Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles B.C. backcountry "bear medicine" CZ, Ruger or Sako?

I've narrowed my search down to these three.

My cartridge preference, so far is, the 9.3 X 66 Sako round as my first choice, followed by the 9.3 X 62, followed by the .338 Winchester. The .375 Ruger is, I believe, a lot more cartridge than I need.

Please give me the run down on all of the strengths and weaknesses of these rifles for a Northern B.C. backcountry bear rifle. Why do you like the new Rugers, Sakos or CZ's? What don't you like about them? How much does it cost to fix the shortcomings of each rifle?

I reload, so factory ammo availability doesn't concern me.

I doubt (realistically) that I'll ever get to Africa - so for now, lets talk about where I have spent considerable time - northern B.C.

I have no reason to think I'll ever "need" more than my Dad's trusty old 30-06 for "bear medicine" - but when it comes to rifles - life is too short to think about "need" - it's the "wants" that make life worth living.

I like the old Sako Finnbear L61r actions. I have one in 338 win that shoots lifhts out and man is that action smooooth.

go to the www. tradeexcanada. com website, buy one of the C-ring FN 9.3x62's, a butler creek stock, and a can of flat black tremclad paint. have a smith move the front sight back and buck the bbl off at 18-22" and you're set. You will look long and hard and spend 3x the cash to find a better rifle for what you are asking. With a military flag safety, a two-stage trigger, and semi-fixed floorplate, it has no shortcomings, except possibly rust resistance in the bore.

BCBrian: For your needs I would recommend the CZ 550 Full Stock in 9.3x62 stoked with 286 Nosler Partitions at about 2,400 feet per second. The full stock has the 20.5 inch barrel, however, 2,400 fps is entirely possible with the short barrel. The CZ has a highly adjustable trigger mechanism which does not require a gunsmith. The accuracy with these rifles, the full stock and the CZ 550 Americans, have been generally superior. My CZ 550 American in 7x57mm slings 160 grain slugs at around 2,800 fps into three-shot groups of .480 and partitions into groups measuring .540 inch at 100 yards. Some folks say the actions cycle rough. I can assure you they cycle on par with most other major manufactured rifle. A couple of evenings at home in front of the television cycling the actions makes them as smooth as a baby's butt. Others say the rifles feel club-like. They do, admittedly have more wood on them than other rilfes, however, I stand 5'9" tall, am thin, and my CZ does not feel like a club. I hope this helps. Tom Purdom

What Free Miner said. Wow, that was easy!

I have just bought a nearly new Sako 75 Stainless/Synthetic in a 9.3x62 as its one of the few rifles these days (apart from Weatherbies) that fit me properly - with its Monte Carlo style stock.

I should get it in the next couple of days. My next choice would have been the CZ.

Both good rifles but Sakos require no gunsmithing whereas CZs very often do. (This I can attest to, as I have a CZ 458Lott which cost me nearly the price of the rifle again to get it into a smooth feeding reliable DG rig.)

Sako triggers are excellent whereas CZ triggers without some tuning are average.

CZs need to bedded, Sakos already are.

CZs are a crf action, Sakos a pushfeed (and that goes for the 85 which is effectively pushfeed despite what they say).

If it matters, the Sako 85 is a lighter rifle than the Cz.

Basically if you want a rifle that you can take out the box, mount a scope & go hunting with then the Sako has no peers.

If you prefer a CRF action and don't mind possibly having to do a some tuning then the CZ is the way to go.



Good luck with your choice

Your best choice is to do as my buddy free miner suggests OR to buy the CZ 9.3x62 in the Lux version, put a decent synthetic stock on it and have Reliable Gun here in Vancouver smooth the trigger. Have them cut and crown the bbl to 21"and reinstall the front sight, then mount a 4x Leupy in CZ mounts.

The Ruger IS a NEAT piece in .375 Ruger, Reliable has a Hawkeye African and I would LOVE to have one, but, NO, I have too many rifles now. With minimal tuning, it is an EXCELLENT heavy-duty rifle, just excellent and I spent enough of my life living alone in northern BC bush to ahve some ideas on this.

The Sako 85 is a very nice rifle, but, the other two are better for what you want. You can also get Barry Jenkins in Delta to build you something in 9.3x62 on any decent older CRF action, with a Heym sts. bbl. and whatever options you desire. He is doing two rifles for me at present, one a 9.3x62 on a FN action.

I would avoid the 9.3x66 for your purposes, it is rare, will remain so and ammo is too hard to get, plus it won't DO anything the older 62mm round won't do as well. I also would not pick the .338 in this role although I HAVE used it as such, too severe a muzzle blast in shorter bbls. for my taste, WORSE than my chopped .375H&H.

Got one myself.
The Sako Finnbear L61R is my favorite hunting rifle and action by far.Got a few of them..Good stuff

From what I'm reading about the new Winchesters going to be produced - perhaps they might be a good foundation too.

Ah, so many choices, I feel like a kid in an (expensive) candy store.

Kutenay, if it's a CZ - why the "Lux" version as the base?

The Lux version comes with iron sights which give you the holes pre-drilled to accept GOOD irons, such as Recknagels. The stockwood on CZs is often pretty crappy for use in our kind of wet and rugged terrain, so, the full-length stocks are, IMO, not that good a plan. Reliable brought one in for me, last year and I refused it, bad layout and it WILL warp, bigtime.

So, get the Lux, trim the BBl. at least a 21" tube for your height and customize it. These make just an excellent rifle if customized a bit and I would choose one over anything on the current market.

