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

Why??

So you are talking about this one for $1,099.

You can't find used ones for that ....

http://www.eurooptic.com/sako-85-synthetic-black-30-06-spr-jrs1c20.aspx

Like Steelhead and DakotaDeer said the 85 has a very bad ejector design unless it's on a 94 Winchester. There's a ton of discussion on this in various threads. The ejector blade is at dead 6 o'clock on the bolt face, pushing the cartridge or case straight up. The extractor at about 10 o'clock can be easily overwhelmed. If the case mouth hits the scope, and on mine it was 100% of the time, the case head keeps pushing on the ejector until the case rim pops out of the extractor and the case lays down in the action. Mine was a 85M in 30-06. Customer service with Beretta/Sako told me they couldn't guarantee ejection on every scope and mount combination users come up with. They refused to do anything about it. I was using a 1" scope tube in medium Leupold mounts. Pretty exotic, huh. Buy at your own risk. Below is a picture of the bolt face positioned during the ejection cycle. Hard to imagine it might bounce cases off the scope isn't it. LOL.



edit: In fairness to customer service with regard to correction of the problem, there really isn't much way to compensate for this faulty design. On the other hand they didn't have to lie in placing the blame on me and my equipment. They know better.

I did just that and have gone to a Ruger 77 MKII in the zytel stock...

Shootem,

Did you get the stiffer ejector spring from Gretan to see if it helps your issue ?

I did, and it seems to have fixed it for me. Then again. I only had the problem when I extracted really, really slow..

BTW - this is only a problem on some long actions....

You're right about the long actions. I just modified my post to indicate what I had. Have not heard any complaints about short actions. As far as changing the spring? Raised that possibility with customer service and they denied there was anything wrong to fix. Said they'd never heard of that. As you can probably tell I have a very negative opinion of their customer service (oxymoron) after this experience. After dealing with them and taking a really good look at the mechanical design of the extraction/ejection system I decided I didn't want to MAKE it work. I didn't want anything else to do with it. Speaking of my particular rifle it didn't matter if I worked the action fast or slow it failed. Glad yours is satisfactory. But as far as I'm concerned every time that design works, it almost didn't. I would never trust it. But continued good luck to you with yours.

My 270 Win built on a 85 action has had no issues so I wouldn't be afraid of owning another.

wow, very informative feedback, thanks much for the pic of the bolt. i am going to pass on the Sako 85. just can't see spending that much money on a rifle that may give me issues that generate from the design engineering fundamentals...

Spend even more and buy a Barrett Fieldcraft or a Cooper. Once you spend $1000 the first time $2000 doesn't seem like so much for the next one.

I guess I have been lucky. All the sako 85's I have owned have been 100% perfect (I think I own all action sizes). The only issue with owning one is you won't want another Remington, Winchester, ruger, etc.

I have only owned one Tikka and while it was a good rifle it was no Sako. Nothing like having a 223 with a long action....

Dink

Honestly I don't think too many on this thread actually own them.

BARRETT FIELDCRAFT

The Sako 85 is a high quality rifle, and, 9 times out of 10, they are exceptional shooters right out of the box. The ejection issues have been overstated here. I have an 85 in .25-06, and I've had zero issues.

I do agree that Beretta Customer Service is beyond garbage, and I won't personally buy any new products under their umbrella as I KNOW they won't stand behind them.

The mounting system is actually extremely strong...much more so than the typical arrangement, but there are fewer options for mounts and rings. That's okay, as the one-piece Sako Ringmount is a fantastic design.

I'd give this one some time. Let others jump on the grenade first.

For my part, the issue is not overstated. My experience is just as I described without embellishment. I even saved the exchange of emails with customer service. Many others have experienced this same level of performance with the 85M and have described it pretty much the way I did. If you would like to get additional feedback start a thread asking for input on Sako 85 failures. I will not tell someone to not buy a Sako 85 or to buy one. That choice is up to the consumer. My experience is free to use or not use in making that decision.

I agree.

I wonder how many guys have actually owned one long enough to see what a sako will really do.

I don't how anyone could go from a sako to a ruger or Remington...

Dink

This sums up the negative vibes:


1. Consider a Tikka instead: less expensive, better scope mounting system, stiffer action, same/better accuracy
2. Beretta support sucks
3. A Tikka is a noticeably lighter rifle to carry in the field
4. Scope mounting options are extremely limited for the Sako
5. Sako's tapered dovetail mounting scheme is a PIA
6. Some of the larger (above XS) action sizes have ejection issues
7. COAL can be restricted by the proprietary DBM
8. There is no aftermarket bottom metal available
9. Aftermarket stocks are very limited
10. The lug/block action to stock design is not appealing to some

The negatives that really hit home for me are 1 and 4, and especially 2, 6 and 7

I really like my 85 and 75s. I never has an issue with them. All tack drivers, and I mostly use Leupold/Sako mounts.

Dogger,

You do not need any assistance, in talking yourself out of a Sako, as you have already started your thread from the negative.

On the other hand, if you have interest, and are trying to wade through the BS, I'll offer my opinion:

There are quite a volume of Sako 85s in use all over the world. Search for videos showing any of those Sako 85s that will eject straight up, through the grip of the extractor. You will not find a single one, as it does not exist. Search for any video showing a Sako 85 that ejects straight up, so that the case goes into the scope tube, and bounces back into the receiver, so to fail to reliably eject and fail to reliably feed. It does not exist. However, you will find quite a number of videos, both slow motion, and real time, showing Sako 85s cycling and ejecting well.

For near a decade now, I've noticed the same handful of people, circulate the same repeated stories, of a few rifles, that at most, would "tink" the scope as the cases were ejected, and turn these incidents into stories of "failure" to eject. When pressed, at the times they still had possession, they would never post a video to demonstrate such claim. Even when offered a hand at a fix, the same handful, reply from the negative, as having no wish to attempt doing so.

You will see this predisposed negative attitude toward Sako, the mounts, the stock, etc. If you look below the surface, you will find much of this BS coming from those who have never run an 85, have never run a Sako synthetic stock, and have never run a current set of Sako mounts.

My advice, if a Sako fits you out the box, and you are not one having a tendency to crawl the stock, THEN, a Sako is worth a good look. On the other hand, if it does not fit you, you tend to stock crawl, or you have need to replace the factory stock to make it work, THEN, a Sako may not be worth a good look.

As for ejection, the claw holds the case, and the standing ejector will only push the case UP, within the spacial clearance between the case head and bolt face. This is enough height to clear the rail. But from that point, the case is under the control of the extractor claw, and MUST follow that path of ejection. The only possible way for the standing ejector to push the case straight up through the grip of the claw, would be if something is askew or out of spec. Examples of this:

-Parts not properly cleaned, and are gummed up and sticking.

-Claw is out of spec, and not holding the case.

-Case is worn or out of spec.

-Spring tension is weak.

Outside of this, some combinations are such, that full hard ejection dinks the case on the way out, but it does eject.

If you look, you will find the same complaints about most every make of rifle made. Just recently there was a thread on ejection issues with Kimber. Quite a number of such threads will have some, piling on, with a volume of repeated BS.

Best of luck