Tikka M590

buckup

Well-Known Member
Hi out there.

Anyone got anything good or bad to say about this rifle? Tikka M590 in 30.06.

Just contemplating the purchase of one, and thought I'd bounce it off here first.

Any info gratefully received.

Buckup.
 
That'll be a M690 not the short action M590 and I have many, many good things to say about mine.

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Note various weights and powders all shoot into 1/2"-3/4" with fairly standard loads.

I've taken it to Africa and shot a pile of stuff with it over here. It also gets a fair few rounds through it at Bisley every month and is very good to 600 yards with it's fixed power scope.

As you might have guessed by now I'm rather attached to her.

Just one more shot of her in a hide in Africa, just before she slotted a blesbok at a couple of hundred yards.

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Thanks for that GH.
Another question:-

The rifle in question has had the original iron sights removed. As I shall be using this as a tool in a very demanding and damaging environment, and shots will rarely be further than 50yds, I shall either be replacing the iron sights or fitting one of the cheaper red dot type sights. What fixing system is used on Tikkas?
Most of the red dot sights use a 20mm or 11mm clamp onto a groove just like an air rifle scope. Is this going to work? Alternatively are second hand bits like original open/iron sights easily available?

Thanks again,

Mark
 
Mark you shouldn't have any problems getting the spare parts you want, have a look on the Sako/Tikka website and you will see old manuals and parts lists.
I may be wrong on this because it is some time since I had a Tikka 65 with open sights but I seem to think that Tikka actually fitted Williams adjustable sights. Williams is an American company that as far as I know are still in production.
 
Thanks for that GH.
Another question:-

The rifle in question has had the original iron sights removed. As I shall be using this as a tool in a very demanding and damaging environment, and shots will rarely be further than 50yds, I shall either be replacing the iron sights or fitting one of the cheaper red dot type sights. What fixing system is used on Tikkas?
Most of the red dot sights use a 20mm or 11mm clamp onto a groove just like an air rifle scope. Is this going to work? Alternatively are second hand bits like original open/iron sights easily available?

Thanks again,

Mark

It's pleasure Mark, that rifle was possibly the last series of really rather pukka Tikkas that they made before the takeover. The Sakos of that era are also similarly well made. You'll have no problem getting rid of that rifle should you ever decide to sell it in any event.

The sights on the Tikka are indeed available new from those wonderful folk at GMK, if you can bear to deal with them, at around 70-100 quid each. If the rifle you have has been screwcut then you will have to have the barrel drilled and tapped for the front sight and it gets expensive.

They are good as far as factory open sights go but in my experience, unless you grew up shooting open sights they are not faster than a low mag scope or red dot sight. They also helpfully cover at least half of the field of view and in low light can be very hard to see in blued steel.

I did some bush hunting in Africa, visibilty 3-30 yards except on the rides where you could see for hundreds of meters and spent a long time thinking about it. The trouble with them is that you are better off with a low mag scope in terms of field of view and that unless you have the stock fitted to you like a shotgun and at similar expense will be more likely to be in the right position if you throw the rifle up to the shoulder. In that respect the red-dot or even a receiver mounted peep sight would be far preferable.

The other issue is that one may be stalking along in the thick stuff of an evening with no joy. As it looks darker in the wood than in the open you declare shooting light to be over and head back to your car. you are an experienced stalker so you take nothing for granted and move quietly and with proper field craft. You poke your head out of the tree line and spot 3 deer peaceably browsing in the field 200 yards away, utterly oblivious.

You then realise you have open sights you can't really see to make a 200 yard shot with.

I was the world's biggest fan of open sights on hunting rifles, I also and possibly not co-incidentally hadn't used them in earnest before. My old uncle laughs at me whenever I get nostalgic, he would have used Swarovski Z6i scopes and beanfield rifles if he could have in the 50's and 60's when he started out if he could.
 
Thanks again GH.

There will be NO stalking involved in the future for this rifle, as it will reside in Italy. I never met an Italian yet who can be quiet for long enough to stalk anything. They shoot running boar as oposed to driven. There is no given direction from which the pigs arrive, it's just a question of which way it runs from the dogs which are free running. Shooting in low light is a valid point though. In Italy like here hunting should stop an hour after sunset. Unlike here hunting continues well after that until- a, a pig is shot or b, the hunters are so lost and hungry that their concentration switches to getting down off the mountain for supper.

