Tikka T3 T3 Varmint Bolt 223 Remington 23.8" 4+1 Syn Black Stock Blued - 23.37" Barrel, Synthetic, Fixed Stock

I've never had a better shooting rifle than a tikka. I own three and would have no problem owning more. Bolt is smooth as glass. Barreled action to stock finish is on par with high end expensive models. Accuracy is unbelievable.

I became bored with bolt rifles a few years back, having become so invested in building precision ARs. However, always heard good things about Tikkas and kept those thoughts in the back of my mind for a long time. I didn't realize that Bud's sold Tikkas, as their search engine kept showing "not results." Finally wised up and looked under Beretta, and found that Bud's offered the T3 Varmint in .223 at about $100 less than any of the other online vendors with whom I do business. I wanted the rifle in the 8" twist barrel, but Bud's only shows it in the 10" twist barrel. Zounds, was I pleasantly surprised when my new Varmint came from Bud's, in fact, with the more desirable 8" twist barrel. I guess one has to actually look at the stamp on the side of the barrel, in order to tell whether it's 8" or 10" twist. First trip to range, shooting bulk 55gr ammo that I'd loaded rapidly for my ARs, I shot a .356", five-shot group at 100 yds. For the uninitiated, that's really good accuracy from a production rifle. I would encourage anybody who's interested in a really finely-crafted precision rifle at a reasonable price to buy the Tikka Varmint, from Bud's, of course!

Great rifle at a good price. Happy with transaction.