Tikka T1X .22 LR

Finnish gunmaker Tikka has unveiled its first rimfire and Bruce Potts is impressed — so much so, he is buying one for himself

My first rifle was a Tikka LSA 55 in .308 Win, which I still shoot today, and so I have a long association with Tikka rifles, be they standard configurations or custom rebuilds. But this is the first time Tikka has ventured into the rimfire market. I shoot a Sako Finnfire, the original model, so was keen to try Tikka’s offering, the T1X. This is a rimfire designed to mimic the proportions of the T3X centrefire rifles and thus has the same action profile, so can accept a range of T3 accessories and stock alternatives.

It is available in either .22 LR rimfire or .17 HMR, with a 16in or

20in barrel-length option — both are threaded for a sound moderator — but there is no left-hand version yet. Tikka is good at supplying left-hand options, so it is only a matter of time.

This rifle, which has no open sights, a detachable 10-shot magazine and a decent synthetic stock, is aimed squarely at the sporting market.

First impressions

Owners of Tikka T3-model rifles will find the look and feel of the

T1X familiar as, for all intents and purposes, it is a rimfire T3. This makes sense to me — it means you are familiar with the operating and handling of the rifle, and the trigger and safety are the same. The stock is the new Tikka design. Overall quality and fit represent good value when you consider the retail price of £575 for both the .22 LR and .17 HMR versions.

Let’s look at that stock. Basically, it is a Tikka T3X stock adapted or inletted for the rimfire action. Therefore it has a full rifle-sized feel to it, yet still retains that lightweight handling.

This is due to the injection-moulded system Tikka uses to form two halves that are then cemented together.

The stock is hollow where weight or strength is not needed. Where impact or torsion will affect performance, the stock is strengthened or reinforced with more polymer or ribbed sections.

This means it feels stable and handles incredibly well. The stock has a smooth black finish and moulded-in chequering for extra grip. These areas have raised diamond chequering to the fore-end and raised striated parallel lines to the pistol grip. As with the T3X rifles, the pistol grip can be removed using a small Allen key and alternative grip arrangements can be fitted.

There is no cheekpiece and only a few faceted grooves to add interest. There is a small plastic butt-plate — not my favourite — but despite this, the stock handles well and is actually pretty much ambidextrous.

Within the barrel channel, the excess space due to the smaller profiled barrel is filled in with an insert of stock material, held in place by an Allen screw through the fore-end.

Now it becomes interesting. With Tikka being part of the Sako group, now owned by Beretta, I was half expecting a modified version of the Sako Finnfire 2 rimfire. But no, it is a totally different approach — it uses the basic T3X action form, but heavily modified to shoot rimfire and not centrefire. You can see this instantly as the front of the action, where the barrel union is, has been cut away, so the top half has gone, but the bottom half still has the T3X profile, so fits the stock correctly — clever.

All-steel action

The all-steel action has a matte blued finish and the bolt is made from stainless steel. It is a typical rimfire, with a non-rotating bolt that locks at the rear, and has a large single claw extractor sited into the right side of the bolt face. A groove cut to the left allows the ejector spur or spring in the action wall to contact the case’s rim and flip it out sideways. The ejection port is stepped, I guess to accommodate both the .22 rimfire and .17 HMR lengths for a 100 per cent function.

“Overall quality and fit represent good value when you consider the retail price of both the .22 LR and .17 HMR versions”

The bolt has a short throw at 1.46in and low 60° bolt lift. It has a onepiece bolt handle, too, with a tapered hollow knob, but a straight handle that is secured via an Allen screw