How durable is the Tikka Whitetail Hunter?

M

Mike Kilo Niner

New member
I'm looking to buy a good quality, fairly lightweight, accurate rifle in .308 Win (or something similar -- .30-06?) for use as a general purpose, North American game, hunting rifle out to 300 yards or so. Based on archive perusal, .308 Win seems like a good choice, especially since cheap surplus is available to practice with. I don't handload, and probably won't for some time (poor graduate students can afford a rifle and scope, not a rifle a scope and a reloading kit :().

Since I'm a lefty, I've pretty much narrowed it down to a lefty Tikka Whitetail Hunter (Master, for you European-types ;)), or a Savage of some type. I'm partial to the Tikka, since a detachable magazine is a nice feature and the action feels so nice, but am concerned about the use of plastic in the triggerguard.

Now I don't plan to be beating the deer to death with the gun, but I am interested in buying something that I'll be proud to own basically forever. So when we're talking about plastic parts on a Tikka, are we talking Glock-type plastic, or GI Joe action figure plastic?

A Glock frame will hold up pretty well under field conditions. GI Joe developed terminal "M1 Thumb" after grabbing his tiny plastic rifle about a dozen times.

Nobody has mentioned their Tikka cracking or falling apart, so maybe it's nothing to worry about, but I'd be interested to hear from folks with some hands-on experience.
 
I owned a Tikka until I recently traded it in on a Sako 75. It was my walking around varmint rifle and as such it went into the field a lot more often than my rifles for hunting larger game. The plastic trigger guard and magazine never caused a problem despite vigorous but not certainly abusive use. Several of my friends use Tikkas for various reasons and not one has complained about breaking a plastic part. If you like the rifle for other reasons then the plastic parts should not dissuade you from owning one.

In its price range, I consider the Tikka the best bargain out there for accuracy, smoothness, reliability and an adjustable trigger.
 
PJR,

Thanks for the speedy reply.

Since I had a free afternoon today, I shuffled off to the local Bass Pro Shop to fondle some rifles and peer through some scopes. Man, oh man! That Tikka'a action was schweet! A pretty (especially for the price range) wood stock, a nice crisp trigger. Too bad it was for righties... Time to find a gun shop that'll order me one for less than an arm and a leg.

Oh, as to the original question: more like Glock, less like GI Joe. Sorry Joe. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top