Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Sako 85 Finnlight Owners.......

I'm a big Sako fan plain and simple. I've never even held a 85 finnlight, however. Please give me the good, bad and ugly if you guys don't mind. Thanks in advance.

JG, I don't have an 85 Finnlight or a Kimber Montana, but I would go with an 84L for a hunting rifle.


Been thinking about trading my S/S 85 off on a Montana 84L in 270.


The Sako action is nice though, just not into the stock. McEdge 85 Finnlight would be sweet.


What cartridge were you thinking?

My 85 Grey Wolf went down the road. Theyre nice guns but not "that" nice. I've got a Montana .270, and a Model 7 SS 22" SAUM that'll get dressed like Rancho Locos as well as a Montana .223 on order.


I don't miss my Sako.

I have 2 M75 Finnlites. The 300 WSM Finnlite feeds the WSM's like butter and has shot quite a few 3 shot 3/4" groups at 200yds with 180gr Failsafe bullets. The 270 if anything is even more accurate.

The M85 has a better stock design and better magazine release. I'd love to have a couple M85's too..................dj

I have a 75 Finnlite in 270.It's a nice rifle and I paid a little over $900 new on close out.I love the easily adjustable trigger and can deal with the limited scope mounts.

I hate the seam of the injection molded stock.For the money they are asking you should get better quality,though it works fine.

The bead blasted finish will spot rust easily and show dirt easily on the magazine and trigger guard.I can wipe it down with metal polish and it looks as good as new.

Mine will shoot very small groups you can cover with a quarter with factory ammo at 100 yards.I suspect it could do better if I reloaded.Not every 3 shot group is that small but I expect factort ammo is the main reason.

I expect however that Sako will shortly change the model and parts will only be available on the secondary market.That hasn't been a problem on previous models though.

I would probably buy another if a good deal came around but I would put it in a McMillan Stock.

Beretta is not a good thing.

Too bad for Sako.

My girlfriend has a M85 finnlight in a 25-06 that currently sits in a McMillian Edge stock and she loves it. Its very accurate and easy for her to shoot. I can't say i have any complaints about it myself except that the factory stock isn't as nice as a McMillian.

I'm a 7mag junkie, have two of them already, but would consider another in the 85. Something for flat shooting, longer range stuff. I've got a 7-08 for a lighter duty cartridge, if you could call this superb caliber that. Love that -08. What do you suggest? Open country here like you hunt, long range definitely possible if wind is OK. I'm not sure the short mags offer all that much more than what I've got.

On anything except a 7mm-08 I think I would want a longer barrel than is on the Finnlite.I know I would with a 7mm Rem Mag but someone may know more about the other 7mm's than I do.

I have a Sako 85 finnlight in 270 winchester. It weighs 7 lbs 6oz (if I remember right) with optilocks and Leupold vx-3 3.5x10x40 cds.

It shoots alot of different loads about like this at a 100:
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And kill stuffs like this:
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The only thing I don't like is that I don't own one in 30/06...

Dink

Getcha one...it'll do a 7 mag justice.

Dink, that's a great buck...my 85 Finnlight didn't come with one like that.

I don't own a 85 but have handled enough to know they're a serious rifle.
The best factory rifle bar none for those $ IMO, & that includes Sauer. Buy & enjoy(no smith work) unlike many other production rifles out there. Which are often like playing a game of Russian roulette....

Those Finnlights are superb!

Great rifle, but for the money I would rather have a custom. I'm mot a fan of the stock. An edge would be sweet though

I think there was a Finnlite in 270 with Conquest scope and mounts for $1500 (package they did). It was a real nice package that my cousin alomst picked up. It was the newer stock (older one had flex from what the web said).

http://www.covecreekoutfitters.com/gun-room/sako-finnlight-st-zeiss-deer-hunters-package-exclusive

Looks like a great deal???

The newer ones have the Soft Touch (ST) stock which is much nicer that the original stock. They are very nice rifles. I don't think you can go wrong with them.

I will make an exception now.
This time only I will mention Sako 85 and Kimber(newer production) in the same sentence. Cause they are not in the same league, in my opinion. Only thing better with the Kimber is the stock, but that can be easily fixed with the Sako, which in any case has a stock that works. Its not nice, but it works...

Unfortunately, I cant say the same about the Kimbers I have seen.
A shame, cause they seem so sweet.

However, Sako 85 is a good rifle. Not as good as the 75:s, but good. Sure, they are a tad lighter, otherwise not as good. On the other hand, the 75:s are not as good as the earier Sakos, and so on...
Yes, I have had a bunch of Sakos...

Good point. The ST stocks feel much better. The original felt like the Tikka to me

I keep hearing that the 85's are not as good as the 75's but no one has ever said why? The only thing that they come up with is the stock which is easily fixed, so what am I and others missing then?

I have several 75's and 85's. All my 85's shoot slightly better than my 75's with one exception. When my 300 rum (75) was new it was the most accurate Sako I have owned.

I do like the 75 stock more than the 85 stock but the 85 stock is very nice in my opinion. The 85's are lighter and have shot better so far but the stock is not quite as nice.

Dink

JG,
I purchased an 85 finnlite, in 270 win., this past spring for a sheep hunt I had planned for Aug. of 2011 in Alaska. This was going to be my 3rd attempt and I wanted to change something to change my luck.(anyway,that's what I told the wife)
I used the extra low optilocks with a Leupold 4.5-14X40mm. I set the trigger to 2 lbs. and tried a lot of different brands of ammo. I finally settled on Barnes Vortex in 130 gr. TTSX's. (I don't reload) Anyway, I took a nice sheep at 450 lasered yards.
I can't say enough about the Sako or the ammo.
Good Luck with your purchase!