Accuracy of Sako 85 Bavarian Carbine

Rob

Rob

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I bought this fullstock Sako Model 85 Bavarian Carbine in 6.5 x 55 SE as my "old guy with an arthritic shoulder" rifle. I used to shoot featherweight hunting rifles in calibers from 30-06 to .375 H+H but I don't enjoy it anymore. The Sako is relatively heavy (for its size) and combined with the mild recoil of the 6.5 Swedish this makes for an easy rifle to shoot. It also has a very good adjustable single set trigger.

I noticed that the Sako Carbine comes with a certificate of accuracy claiming that the rifle has been test fired at 100 meters with 5 Sako brand cartridges and has a minimum performance of 1 MOA.

I don't buy expensive Sako brand ammunition, so I did my test with the cheapest discount brand ammo I could find: Sellier and Bellot (Czech Republic) 140 gr. I figured that if it could shoot this stuff accurately then it could probably shoot anything. With a fixed 4X scope, I shot a 1.5 inch ten shot group @ 100 yards. 10 shots with a few minutes between each shot. Then I did it again. Good enough.

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Speaking of mild recoil, 6.5x55 and performance with cheap ammo, my friend shot a grizzly with a M/38 carbine and cheap PRVI ammo. One shot. I think your "new and improved" version will do just fine!
 
Why not? said:
I don't believe either of you guys. Factory ammo....right! :rolleyes:

Everyone knows ammunition has to be handloaded with premium bullets to be accurate and kill grizzlies.

Ted
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Your reloads are so good, Ted... they put the bear down and then field dress it for you...
 
I've owned, shot, hunted with, reloaded for, and worked on dozens of Swedish Mausers over the last 35 years or so. So I was already familiar with the cartridge when I bought this rifle. Swedes seem to have gotten expensive lately, but when I lived in Vancouver in the 80's they were available at Lever Arms for I think $40. each ($45. for the Husqvarnas...$25. for Finnish Mosin-Nagants), you could hand pick them and if you bought a few you could get a further discount. Then one day they were all gone, south to Kimber I think. I assume, perhaps wrongly, that everyone owns at least one. I haven't bought an actual brand new rifle for several decades, but this Sako Carbine is so close to my ideal rifle that I thought I'd treat myself.


1899 said:
Speaking of mild recoil, 6.5x55 and performance with cheap ammo, my friend shot a grizzly with a M/38 carbine and cheap PRVI ammo. One shot. I think your "new and improved" version will do just fine!
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Rob said:
I've owned, shot, hunted with, reloaded for, and worked on dozens of Swedish Mausers over the last 35 years or so. So I was already familiar with the cartridge when I bought this rifle. Swedes seem to have gotten expensive lately, but when I lived in Vancouver in the 80's they were available at Lever Arms for I think $40. each ($45. for the Husqvarnas...$25. for Finnish Mosin-Nagants), you could hand pick them and if you bought a few you could get a further discount. Then one day they were all gone, south to Kimber I think. I assume, perhaps wrongly, that everyone owns at least one. I haven't bought an actual brand new rifle for several decades, but this Sako Carbine is so close to my ideal rifle that I thought I'd treat myself.
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Good for you treating yourself - but I get it that most of the newer stuff isn't the same as the older stuff (sometimes in good, sometimes in bad ways). That fellow who shot the grizzly, that was just over 20 years ago. While they weren't $40, they weren't expensive then either. I remember buying a minty M/38 for well under $200. Kimber of America did make a bunch of sporterized Swedes.
 
I recently dropped my Bavarian Carbine (30-06) in a used Finnlight synthetic stock to preserve the beautiful walnut stock. Recoil in stock config certainly isn't mild on my shoulder! In stock config wth a scope, MOA more or less, using cheap Hornady 180 grain SST ammo. I haven't fired the rifle in the Finnlight stock yet. I hope it maintains or improves accuracy as it is now truly free floating. BTW, 6.5x55 sounds like a nice mild alternative. A great intermediate cartridge and inherently accurate. I just bought an old S&L M58 chambered in 6.5x55 and I am growing fond of the mild but flat shooting characteristics of 6.5x55. I won't comment on accuracy just yet until I master diopter sights. :)

A nice looking rifle you have there. I love 30-06, but I would definitely buy another in 7x57 if they were chambered in that calibre. I think Prophet River has/had them in 7x64. The Sako 85 action and set trigger are unbeatable. Congrats on your new purchase.
 
That's a very pretty rifle Rob and a cool caliber, good on ya! A European rifle with euro styling and caliber is very desirable in my books.. When I shot factory rounds through my Hunter model the groups were around 1.5" as well, but messing about on the reloading bench has brought them under an inch.

Kurgan: I don't find the oiled stocks sustain much damage out in the field. After it comes back from a hunt I wipe the stock down and let it dry overnight after which the wood gets a treatment of Schaftol... The 7x57 would be another cool caliber for the carbine to come in!
 
They are great firearms. Mine isn't the carbine, but close to it. It's chambered for the 300 WSM where I had a difficult time finding a load for the 150 grain Nosler AB. After some research I read about AA4350 being a great powder for the cartridge. .....I haven't looked back since. It's the rifle that I'm using this year where I just purchased a 3x12x50 Swarvoski and installed it already.

