Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Sako 85 Ejection issues

About three years ago I bought a Sako 85 Finn Light in .270 Win. Had problems from the beginning. The main issue was that an ejected round hit the scope and was ejected or just flipped over and landed on the mag follower. At the time many Sako 85 owners were having the same problem I was having, and many others were having no problems at all. At the time, the ones with long actions were the ones having the problems, and short action owners were having no problems. I raised the height of my scope but it did not stop the problem. After a few discussions with Beretta, I sent the rifle back and they refunded me the price I paid for the rifle. (Thank you Beretta) I could tell what was causing the problem 1. ejector at the 6:00 position behind magazine, 2. extractor not strong enough to hold round from insertion through firing and ejection. I thought I would ask you guys that own 85's if the problem still exists, or did Beretta/Sako make any changes on the 85 to stop this problem. I would especially like to hear from long action 85 owners. I have older Sako's with the ejector at the 9:00 position and they have never failed to function properly. I am not looking to open an old wound, and I am not putting down 85 Sako's. As a matter of fact I would love to own an 85 if I could count on it to function properly. Sako 85 owners I would appreciate hearing from you. Thank you and good evening.

G2

I remember when you were having problems. I wonder why Sako changed the ejector location from 9 oclock to the 6 oclock position????? It's like Winchester changing the trigger. Why don't these companies leave well enough alone and use what they know works?

I have a Sako 85 Finnlight in .270 bought new last year from Cabela's. Actually, I didn't buy it new. Rather a guy in my office did and a few months later his wife got pregnant and, well, you know the deal- she made him sell his guns. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

I have a Zeiss HD5 2-10x42 mounted on it in Leupold medium rings. I've ran 100 rounds through it, and have never had any ejection problems whatsoever.

My left hand Sako 85 Hunter with a Benchmark barrel in 270 Win ejects perfectly. I know a few others have had a problem but my sample of one works great.

Had Sako 85 Flinnlight in 25-06 and 30 wsm after hundreds of rounds neither had that issue.

My 30-06 Finnlight would sometimes kiss the bottom of the scope but always ejected from rifle fully. I bought a Sako extractor kit from Brownells which included; extractor, stronger spring, and plunger. After replacing all 3 parts it hasn't kissed the bottom of scope ever.

To answer bsa's question why they changed the design? They switched to a 3 lug bolt so a lug was right in the way of old ejector location. They put it at 6 so it didn't slide through one of the lugs which aren't as large as 2 lug actions.

I have owned several long action 85's and they all ejected at a high angle but a few would eject so high that they would hit the scope, the only cure I could come up with was high rings (which i hate) .......To answer your question the Sako model 85 6 o'clock ejector design is still exactly the same so its one of those "buyer beware" kind of deals.....If I really thought I had to have another 85 I would buy a short action or short action magnum ....I had several 308/7-08 Finnlights and 1 in .300 WSM and none of those had ejection issues......you did very well getting Beretta to buy back your rifle as they refused to buy either of mine......Good luck.......Hb

Thanks, and good to hear that your 85's are giving you good service. When I was having my trouble, I remember a camper told me that when Sako went with 3 locking lugs, and their so-called control feed, the ejector had to be moved to the 6:00 position. I would still like to have a Finnlight, but you know how it goes, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I ended up buying a Winchester 70 Extreme Weather in .270 Win. It is somewhat heavier than the 85 Finnlight, but you can mount your scope lower, and it throws a spent round at right angle with authority. Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback, and hope you continue to have good service with your 85's.

G2

Gramps that's mostly correct except they went to a 6 oclock ejector on the 75, the first 3 lug. Then modified the bolt face for 85 allowing for quasi controlled feed. I've had WSM's in 85 that were the worst for ejection angle sometimes falling back into the action backwards. It can happen on any size 85 action IME.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...s/9398929/The_results_are_in_Sako_Long_a


A rifle looney fixed his a couple of years ago...

I bought a used M85 7x64 Bavarian two years ago. It had ejection issues as described. Put in a slightly stronger/longer Gre-tan extractor spring, and all is good, perfectly reliable. It was a $5 fix.

I am extremely OK with having a 1,500+ rifle cost me ~1000 when it only takes a $5 spring to make it right.

Wow! It looks like if the fix was that easy Sako would have taken care of that simple fix years ago.............Hb

Hillbilly that is a naive statement ...

Jeez, this is deja vu all over again. G2 described what I experienced with a .205 Ruger and a .270 Win.. Never again will I look at another Sako 85. I'd settle for a Tikka or a RAR before that nightmare.

Spot, I dissagree here.... if the fix is so easy as to just install a heavier spring I'm sure the engineers at Sako would have recognized this and taken care of this issue many moons ago......I dont doubt your word one bit that it worked for you and I'm glad your 85's are running right, I just dont think that installing a heavier spring is a universal fix for the notorious Sako 85 ejection issue......Hb

Ah ha.. Thanks for answering that question.

Yep - a the brownells kit contains the springs I used as well...


HB - I took Sako a dozen years to change the design on thier scope rings to a less soft head that wouldn't strip out.. And this only occured when multiple rep's chewed thier tail.

Engineers have HUGE ego's... I should know, I are one.

Either way, stronger spring, and making sure you claw is right and you are good to go.

THEY could and probably will reconfigure things in the Sako 25 ? (2025)

But like I said, if you are counting on an engineer to say "i was wrong" you are going to wait, a long,long time.

Spot, I do know one thing for sure and that is your damn sure right about the soft screws, they were pitiful......Hb

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