I have just figured out, after owning my Tikka LSA55 for 32 years, that I may not really know what model it is after all.
I always thought it was a Tikka LSA55, and that it was an early model, subsequently replaced in later years by the Tikka M55. But now as I am looking at rifles for sale, I am seeing the same thing for each model, with similar serial numbers. So I did some googling. This is what I think has gone on.
Tikka rifles were sold in the US, branded by the company that imported them - Ithaka. That model was known as the LSA55 in the US. I cannot see that an Ithaca rifle was called an M55 though. My original LSA55 recoil pad had Ithaca written on it.
Also, some model and serial number googling on Tikkas shows the M55 made from the late 1960's, so my original theory of model run is wrong, and nowhere is the model LSA mentioned at all. So it looks to me as if the two models are actually the same rifle, simply branded for a different market, and that somewhere along the line Australia has received rifles designated for both European and US markets.
Does anyone have any info on this subject, as that would really help with my searching for another rifle.
Cheers,
Shayne