[mike sicowitz]

Hi all,
I see we have a lot of birthdays-mine's in a week. My question is--how good is a Tikka lite in 270 wsm. It could be my last rifle. I'm starting to have age catch up and will be going on a disabled hunt in October. I am a lefty and not a rich man. At Cabela's they have a used Tikka like mentioned. They still want like $550-I thought that was a bit high, but in general, even in a different rifle, would I perhaps like a 30.06 better? I see that there are few options in factory loads. And I always wanted an odd six, with a light mag round it could be a better round for an aging shoulder-so I guess there is two questions-what about the cheaper Tikka and is meat loss a problem with a 270 wsm? I do like the idea of how flat that must shoot. I could be shooting across a farm field-a good 200 yds or more. Thanks for any help.
Sincerely,
Michael

 

[Water-Man]

Tikka is a great rifle, one of the best deals on the market IMO, but you can get a better price than the one you mentioned. Check out BudsGunShop.com.

 

[mike sicowitz]

Hi Water man,
Ya, I got the bug bad for a new rifle. I have three already, but will be starting to hunt in a far more open area than I have for the last 30yrs. I hear good things about Tikka--so thank you on the price. I thought it was high as well. The problem is having one shipped to a dealer. I called Gander MT. and they want $75 for a transfered purchase. That's a rip and takes away the better deal. I have time-I started early so I find what's right. Thanks for your help and I still am concerned with the meat loss issue with that little missle. Thanks again for your help.
Sincerely,
Mike

 

[Water-Man]

Well, just keep checking the gun stores or try finding someone with an FFL. Maybe a gunsmith. Good luck!

 

[BarkBuster20]

I can attest to the accuracy of these rifles your looking at.

 

[Bird Dog II]

I think they are nice guns. Did they ever get them figured out to where you don't have to put the weapon on fire to unload it? Or am I thinking of another brand?

 

[bsn]

Gunbroker has a section that list of FFLs that will do a transfer in you want to buy online. Some will do it for $20.00-$30.00. The Tikka lite is one of those rifles that does everything exceptionally well. The only drawback is since they are a lightweight rifle, they have a very sharp kick in the heavier calibers. They are a dream to carry and in .270WSM with a properly constructed bullet, it would be a fantastic combination.

 

[Francois]

I used one(T3) last fall in the same caliber for deer season. It grouped under 1in at the range. It was light, easy to carry and weatherproof. It's an excellent gun.

 

[16 Bore]

Meat loss is a matter of placement, not caliber. Necessarily.

 

[tommyg]

I have a 270 wsm .I don't like the way it kills deer. I have to trail them too far.

 

[nimrod375]

I have a Tikka T3 Hunter in .270WSM, with the walnut stock. It is about a 1 moa shooter most of the time, which is a lot better than I can shoot in the field. I didn't like the plastic magazine or tirggerguard group, but that was just a personal decision based on aesthetics. I haven't had any trouble with either.

It is the smoothest bolt action rifle I own. The .270WSM is a good stopper, I have shot a lot of game from rabbits to scrub bulls with it. It probably shoots a tad flatter and hits that little bit harder than the standard .270, but it would take a clever animal to notice the difference.

As far as stopping power/meat destruction goes, as with any calibre it's all about projectile selection. If you really stoke up a WSM cartridge than the increased velocity will soon show up the shortcomings of poor quality projectiles, and if you're shooting deer with something like a Ballistic Tip it will probably look like a grenade's gone off in there., especially if you hit bone. Choose a harder projectile for a magnum cartridge and place your shots behind the shoulder, not on it, and I think you'll destroy the same or less meat than you would with an '06.

The Tikka T3 is lightweight, nicely balanced and accurate. The action is smooth. The 270WSM shoots flat and hits hard, and is easy to download to regular .270 velocities still with good accuracy.

The downside is the recoil, which is a bit stiff, and the plastic bolt shroud broke on mine. Hope this helps.

 

[markstark]

Tikka

Hi all,
I see we have a lot of birthdays-mine's in a week. My question is--how good is a Tikka lite in 270 wsm. It could be my last rifle. I'm starting to have age catch up and will be going on a disabled hunt in October. I am a lefty and not a rich man. At Cabela's they have a used Tikka like mentioned. They still want like $550-I thought that was a bit high, but in general, even in a different rifle, would I perhaps like a 30.06 better? I see that there are few options in factory loads. And I always wanted an odd six, with a light mag round it could be a better round for an aging shoulder-so I guess there is two questions-what about the cheaper Tikka and is meat loss a problem with a 270 wsm? I do like the idea of how flat that must shoot. I could be shooting across a farm field-a good 200 yds or more. Thanks for any help.
Sincerely,
Michael

Hi Mike Tikka make a 6.5x55 which the fins take 1000s of moose every year with the 160 grain Norma load..Also the Marlin xl7 270 is an absolute bargain .zero either to 225 with a 3x9 scope and youll have a great all rounder

 

[16 Bore]

I have a 270 wsm .I don't like the way it kills deer. I have to trail them too far.

Now that's funny right there. And a load of droppings

 

[jsr76]

I don't know if Tommyg is kidding or not, but MY hunting partner has shot 10 deer or better with the .270 WSM and followed ALL of them a bit of distance. He has used several loads as well. I recommended it to him as a lightning cartridge, but I must have been wrong. None have dropped on the spot, go figure.

