Sauer 100 owners, what's the verdict?
- Thread starter nomad 68
- Start date
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
I had one and quickly sold it. It was reasonably accurate and seemed pretty refined and smooth, but I much preferred my 557's and T3's--they fit me better and especially with iron sights. A few "niggles" I had with my Sauer were the coating they used (Cerakoted?) chipped/scratched fairly easily and I had a mental thing about pinned/pressed barrel fitment. The mags are excellent and they functioned very smoothly. The plastic stock was a very decent quality. Very good rifles overall.
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
It's hard to tell when looking at it. You could be right.
- Location
- Vancouver Island, BC
It is threaded.
Excellent rifle. I find the fit of the Sauer better than tikka and 557 so I'd recommend shouldering them to try and the one that fits best. The synth stock is nicer than the tikka or cz synth stock. The accuracy is very good, but it is on most rifles these days. I've also been very impressed with the accuracy of the 2 cz557 rifles I've tried.
The basic S100 XTs were going for 800$ shipped new a while back, and at that price I would always pick it over a tikka or the more basic cz557 models.
The Sauer uses rem 700 rings as well, which are cheaper than most euro rings.
fade2black
CGN Regular
- Location
- Central Ontario
Definitely threaded, you can see the threads through the front base screw hole.
I would highly recommend the Sauer 100 but there are a few things you need to be aware of. They are on the lighter side so recoil can be stout in the magnums, in a 6.5SE it should be very manageable. The LOP is also an inch longer than most other bolts, for shorter shooters or smaller framed shooters this can be an issue. On the upside, they are very accurate rifles, the trigger guard and 'bottom metal' is actually metal/aluminum alloy which is a nice change from the plastic you see on so many other bolts these days. The trigger is crisp, breaks clean with no creep and is externally adjustable within seconds but turning a small screw set inside the trigger blade using an Allen wrench. The double stack magazine is very easy to load and offers higher capacity than the single stack mags on rifles from other competitors. The synthetic stocks high quality with very little flex in the fore end. I have no experience with the Beechwood model but they look great! The 60 degree lift is nice for quick cycling and scope clearance, the bolt cycles very smooth. Ejection is very strong due to the dual ejectors which could be an annoyance in a range setting.
I would highly recommend the Sauer 100 but there are a few things you need to be aware of. They are on the lighter side so recoil can be stout in the magnums, in a 6.5SE it should be very manageable. The LOP is also an inch longer than most other bolts, for shorter shooters or smaller framed shooters this can be an issue. On the upside, they are very accurate rifles, the trigger guard and 'bottom metal' is actually metal/aluminum alloy which is a nice change from the plastic you see on so many other bolts these days. The trigger is crisp, breaks clean with no creep and is externally adjustable within seconds but turning a small screw set inside the trigger blade using an Allen wrench. The double stack magazine is very easy to load and offers higher capacity than the single stack mags on rifles from other competitors. The synthetic stocks high quality with very little flex in the fore end. I have no experience with the Beechwood model but they look great! The 60 degree lift is nice for quick cycling and scope clearance, the bolt cycles very smooth. Ejection is very strong due to the dual ejectors which could be an annoyance in a range setting.
I had both (Tikka T3 Lite 6.5x55 and Sauer 100 XT .30-06) and its a tough choice, my opinion:
Stock: equal quality and stiffness, the Sauer shape is nicer to me but thats entirely personal. I like the negative comb and wish more makers would use them. The LOP on the Sauer is long, but I am tall with long arms. The T3 and Sauer have harder recoil pads, the T3x is softer. The stock is hollow, so is loud when bumped. The Sauer stock is much better at reducing felt recoil, IMO.
Magazine: the Sauer holds 5 and is flush, the Tikka holds 3. The Sauer can be loaded through the ejection port, the Tikka can't. No winner ITO mag latch and seating. Overall I pefer the Sauer mag set up.
Action: Tikka is a smidge smoother, in travel and when locking into battery, but Sauer is still smooth and mine only had about 40 rounds through it. The Sauer needs a bit more force to lock into battery and is not as fluid, it pushes against the bolt release spring which makes it feel likes its catching on something. Sauer has a much bigger ejection port than a T3.
Trigger: both are very good but the Sauer adjusts to a slightly lower pull weight, at least from what I can feel (not measured).
