Sako varmint 223rem,do you have one?
- Thread starter freddygotarf
- Start date
I had the Sako Varmint Laminate Stainless with the 1 in 8" twist. The gun is well made, but any loads where the bullets anywhere close to the lands, are too long to fit the magazine. Since I didn't want a single shot, I sold the rifle.
Sako 223
I have a SAKO 85 - XS in 223 Rem with a 1 x 8" twist barrel. It is without doubt one of the most accurate factory rifles I have. The magazine is designed for the standard 2.26" length cartridge but I have developed 55 gr & 77 gr bullet loads that feed from the magazine and are 3/8" or better at 130 yds. I have also put together a load with the 82 gr Berger BT, seated out into the rifling & feed single shot, that will hold 1 moa at 900m.
The SAKO 85 is an excellent rifle but you must have it properly pillar bedded to hold it's zero.
Jay
I have a SAKO 85 - XS in 223 Rem with a 1 x 8" twist barrel. It is without doubt one of the most accurate factory rifles I have. The magazine is designed for the standard 2.26" length cartridge but I have developed 55 gr & 77 gr bullet loads that feed from the magazine and are 3/8" or better at 130 yds. I have also put together a load with the 82 gr Berger BT, seated out into the rifling & feed single shot, that will hold 1 moa at 900m.
The SAKO 85 is an excellent rifle but you must have it properly pillar bedded to hold it's zero.
Jay
I certainly haven't found this to be the case 98% of the time, unless you only own rifles chambered in the Weatherby cartridges. I have encountered this situation before, but it would be closer to 25% of the time in my experience. However in this case the rifle has a 1 in 8" twist rate, which is most suitable for longer heavier bullets, and none of the heavier bullets would fit the magazine when loaded anywhere near the lands.
I had a Tikka varmint- same barrel- in 223, and it shot 75 bthp's at 2.25" OAL in to 1/3 moa with ease. This seating to the lands stuff gets taken a little too seriously sometimes. I use a Lee FCD and have had good results with it while maintaining a reasonable OAL.
If you have not experienced this I question your hand loads.
Some guns have a short throat like the Timberwolf. Most, have a long throat.
Im not saying every gun loaded to the lands will not fit the mag,,,,,,, but the average is quite high.
The land stuff is important for accuracy. If you shoot long range you tap as much as you can. After you get your powder dialed in, work on OAL. Jammed and than groups of .40 back. take the best group and test in there. Than recheck your powder.
Some guns have a short throat like the Timberwolf. Most, have a long throat.
Im not saying every gun loaded to the lands will not fit the mag,,,,,,, but the average is quite high.
The land stuff is important for accuracy. If you shoot long range you tap as much as you can. After you get your powder dialed in, work on OAL. Jammed and than groups of .40 back. take the best group and test in there. Than recheck your powder.
I'm a novice in this area, but I've read two pertinent thoughts on this topic:
1) Some bullets have tangent ogives, like the SMK. This ogive type is less sensitive to seating depth, but has lower BCs. Other bullets have secant ogives, like Berger VLDs. This type prefers to be jammed, but benefits from a higher BC. I'm personally going to play around with mag length 69 and 77 gr SMKs in the 8 twist I'm putting together.
2) There are two potential problems with mag seating really long bullets. The first is there may not be enough case capacity (after the gunpowder is added) to seat the bullet to mag length. The second is that the .224" diameter portion of the bullet may only be near the base of the bullet, such that seating the bullet to mag length will result in the case neck losing hold of the bullet.
1) Some bullets have tangent ogives, like the SMK. This ogive type is less sensitive to seating depth, but has lower BCs. Other bullets have secant ogives, like Berger VLDs. This type prefers to be jammed, but benefits from a higher BC. I'm personally going to play around with mag length 69 and 77 gr SMKs in the 8 twist I'm putting together.
2) There are two potential problems with mag seating really long bullets. The first is there may not be enough case capacity (after the gunpowder is added) to seat the bullet to mag length. The second is that the .224" diameter portion of the bullet may only be near the base of the bullet, such that seating the bullet to mag length will result in the case neck losing hold of the bullet.
I had no luck at all getting the SMKs to shoot out of my Sako when seated to fit the magazine. The only bullet that shot well when seated to fit the magazine was the 50gr v-max. On the Other hand, I have no trouble seating bullets including the SMKs to the lands and still fit the magazine in my CZ 527 Kevlar. It is shooting just as good as my Sako 85 Varmint Laminate Stainless did for about half the cost.
Interesting. Every rifle is different of course, but I'm hopeful about SMKs since high power shooters seem to like them for mag length AR loads.
You do touch on a good point, that often bolt action rifle mags can accept rounds with OAL larger than the official 2.260" limit. I'm interested to see how the throat length works out in my Shilen barreled Savage. Waiting for the final parts and tools to finish the build is driving me crazy!
My 527 Kevlar shoots all five bullets that I tested(50gr to 69gr) sub moa, but it will consistently put five rounds into 1/2" at 100 yards using the 55gr Ballistic Tip ahead of Benchrest. I load them to 2.300" which fits the magazine. I did have to make a slight trigger adjustment, but I do like the gun.
