Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Sako 85's

So heres my question and Im sure theres an answer I havent thought of, but if Remington extractors are such schitt, why do so many people replace them with Sako extractors, which many here are saying are schitt....?

It is the position of the extractor not the quality of the extractor.

I have a Sako Bavarian half stock in 338 Federal that is a sweet little rig.

If I were hurting all over for a newer Sako I’d find a nice 75, with the ejector located where it worked all the time. Only reason for either would be to get a SS one, otherwise I’d get a 2-lug.

This sorta suxs............I've fondled a 75 and they have a heft to them. I don't think I'd want one in a short action. Seems more of a long action cartridge rifle. Was hoping for a .270 maybe, but not if doesn't eject right. If I wanted a short action I think a Montana is more suited to it if all that makes sense. I also saw a varmint 75 and that was really nice

Not sure how I get Accuflite can charge what they charge for their custom versions if they have this problem sometimes.

Maybe it’s one of those problems that’s a bigger problem on the internet than in real life….you know, like Sierra bullet failures.

Ya, there's nothing wrong with, 85's, 75's, X91's. Buy them all up. Sell off your A series guns here, just send me a PM first.
Gary

It is more the position of the EJEctor instead of the EXTRActor that causes the problem.

I have read accounts of ejection problems with short action 85's also. It is your money OP, you have been warned. Good luck. RJ

3 of my 85's that did not have an issue were long action; 25-06, 30-06 and 7 RM.

Guys:

I have no dog in this fight, but there is a M75 on GB right now in 7RM. Here is the picture of the bolt, and it may be the angle of the picture but it sure looks like the extractor cut is in the 6 o'clock position to me.

Rev Mike - Yes it is a Mechanical EJECTOR slot (meaning there is a piece of metal that comes through the bolt as it’s pulled all the way back, at 6 O’clock.

Nice picture…

WHICH means - you better have a strong, and sharp edged extractor …. To hold the cartridge rim so it’s ejected.

It’s only a issue with Long Actions, and Gretan rifles has stronger springs… and you can flatten / sharpen the extractor claw edge.
I did on my long action, it only shot up 1 / 8th of the time…. Now it doesn’t do it at all

It’s not a perfect design, but given it doesn’t happen at all on short actions ?

Most likely you could hit both targets with one swing of the boot. To place the ejector of an optics dedicated rifle in the same location as a Winchester 94 is not engineering, it’s sabotage. By sheer luck, not good design, it’s seems only the 85M is affected, and that due to case length. I won’t beleaguer the point but only say I had an affected rifle in 30/06, used medium Leupold rings and a 1” tube scope. Plain vanilla set up. It failed from the first try. Ran it fast, ran it slow. No difference. The extractor pulls the case rearward until it makes contact with the ejector. The ejector pushes the case straight up until the case mouth contacts the bottom of the scope tube. At this point, with
the case moving rearward and the case mouth with nowhere to go, the case rim just squirts out from under the extractor and the case drops into the action. It’s easy to see and duplicate.

Does this happen with all 85M’s?? No it doesn’t. But I can say without doubt when an 85M executes a successful ejection, it almost didn’t. I won’t even get into Customer Disservice. YMMV.

I've had a couple of short action Sako 85's with no problems, and one long and one magnum action rifle with some ejection issues. I solved that annoyance by having a skilled machinist make a couple of new extractor claws with minimal ( 0.002" - 0.004" or so) clearance between extractor claw and rim on the base of the cartridge. The original extractor claws had perhaps 0.010" clearance, too much. Both rifles have perfect ejection every time now, in a horizontal direction. With low mounted scopes. The ejection problems are not so much a design flaw in my opinion, but a tolerance and clearance issue. It only cost me $50 to have the new extractor claws made. I'm happy with my Sako 85 rifles. I would prefer if they all worked perfectly from the box, but many, many other brands of rifles have bigger quality control issues than that Sako 85 extractor. Sako 85's are accurate, smooth, well balanced, and have great triggers. I like the magazine. I'd buy another if I needed one.

Took a Sako 75 in .300 Win Mag to Zim in 2007 and had problems with the ejected case sometimes hitting the scope and dropping back into the action. Decide to use the Dakota .416 Rigby on everything for the remainder of the safari.

Had an incredibly accurate Sako 75 in 7/08 drop the magazine on a pig hunt. Sent it on down the road.

Presently own a Sako Black Bear in .308. Quite accurate and functions perfectly Magazine says put. No complaints at all.

Most people that criticize the Sako 85 has never owned one. I own two & appreciate their quality. Both the 300 WSM & 308 Winchester are accurate and reliable.

It's not the design of the ejector that's the problem per se, it's the fact that Sako decided to use a fixed mechanical ejector IN CONJUNCTION WITH both semi-CRF AND 3 locking lugs 120deg apart. All of that together dictated the necessary position of the ejector. The CRF feature means they can't use a plunger style ejector, or the case head can't slide across the bolt face to engage the extractor prior to being fully chambered. The fact there are 3 locking lugs with 1 lug at 12:00 when the bolt is open means that the ejector HAS to be at 6:00. That location between the 2 lugs at the bottom is the only position it can be in unless they split one of the lugs. If they had given up on the CRF feature, they could have used a plunger ejector, which could be located anywhere on the bolt face without there being any consideration for splitting a lug.

The position of the ejector unavoidably causes a high ejection angle and there's no way to avoid this if they didn't want to cut through a locking lug for the ejector slot. Whether or not this poses a problem depends on the height of the scope mounts, size of the scope's adjustment saddle, and the length of the cartridge the rifle's chambered in. I have 2 Sako 85s and neither has any ejection troubles, but they are also chambered in .338 Fed and 7-08. I haven't seen any SA Sako 85s with ejection issues, only the LA versions.

Good question. I love 'em. A few months ago I ordered a .223 Bavarian, but EuroOptic says I have to wait a year to get it hear from Finland. There were none available for sale in the US.

Good question. I love 'em. A few months ago I ordered a .223 Bavarian, but EuroOptic says I have to wait a year to get it hear from Finland. There were none available for sale in the US.

They used to have gorgeous wood. The last few years, not so much. At least from what I've seen pictured on Gunbroker.

I have a Sako M85 in a 300 WSM that has this ejection issue. I sent it in to Beretta and they sent it back to me saying their was no issue - arrgh.

In short, yes, the ejection issue can sometimes be found in a short action Sako M85