Tikka M658

About the Tikka M658

The Tikka M658 is a Finnish long-action bolt-action rifle of the Tikka M88 (New Generation) series, introduced in 1990 to succeed the long-action Tikka M65. Built by Sako-owned Tikka in Finland, it uses a 90-degree rotating cylindrical bolt with twin front locking lugs and feeds long-action cartridges such as the .30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester and 6.5x55mm Swedish from a detachable box magazine. The receiver is drilled and tapped for scope mounts and the barrel is free-floated in a walnut sporter stock, making the M658 a popular hunting and target rifle. It was exported to North America under the Tikka Whitetail Hunter and Continental names before being superseded by the Tikka M695 in the late 1990s.

When Sako absorbed Tikkakoski, the long-action M65 was reborn in 1990 as the M658 of the New Generation line, and it found its widest audience an ocean away, sold across North America as the affordable, accurate Tikka Whitetail Hunter.

Tikka M658 specifications

The M658 designation denotes the long-action variant of the Tikka M88 New Generation family; the short-action equivalent was the M558. In the United States the rifles were marketed as the Tikka Whitetail Hunter and Whitetail Continental. Standard long-action chamberings included .25-06 Remington, 6.5x55mm Swedish, .270 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum and .338 Winchester Magnum.