 

[Bird Dog II]

I don't know if Tommyg is kidding or not, but MY hunting partner has shot 10 deer or better with the .270 WSM and followed ALL of them a bit of distance. He has used several loads as well. I recommended it to him as a lightning cartridge, but I must have been wrong. None have dropped on the spot, go figure.

Having seen a few deer that were shot with a .270WSM, it is hard to believe they went very far. I am talking volleyball size holes. Kind of ridiculous really. I have a 7mmWSM and experienced the same issue with 150gr SPs on the first deer I killed with it. I have gone to 160gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claws since then with much better results. Unless you plan on antelope hunting, I really can't see what practical advantage the .270 WSM has over the .270 Win. (and I am not much interested in finite energy and trajectory stats). Actually, even for antelope, get a .270 Win with the same length barrel and use Hornady Super Performance ammunition and I really don't think there is any difference. And if you want to hunt Elk or Moose someday, something in the .284, .308, or .338 domain is going to be better for ya IMO. To each his own though.

As far the Tikka they are slick feeling guns and very accurate by all accounts. Still not sure about the safety system. I can't remember of you can unload while in safe, or have to go to fire ( a sensless design flaw in some bolt guns).

 

[broom_jm]

Now that's funny right there. And a load of droppings

16 Bore,

Having shot a few deer with various standard .270 loads, and watched my buddy shoot his share with a 7RM, I think there are a couple of things you might be misunderstanding. Very fast, light-for-caliber bullets, especially when shots are in close, can result in tremendous bloodshot damage and longer blood trails. Even when hitting a deer behind the shoulder a 7RM with 150gr factory loads can result in extensive bloodshot meat well into both shoulders. I've seen it repeatedly and we didn't call him "bloodshot Rob" for nothin'.

With my .270, I found 130gr bullets and even 140gr BT's, on shots less than 50 yards, resulted in impact velocity that fragmented the bullet with sometimes no exit wound at all. Sometimes the deer (big Wisconsin bucks) dropped immediately, but when they did run, the blood trail was poor and they tended to go a long ways. When I switched to 140gr Nosler Partitions, and eventually Accubonds, and slowed the velocity a bit the bloodshot meat was reduced and the deer either dropped or did not go as far. Anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but it concurs with what many experienced hunters have learned, over the years.

When it comes to harvesting thin-skinned, medium game...faster is not always better.

 

[mike sicowitz]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the great help. It seems the plastic issue is on a few minds. And having them run off would seem odd with the ballistics for that little cruise missile. It is still on the top of the list however, because I cannot see much better of a deal or better rifle. I always work on placement as well. Perhaps a bit of a change will be easy with such a dead-on round. The greatest selling point is the killing range--that is why the last thing I thought I would hear is that ten deer ran off. I have put down plenty with a 30-30 that perhaps had one last kick after they fell. But this long range thing is all new to me and will have to learn all over again. Thanks guys,
Sincerely,
Michael Sicowitz

 

[16 Bore]

16 Bore,

Having shot a few deer with various standard .270 loads, and watched my buddy shoot his share with a 7RM, I think there are a couple of things you might be misunderstanding. Very fast, light-for-caliber bullets, especially when shots are in close, can result in tremendous bloodshot damage and longer blood trails. Even when hitting a deer behind the shoulder a 7RM with 150gr factory loads can result in extensive bloodshot meat well into both shoulders. I've seen it repeatedly and we didn't call him "bloodshot Rob" for nothin'.

With my .270, I found 130gr bullets and even 140gr BT's, on shots less than 50 yards, resulted in impact velocity that fragmented the bullet with sometimes no exit wound at all. Sometimes the deer (big Wisconsin bucks) dropped immediately, but when they did run, the blood trail was poor and they tended to go a long ways. When I switched to 140gr Nosler Partitions, and eventually Accubonds, and slowed the velocity a bit the bloodshot meat was reduced and the deer either dropped or did not go as far. Anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but it concurs with what many experienced hunters have learned, over the years.

When it comes to harvesting thin-skinned, medium game...faster is not always better.

So how do you figure that a shot behind the shoulder results in bloodshot meat? A bloodshot rib cage is nothing to worry about. The obsession with DRT is amusing, to say the least..

 

[shane256]

It depends on how the bullet fails (fragmentation failure). A shot in the ribs, hitting the rib bone itself, can send shrapnel in a fairly wide cone. Even on a perfectly broadside shot, pieces can go into the neck, shoulder, and even the hind quarter (I've seen it happen). Most of the time, though, a perfectly broadside shot doesn't happen. A behind-the-shoulder shot may go into the front shoulder, which will bloodshot it, if quartering away, for example.

The thing is, I've had pretty bad bloodshot even using a .30-30, depending on where the bullet hit. I've really liked my .260 performance this year, though. Even with a quartering away shot where I went through the near rib and through the opposing shoulder and leg bone, bloodshot wasn't horribly bad (was using 140gr bullets, though -- heavy for game and impact velocity of at/below 2700fps) in that shoulder. The exit wound was fairly impressive, a hole about as big as a nickel all the way through the shoulder.

 

[broom_jm]

So how do you figure that a shot behind the shoulder results in bloodshot meat? A bloodshot rib cage is nothing to worry about. The obsession with DRT is amusing, to say the least..

No offense intended, but when you've shot enough deer, and skinned twice as many, you won't need to ask questions like that. What you "think" is not always the way it is, under actual field conditions. Try working at a commercial deer processing business for a week...you'll see that where the bullet goes in does not determine how much bloodshot meat can result.