Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles First hand experience with Sako 85?

I had a 85 Grey Wolf in 30-06; its one of very few rifles I ever returned for poor shooting. The cold shot was consistently 2-3 inches away from those that followed. Often the follow-ups made an impressive group but not always. Anyways, Sako has an accuracy warranty so I figured it was their problem. Even better, the local dealer offered to just refund my money and fight with the distributor themselves so I took the opportunity to bail out.

I've seen cases of lazy ejection with 75s and the mentioned 85 wasn't very impressive in that regard either. Normally I expect a fixed ejector to put a empty case into orbit when worked hard; but that wasn't the case here. Often enough it worked better when worked slow. One particular 75 often can't kick out a loaded shell, but usually will eject an empty (barely getting it clear.) Every once in awhile, and with no particular pattern it will launch the empties several feet. The same rifle had a defective safety.

Can't help thinking that they might be just a tad over-rated.

I'll be the first to admit they aren't perfect. Weak ejection is common. I also don't like how square and wide they are in the belly. Feels like carrying a 4x4 post in the field. That said, nothing's perfect. I've found little gripes with all my rifles. One just needs to decide how important the gripes are to find a favorite. The Xbolt is very similar to an 85 and has some features I like better than the Sakos.

I have two medium action M-85's, both have Leupold 6x42 scopes in Leupold medium mounts and have no issues with extraction or scope interference or anything else.

Medium Leupold 30mm ringsd mount a 44mm with plenty of room to spare. I imagine even a 50mm would fit.

Thanks, but I'm using a scope with 1" tube. It would be handy to have all these scope, ring type/height, Sako action size, and barrel contour combinations logged someplace for reference.

.[/quote] Good Gawd Man! Dont you know with all the Sako fanboys on this site that your words are blaspheme! Sako rifles are the best rifles that have ever been built by the hands of man!.......Ha!.......Hb

Yea, Model70Guy is now blocked...

Lmao!! That is hilarious!!.......great post......Hb

Well a start on chart.
For a Sako stainless hunter contour, the medium Leupold 30mm rings fit a Bushnell 4.5-18 LRHS 44mm objective with room to spare. I guess I could fit 2 nickles between the objective and barrel, so a 50mm may fit. In 30mm, Medium is the smallest height currently available from Leupold.
Forgot to add this is for a short action (260 rem)

Here are the numbers for 30mm
Medium 0.86 high (fits a 44mm with room to spare)
High 1.06 high (would do a 50mm for sure)
Super high 1.16 high

Here are the numbers for 1 inch
Low 0.76 high
Medium 0.86 high
High 1.06 high
Super high 1.16 high

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6588916/New_Sako_85_Black_Bear_9_3x62

On my M-action, the lowest 1-pc Optilok Ringmounts, place the scope optic center approximately 1.64" above the bore center line over the chamber. With the factory Sako stock, and using a sighting tube to measure sighting height for custom mounts to place the scope at my perfect height when properly mounting the rifle, the factory 1-pc mounts are nearly perfect for my fit.

I have never understood why one would care less about gaps over the barrel, as long as the scope fits and it places the scope center for correct alignment. But, I am not a stock crawler, and it does appear that most, here, tend to crane their necks when mounting rifles, even when mounting shotguns. I always took that as bad form, but if it works, then likely the ergos of a Sako would be a poor fit for that style of shooting.

Also, I'd never recommend a 75/85 scope base that crowds the ejection port. Bad idea.

Anybody know the largest objective one can use on the Sako Varmint with the one piece Ringmounts?

Gary, I think that it is not desirable to have a large scope to barrel gap because this excess scope height tends to exaggerate cant errors. Link show how cant is an issue.

http://www.arld1.com/targetplottrajectory3.html

Cant can be resolved by adjusting the scope horizon, but the issues still come into play if the rifle is tilted from this new reference frame. Lower alignment helps mitigate this issue.

Also for most modern stocks designed for scope mounting, a close scope gives the best solid cheek weld. High scopes tend to give more of a "chin" weld.

The third issue to consider when looking at optimum scope height is eye position. For multiple shots eye strain and fatigue could cause issues. Not a big deal for one shot, but PD hunting or matches could be problematic.

Neck "craning" I guess means bending the neck to meet the stock. That act has some benefits and some disadvantages. Tilting the head preventing the ears from being level makes the body sway. Tilting the head down generally assures a good cheek weld, but puts tension on the neck and spine. Generally cheek weld is more important, but getting both a cheek weld, and straight neck is he reason for adjustable cheek rests found on match guns. Generally the rule is bring the stock to the cheek with an erect neck. Again this is difficult with a fixed stock, that was mass produced for all bodies and shooting positions.

Anyway that is the reason for some of the voodoo that people repeat. It all depends on making the shot, so the above is just from a classic coaching guideline. I was a rifle coach at a big university, and that is the stuff we accepted as gospel. Shooters break these rules, but rule breaking generally makes stability more challenging.

Cliff notes: High scopes tend to be bad for barrel cant and head tilt. That reality depends on the shooter, and level of precision necessary.

Never been a particular fan of big objectives or high/super high rings on my Sakos, no matter which model...........














Ya!


GWB

I never shot the pre 64 I owned briefly but have still owned and sold a lot of Model 70's in all iterations. The last one I owned was sold on the classified's a few months ago and I will not own another ever. I have never seen such inconsistent rifle quality ever, every last one was a project . Never ever again.

On an XS Varmint one piece Optilocks won't accommodate a 50mm objective, a 44mm should be fine.