Beretta USA announced today that it will open a new firearms manufacturing plant in Sumner County, Tennessee. Beretta, a global manufacturer of sporting and military firearms, will invest $45 million in a state-of-the-art manufacturing and R&D facility in the Gallatin Industrial Park. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam stated that this new facility will create 300 new Tennessee jobs. Beretta hopes to complete construction on the facility this year. Moving production and R&D functions to Tennessee will allow Beretta to scale down its operations in the state of Maryland. In recent years, Maryland has become less attractive to firearms-related businesses.
Beretta supplies sporting and self-defense firearms to consumers worldwide. The company manufactures the U.S. Armed Forces M-9 pistol, the standard sidearm of U.S. soldiers since 1985. Beretta will make firearms at the new Gallatin plant from both their sporting and tactical product lines.
Established in 1526, Beretta is one of the oldest industrial companies in the world. The company has enjoyed 16 generations of continuous family ownership. Firearms bearing the Beretta name have been sold for almost 500 years. Beretta also owns and markets other leading firearms brands, including Benelli, Franchi, SAKO, Stoeger, Tikka, and Uberti. For more information, visit www.beretta.com.
“From the moment when we started to consider a location outside of the State of Maryland for our manufacturing expansion, Governor Haslam and his economic development team did an excellent job demonstrating the benefits of doing business in Tennessee. We are convinced we could find no better place than Tennessee to establish our new manufacturing enterprise.”
— Franco Gussalli Beretta, Vice President and Managing Director of Fabbrica D Armi S.p.A and Executive Vice President of Beretta USA.
The Tactical and Target T3 Tubeguns are here at last! Gary Eliseo of Competition Machine has announced that his new tubegun chassis for Tikka T3 actions “is now available in Target and Tactical versions”. The T3 kit will initially be right-hand only, set up for AICS short action magazines. This is a “no gunsmithing” installation — no modifications to the action are required and the chassis kit works with the factory T3 trigger and safety. Along with the new Target and Tactical versions, a lower-cost Light-Weight Hunter T3 Chassis is also offered (this will accept AR buttstocks).
Tikka’s T3 action is rigid and robust. It cycles smoothly and has a short 75° bolt lift. The T3 features a Sako-style extractor, with angled-leading-edge bolt lugs for smooth lock-up. The T3 action can be installed in Gary’s Chassis Kit with either a recoil disc (and bolts) or glue-in action mounting. The Chassis Kit is designed to accept AR15 buttstocks.
Eliseo’s current T3 Chassis Kit is for right-hand short actions. However, Gary told us today that left-hand models will be included in the next production run this fall. He is also prototyping a long-action version.
Price for the Tactical model is $1020.00, with a rugged Cerakote finish. Price for the Target version is $925.00 with a powdercoat finish or $1000.00 with a Cerakote finish. The Light-Weight Hunter chassis (that accepts owner-installed AR-type buttstocks) is $685.00. Tikka T3 action and AICS 5-round or 10-round magazines sold separately. For more info, visit GotXRing.com, call 714-630-5734, or send email to: spraynandprayn [at] gmail.com . CLICK HERE for order page.
Run by Jeff Allen in Florida, CDI Precision Gunworks offers high-quality, mag-capable bottom metal for a wide variety of rifles and action types. The CDI bottom metal kits, priced at $209.00, feature an integrated trigger guard, mag-well, magazine release, and, of course, action-screw locations.
