I find it interesting that there is yet to be any comment made on the S20. Everyone seems to be getting their knickers in a right twist about it on the forums in Great Britain.
Personally, I think it's a piece of junk and wish that Sako would simply re-tool and go back to producing the 75 which in my opinion is the epitome of the factory rifle.
At my first look on line, I am intrigued and will be looking for an example to show up at my local toy store. It seems to be the direction firearm manufacturing are leaning to. Hybrid of Stoner and traditional design, but for me function rules.
I find it interesting that there is yet to be any comment made on the S20. Everyone seems to be getting their knickers in a right twist about it on the forums in Great Britain.
Personally, I think it's a piece of junk and wish that Sako would simply re-tool and go back to producing the 75 which in my opinion is the epitome of the factory rifle.
Any comments?
Kind regards,
Tim
Since you're able to offer a review without having ever seen on in person, you'll fit in very well around here.
I like many of the features offered on the new Hunter model but don't really get the point of the removable butt stock. The stock is very European looking for sure and reminds of the Blaser R8 Ultimate stock. A friend in England has a couple of the R8s and this is his daughters Ultimate model (bottom). Interestingly, the top rifle is a Sako. I took this photo in September of 2017 at Spartan Precision Equipment's offices in Sussex, England.
Personally I would prefer a lightweight folding stock on the Hunter rather than a removable rear section that would offer me no advantages that I can think of.
MCMXI, what is that protruding ball thing near the front sling stud on that carbonlight? My assumption is some sort of tripod mount?
Yes, it's a magnetic ball mount that interfaces with various tripods/bipods from Spartan Precision Equipment. The ball would typically be mounted inside the tripod head. They use rare earth magnets to attach accessories to a stock mounted "cup".
MCMXI, what is that protruding ball thing near the front sling stud on that carbonlight? My assumption is some sort of tripod mount?
Yes, it's a magnetic ball mount that interfaces with various tripods/bipods from Spartan Precision Equipment. The ball would typically be mounted inside the tripod head. They use rare earth magnets to attach accessories to a stock mounted "cup".
I find it interesting that there is yet to be any comment made on the S20. Everyone seems to be getting their knickers in a right twist about it on the forums in Great Britain.
Personally, I think it's a piece of junk and wish that Sako would simply re-tool and go back to producing the 75 which in my opinion is the epitome of the factory rifle.
Any comments?
Kind regards,
Tim
Since you're able to offer a review without having ever seen on in person, you'll fit in very well around here.
I'm very much a traditionalist at heart. Stainless synthetic in a standard rifle format is about as radical as I go. I'll stick with my 75s and bespoke Stiller build.
It's been discussed some in other forums, I personally don't really see anything terribly compelling. I don't get the point of the convertible stock, maybe that idea has some legs in Europe, but in the States anyone who is serious is just going to buy one rifle optimized for hunting and another optimized for LR/steel..... and then a bunch of other random rifles, but that's beside the point.
Also, they advertise that this rifle has longer mag boxes to accommodate reloaders (wanting to run longer OALs), but then they stick with the standard slow Sako twists, killing that potential.
Kind of heavy in hunting form as well, all around just kind of meh...
To me it appears to be an updated/modified/revised A7 action. I had an A7 and wasn't a fan but for some reason this rifle looks more appealing. Looks like they may have fixed a few of the A7 flaws, especially with the mags. The A7 mags were garbage, wouldn't hold rounds, they would pop out in your pocket and if you dropped it forget it, all come shooting out. The integral picatinny mounts are a nice touch I think too. If this is an newer A7 then it is likely a one size fits all action again.
The stock design makes it a take-down rifle but sidesteps the problems associated with other takedown designs and is probably lighter than the type of hinge arrangements needed for a durable folding stock.
Being the contrarian that I am, I wonder whether you can use the precision rifle butt stock with the hunter fore end.
![[Linked Image from thr.mcmxi.org]](https://thr.mcmxi.org/rifles/blaser/photos/sako&blaser_r8.jpg)