Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Please talk me out of the Sako 85

Jest fer schitz n' giggles...........





Sako 85 Bavarian, 6.5 x 55





Sako 85 detachable mag.

6.5 x 55. 160 Gr. Sierra SMPs @ 3.065 COAL




Sako Bavarian Carbine 30-06





Sako Bavarian Carbine, 30-06, Sako AV, 280AI




Sako Bavarian Carbine, 308 Win.



I realize that those were loaded rounds, and as such were heavier than empty brass. I'll try spent cartridges in my three 85's and take a vid in the next couple days an post here.

ya!


GWB

You never disappoint geedub....glad to see you're alive and well!

back at ya there JG.

Best to you and yours!


GWB

Is that a Nosler 48 in the last pic Gee Dub?

ya!

That is a Nosler 48 Patriot chambered for the 7mm-08. I purchased pre-enjoyed from JG Raider.

I don't much care for sitting in enclosed blinds, and sometimes it rains. When I'm hunting in the rain I typically use a synthetic stocked rifle. This was the case in the photo

It is very accurate, reasonably light, and has an excellent trigger. I find myself reaching for it more and more when the weather is schitty!


I realize this is a Sako thread, but my way of a "tip of the hat" to Johnny. IMHO he is the real deal!

JAPPFT,

GWB

Hey GW knock it off...

I want these guys to buy Remington's - they deserve them.
You are going to drive the price up in the used market, so knock it off !

Yeh week claw springs let them fly a bit too much, and the heavier springs fix it.

Your no better than a mechanic that says, gee all your car needs is a good set of plugs, it's not a junker.... let me double the price I feel like paying more.

Let them pass.

Hey GW knock it off...

I want these guys to buy Remington's - they deserve them.
All you are going to drive the price up in the used market, so zip it!

Yeh a weak claw springs let them fly up a bit too much, and the heavier springs fix it. (And don't tell them where to get them either).

You are no better than a mechanic that says, gee all your car needs is a good set of plugs, it's not a junker.... let me double how much I was going to pay you for it...

Let them pass.

You are fully capable of going to UTube and searching "Sako 85 ejection" upon which you will be presented with many videos demonstrating the problem. To deny that it has been a consistent problem with the 85 is foolish. It may not be a problem in every rifle, but it has been in many rifles. If you call Sako customer service even they will discuss the issue with you and give you recommended "fixes" (while denying any and all culpability). You can like the rifle design all you want, but don't be silly about denying weaknesses of that design.

Well, yes, actually it can crop up out of the blue. Due to many things, such as suggested below by Gary concerning dirtiness or different types of brass or even different bullet weights. The Sako 75 never had any of those problems that I know of.

geedubya,
Those are beautiful.

DD here brings up my situation of a year ago. I bought a Sako in .204 and .270 Win., NIB, with great wood and impeccable fit and finish. The ejector, located in the center bottom of the action would consistently eject brass into the windage turret - for both rifles. My scopes were one inch Leupies - nothing exotic.
I solve the .204 problem by rotating the scope 180* to the left and every piece of .204 cleared just fine. That rifle was wickedly accurate with many 5 shot strings in one ragged hole at 100.
I was going to do the same for the .270, which was also accurate but then decided this was stupid! I brought the rifles back to the lgs and explained the situation.
They had heard this before. Sako will only say that if the brass clears the action, its not their fault that the scope is in the way. I went home and carefully took off the scope/rings/bases and put the rifles back in their boxes and traded them back at my lgs. What a shame - just darn nice rifles with an ejector in the wrong place.
Maybe earlier models were engineered differently but I would steer clear of such a liability to proper function. On a "dgr" - no way in hell!

It's not there, sorry.

The video list shows an 85 varmint eject slow motion, the guy I noted and his 85 eject, geedubya's video, and then just a ton of people lovin' there Sako 85.

Not a single video demonstrating an 85 eject straight up through the claw, failing to eject the case. They all show an ejected case.

With a bazillion Sako 85 rifles sold all over the world, and even if 1 in every 1,000 were screwed up as bad as you guys claim, there would be scores of owners all over the planet posting videos of this defect. You guys are just overstating a mole hill to appear like a mountain. Now if you look up Remington 700, yes, then you will find a ton of videos reference ejection issues.

[video:youtube]https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=TPMfDyOfmEE[/video]

[video:youtube]https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=yfRgysCkplk[/video]

I see a problem. In the top video, the case, (.223 or .204) hits the bottom of the scope tube, bounces off the loading port and falls out. That is not a cleanly ejected case.
The bottom one is the same. When the brass comes out in an erratic fashion, it has hit the scope tube in some way.
Your video proves the point of an ejection problem.

Like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7_1h1jeKuA

Here you can clearly see the mouth of the case hit the body of the scope tube, pause a bit and luckily flops out.
I am not going to claim all Sakos have an ejection problem but I saw enough to realize that my sample of two did not perform to my satisfaction.

Wow! Those slow mo videos are cool, you can really see the super high ejection trajectory, one looks like its ejecting straight up! I also took note of the the 50mm objective scope's thus the high mounted scopes, I know from experience what happens with low mounted scopes, its a real shame that such a fine rifle has this flawed design..........Hb

Buy it , give it a good work out. If you find you can not live with it, send it to me.I will give it a good Forever Home and the money you spent could be chalked up to a life lesson!!!!!!

