Have been mulling over this for quite some time, but after handling rifles again tonight at my local gun shop I've made the decision to clear out my gun cabinet and purchase a Sako 85/Finnlight. I'll have to sell a BLR and an X-Bolt to do it (and possibly a BPS as well), but at the end of the day I just couldn't get past how solid, dependable, and well built the Sakos I have handled over the past year or so have been.
The only question is whether or not I should jump on the deal at my local gun shop (stainless synthetic 85 in 30-06 for $1500) or look for a short action. The scope ejection issue I've seen referenced would lead me to lean in the short action direction, but ordering a new 85/Finnlight in a short action is $1900 plus.
What I'm really worried about is "Sako creep" Namely, I'll want to add more and my bank account/VISA will seriously suffer ...
Handling of these rifles really makes it difficult to avoid buying one.... I knew after some handling that I "needed" one. Sako creep (and optics that do them justice) are going to be real problems for you! A couple of comments to try and help inform your decisions:
Medium Action vs. Short Action: IMHO this is a real problem. I originally had a brand new 85 Finnlight in .270 (medium action but most people refer to is as long, including myself) and returned it as "defective" because the store manager and I were unable to find any acceptable mounting setup (ie undesirably high rings) that would allow the snap caps to eject properly. The higher the rings get, the less comfortable the cheek weld, to the point where you cannot have a cheek weld and see through the optic. I put "defective" in quotes because it is more of a design flaw with the combination of the ejector blade placement and weak extractor claw spring (a forum I read had a post from a member who claimed to have solved the ejection issue by replacing the extractor spring with a stronger one, which would appear to be a relatively simple fix, if the same is indeed a reliable and repeatable fix.) I was very fortunate to have bought the original rifle from a big box retailer whose manager actually cared about my experience and was willing to make it right for me, rather than send me on to Stoeger, which would have taken months and maybe not even resolved my issue, which happened with Beretta to a 24hourcampfire member Gramps2, whose thread provided helpful info on assessing this issue.
For my purposes, a .308 was essentially just as good and has now proven to be even better as I am planning on getting into reloading down the road. The short action ejects the brass much more horizontally, consistently clearing the scope. When I saw the ejection angle of my .308 rifle in the shop with some A zoom snap caps, I knew the ejection issue was not present and happily purchased it. I would recommend sticking with the short action, if there are any acceptable calibers in that action length for your purpose. Also, if you can physically watch the ejection with snap caps before buying, it is extra piece of mind, although all my reading has consistently said the short action is fine. Also, I have not had anyone confirm whether or not the magnum action has this issue, although a magnum in this configuration might be a hard kicker, my .308 has surprising recoil.
Now, there is a second issue I wished to highlight with 85 Finnlights, which may or may not be present (or admitted) in everyone's rifle but appears to be present in mine and many others. This issue deals with the stock. When I solved the first issue and moved on to trying to find a factory round my rifle liked best, I was disappointed by it's accuracy. It was shooting 2-3 MOA at 100 yards. I initially attributed the accuracy issues to the shooter and also wanted to try allowing the rifle to cool more in between 3 shot groups. 5 shot groups with this barrel were not even attempted, as the barrel was already HOT after 3 shots. I eventually improved my technique, added a very necessary limbsaver pad and experimented with rounds and found the gun liked bullets that were mid to heavy for calibre and did not like light for calibre rounds. 165gr and 180 gr Federal Trophy Copper and Trophy Bonded were able to get me closer to 1-1.5 MOA. The was fine for my first hunting season with this rifle but, still not satisfied, I continued to read forums about potential Finnlight accuracy issues and found many attributing accuracy issues to the stock, which has some odd and unnecessary internal holes and an unconventional recoil "lug" design. An Alberta Outdoorsmen forum has a thread where a member was able to modify the Finnlight stock and tighten up the accuracy by filling in some unnecessary holes/hollow areas. He also references others whose accuracy improved notably when they added a McMillan stock, whose stock internals were what he based his modifications from. So, long story short, I am looking at options re: the stock and wanted you to know that you may eventually have to plan and budget for doing the same. I may modify or go McMillan.
Just some information I felt might be useful in making your decision. I love my Finnlight and would not have chosen differently even if I had known everything I know now, but it's helpful to know these things up front ti inform your decision. Please let us know what you end up doing.
