as smooth as a baby's butt...if you use the receiver drilled holes...be prepared to run a 6-48 tap in the holes to clean out the plastic filler residue...toss the factory rings in the trash..