Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Guess I drew short straw on a new Sako

Yep, I sent a new Model 85 Finnlight back to Beretta a few years back and after 6 weeks My rifle came back with the same response.............Hb

I own three long action 85's and all run fine. Two have optilock lows and one has low ring mounts.

Dink

There are only three parts to the extractor equation, the extractor, an extractor coil spring, and a plunger. Brownells would be a source for replacement springs. Instead of modifying and bending a full length claw extractor, like on a 98 or 70, you should be able to alter the coil spring tension on the 85 to tune things up. If the claw is not holding strong enough so the ejector is pushing the case straight up through the extractor into the scope body, I'd think more tension should make the claw grip the case and flip it out the correct angle.

Otherwise, I've had one M40 and one Ruger RSM that I couldn't keep the cases from dinging on the scope on the way out. On those, a simple piece of bedding tape cushioned the blow preventing damage.

Edit to add:

Read through the thread and see someone has already posted a link above reference my suggestion of changing coil spring tension to tune and correct a feed issue. The link includes part numbers for the spring kit.

That's pretty much the exact same ejection angle mine has though I did just use live and empty cases to test without firing. Mine dented the brass, though not so badly. Perhaps if I had fired it, the warm brass would have been more malleable and would have dented similarly.

Gary, I posted about the replacing the extractor spring, and was curious to see if it did work. That's pretty much the only way to possibly fix it as I can't imagine there's much tweaking to be had with the ejector.

You asked about the blocks and they are simply wooden blocks I made in 1/4" height increments with a half moon cut out on top to hold the scope with holes drilled underneath so I can zip tie the scope to the top. They are flat on bottom. With a flat top action, like the Sako I can put the rifle in the vise, and set the rig on top. Not sure about height above bore centerline, as I measure from top of action to bottom of scope. I have them as tall as a 1.5 inches and that is more than the optilock ring mounts as the largest (30mm) of those measure only 29mm to the center of the scope above the top of the receiver according to this:

http://www.sako.fi/optilockproducts.php?ringmounts

BTW Gary, you've got a good one. Don't ever sell it!

Just got email from EuroOptic. They are refunding me the full purchase price less their shipping cost of $40. Would have preferred a full refund due to the gun being defective but considering it was that or deal with Beretta and or try to fix myself for several months and perhaps not ever get it fixed, I am happy with the outcome. Pretty solid customer service all things considered.

Go buy a Tikka.

Same here I have two Sako 85 long actions and don't have the problem.

Considering.

Tikka makes nice wood/walnut guns too if that is your thing. The "forest" is a higher grade.

Yeah, it usually is. The freaking bummer is that that the Sako Grizzly is the "one" I wanted for nearly a year and there was no back up plan. I loved the rifle really in every way but it just didn't run right and that's a no go. Can you tell I'm seriously disappointed?

OK, so you have ONE that functions. We get the point.

Does that mean they all do?

I've owned 6 long action 85s. 4 have had ejection issues hitting scopes. Guess which 2 I still own. It is not a good design IMO. I also had a 85 in 270wsm that would drop empties neatly back into the chamber, usually facing backwards. So the problem isn't only with long actions.

You can't see me, but I promise I am doing a jig in glee for the simple reason that for once lefties come out ahead. Ha!

Without a doubt a serious lefty advantage!

In other news, anyone have a functional 9.3 they want to sell me?

Well, I have a lemon too. Have a 85 Finnlight in 30-06 I have yet to shoot. It's still NIB. After going thru this thread I got it out along with some LC69 full length sized & trimmed brass. Brass bangs the center of the scope every time. Slow or fast, doesn't matter. If I go slow the brass just drops back down onto the follower. If I go fast the brass bounces around. Some fly out but it's a total accident. Scope is a Zeiss 1 inch tube 2-10x42 Conquest HD5. Rings are Leupold Medium.

From what I read here it's useless to try warranty repair. Guess I'll order the extra length springs referenced in the previous thread and go from there. But I WILL call Beretta CS. This is a stupid malfunction for a supposed high end rifle.

Man, I'm sorry for you shootem. Are you absolutely sure yours hits square center on the scope tube? Mine was definitely hitting the turret as when I rotated the scope 90 degrees left it did clear. If you can live with the "Alaskan Style" scope set up you might be ok. If you are going to try the spring fix I did find out that Brownells does not sell the springs anymore, but you can buy them from here:

http://www.gretanrifles.com/products/main.jsf

If you try it please post back to tell us if they work as I am sure a lot of people will want to know.

Maybe when Sako comes out with the 95 series or whatever they'll call it, I'll try them again, but I'm done with the 85s.

Agreed............and hopefully they will come up with a different scope mounting system that actually screws into the reciever instead of the current cheesy clamp-on system.................Hb

Thanks for the link but no sad feelings required. It'll all work out. But yeah, the empty brass leaves marks on center scope. With my setup for eye relief they actually hit the center of the turret assy. Windage turret is unmarked. I'll leave updates as I progress.

You call tapered dovetails milled into the receiver cheesy?

Thanks for the link for the extended springs. I have a couple of Sako's that have no problem and have had a couple that won't eject. I don't get why Sako hasn't gotten the hint that there is problem with the ejection system. I don't know how to get them to correct it, but I wish they would. It's annoying to have a rifle that does everything else right (for me), and to have a problem with brass hitting the scope.