Most kits are designed for use with Accuracy International (AI) magazines, sold separately. These bottom metal kits are nicely finished and gunsmiths tell us that the fit is extremely good. CDI currently offers bottom metal kits for all these rifle/action types:
• Howa 1500 Short Action
• Howa 1500 Long Action
• FN-SPR Rifles (Also works on FN-PBR rifles)
• Remington 700 Short Action (.308, .300 WSM/7MM WSM, .223 mags work as well)
• Remington 700 Long Action (300 Win Mag, 338 Lapua, 338 CIP Mag box is available)
• Savage Short Action — (Both 4.275″ stagger-feed and newer 4.400″ Center feed)
• Savage Long Action (Call for Tech Data)
• Tikka T3 (Long and Short Action)
• Winchester Short Action (All Post 1964)
• Winchester Long Action, Short Box (.308 Win Length)
• Winchester Long Action Magnum Length (7MM Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag)
• Mauser 98 Large Ring action (.308 Win Mag box size)
Single-Shot Loading Blocks just $35.00
CDI has designed a single-shot loading block (SSLB) for use with CDI short action bottom metal kits. The SSLB lets you shoot your rifle in single-shot mode without a magazine. Simply place a round on the black cartridge-holder and close your bolt. This is a good set-up for load testing from the bench, or if you want to shoot very long bullets with a COAL greater than magazine length. CDI’s SSLB costs just $35.00 plus $5.00 shipping.
Gary Eliseo of Competition Machine is now offering a tube-gun chassis kit for the Tikka T3 action. This T3 Chassis Kit is the latest design in Gary’s Light Weight Hunter Series. The T3 kit will initially be right-hand only, and will fit AICS short action magazines. This is a “no gunsmithing” installation — no modifications to the action are required and the chassis kit works with the factory T3 trigger and safety.
Tikka’s T3 action is rigid and robust. It cycles smoothly and has a short 75° bolt lift. The T3 features a Sako-style extractor, with angled-leading-edge bolt lugs for smooth lock-up. The T3 action can be installed in Gary’s Chassis Kit with either a recoil disc (and bolts) or glue-in action mounting. The Chassis Kit is designed to accept AR15 buttstocks.
Eliseo’s current T3 Chassis Kit handles short-action cartridges only — for now. Gary is considering bringing out a version with a long-action-length magwell if there is sufficient demand.
Price is $685.00. This includes a rugged Cerakote finish. Tikka T3 action and AICS 5-round or 10-round magazines sold separately. For more info, visit GotXRing.com, call 714-630-5734, or send email to: spraynandprayn [at] gmail.com . CLICK HERE for order page.
Product Tip from EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
Tikka has started to import its new T3 Sporter, which features an ergonomic, laminated stock, detachable magazine, adjustable cheekpiece and a nice, stiff action with integral dovetail and side bolt-release. The trigger adjusts from 2 to 4 pounds. The T3 Sporter will be produced with 20″ or 24″ barrels in a variety of popular chamberings: .222 Rem*, .223 Rem, 6.5×55 SE, .260 Rem, .308 WIN. We expect this rifle to be popular with tactical shooters and club-level match shooters who want a versatile rifle that can be used for hunting as well as target shooting. The stock is similar to the ISU “standard rifle” design used for 300m position shooting. As you’d expect, it works in all positions: prone, sitting/kneeling, and standing.
T3 Is Accurate With Smooth-Working Action
We first saw the new Tikka T3 Sporter in January, at the SHOT Show Media Day. The gun we sampled had a nice trigger, smooth bolt, and shot quite accurately with factory ammo. Watch the video below for an overview of the T3 Sporter. The Tikka T3 Sporter was developed in co-operation With Finnish hunting and sport shooting organizations. The design goal was to create a rifle that performs in competition, but can also be used for hunting. The ergonomic stock features an adjustable cheekpiece and adjustable buttplate (length of pull can be changed with spacers). An integral rail allows placement of hand-stops, bipod mounts, and attachments so the rifle can be carried with a double-sling, biathlon style. T3 Sporter weight (without scope) is 9 lbs. with 20″ barrel, or 9.7 lbs. with 24″ barrel.
EuroOptic.com Has T3 Sporters in Stock EuroOptic.com has T3 Sporter inventory in stock now, priced at $1695.00. Not all variants have arrived yet*, but we’ve been told that the following models are available: .308 Win 24″ barrel, .308 Win 20″ barrel, 6.5×55 24″ barrel, 6.5×55 20″ barrel, .260 Rem 20″ barrel. 20″ barrels are threaded with a cap (18×1 metric) while the 24″ barrels are unthreaded. View details on EuroOptic’s T3 Sporter Page (NOTE: EuroOptic’s web site may not show the latest inventory, so call (507) 220-3159 for availability.)