 
With the Sako 6.5, my 3 and 5 shot groups are all under one inch with the same discount factory ammo.... the 1.5 inch groups were ten shot groups and the barrel didn't really get a chance to cool much between shots (It also was real hot day and there was no shade to cool the rifle.) I used to reload a lot, for all sorts of calibers from .22 Hornet to 45-70 and .375 H+H. I also did a lot of bullet casting for various rifle calibers, some pistols as well. But that was mostly a couple of decades ago and I've lost a lot of interest in "messing about on the reloading bench", so its unlikely I'm going to spend much time working up more accurate loads, although I might work up a few 160 grain loads (I have a lot of 160 Grain RN bullets for my 6.5x54 Mannlichers)....too many other interests and not enough time...These days I'm fine with any load, factory or otherwise that provides me with practical hunting accuracy...that I define as 2 inch groups at 100 yards (no matter how many rounds are fired, barrel cold or hot, using a fixed 4X scope)...The furthest I've ever shot a deer is 300 yards (4X scope, 30-06 180 gr, distance measured) and aside from my gopher rifles I've learned that this is all the accuracy I need.
 
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I was just thinking about accuracy and deer hunting...In the last 30 years or so I've shot quite a few truckloads full, less than some guys and more than others, sometimes shooting 3 or 4 deer a year (all legal). The closest I ever shot was my biggest Blacktail buck, a distance of about 20 feet in pouring rain. I only had a few seconds to shoot before he disappeared behind a big stump, so a fast handling rifle was more important than accuracy. I was using a plastic stocked Steyr-Mannlicher, no scope. And the furthest, like I said, was a measured 300 yards (I have met several prairie deer shooters who hit them with magnums at much further ranges, but that type of hunting isn't for me). I think my average shooting distance for dozens of Whitetails, Blacktails, Mulies (and Moose) is only about 75-150 yards, which is why I normally ignore ballistic charts and just zero my deer rifles to hit the center of the target at 100 yards. It keeps things simple and reliable and I like that. After all, the kill zone on a deer, even on Blacktails, is a pretty big target. Not that shooting small groups isn't fun for its own sake and it can build confidence in your rifle.
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Excuse my ignorance, i have never fired a sako with the bavarian stock. I really like the look of the Bavarian stock, but how does it fare with a scope? To me it looks like a stock designed for open sights, as it raises the barrel area by having the stock butt much lower than a standard configuration. Great looking rifles, I will treat myself to one some time too! :)
 
NL-Hunter said:
Excuse my ignorance, i have never fired a sako with the bavarian stock. I really like the look of the Bavarian stock, but how does it fare with a scope? To me it looks like a stock designed for open sights, as it raises the barrel area by having the stock butt much lower than a standard configuration. Great looking rifles, I will treat myself to one some time too! :)
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The Bavarian rear stock is not as comfortable as a Classic or full Monte Carlo rear stock. My cheek does not settle in nicely, whereas; it is the side of my mouth that rests on it..............it's a matter of practicing and getting use to it. The Bavarian has an increased recoil because of it's sloped design, where it comes back and down after the shot.
 
It seems fine to me...my little Zeiss 4X is mounted real low, just barely clearing the barrel at the front...maybe you could fit a sheet of apaper in between them, maybe not (the front tube of the Zeiss 4X is rubber-coated, so it doesn't matter if it touches a bit). In my experience, on a lot of European stocks you get used to shooting with your head more erect, more with your jaw pressed up against the stock rather than your cheek. I suppose it also depends on the shape of your face, but it suits me fine...also I plan on using it with the Sako peep sight when hunting in the bush, so I want that option as well. First thing I did was take off the open rear sight on the barrel.

(..and I just swapped out the Zeiss for my absolutely favorite scope, a 4X Swarovski...It has been on most of my main hunting rifles for the last three decades or more...crystal clear...great color transmission, 4-A reticle...getting a bit worn on the outside though...so now I have an excuse to sight in the Sako again!)

Recoil? With the weight of the rifle and the mild cartridge, my carbine doesn't seem to recoil much at all. My standard deer/moose rifle for many years was a featherweight Husqvarna 30-06 in a fiberglass stock firing full power 180 gr. Nosler Part. hunting loads (its in the photo with that deer in the back of my truck..and its wearing the Swarovski 4X). Compared to that rifle, the 6.5 Sako has virtually no recoil.
 
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After lugging it around just a bit I realized the Sako Bavarian Carbine was too bulky. I have a little collection of Mannlicher and Mannlicher-type rifles and I wanted it to be more like them. So I gave it to a custom rifle maker (a member of the ACGG) who is going to "re-file" it and slim down its proportions. It should be ready by spring and I'll post a picture on here when its done.
 
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track said:
The Bavarian rear stock is not as comfortable as a Classic or full Monte Carlo rear stock.
My cheek does not settle in nicely, whereas; it is the side of my mouth that rests on it.....it's a matter of practicing and getting use to it.
The Bavarian has an increased recoil because of it's sloped design, where it comes back and down after the shot.
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Well now that makes sense. I used to own a Ruger M77 Hawkeye RSI (full-stock) in 7x57mm Mauser. Ballistics charts would predict that it should kick like a 7mm-08.
But it doesn't. My 7mm-08's didn't kick much more than a .243 really .. but, with a 140 gr bullet, the Ruger RSI hit my shoulder more like a heavy grain .308 in a lighter rifle.
You KNOW that you have fired a rifle! Not that I'm complaining, because it didn't hurt .. more like a wake up call. lol.

And with the 18.5 inch barrel, the 12 inches of FLAME that came out of the barrel makes everyone else at the range say .. Ohhhhh wow!
Loved that gun!

=)
 
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Nice, congrats. Great caliber. I tried everything I could find in my 6.5x55 Tikka Hunter, accuracy wise nothing comes close to Norma Oryx 156 gr ( Norma Vulcan and Alaskan were great too.) They also work great on game, so far tried it successfully on Bear, Moose and Deer. I wont be getting rid of mine anytime soon, I also think it will become the old man rifle soon. LOL Good Luck
 
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