I spoke to GMK today, they tell me the sights are unavailable in any event, unless there are some old ones held somewhere in the factory. They of course will be VERY expensive. It looks like the red dot sight will be the way to go.

Buckup

.
The other issue is that one may be stalking along in the thick stuff of an evening with no joy. As it looks darker in the wood than in the open you declare shooting light to be over and head back to your car. you are an experienced stalker so you take nothing for granted and move quietly and with proper field craft. You poke your head out of the tree line and spot 3 deer peaceably browsing in the field 200 yards away, utterly oblivious.

You then realise you have open sights you can't really see to make a 200 yard shot with.

I was the world's biggest fan of open sights on hunting rifles, I also and possibly not co-incidentally hadn't used them in earnest before. My old uncle laughs at me whenever I get nostalgic, he would have used Swarovski Z6i scopes and beanfield rifles if he could have in the 50's and 60's when he started out if he could.
T
 
You're a braver man than I Mark!

Of the Italian boar hunters I know all use Semi-autos and two of those have them in 9.3!:D

I would wear a bit of orange, I think....

For what you want I would recommend a aimpoint or similar. The dot moves with your head position and is great for boar. Don't be afraid of getting the larger dot as shots will be close and even 6 MOA is only 1.5 inches at 25 yards.

My other bit of advice if the rifle is a boar rifle is to check the magazine spring and also that of the little steel plunger on the underside of the "bottom metal" to make sure they are in good condition or you may have feeding troubles. My own occasionally fails to pick up a round from the magazine, really shouldn't happen to a single stack mag but there you go, if one babies the action or knocks the mag enough. Needless to say feeding is vital for the sort of shooting you want to do.

Finally, hassle Joe_bloggs of this site to hurry up and make the extended mag for the long action Tikka so you can have more than four in the rifle or at least see if you can find another mag to keep in your pocket.

Good hunting buy the way mate, I'm quite jealous! :oops::lol:
 
Gutted.....I'll see my old M595 in a different light now;)

There, there.

It's not my fault, it's whoever convinced you be utterly literal in your interpretation of random snippets of opinion on the internet.

You'll be alright though mate, won't you?

;)
 
I'll come to terms with it, I just need a little time!:D If you have the chance to buy one of the older Tikka's in good condition, do it, you won't regret it. They are well made, solid rifles, and there are a lot of bargains out there in some of the less popular calibres.
 
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Buckup, Amir's advice on aimpoints etc notwithstanding, if this rilfe is is going to be a dedicated boar gun, you need to think about the best straight tube scope you can afford. MacLeod's have a few SH Swaro 1.1-4x24's, perfect for pigs and can be useful for stalking in decent light conditions. Any scope of this type is a better option than irons. I cannot get my head around the various red-dot/holograph type scopes.

KISS.
 
You're a braver man than I Mark!

Of the Italian boar hunters I know all use Semi-autos and two of those have them in 9.3!:D

I would wear a bit of orange, I think....

For what you want I would recommend a aimpoint or similar. The dot moves with your head position and is great for boar. Don't be afraid of getting the larger dot as shots will be close and even 6 MOA is only 1.5 inches at 25 yards.

My other bit of advice if the rifle is a boar rifle is to check the magazine spring and also that of the little steel plunger on the underside of the "bottom metal" to make sure they are in good condition or you may have feeding troubles. My own occasionally fails to pick up a round from the magazine, really shouldn't happen to a single stack mag but there you go, if one babies the action or knocks the mag enough. Needless to say feeding is vital for the sort of shooting you want to do.

Finally, hassle Joe_bloggs of this site to hurry up and make the extended mag for the long action Tikka so you can have more than four in the rifle or at least see if you can find another mag to keep in your pocket.

Good hunting buy the way mate, I'm quite jealous! :oops::lol:


Thanks Amir........
 
I'll come to terms with it, I just need a little time!:D If you have the chance to buy one of the older Tikka's in good condition, do it, you won't regret it. They are well made, solid rifles, and there are a lot of bargains out there in some of the less popular calibres.

:lol:

Whew, I thought my unthinking words had speared another human heart but all is well. I should have said the M5/6xx series of rifles but in any event, that is what I meant.

they're not so cheap anymore, have you noticed? I looked on Guntrader and they were around the 500 quid mark for nice examples in handy calibres, I bought mine in 2007 for 350 quid including a meopta scope!