*Beretta, Tikka’s parent company, controls T3 Sporter imports. EuroOptic.com informed us that it “ordered all the versions we could from Beretta, but no .222 Rem was available in the USA at this time.” So, for the near term at least, it appears that the .222 Rem will be limited to the European market.
The Tikka T3 is a popular hunting rifle worldwide. The T3 Sporter, a new variant of the T3, is used for match shooting in Europe. On this side of the Atlantic, there has been growing interest among tactical shooters in the T3 because it offers a strong, rigid receiver, smooth-running bolt, and highly functional detachable box magazine. At least two tactical stock suppliers, Manners Composite Stocks and KRG, are offering high-end tactical stocks for T3 actions. Shown below is KRG’s new Whiskey 3 Modular Chassis (W3C) for the Tikka T3. We’ll be testing a Tikka T3 project rifle fitted in the W3C Chassis later this year.
JARD Triggers for Tikka T3
Tikka T3s are very nice rifles out of the box, but the T3’s trigger pull weight is a bit on the heavy side for match shooting. JARD now offers drop-in trigger kits for the Tikka T3, as well as complete Tikka T3 replacement trigger assemblies. With the $110.00 trigger upgrade kit, you can get your T3 trigger down to a crisp, 1.0 pound pull. JARD’s full Tikka trigger assembly, priced at $132.00, can be set for pull weights as low as 12 ounces. The full trigger assembly not only gives you a nice, light pull, but it also offers Over-Travel and Sear Engagement adjustability not provided by the factory trigger. For more info, or to order, visit www.JARDinc.com or call (712) 324-7409.
We found a rare listing on Gunbroker.com — not one but TWO Tikka 595 Master Sporters with full upgrades by Mac Tilton (MT Guns). One rifle will be sold — the buyer elects which of the two guns he prefers. On these two (2) rifles, the cheekpiece has been reshaped and the adjuster upgraded. In addition, an adjustable buttplate has been added. Most importantly, both rifles have been fitted with custom, match-grade Tru-Flight barrels. Just adding a custom barrel like this to a Tikka can easily cost $475.00 or more (per rifle), including chambering and fitting. Yet these rifles, one chambered in .223 Rem and the other in 22-250, are listed “no reserve” with a current bid of $515.00 as of 3/8/2010.
IMPORTANT: The seller is listing TWO (2) rifles, but he is only selling ONE (1). The successful bidder gets his choice of caliber and the seller retains the other rifle. Box stock, a Tikka Master Sporter in .223 Rem can command $1000.00 — with factory barrel. So there’s an opportunity for a very good buy here. NOTE: In the photos both guns are shown with scopes. The scopes and rings are NOT included in the auction, but one (1) Nikon variable may be purchased separately. The auction ends 3/13/2010 5:22:00 PM ET.
Most of the Tikka 595s that made it to the States came with a synthetic stock or rather ordinary wood stock. Right now, on Auction Arms, there’s a very clean Tikka 595 with a really nice stock in highly-figured walnut with contrasting forearm tip. Chambered in 22-250, it’s a very handsome rifle, and the 595 action is slick and strong. We’re hoping one of our regular readers snags this gem. Current bid price is $625.00. Forum member Fireball tells us the Tikka 595 22-250 magazines will also feed 6BR and 22BR cartridges well if you plan to re-barrel this rifle and chamber a different cartridge. We’d just shoot it “as is”, at least until the barrel wore out.
Tikka’s T3 action is rigid and robust. It cycles smoothly and has a short 75° bolt lift. The T3 features a Sako-style extractor, with angled-leading-edge bolt lugs for smooth lock-up. The T3 action can be installed in Gary’s Chassis Kit with either a recoil disc (and bolts) or glue-in action mounting. The Chassis Kit is designed to accept AR15 buttstocks.
Run by Jeff Allen in Florida, 
Tikka has started to import its new 
T3 Is Accurate With Smooth-Working Action
