Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Sako 85 Finnlight

Has anyone bought a Sako 85 in a magnum caliber ( I am thinking 7mm Rem mag) Just wondering if they have the ejection problems solved. I bought a Finnlight in .270 Win a few years ago and had nothing but problems. After some ranting here, and after several calls to Beretta I sent the rifle back to Beretta, as I was instructed. To my surprise they sent me a check for the full price of the rifle. I loved the feel of that rifle, and the rubberized stock. I had discovered what was wrong with the design of the rifle. It needed a stronger extractor spring, but the real problem was locating the ejector in the 6:00 position. If they had left it just like the older A V in the 9:00 position with 2 locking lugs instead of three it would have positive ejection at a 90 degree right angle. It would not have hit the scope, or flipped backwards and lay on top of cartridges in the magazine. Hoping for a change in design. Fill me in guys.

Wow! Beretta sent you a check? You are very lucky, most times they tell you to go pound sand as there is nothing wrong with the rifle (thats what they told me when I sent back an 85 Finnlight 30-06 with the notorious straight up ejection issue) ......As for Me there are way too many excellent rifles made with no issues for Me to try another Sako 85, why risk the headache?.....Good luck...Hb

That rubberized stock turned to sticky goo on my 85 Finnlight. Until then it shot well. Its custom 20 oz stock is much gooder anyway.

I have one in STW. Never had an issue with a definitive pull of the bolt when hunting. For rangework, I hate chasing brass so I’m content to catch it with my left hand. Love the stock.

Some will still fail to eject like the one I bought. Others work fine. Not worth the risk.

Thanks to all that replied to my post. I was afraid that the results would be the same. I must have been one of the first buyers, and they refunded me to basically shut me up. I took my refund, put some boot with it and bought 2 Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weathers. One in .270 Win and the other in 300 WSM. Got an order in to McMillan for their Winchester Hunter with Edge Tech for the .270 Win. Good afternoon to all.

Had a purchased new in 2018 .25-06 for a minute. It would not eject spent brass without mounting the scope obscenely high. I sold it off.

It is a shame that Sako doesn't address the 6 o'clock ejector issue. I had two beauties - a .270 Win, and a .204 Ruger. Both shot outstanding - the 204 would group 5 in one ragged hole if I was on my game. But I had to rotate the scope to allow for positive ejections. The new turret positions screwed me up more than once - I gave up and sold them.

A most Excellent choice👍....Enjoy!....Hb

You are indeed fortunate. When my turn came the mis-Service Dept at Beretta was determined to deny a problem existed until it was true. Still have the email exchange. However, despite the made to fail design it appears only 30-06 case length cartridges in the M model are functionally affected. Have heard no complaints on .308 based, belted magnum or short mag versions, old or new. Not to say the cartridge cases, or bullets, don't hit the scope tube but it appears they manage to not fall back into the action. Actually it appears more of the actions manage to eject, I suspect after a few rattles, than fail. Quite a few folks on here enjoy their 85Ms regularly.

And you're dead on the problem; with the ejector spring merely disguising a design fault. Model 94 ejectors do not belong in bolt rifles meant for over-bore scope mounting.

For those of you with Beretta Non-Customer Service Syndrome, small claims court is your huckleberry.