Bottom metal: Sauer is aluminum, which I think is nicer than the Tikka plastic, but the Tikka hasn't presented any problems.
Safety: I prefer the Sauer 3 postion but nothing wrong with the Tikka 2 postion.
Accuracy: can't tell the difference, both are excellent, both shoot well sub-MOA with loads they like.
Weight: Tikka is definitely lighter, although the Sauer isnt exactly 'heavy'. In .30-06 I preferred the weight of the Sauer. My T3 with Talley Lightweights is 7.1 lbs with a VX3 2.5-8x36. Same scope on the Sauer Classic with weaver bases and steel Burris signature rings was 7.75lbs. A good weight IMO. If you want less weight, the Tikka will be lighter.
I sold my Sauer but only becasue I wanted to fund something else. I would happily have another one. I think it would be a sweet rifle in 6.5x55.
Stock: equal quality and stiffness, the Sauer shape is nicer to me but thats entirely personal. I like the negative comb and wish more makers would use them. The LOP on the Sauer is long, but I am tall with long arms. The T3 and Sauer have harder recoil pads, the T3x is softer. The stock is hollow, so is loud when bumped. The Sauer stock is much better at reducing felt recoil, IMO.
Magazine: the Sauer holds 5 and is flush, the Tikka holds 3. The Sauer can be loaded through the ejection port, the Tikka can't. No winner ITO mag latch and seating. Overall I pefer the Sauer mag set up.
Action: Tikka is a smidge smoother, in travel and when locking into battery, but Sauer is still smooth and mine only had about 40 rounds through it. The Sauer needs a bit more force to lock into battery and is not as fluid, it pushes against the bolt release spring which makes it feel likes its catching on something. Sauer has a much bigger ejection port than a T3.
Trigger: both are very good but the Sauer adjusts to a slightly lower pull weight, at least from what I can feel (not measured).
Bottom metal: Sauer is aluminum, which I think is nicer than the Tikka plastic, but the Tikka hasn't presented any problems.
Safety: I prefer the Sauer 3 postion but nothing wrong with the Tikka 2 postion.
Accuracy: can't tell the difference, both are excellent, both shoot well sub-MOA with loads they like.
Weight: Tikka is definitely lighter, although the Sauer isnt exactly 'heavy'. In .30-06 I preferred the weight of the Sauer. My T3 with Talley Lightweights is 7.1 lbs with a VX3 2.5-8x36. Same scope on the Sauer Classic with weaver bases and steel Burris signature rings was 7.75lbs. A good weight IMO. If you want less weight, the Tikka will be lighter.
I sold my Sauer but only becasue I wanted to fund something else. I would happily have another one. I think it would be a sweet rifle in 6.5x55.
I've had a few Sauer rifles over the years, the 100 model is by far the Worst, i now have a Sako S20 Hunter, its in a different league, but so is the price, if you compare guns at the same value, you would be better off with a Winchester XPR model, it offers way more for your hard earned money then the Sauer 100, just my 2 cents.
Great report kayaker1!
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
I agree with the above observations, except trigger pull. In my experience, the Tikka was lighter.
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Yeah, no chance. The aftermarket tends to cater to the American companies, with some exceptions (eg. Tikka) and some Euro handguns. CZ, for example, have been selling quality products here for decades and still there's a puny aftermarket. The good news is that CZ, Sauer and Mauser, to name a few, are usually excellent out-of-the-box and don't need anything.
I recently bought Sauer 100 xt classic in 6.5x55 Swede. I really like it and would not hesitate to buy another, very well made and accurate, great trigger out of the box, easily adjustable, also like the fact that it takes standard Remington long action scope bases. As far as comparing to a Tikka it’s a tough call, both very good rifles for the money. Both comparable in accuracy and cost. Also the barrel is threaded on the Sauer 100 not press fit. I like the fact that there is less plastic parts on the Sauer and uses standard Remington bases but you can’t go wrong with a Tikka either.
I see that WOOX is producing an aftermarket stock inletted for the Sauer 100. I may end up trying one of these out in the future.
https://wooxstore.com/collections/chassis-precision-stock/products/wild-man-precision-stock
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https://wooxstore.com/collections/chassis-precision-stock/products/wild-man-precision-stock
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