Couple of other subjects on the boil regarding the Sako 85 at the moment and I thought I would ask if other owners of this rifle had worked out how this action handles or disperses excess pressure.

I have had a careful look at mine and unlike most other receivers like the T3 and others, there are no holes on the side or anywhere else to help in the dispersion of excess pressure should something happen.

The only way I could see there being any pressure relief was possibly through the slot cut in the bolt head for the ejector. When the bolt is closed it would appear to me that this slot lines up with the rail on the side of the receiver, that carries the bolt, thus allowing pressure to vent into the receiver magazine area?

I have seen two of these actions that have, through excess pressure blown the magazine out the bottom of the rifle, bowed out the mag housing as a result and split the stock.

The first one was a Finnlite that was reported on this forum and the second occured at out local range here in Australia with a new 308 carbine about a month ago. Both results were remarkably similar from the pics I saw.

Whilst I realise that this can happen with any action, given the right circumstances, be it incorrct handloading or whatever it got me thinking and wondering about how this particular action copes with pressure.......

Here are a couple of photos of the recent event.

Damn! What powder,primer and bullet?

Not sure if it matters but I would like to know.

Dink

Hope the shooter wasn't seriouly injured. Painful to see a fine rifle like that blown up. What was the cause?? So far so good with my Sako 85.

What hurts more is that rifle cost about $3000 here

Hand load If so Beretta will not cover it under warranty
One of the reasons why I now buy my crackers prerolled over the counter........Or Just call me lazy LOL

I'm throwing an eye twitch/flinch just thinking about it . LOL

Hmmm...let me guess...bolt is still closed, magazine is nicely widened so a lot of the pressure was directed down that way. The Sako 85 isn't an enclosed bolt face design and is quasi-controlled round feed so escaping pressure can vent back along the bolt face along the path of least resistance. A case head separation??

I believe it was 180gn projectile over a max book load of 2208 (Varget). But thats not confirmed.

The owner was pretty lucky as a splinter off the stock lodged in his cheekbone just below his eye. Minor cuts & scratches which I guess says something for the action.

As someone pointed out - the bolt remained closed - which is definately a good thing.

Of course there could be other fcators at play here - for instance - untrimmed cases, wrong powder, projectiles on the lands etc, not that I am making any accusations but these are always possibilities when these things happen.

What I would like to know is how the heck that excess pressure ends up in the mag in this action? Only explanation I can come up with is the one above.

Here is the other incident a few years back with a 270win 85 Finnlite. The result was similar but worse as the pressure appeared to blow the back of the bolt off......

http://www.opticstalk.com/sako-85-finnlight-270-blew-up_topic19930.html

i remember seeing a new sako blown apart with factory ammo a few years ago. it was his first day out. seems like a pattern.

If you are referring to the Sako 75 barrel blow ups that was a different issue - that was due to a bad batch of Stainless steel and that affected sako, tikka and some barrel manufacturers. this has long since been resolved.

Next time buy a Browning X-Bolt & you will never look back mate
Milled from a big solid chunk of billet steel, tang safety.........

Can't argue here, Browning X-Bolts are also some very well made and accurate rifles..................Hb

WOW! Thats a little unnerving, I have the 85 finnlite in 300WM. Although no problems have shown up I dont like the looks of that.

Actually, i think you would find if that event had occured in an X-bolt, the result would have looked almost identical (i haven't had a look at the gas-handling system of the X-bolt, but if it is like the A-bolt it also releases into the magazine). I can show you photos of A-bolts that look exactly like that Sako, with the magazine blown out and stock split. It is what they are designed to do.

I'd rather have it blow down that up where my face is. In fact the mag well is probably the best place for it to go.

A-Bolt & X-Bolt look like they have a different system.......As my A-Bolt had a vent(hole) on the bottom of the bolt that pointed to the mag. The X-Bolt does not. It rather has 2 grooves(lug rebates) either side of the feed ramp where it looks to vent out........
To me, this looks like a much better way of deflecting massive gas buildup in an emergency.......
The bolt looks & feels stronger too on the X.