Tikka safety, is it safe!

[Dave_45]

Indeed, it was however the reason I sold my Tikka all those years ago when the R93 came onto the market. Most bolt action rifles have the spring cocked and ready to go, but are reliant on some form of potentially fallible preventative measure to avoid an accidental discharge, of which there have been many over the years.

Some designs are inherently harder to have a mishap with than others.

I know of a blaser rifle incident that nearly removed my friends foot while it was slung ,hands nowhere near trigger.

As soon as a live round is in the chamber there’s no amount of safety catches or gadgets that replace good firearms handling in the event of an accidental discharge or mechanical failure.

Not even blaser with its 434 safety mechanisms.

 

[Freeforester]

I sold one tikka, thirty years ago, as like the OP, I was uncomfortable with the aspect under discussion, I’d venture that given the opportunity he’d be more comfortable with a safer design.

 

[ColinBr]

I sold one tikka, thirty years ago, as like the OP, I was uncomfortable with the aspect under discussion, I’d venture that given the opportunity he’d be more comfortable with a safer design.

Sako S20 trigger solves that

 

[Freeforester]

I know of a blaser rifle incident that nearly removed my friends foot while it was slung ,hands nowhere near trigger.

As soon as a live round is in the chamber there’s no amount of safety catches or gadgets that replace good firearms handling in the event of an accidental discharge or mechanical failure.

Not even blaser with its 434 safety mechanisms.

I’d be genuinely rather interested to hear how that came about, as without spring tension on the firing pin it would be hard to see how that could be an eventuality, unless the safety/cocking mechanism was already engaged and the rifle was therefore ready to fire, in which case it shouldn’t really have been slung, much like any other rifle, irrespective of make. But I agree wholeheartedly that safe firearms handling is paramount, it’s near aye a ‘safe’ or ‘empty’ rifle that does the ill.

 

[slider]

I sold one tikka, thirty years ago, as like the OP, I was uncomfortable with the aspect under discussion, I’d venture that given the opportunity he’d be more comfortable with a safer design.

I'm certainly more comfortable with the Browning system!

 

[Dave_45]

My friend was the guide , the rifle owner was a guest , he spent all that money on the rifle , stalking , accom etc
Incident Happened,immediately returned rifle to rfd , same day and used estate rifle there after.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I learnt to shoot/handle bolt action rifles in cadets with the Enfield No. 8. This had a two position safety, with the bolt locked on "safe" and only operable on "fire". It never crossed my mind that it was unsafe, although it was very different to the borrowed Blaser with which I took my first deer years later. When I later bought my first rifle (a BSA) it was the same safe/fire type with the bolt only operable on "fire" and that was the same as others I'd used as borrowed/estate rifles. I'm now on my second Tikka and have no problem with the safety as it is. Point it in a safe direction (JUST LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO!) and keep your finger away from the trigger (as you always do when not ready to shoot...) and it's perfectly safe.

Playing devil's advocate, surely a safety with more positions/functions has more parts to go wrong and/or more potential for incorrect use...?

 

[Bo Diddley]

I have no idea what the issue is, just make sure it's pointing in a safe direction

 

[SCB]

I'm certainly more comfortable with the Browning system!

Hi. Does the browning system actually block the firing pin? Tang safety certainly is easy to use.
Thanks
SCB

 

[Acm]

Surely you just drop the mag, ensure safe muzzle awareness safety off, bullet out?

 

[Dickie]

FFS how many Tikka have been loaded and unloaded with no issues, any issues would be down to incompetence or a very rare technical problem.

 

[Smellydog]

Some of you guys scare me more than any firearm! You must be nervous jibbering wrecks when handling a firearm!

 

[Ranger22]

Shall I start

 

[Mungo]

Given the sheer number of T3s out there, plus all the other makes with similar safety mechanisms, the fact that people aren’t having NDs all over the place suggests it’s not really a problem.

I’ve had rifles with both 3 position and 2 position safeties. It’s not something that I’ve ever worried about.

 

[Siggy]

Shall I start

...I'd love to hear the FLS risk assessment on Tikka safety catches!! Probably something along the lines of ensure the biological component's operating system is fully functional and focused on the task at hand before the rifle is even picked up...

in fairness to the original poster, if he has only experienced a rifle that can be unloaded on safe, it might be a bit of a surprise to find that you have rely on only pointing the rifle in a safe direction before you unload.

 

[cjm1066]

The Browning system like the Sako does allow you to open the bolt with the trigger blocked. However most rifles lack this feature, of my 5 rifles only the Sako has it, but I don't use it as if I remove the bolt with the safety on, I need to take the safety off before reinsertling the bolt.

A rifle in good condition won't fire with the safety off, that condition occurs when unloading but also when you are about to fire, on both occasions the rifle is pointed in a safe direction.

 

[StephenToast]

I just keep the barrel pointed at the ground when I load and unload.

 

[slider]

Surely you just drop the mag, ensure safe muzzle awareness safety off, bullet out?

Yes, I do that with the 3 position safety on my Browning, I was just surprised that this was not an option on the Tikka. Having to disengaged the safety to unload seem very counterintuitive to me.

 

[Ronin]

The Tikka saftey (Sako) is an adopted unit across the two brands

The Sako whilst more complex and allows the user to manipulate the bolt whilst “on safe” does not block the firing pin

One rarely hears if failure of either unit through mechanical fault or breakage

Any issues are usually caused by end users putting in significantly weaker sear springs and either failing to follow manufacture guidelines on safe operating tolerances or being on the Darwin spectrum (or both)

Lower spring rate causes lack of positive sear engagement / reset

As Blaser have been mentioned - there have been some well documented failure (ND) reported around the saftey of R93 and R8

They are two doffernt systems but both operated by sliding the decock device at the rear of the bolt body on the tang

Many failures occur when end users do not follow the manual and allow fingers within the trigger bow whilst sliding the de cock

The pressure required will in some instances cause involuntary grip and pressure on the trigger - the end result being a ND

Dirt ingress in the case if the R93 is another well known issue with sear engagement

Back on task

The AsH Tikka saftey was (is) a solution for those who wanted a true three position saftey device for T3

Though looking at the web page, I’m not sure if it’s still in production

It worked but required some “fitting” (just like any other three position saftey)

They are rarely if ever a drop in fit (ask me how I know),,,,after spending three days of hand filing - fitting a device to a dangerous game rifle

Basic principles of rifke handling should be applied when removing chambered rounds from any rifle

Even with blocked firing pin on 3 pos saftey this should be followed

Tikkas have a pretty good saftey record

End users ,,, that’s another story

 

[Mungo]

Thinking about, I’ve seen more NDs from people using 3 position rather than 2 position safeties. I think something about that tiny bit of extra complexity is enough to lead to a little extra uncertainty about true state.