I have a sako grey wolf in 338 federal. It shoots great but it's too much overlap with my 358 win. The gun fits me well and feeds well so I guess my best option is to rebarrel it to 308. My gunsmith says he has had good luck with shillen(sp?) barrels, any better choices? Is it possible to find a sako 85 stainless barrel in 308? Thanks guys and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mike

Shilen barrels are good, I would follow the recommendation of your smith. I am sure you will get a lot of opinions here.

Personally, I would go with your gunsmith's recommendation. Put the ball in his court to make sure it is a "shooter" when the project is finished. I have had Douglas Barrels in WV rebarrel two actions for me. Both are shooters, very little fouling, and easy to clean. For my most recent project, I gave my gunsmith the barrel profile I wanted and told him to pick the barrel he felt would give best accuracy. He prides himself on building accurate rifles. I won't stand in his way...

Honestly, I am a hunter, not a benchrest shooter. So, a properly installed barrel from any of the reputable barrel makers would probably make me happy...

I have one I could part with. Says Tikka on it, made by Sako.

pm me if you are interested.

Price Sakos in 308 and see how much you can get for the 338.

The 338 is worth the most now as it's a complete gun.

Other than a trade...wouldn't getnmuch out of it...there's one in the classifieds for $750 I think that hasnt sold. With the price of a replacement seemingly more than the cost of a barrel replacement plus sale...seems like a rebarrel is the way to go....may try the classifieds for a trade...but I would doubt there would be any takers

If me, I'd dump the Sako, and get a Vanguard S2 308 in SS, and have $$$ left over. The Wby action is based off the old Forester Sako action.

+1

+1 and end up with a more rugged hunting gun

Guess I am stuck on my sako 85 action guys....trigger is great, feeds well...stock even feels good...had a vanguard a while ago...nice rifle, but to me, not a sako....thanks for the opinions though, I appreciate the options.

The Vanguard is not a Sako..never will be. It's a fine gun for the money, but those who buy Sakos don't do it to save money.

+1

Send it here: http://www.pac-nor.com/

They will do the complete barreling job and return your original barrel. I use their Super-Match stainless steel barrels, bead blasted matte finish. They also make chrome molly barrels, ask about bluing.

Specify that they match the original barrel's contour EXACTLY and it will drop into the stock inlet without any fitting. This made a Remington 40-X swap easy for me. They have a very extensive chambering list for both standard and wildcat cartridges.

Other barrel makers also install barrels, Shilen, Krieger and Hart come to mind, but usually cost a bit more with even more extended lead times. All these are premium barrels with superb accuracy.

The weatherby vangard has a 90 degree bolt lift and requires a added detached mag to even get near the Sako...

I love the sako 85 bolt lift, the weatherby mark 4 has a better lift than the vanguard

Pac-nor does good work/bbls. As to bolt life, I sold a Browning Abolt once, b/c it lacked the camming power to extract a loaded round when bullets into the lands. Never had that issue on any other rifle...it was extremely difficult lifting the bolt by hand.

As to quality, the pre-Garcia Sako's were the best IMHO, owned those, A series, and 75s. I will never knock any Sako, though prob would never own those mfg after the A and before the 75s.

Re: Tikka, the rifle can be bought complete for the price of a barrel no doubt, and it has a Sako bbl....

If one is set on an 85 in 308, a good option would be sell the 338F and just buy one, my former 260 in M75 was a tackdriver...

maybe I could find someone who wanted to trade even a hunter sako 75 for a sako 85 338 fed???....I may thro this question to the classifieds...