Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada BC rifle

I just spent an hour and a half, carefully going over a Synthetic Stainless Model 85 Sako in .338WM, at Italian Sports here in Vancouver, BC. It is put aside with my name on it and I am almost certainly going to buy it, very soon, Christmas bills and all AND I already have five superb rifles in .338WM.

WHY, you wonder,would an otherwise sane, rational, mellow, easy-going and practical old fellow like me spend the loot for yet another hunting rifle? Well, very simply, NO current factory production rifle that I have seen in my 44+ years of big game hunting impresses me nearly as much as this one.

The fit, finish, trigger, balance and everything is REALLY "there" and it handles superbly. This combo with a Zeiss Conquest 3x9 or a straight 4x is, IMHO, the best no-bullschit rifle for all-around BC hunting that I have ever seen.

So, it seems to me that posting this here on the Canada forum will, hopefully, assist guys who are trying to decide what rifle to buy; you cannot do better than this and I think that it is as close to "perfect" as any production rifle can be and rivals some pretty special collectors pieces I have.

With a 250NP in WW brass, WW mag.primer and H-4350, you should be able to get an easy 2750-2775 fps-mv and this works on everything we have here, very nicely. I bet that anyone buying one of these will be very satisfied.

Time we got back to guns and hunting here, the politics simply causes too much animosity and I am bored with it as, IMO, are many others. Check this rifle out, it really strikes a chord with me.

Good for you kute glad to hear your Sako review is thumbs up.I'm pondering one too in 30-06...Once I get my next Sako Finnbear project back..

And I was hearing all sorts of unkind things about those rifles too. Guess I'll have to pick one up and play with it, form a personal opinion. Kute, what do the new ones weigh? I could do with out another 9lb hunting rig, I prefer 8 or so for 300's and 338's.

"Old" Kute i always read your comments about tools, rifles especially in your "harsh" environment and was wondering why there is such a difference between the tikka T3 and the sako 85 ???
this is in close the same mechanism (action and barrel) even if the lock lugs are not in the same number the magazine is not locked the same way

of course i must add too that i love the ruger african in 375 ruger seems you handle it too ???!!!

absolutely sorry for my rusty english i use it only when i guide americans in northern Quebec .. !!!

Mike, I would go with the Finnlite version in an '06 as the regular one is as heavy as a .338 or .300WM; I don't see any point in hauling that weight around for a standard cal.

Rem338, I didn't weigh it as their scale is only in the "foreign" scale of metric and I tend to use our old measure/weights system. My impression is that it is about the same as my Dakota 76 and balances almost as nicely, which is, to me, the real issue.

I might get a chance to weigh one soon, in Imperial and will try to post it for you, but, I would guess that the rifle with Optilock mounts plus a Zeiss Conquest will go about 8 1/2 lbs., or, a tad more. I am comfortable with this as an 8 lb. .338WM with 250s pushing 2800 is a mite "rude" and kinda bucks a bit.

These will run with Ruger Hawkeyes, Mod. 70s and so forth in approx. weight and my subjective impression is that they are about right for the .338WM, while a bit heavy in 7mag. and .300WM, which I have also examined, but, have no desire for.

I think you may be onto something here Kute. 8 1/2 lbs all up is a good weight for a .338, and the Conquest is good glass (I'lls stay loyal to my Leupold yet;)). I am thinking one of these with a 1.75-6x32 would be a nice set. The new 85's being a CRF is an asset. You keep talking about balance, and I like that.

i would be interested in taking a look at it myself. If you ever need a range to shoot at let me know.

Is it true they(sako) will not be exporting the 9.3X66, this seems like a perfect big game combo.

I would like a Sako M85, I have been thinking about one in 338, that sounds like a nice rifle, Kute!

Bcboy,

Stoeger will import every calibers from Sako or Tikka you need to ask your reseller if it doesnt work PM me ... im not a seller but i have some connections with the distributor ...

see you.

I love Sako rifles, but I haven't really looked much at the 85's yet.

Just a word, when mounting a Conquest 3x9x40 in Optiloks, the large base gets in the way of the eye peice and I can't mount it far enough forward to use the 4" of eye relief. I had to switch to burris bases and signature rings(which work very well I might add).

[quote=kutenay]Mike, I would go with the Finnlite version in an '06 as the regular one is as heavy as a .338 or .300WM; I don't see any point in hauling that weight around for a standard cal.

