Anyone tried big bores like .375 or .416 Ruger in a Tikka T3 action, I’m quite sure it can take the pressure from these as Tikka Finland said thumbs up when a friend rechambered his T3 Varmint from 9,3x62 to 9,3x64 that has similar max pressure with 4400 bar/ 63816 PSI as the Ruger calibers

I more concerned about feeding problems, but he didn’t have any with the 9,3x64

Maybe someone has tried .416 Taylor or .458 WM or other?

Explorer I tried some of my 375 Chatfield-Taylor and 458 Win mag cartridges in a friends Tikka T3 and it fed them just fine. His rifle is a 338 Win mag, and used a detachable magazine. I think that is normal for the T3 but really am not sure. Hope this helps you out. I know a guy with a 416 Taylor and can ask him for a few rounds to try them too if you are really concerned.

Thank you very much steph, it all helps

Also today I got my hands on a 375 Ruger case and added a bullet and had COL at 3.366”/85.5 mm and it feeded just fine until its shoulders bumped into my 30.06 chamber, so when the hole gets bigger I believe there will be no problems at all

I've owned three Tikka's, a Hunter 338WM (bluedmetal+wood), a T-3 338WM (stainless+syn), and a 270 T-3 (stainless+syn).
My son and I look at them as 'magic wands' because they are so light and shoot so accurately.

the actions are so slick that they slip and slide on their own. Quite impressive.

Their only drawback for me is not being 'controlled-feed'. Weatherby users don't seem to mind, but I prefer the 'controlled-feed' when building a buffalo-capable calibre.

So if building an in-expensive 458 to .500", I would go with the Ruger Hawkeye for lightness, or perhaps the CZ550 if wanting something heavier. But down at the medium level a Tikka in 375Ruger or 416Ruger would be quite a calibre. I would consider buying one if Tikka made it. It would be a natural for their 'standard' action.

I thought the T3 was only able to be feed through the magazine, not top loaded. That might be a bit of a drawback if true.

quote:

Originally posted by Sevens:
I thought the T3 was only able to be feed through the magazine, not top loaded. That might be a bit of a drawback if true.

One needs nimble fingers to topload. I remember doing this, but I don't remember if both the 270 and 338 could do this and they are unaccessible to me for a few months. Your point is well-taken.

The loading question would reinforce the choice of the Ruger Hawkeye or CZ550 for Africa or big bear. Still, a Tikka 375Ruger would make quite an elk gun.

quote:

Originally posted by Explorer:
Also today I got my hands on a 375 Ruger case and added a bullet and had COL at 3.366”/85.5 mm and it feeded just fine until its shoulders bumped into my 30.06 chamber, so when the hole gets bigger I believe there will be no problems at all

Today I got my hands on 2x 375 Ruger brass with 300 grain Barnes TSX installed, with these bullets the bolt can overrun the case, to avoid that a magasine modification is needed

So to me it looks like I'm going .375x64

I have a 300 wsm in a Tikka T3 lite and that runs some high pressure and I have had no issues. I think the biggest draw back is they have such a short action even their 300 win mag action is shorter then most.

If I was doing a rebuild on a Tikka T3 action I would completely get rid of the recoil lug system, it's rediculous and almost an afterthought and get the gunsmith to add a lug infornt of the action as the barrel is screwed on like on Remington rifles

As for top feeding, you can feed ONE more round into the action if that is all you need without a problem, the empties come out of the same hole in the action

But if you want to reload more than one round, remember in the time it takes to top feed 3 or more rounds into the magazine, You can unclip the empty magazine and add a fully loaded fresh one and be off shooting.... before the toploader is done. I recon with 2 full magazines in your hip pocket you could fire off 10 rounds in a tikka T3 before a top loader could get off 6

It's sortof like trying to top load a 9 round pistol magazine, why, just unclip the empty and add a full one, yes indeed its really basically that simple in a tikka T3, the empty magazines practically spring out when unclipped

regards
S&F

quote:

Originally posted by Explorer:

quote:

Originally posted by Explorer:
Also today I got my hands on a 375 Ruger case and added a bullet and had COL at 3.366”/85.5 mm and it feeded just fine until its shoulders bumped into my 30.06 chamber, so when the hole gets bigger I believe there will be no problems at all

Today I got my hands on 2x 375 Ruger brass with 300 grain Barnes TSX installed, with these bullets the bolt can overrun the case, to avoid that a magasine modification is needed

So to me it looks like I'm going .375x64

Tikka ONLY make one action size, the boltstop/release and magazines are interchangable.

I cant understand how this could happen the Ruger case has a width the same size as the belt on a 300 win mag and 338 win mag and is not rebated and the tikkas feed these without a problem.

Infact if the bolt isn't going back enough, in a quick fix if you tap out the pin in the Boltstop/release, you can grind it back to half way and the bolt will come back further

The magazine boxes are all interchangable in the action from 204 to 338 WM so dont let that stop you.

regards
S&F