My assessment was realistic, fair, and unbiased. In the case of my 85 Varmint 223 8 twist, the mag limits COAL to 2.28". I'm not about to get into an internet pissing contest over whether or not I'm justified in wanting a mag accommodating 2.50+" COAL and more than two aftermarket stock options for a heavy barreled 8 twist 223. Further, denying that scope mounting options are extremely limited is delusional. Finally, you might want to revisit your understanding of the positioning of a front optilock ring on the tapered dovetail.




GaryVA,
You've almost done a fantastic job detailing constraints inherent in the Sako 85 design.

Beretta support is the same for Tikka isn't it?

The tapered Sako dovetail is brilliant. Never heard anyone say anything bad about it till now.

Even Sako wouldn't compare the accuracy of a Tikka with a Sako. I have never met or shot a Tikka that shot any better than any other modern rifle, despite all the love: I dont doubt there are some accurate ones, but there are a lot of people riding on the coattails of some accuracy claims they read about on the internet who have never fired a group at 100 yards themselves.
Anyway, they are only popular because they were considered a cheaper Sako to start with.
And the Tikka just sucks frankly, with its pissy magazine, that makes that toy sproing noise whenever you push one of its three cartridges out, all that plastic, no way to top load, and its trigger that rusts inside the housing and gets sticky, the pot metal receiver, and the stainless steel that rusts if you wave a glass of water in front of it.
I wouldn't even compare a T3 and a Sako 85.

But personally I would take the money for a new Sako 85 and buy an old Sako L61R, have some change for a scope and a better rifle too.

The only way to go straight up into the scope tube is from the case being pushed through the claw. I would look for a stuck, damaged, or worn extractor, or a bad spring. With a good, free moving Sako extractor, the mechanics are no different than a Mauser, except instead of bending a full length extractor by hand to adjust and tune tension, Sako uses a coil spring.

There are only three parts to this Sako extractor assembly: extractor, retainer pin, and spring. Gre-Tan HD standard length springs are $1.50 US each, their extended version are $2.50 US each. A 10-pack of the extended is $17.00 each. The pieces pop-in and out.

One, here, stopped the case tinking the scope by replacing the stock spring with a Gre-Tan. One, here, stopped the case from tinking the scope by merely degreasing and deburring the stock parts. Another, replaced a damaged extractor claw.

It is rather simple, pop out your extractor, pin and spring. Make sure the recess is burr free. Clean the pieces off with lighter fluid. Examine the claw for damage. Re-install parts and test tension. You should not be able to pull a fresh case straight up through the claw. If you can, and the claw looks good, the spring tension is weak. Gre-Tan makes a higher tension spring that can be cut to fit and/or the recess can be deepened for it to fit.

The standing ejector only pushes the case up within the free space between the case head and bolt face, until it runs into the claw. This allows the case to clear the rail, and at that point, the case follows the claw out. Some combinations may glance part of the scope body on the way out, but for the case to go straight up and straight through the bite of the claw, something is amiss. Mine, as an example, the claw bites hard enough to tear off a case head, were it stuck.

I am sorry you gave up an otherwise great rifle. This is something that is little more difficult than removing and replacing a sling. Beretta is not going to bother beyond ensuring that the rifle ejects. They are not going to concern themselves with those who wish to push the scope lower than factory designs, for personal reasons to execute variations of stock crawl. For those, they give a refund, which is well beyond what other manufacturers will readily offer.

These are the reasons why on my posts reference fit of an 85, I point out the difference in the technique of cheeking a rifle compared to the technique of stock crawl. Rifles are no different than boots and backpacks, what fits one person exceedingly well, may be a poor fit for another. For my personal use of the Sako, I've spent a good amount of time attempting to walk a new owner through some of these discussions, to include meeting them, so I can place my hands on their rifle, and to use the stuff I have on hand to make a fix. For those I cannot meet, or those who refuse, I always request they make a video to demonstrate the specific malfunction that they describe. What I have learned over all those years, the ones who habitually complain, refuse to meet and refuse to make the video. There complaints then evolve and embellish as the years go by. SO, I now take this stuff with a grain of salt, as I realize most of these complaints are BS, and are done so, not from lack of mechanical skill, or ignorance, but merely from the joy of pushing buttons and trolling threads.

Best

You were on my original thread, many years ago, reference Phil Shoemaker testing a prototype of the Black Bear, I eventually had imported. Not to discount your experience, but Phil, is the only gun writer, who posts on this forum, who has proven to me, that he is beholden to no sponsor, and that his advice, is well grounded in first hand experience, and not skewed by bias of sponsorship. He is the only one, here, that meets this standard, in my book. In addition, Phil has my ear, when it comes to any dangerous game hunting advice. If he makes a recommendation, It carries great weight, in my book.

Phil has never steered me wrong with any advice or observation he has given. This includes with the below rifle, which at the time, was not even slated to be imported into the U.S.

That brings me to Beretta USA. I cannot agree with much of this repeated negative comments. Simple things, such as reading complaints of not getting information from Beretta on little stuff, like torque specs. Come to find, those who complained, never registered their guns, and never signed up with Beretta USA. I do, make an electronic account, and find all those questions already answered, at my finger tips. Even those not answered, when I ask, are generally answered by an expert within a few days, at most. On something difficult, like getting Beretta interested in changing their minds, and importing the rifle below, they did so. I wrote to them, they listened, they gave me positive feedback, and they responded in my favor. How can I complain about that, as that is rather great service, in my book.

So again, not trying to discount your feelings, but they do not carry as much weight, in my book.

Best

We can't all be 6' blondes.