As a rifleman, I’m a pretty good writer. Which is to say the only time I’ve pulled the trigger on one over 100 yards was a few years ago at Rancho de los Kees in pursuit of a four-leggend ungulate. And that’s why when Beretta invited a few ink-stained bloggers and other keyboard bangers to The O’Gara Group’s facility in Montross, Virginia, last week, and I saw the agenda included shooting the new Tikka T3x TAC A1 bolt gun, my goal was to avoid embarrassing myself too badly.

In case you missed Jeremy’s detailed look at the rifle from the SHOT Show, here are a few highlights:

– Three calibers: .308, .260 Remington and 6.5 Creedmoor
– Cold hammer forged barrel
– Steel-hinged side-folding stock (AR buffer tube compatible)
– AR pistol grip
– AR-10 compatible 13.5″ M-Lok fore-end
– Adjustable length of pull and cheek piece height
– Two-stage adjustable trigger
– Zero MOA full length rail
– Threaded barrel with included muzzle brake
– Comes with three 10-round mags
– MSRP – $1899

Even a non-rifle guy can see that’s a lot of gun for the money.

Tikka’s aiming the TAC A1 directly at Ruger Precision Rifle buyers (RPR MSRP = $1599). The way they see it, including three $99 mags with the TAC A1 makes the price difference negligible.

After a crash course in rifle fundamentals from Doc John Spears of EAG Tactical, we positioned ourselves behind one of a brace of eight TAC A1s chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor.

Each was equipped with some truly impressive glass from another Beretta-owned brand, Steiner.

We didn’t have a lot of time to adjust the rifles for LOP or drop, but it didn’t much matter.

Feeding the TAC A1 with Hornady 120gr. A-MAX, even I could produce respectable 100-yard three-shot results (flyer aside).

Practice makes perfect. Well, almost.

The other writer sharing my gun, Clay Martin from GunsAmerica, actually knew what he was doing.

We shot the rifles out to 300 yards and the results were largely the same at each distance. We’ll have a TAC A1 to subject to the full review process in the next few weeks. Watch this space.

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

19 COMMENTS

  1. If either Tikka or Ruger would offer one of these with a left-handed action, I’d have already said ” Shut up and take my money”.

    • Same Here, as it is our best hope is a Savage or Remington action that we have to re-barrel for anything other than the most popular calibers then find a chassis system that offers left handed options. I’ve been looking at either a MDT or something from XLR for a savage action.

    • Since the Ruger bolt slides into the buffer tube and wouldn’t hit you in the face, why not cycle the gun with your right hand while keeping your firing grip and cheekweld solid?

      • That really only works if you are on a bipod or a stable platform to support the front of the weapon. normally your off hand on our case the right keeps the weapon pressed into the shoulder and supports the front of the weapon and most of the weight while our dominate hand works the action, When using a right handed bolt you will see lefties reach over the scope to work the action with their left hand, it’s awkward to say the least but can be trained for and I’ve seen some fairly fast follow on shots but it’s still a lot of wasted movement.

        • I’ve been doing the lefty reacharound pretty much my entire shooting life. It’s second nature to me at this point. I’m not as fast as a right handed shooter, but I try to make my hits count the first time.

          I understand the appeal of a left-handed action, but at this point in my life it’s not important or critical enough that I’ll rule out a purchase if I can’t get it left handed.

    • Not only that but they are proprietary. The Ruger can use multiple styles and increased capacity mags, such as Magpul ones you can get for around $20. Also it comes standard with a 20 moa rail for ranging out farther. The aftermarket for the Ruger already has traction too. Sorry Tikka, Ruger still beat you handily.

  3. If I can actually find a Tikka to buy, they’ll get my vote… the Rugers are like unicorns around here. Everybody knows someone who knows a guy who heard about someone who saw one once.

  4. The “comes with three $100 magazines” feature is not very compelling when the Ruger comes with two <$20 magazines that work just as well, and for that $300 price difference you could buy 15+ more magazines. Or a case of ammo. Or a bunch of beer. Plus those aforementioned magazines will also work in an AR-10, or an M-14 or any number of other guns that you may happen to already have or plan to own someday. Wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people like other factors and are willing to pay the price difference, for things like the Tikka action quality and the M-lok vs keymod debate, etc., but I can't imagine anyone thinking that the ridiculously overpriced Tikka mag compatibility, even if you get three of them for free, is any sort of advantage.

  5. What about the Savage 10 BA Stealth? They’re selling on GunBroker in the $800 to $900 range. Are the Ruger and Tikka that much better?

  6. “As a rifleman, I’m a pretty good writer.” Don’t I hear that! If you’ve got a demanding job- you don’t have time to actually do the things you write about. It sucks, but atleast you get your work done.

  7. Just got mine yesterday. It actually only came with 2 magazines but there is a paper insert in the box to “Get a free magazine for your new Tikka T3x TAC A1”. It then directs you to go to tikka.fi/en-us/freemag “for details, limitations and exclusions”. Apparently they were too busy getting the product out to actually put any “details” on that page since there are none there. There also is no contact information other than a phone number in Finland. So just how do I go about getting that 3rd magazine?

    • I was just wondering how did you acquire the gun, not many stores carry it as I have been searching.
      Where did you purchase it? How much did you pay for it?

  8. Ordered mine from Hyattgunstore.com $1798.00 but this is not with the folding stock option

  9. I recently purchased the T3x Tac A1 in 6.5 Creedmoor and I liked it so much that I just bought the same in a .308 20″ barrel. Haven’t fired the .308 yet but if it is even close to the 6.5 I will be well pleased. I have a number of custom built rifles and honestly, the 6.5 is one of (if not) the best guns I have ever owned and fired. Forget about the $100 a mag issue as the gun is well worth the price.

Comments are closed.