Good call I do tend to agree with that 100 per cent..Packed enough heavy magnums to know with a std cal lighter is better.Any idea's on barrel length...22 inch or 20?I've yet to put one in my hands.

that's the route i am taking, sold off a bunch of stuff last year . plan a 2 rifle battery (so my wife thinks) so I have a sako 85 ss in 9.3x66 on order and a sako 85 ss Finnlight on back otder, its a 3006. Both are light rifles for their caliber. I hope i et the european version as i believe the 9.3 will be imported to the us market as a 370 Sako mag with a 24" bbl or metric equivalent, I want the 22". i have handled both , but not in the calibers i want, and kute is right, these rifles are as good as it gets for the money. mt cousin has a sako 75 ss in 338wm. it does shoot 5shots at 100m into 1" group with average handloads. balance and excellant trigger makes them a joy to shoot.

Tikka's used to be a seperate entity and every bit as good as a Sako or better. I guess once they got bought out by Berretta that all changed for the worst. I don't think I would own one now. They got turned into Euro trash rifles (cheap). Cheap is OK we can't all afford expensive guns but I wish they had just brought out a new make or line instead of mucking up Tikka.
I still have two, a 243 win mod 55 and a 7mm Rem Mag mod 65. The 243 is very lite and incredibly accurate. The 7mm is extremely accurate to but just a tad to the heavy side.

I'm (somewhat) on the heels of Kutes..

I haven't had an opportunity to touch one of these Sakos, but from what I have read, they seem good. Sako has always given us good quality rifles...And the new ones seem even better...

I'm not as enamored of the 338 WM as Kutes is, I've never seen it do what a .300 cannot, and I think that we are better served with a .375 when push comes to shove, but we coudl quibble about cartridges forever...And as always, the right bullet in the right place works well.

Anyway, we could do alot worse than these new Sakos, and I wish them the best.

Kutes, were you looking at the S/S, Laminated or Walnut model?

I have examined various models of the 85, in ss, lam. and walnut/blued as well as Finnlights and std. weights. The Finnlites in standard cals. have 22+"bbls. and that would be my choice as I have, but do not care much for shorter tubes in .270s, 06s, etc.

I looked at a .300WM in a Finnlite last week and it IS a pretty impressive rifle, close to "perfection" as a BC mountain rifle, except it has no backup irons. However, the .300s will not equal a properly loaded .338WM for serious stopping power and .375s are not available in this model, for those who want them.

Also, the .338WM has better balance, to me, than the .300WM or 7RM has in this particular model and is, IMO, a better choice as an "all around" rifle here in BC. The entire package is what impresses me and is one of the few rifles I have seen in a LONG time that does.

Most production rifles today are such crap as Huntsman points out with his perceptive comments about the decline in Tikkas, a very sad situation, but, this Sako is better than any that went before. So, I would go with the Finnlite in all short and std. cals. and the .338WM in the long version; a .270W and .338WM combo would be great and a 7x64 and 9.3x66 or even my much admired 9.3x62 would also be excellent.

I spoke with the importers some months ago and they indicated that they would gladly import the "Bavarian" model in Euro cals. for anyone interested; this is the most aesthetically pleasing version, appeals to the "squarehead" aspect of my nature and is a really neat rifle. A 7mm-9.3 combo in a pair of these would be really neat..........

ALL serious "rifle loonies"need HELP!!!!

What are your thoughts on Magna-porting to tame the 'rude'??

I not kute but I'm not a huge fan of having slits cut in my barrels.

I once shot a Weatherby MKV in .378WM to assist a longshoreman sighting it in and it was MPed. I have also shot with various muzzlebrakes and, after this, I dislike MPing, brakes and any other type of gas-diverting alterations to a rifle.

I am a pretty big and solid guy and have very little trouble with recoil, unless I am very tired and "rundown", so, for me, a good shoulder pad, i.e., a PAST or Limbsaver plus reasonable weight in a rifle are preferable.

A .338WM is not bad, once you get used to it and my chopped, lightened P-64 in .375 H&H is actually pleasant to shoot, but, I really hate noise and muzzleblasts can make me very tense and my shooting suffers from that....and age, but, WTF can you do.

You oughta look at these Sakos, all political BS aside for a moment, these are probably about perfect for northern BC Moose hunting, especially using a "quad" to travel and haul the meat out. This is the FIRST clip system I have ever felt comfortable with, good thing as replacements are HUGE bux.

Dang it you guys!
Now I have to buy a M85 in 338Winny.
This is an expensive forum...