You should be able to do it all for under 3K, scope in and that is for a NEW rifle, etc. Reliable will give you a good price, tell them I sent you and you can trust their gunsmithing, they have worked on my custom drilling, my Dakota and other very choice guns I have.

The rifles you list are all performers. I think I would go with CZ because I am presently having a love affair with my 550 Safari Magnum in .375H&H. CZ has really impressed me as I have owned several .375s and not one of them would shoot as well. My buddies report similar results with their CZs in a variety of calibers. I would also go with the .338. Ammunition is widely avaliable and it handles bullet weights from 180 to 300grs. In fact, I find it as versitle as a 30-06 but with considerably more thump when that is needed.

The sako 9.3x66 is rare right now, so is the 35Whelen, 9.3x62 in NA,338 A-Square, 358 Win will not be found on dealers shelves in any amount or at all. The 9.3x66 Sako is not rare at all when handloaded, bullets are available and factory brass is as well. Cylinder brass is also available. Its basically a factory wildcat to us and I dare say that brass could be formed from 06 with a short neck, rule off thumb is no less than 2/3rds diameter, something like a 300Win Mag neck. anyway a little defensive here as I have one on order. I like the idea of a 250 TSX at 2750fps.

what is the difference in case capacity between the 9.3x62 and 9.3x66 when loaded to the same cartridge oal?

Lots of good advice on this one, Thought I'd throw in my two cents as well as I spend up to 7 months a year working mostly at night alone in bear country
Ive got a CZ 550 medium in x62 that is fantastic, it functions flawlessly everytime is very accurate and I originally bought it for the same purpose ,but for my work gun... I called tradex and bought a 1950 Husky FN 98 and had Barry Jenkins install a heym x62 barrel. I put it in a bell and carlson medalist stock with a bushnell elite 3200 1.5 x 4.5 scope, mark x trigger with side safety and comercial bolt shroud and Im very happy with it, 286 partitions at 2450 fps will take care of anything that needs attention. As light and handy as an 06 but with a fair bit more smack. I originally was going to put iron sights on it but found in the real world that I dont ever use them anymore and my eyes sure arent as sharp as they used to be.
I wouldnt hesitate to buy the CZ 550 medium in 9.3x62 as it comes with good quality iron sights , two crossbolts and that wonderful square bridge reciever with two position safety and single set trigger and a pachmayer decelerator. I find the lop a little too long for me as I'm only 5'9"
I had a sako AV III deluxe in 06 once for about 5 years and it was a fine rifle too , but not a working tool like the CZ.

It's hard to imagine a factory coming out with a better working gun for bear country than the Ruger Alaskan......I like CZ s also , but the Ruger is corrosion resistant from the getgo , the right size and weight , and also also has excellant open sights . The Ruger trigger is much simpler than the CZ , and I would bet be less prone to problems under severe conditions .

The Ruger 375 cartridge does give you the option of more horsepower if you feel the situation calls for that ; or it would be no trick to load it down to 9.3 levels if that's what you desire.

The Ruger is nigh perfect for your needs as it comes right outa the box......

The corrosion aspect is over-played, IMO, far too many guys stress this "I want a rifle that I can just throw down in the rain" stuff on internet forums. Well, I spent much of my life working in some of the most densely populated Grizzly country anywhere and usually alone and NO working professional bushman abuses his tools, rifle, bino or whatever.

I totally agree with what DopeyDave posted and was just talking to Barry yesterday about my custom short P-64-.375 and my FN 9.3x62 that he is building. I do not see an advantage for BC conditions in the Ruger, it kicks harder, has one less round capacity and I doubt that mechanical reliability is superior as Brno/CZ rifles have an excellent reputation here for that. I have owned over a dozen of them and they ARE a h*ll of a working rifle for BC conditions.

Of course, I WOULD LOVE a Ruger Hawkeye in .375R....I NEED one........

sako states 71gr VV-550 with the 286gr bullet and 73 , I think, with the 250 gr. i know the 9.3x66 is an odd ball and may not go anywhere in NA, mostly because of the fear of metric units. For many years I have used a hot loaded 35whelen, 250gr FXB at 2680fps and a 375HH 270gr FXB at 2700+ fps. These two rounds have good ranging ability and awesome destructive power on game and for the 06 inspired rounds, come in a easy to handle package, short and light. So the 9.3x66 is both of these with the portablity and power tight there. I thought about the 9.3x62 and it would be as good as the whelen but not the 375. Anyway I got my moose this year with a 30-06 , 180gr TSX BT @ 2700fps, 3x9 Leupold in talley mounts........ at 40yards so go figure

If this is a defensive weapon I'd strongly consider a Marlin .45-70. I'd rather have one in my hands in a close-range emergency than a bolt rifle.

It will do for most hunting shots as well.

No, actually it wouldn't as using one for 12 years here in BC has shown me, along with 8+ years of a Browning 1886SRC, both with "ghost rings and posts" and special handloads.

The lever rifles ARE NOT as easy to rapidly manipulate under stress due to fingers being pinched in levers under recoil, stock design and recoil impetus.

I can use a CRF bolt rifle faster in stressful situations than any lever and I have owned/used all of them, Sako Finnwolfs, P-64 Mod. 88s, Savage 99s, Winnies, Marlins and so forth. For mixed northern BC hunting, the hottest .45-70 loads do not come close to the 9.3x62, .338WM or .375H&H and any of these is a far superior choice for Brian's purposes.

Kute- I guess Phil Shoemaker and Ed Stevenson haven't heard that! IIRC both have and use levers extensively in their jobs, which is guiding folks to or in bear country. My guess is that those two spend more time around dangerous critters in a month than either you or I do in years.