Yes I know I am a lucky *******...:D

Regards,

Amir
 
Buckup, Amir's advice on aimpoints etc notwithstanding, if this rilfe is is going to be a dedicated boar gun, you need to think about the best straight tube scope you can afford. MacLeod's have a few SH Swaro 1.1-4x24's, perfect for pigs and can be useful for stalking in decent light conditions. Any scope of this type is a better option than irons. I cannot get my head around the various red-dot/holograph type scopes.

KISS.

I do agree that a low mag scope, especially with an illuminated reticle is very good for driven, my reason for preferring the aim point is that when I shoot running boar at bisley I shoot better with both eyes open using a holographic sight.

In those circumstances I don't really see the sight at all, rather a red dot superimposed on the target. It also doesn't suffer from fussy eye relief issues which is handy.

I do realise though that different things work best for different people.

BTW, we took the Kiwi up to Ampton for duck and a crack at the muntjac, he saw nothing! :eek:

I saw 12, Kiri 9 and Dig's Saudi mate 6!

Poor bugger, he's blanked on fallow, roe, boar and muntjac on every stalk in two weeks! Oh how we needled Mr "200 goats in a weekend"....:D

Ampton should be "busy" this year....:norty:
 
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No, you're alright Amir...I was only killing time whilst I'm sat in the office in Swindon (now you understand!);). I managed to find my M595 last year in a local dealers- new & unused at £495. I nearly sold it, but got rid of my Heym instead; that's testament to how good I think these older Tikka's are.
If you're buying a .270, 30.06 or another larger calibre, you can probably assume that it is unlikely to have had heavy use at the range. There are a couple of nice looking LSA65 in .270 on guntrader at less than £500, which I might get tempted by....they just seem a lot of gun for very little money.
 
Oh you bugger......


Mags are coming on hopefully check spring bending tomorrow... you are impatient!
 
Amir, given my left eye is only an orament, that might explain why I can't fathom the holograph's, there is no "both eyes open" benefit for me, maybe that is why I would have a scope every time.

The Kiwi seems like a good guy, but he was f##ked with jetlag the weekend I was over, he fell asleep with his face on the dinner plate. Maybe he is just a jonah for deer.

The Ampton dates don't look to clever for me at the moment. I will have to re-negotiate with herself. I will get to speak to Nigel also, he seemed keen the last time we talked about it.
 
No, you're alright Amir...I was only killing time whilst I'm sat in the office in Swindon (now you understand!);). I managed to find my M595 last year in a local dealers- new & unused at £495. I nearly sold it, but got rid of my Heym instead; that's testament to how good I think these older Tikka's are.
If you're buying a .270, 30.06 or another larger calibre, you can probably assume that it is unlikely to have had heavy use at the range. There are a couple of nice looking LSA65 in .270 on guntrader at less than £500, which I might get tempted by....they just seem a lot of gun for very little money.

Aah, the Swindon thing....:oops:

Apologies for that sir, It's mainly to needle a friend who insists that despite the fact that everyone I have met who grew up there but moved away talks about it in roughly the same fond tones that the rather foxy Afhgan stripper I met in a pub in the east end last week used to talk about the old country, there is no irony in defending the place as he still lives there! :D

I'll have to get rid of it, the Swindon Mafia are everywhere:-|

There are a couple of nice looking LSA65 in .270 on guntrader at less than £500,

Oh yes, now that rifle is a L-series Sako in all but name. As you say today the same gun would be a grand or so at least.
 
Amir, given my left eye is only an orament, that might explain why I can't fathom the holograph's, there is no "both eyes open" benefit for me, maybe that is why I would have a scope every time.

The Kiwi seems like a good guy, but he was f##ked with jetlag the weekend I was over, he fell asleep with his face on the dinner plate. Maybe he is just a jonah for deer.

The Ampton dates don't look to clever for me at the moment. I will have to re-negotiate with herself. I will get to speak to Nigel also, he seemed keen the last time we talked about it.

The Kiwi had finally recovered by yesterday at least, I took him for his proper kebab at at least half ten in the evening and he made it through ok.

I hope you can make it this year, is there anything I can do to help?

When it comes to the WAGS of my stalking buddies I am one of the finest liars in England, possibly the Commonwealth.
 
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