I recently decided to switch for hunting with my benelli r1 3006 to hunting with a bolt action. Someone offered to trade may for benelli for a sako 85 black bear 3006. I know this is meant to be a bush gun but i was thinking of throwing a burris veracity on the thing and make it a medium range hunting rig. What do you guys think?
Sako 85 3006
- Thread starter Gks206
- Start date
Sounds like a good idea...I have a couple Sakos with open sights and scopes. If needed, the Sako ringmounts are actually decent at returning to zero if used as quick detach. The pin slides right into the slot on the back of the dovetail.
I have no complaints with mine. 30-06 is plenty capable up to 400yds (the limit of my range) and likely beyond. Whether you’re comfortable attempting to shoot an animal at that distance is a separate question, but the rifle won’t hold you back. My particular rifle groups right around 1-1.5” @ 100yds, never any better, rarely much worse. It’s not the scalpel some guys have/claim to have, but it works for me.
I have several Sako 85s and the ejection issue is more of an issue among guys that have never seen it than it is among those of us that own them. I have a few Medium actions in 270 and 30-06, all with low mounted optics, and no issues. There's a couple guys that I know personally on this forum that love to broadcast the ejection story as firsthand knowledge but I know they neither own nor operate a Sako as I mounted all of their optics.
I put together a Blackbear in 30-06 and another in 308 for a good friend so I have had the opportunity to get in some range time with these rifles and have been beside him in the field while he was carrying them. Great rifles. He has variable 3-10X optics on both and they work great at 25 metres and 300 metres.
I put together a Blackbear in 30-06 and another in 308 for a good friend so I have had the opportunity to get in some range time with these rifles and have been beside him in the field while he was carrying them. Great rifles. He has variable 3-10X optics on both and they work great at 25 metres and 300 metres.
I had a .30-06 Black Bear, scoped with a Swaro 3-10x42 on the correct height rings.
If the bolt was cycled briskly as when hunting, it would fling 100% of rounds into the bottom of the scope, and often back into the action. Cycled slowly, it was fine.
Lol pics of the bottom of the scope or it didn't happen.
I cut a small piece of loop side velcro to stick on the spot where the brass hit, which solved that problem at least.
The VAST majority of the time it wasn't a practical issue, but cycle that bolt fast and you're likely to end up with a case in the feed way. I understand that going up even one ring height increment makes a difference. I was using the low Optilocks, and was (am) unwilling to go higher on rifle to clear ejection or bolt handle clearance issues - that's treating the symptom, not the disease. They're great rifles otherwise, fantastically accurate, light, handy, and suitable for anything that walks the continent, but... worrying about cycling wasn't something I wanted to deal with ultimately.
Exactly what I was going to say. My buddy had an 85 in 270wsm and the ejection was terrible. He ended up getting grid of it.
I don’t doubt your experience, just stating mine has been different as guns tend to be. I’m running the optilock ringmounts, not sure what the difference in height is compared to the bases/rings.
While it is a known potential problem, the overall likelihood of occurrence is low. Think of how many 85’s are sold and compare that to the number of people who have actually encountered the problem first hand.
I am generally a SAKO fan, but that is even more reason they should honour their warranty and repair or replace the rifles that manifest the problem. However they refuse to do so.
Ted
Agreed. I forget where I read it, but I have read the issue is the result of poor extractor tension and is more prevalent in cartridges with thinner rims. If it truly is that simple it’s beyond me why they refuse to do anything about it. Beretta/Stoeger group warranty and service is notoriously ####e though. When paying $2000+ it should be corrected with haste.
I'm just making a joke... sort of lol. I'm sure with high enough rings you could cure anything, but the bottom line is that with a 40 ish mm objective on the correct low rings, it's an issue. Perhaps with a higher scope and higher mounting, it's fine, but I wasn't interested in that.
I'm absolutely sure I don't know the overall occurrence rate, and I'm pretty sure you don't either. I would actually suspect that not all that many long action Sako 85s are sold, certainly not in comparison to Remington, Savage, Ruger, Marlin,Tikka and Winchester. I suspect given the price it's a fairly uncommon rifle in the grand scheme of things.
As far as the number of people reporting problems, it sure seems to be a whole lot to me. Sako 85 long action ejection is one of the most well known and infamous problems with a modern hunting rifle, up there with canted sights and jams with Marlins.
Yes, I've messed around with different springs etc under the extractor too, to no avail. Having reliable ejection hinge on proper extractor tension seems bound to end in tears to me.
For all the people that claim it's no issue, I'd like to see 20 brass ejected out of an 85 long action, cycling it hard as you would hunting. With a low scope with appropriate height rings as well of course.
I don't know that even if Sako had replaced the rifle or "repaired" it that I would have kept it. Clearly there's a problem if a brand new rifle won't function properly out of the box. I'm not interested in rolling the dice with another one, and I'd forever be waiting for it to happen again when the "fixed" spring broke in. I also have no interest in having a brand new rifle tied up in warranty for months.
