Sounds nice!  Let us know how it shoots when you get a chance.  Maybe even post a pic?  Did you keep the aluminum recoil lug, or use a steel one with the new stock?

Sounds like a great elk gun!

If you find the recoil a bit “distracting” you might look into putting a muzzle brake on this light rifle.  I put a clamp-on brake by Witt Machine on my T3 Hunter in 30-06 and it tamed the recoil significantly.  I would prefer a threaded brake for a clean look, but have no complaints about the clamp-on's performance.

How much difference does a brake make anyway? I've never shot a rifle that had one on it, so I'm curious. I normally shoot the full length cartridges like the .30-06, .270 Win, and 6.5-06 and had never even considered a brake, but then the rifles are usually fairly substantial, so there's plenty of mass.

Hey Bubba,

I have the same rifle minus the stainless topped with a Vortex HSLR 6-24 FFP…it's an amazing gun. 
I took 2 deer and 1 black bear with it this past fall.  All 3 animals dropped in their tracks.

The gun does recoil a lot without a brake tough, you will eventually agree with more shooting.
I bought it for a long range shooter but found out after a couple of boxes at the range that its no fun to shoot without a brake.  I ended up installing a Brake designed and tested on Tikka rifles from a company in New Zealand.  Here's the link…http://www.gunsmith.co.nz/muzzlebrakes.html

I went with the “Quatromax” brake…I'm not lying when I say this brake made the gun recoil like my T3 223-Varmant! My 308 kicks way harder. 
If I had to do it over again I would install their Varimax-QC brake for both range shooting and hunting but totally happy with the Quatromax.  People do not believe its a 300wsm after shooting it at the range.  These Brakes cost twice as much as most stuff you can buy in CAN / US but its worth every penny.

If you are looking for a good hand load…TRY:

Winchester or Nosler Brass
CCI 250 mag primer
Nosler 180 Accubond – seated to max factory mag length (works well with 178gr Amax as well).
H4831sc = 66 – 67gr (you will find accuracy in this powder range / great stable powder for all year round).
Velocity = approximate 2900fps, plus or minus depending on powder charge.

This combo produces consistent groups of 1/4″ – 1/2″ at 100yrds and can hold 1/2″ or better at 200yrds. We routinely bust 4″ clays setup at 500yrds with this load.  Would shoot further but that walk is far enough on target setup.. 😉

Bubba,

Best off the shelf ammo I've shot out of mine is Barnes® VOR-TX™ .300 WSM 165 Grain TTSX-BT.
Very near handload accuracy,  Everything else I've tried did not group well like these especially at 200yrd range.  I've spent a lot of money figuring that out, bought some pretty expensive ammo over the last year and none compared.  Great velocity as well! Somewhere around 3250-3300fps if my memory is correct.

If I didn't handload, this would be my go to ammo for sure.  Give it a try, it would be a excellent choice for Elk or any animal you'd be hunting…

I have purchased a good quantity of Win 180gr. Ballistic Silvertip and some 180gr. Federal and Winchester Power Point to start off with. I had thought of getting some Barnes, but it's not as available locally and I'd have to purchase online. Plus I figured the heavier 180gr. would be a tad better for Elk.

All good choices…make sure you don't hit any meat & bone with the Silvertips… You'll be picking bone fragments out of your teeth when your eating your nice steaks!  But, I love reloading with the nickel plated brass!

The Fed's are awesome especially if its the Trophy Bonded Tipped or the Triple shock barnes bullet.

Let me know how each performs for you when you get to shooting.

It is difficult to quantify the reduction in recoil I get with the Witt Machine muzzle brake, but when shooting Hornady light mag (now Superformance) 180 gr 30-06 off the bench, the rifle jumps off the bags far less than without brake.
also I don't have to strangle (grip hard) the rifle to keep from getting “scoped” with the old short eye relief scope I was using.  It does make that rig loud though…

By the way I put a SWFA SS10x42 scope on it this winter and for the price ($299.00) it is a great optic.  I use the gen 2 mountain tactical pic rails on all my tikkas so I can swap scopes with no fuss and no re-leveling (at least with the one-piece DNZ Freedom Reaper).

Hey Bubba,

Pulled some old range data on 150 Silver tops…
Here are a couple 100yrd groups from my gun with the 150gr SilverTips (what I consider a rocket grenade for whatever you hit!)…This is me firing as fast as I can aim and get 3 down the pipe before the barrel heats up.  Its seems to be the best way for me to get a tight with my gun.  Sometimes you get a flyer but most times its produces the best groups this way. This is also after the muzzle brake install which I'm sure helped with the rapid fire.

If you like the 180's, try these for accuracy as well…a lot of punch for a 150gr bullet.
They scream out my gun @ 3350 – 3400fps depending on temps.