Hard to beleive you can get a Sako 85 for 750 bucks!

Wholly Crap man!

And the 338 Federal is not a bad cartridge at all either.

Bad enough that they are giving away Sako 85's so chambered for $750-(grin)
That is a good deal if you are willing to live with the 338 Fed.

That is a helluva deal!

Not a bad cartridge if you can live with a short one;)

Sako 338 fed walnut blue

for $709 i can rebarrel it w/ a 20" fluted #3.

I was on the recieving end of a closeout deal on Sako 75's in the 7STW and RUM Calibers. I got a stainless steel synthetic for 750. When they close them out they really drop the price. It really is a heck of a buy considering what else is out there for that price .

A guy could easily buy it and have any match barrel he wanted put on it for another 400-700 bucks.

I bought one of the Sako 85 sale rifles in .338 Federal. It is a lot of rifle for the money!

And to be totally honest, the .338 Federal is a damn sensible cartridge that is about perfect for whacking anything we might care to hunt in North America or Africa. The 180gr Accubond flies as flat as a .30-06 can shoot a 165gr bullet, and 200gr bullets offer about the same trajectory as 165gr .308 Win loadings. Anything hit with a 200gr, .338 cal bullet that is packing over 1600 ft lbs of energy at 400 yards is done if that bullet hits vitals. It's a very efficient cartridge that kills like crazy and doesn't kick!

Perhaps one of the best buys I've ever made. I am completely satisfied!

What bullet weight does it like the most?

I wish I could order one. Trying to get one across the border into Canada would kill any savings.

Spotshooter - The rifle doesn't seem to care what you feed it. It has shot everything from the 180gr Accubond to the 210gr Partition into 3/4" - 1 1/4" groups. It has shown a slight preference for the 180gr Accubond and 200gr Fusion but we're talking fractions of an inch. All are more than accurate enough for hunting purposes. My guess is I'll shoot the 180gr Accubonds when I needsome reach and the 200gr Fusions for most everything else. I might give the 200gr TBBC Tip a try for extra tough game or maybe the 210gr TSX, which it also likes.

Interesting this is listed with a 20" barrel. If I'm not mistaken, the Hunter model offers the same 22 7/16" barrel my Grey Wolf has.

EDIT: It looks like it's available with both lengths.

If anyone is passing through Eugene I have fresh box of Fusion for 338 federal Pm me before you head through and I will give them to you.
I ain't gonna use them

Yep, that's a deal for not much more than a Tikka. I would try the 338 Federal first before changing barrels. Might like it

eh?
it'll kill but there were too few bullets that would expand at lower velocity.
i think if someone feels they need more than a 30 cal then they might as well go to a 35. they can shoot everything from 125 gr 38spl pistol bullets up to .358 barnes solids.
much more versatility in the 35, i think.

Ringy,

1) There are plenty of 338 bullets compared to 35 cal bullets

2) What low velocity - these suckers nearly match 30-06 vel.

If your looking for a close woods rifle they have 20-22" barrels, hard to beat that both configuration wise, and price wise.

Damn it Mike, now you have me wanting a 338 Fed 85 Greywolf.

For $750 that would be an awesome action/stock for a later rebarrel to say....a 250 AI or a 7mm-08AI.

These little sand fed deer around here don't take much to kill. Only thing to really need a tough bullet may be an old gator that I'm after. The biggest I ever saw... in a salt water creek. Property owner wants it killed as she has nature trails close by. Biggest gator I ever saw and it looked to be missing three feet or so of tail....but that's another story!

g

There was an 85 hunter with a real nice stock for 709 and someone must have snagged it.

I could really like a 338 Federal for $700!

That is the buy of the week no doubt.

everyone has an opinion. mine happens to be supported by owning, shooting, loading , hunting and killing witht the 338 federal.

the 358 is a better choice for the 51mm case. if you want to move the bullet faster then the 338 is fine. the vast majority of the .338 projectiles are designed to be pushed to an impact velocity of no less than 1900 FPS. they are tough because they are primarily designed for the 338 win mag. at 308 velocities they have too narrow of an expansion window in my opinion. but then if you can arrange for all of your shots to be around 0-150 yards you should be fine.
i find such arrangments difficult to coordiante with the deer.

I've even seen them cheaper than that. It's an unbelievable deal at those prices. I'm hoping they are still available at the end of September as I'll have some bonus loot then...

Been looking for a close in rig for the edges of swamps and thickets in rainy, snowy weather and I think I found it!!!

CLB

Sent a check for one yesterday, $760 with shipping. I'd been looking to do something in 358 W to do a little NY bear hunting when I saw these Sakos on auction. The math said go for it.

Funny that Federal, Barnes, Nosler, and Speer never thought of the old "velocity is too low to properly expand the bullet" thingy. If they'd have done the research they'd know the 338 Fed can't kill anything at any range, no matter what anyone says.

so can a 308.
what reloading bullets are avail in .338 that would be optimum from the velocities attainable in a factory 338fed barrel?

Out to just around 300yd all will be going close to your 1900fps limitation and the round was designed as a mid-range choice.

Barnes told me the 210ttsx should be good to 1800fps.

Enough reports have came back from respected writers such as Wayne Van Zowell regarding the reliability of the .338Fed on a variety of big game.

I've only shot 2 deer with a 210ttsx. Normal woods ranges. Both pass thrus and in the one case at around 70yards it went in the front and left out the back hip. I think that is enough penetration to have faith in the .338F out to as far as it was designed for.