Sako 85 Bavarian, Pros, Cons, Opinions, Experience??

Tabacco Brook

Tabacco Brook

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I have too many guns sitting in the cabinets collecting dust, so I plan to sell a few that I don't have alot of love for and put the money into a new 85 Bavarian and a Swarovski Z5. So I am looking for opinions and experience from those of you who own or have owned one. I have read that some 85's suffer from ejection problems where the ejected round hits the scope, not sure if this problem has been fixed by Sako or not. I would like to mount the scope as low as possible and I am hoping the ejection issue won't be a problem.
Any thoughts and/or advice would be appreciated,.. thanks.
 
They are beautiful rifles. The oil finish walnut stock is unique. The set trigger is a neat feature as well. Not light but pretty well balanced.
I have one in 7 mag and haven't had ejection issues with it.
 
Buckmastr said:
They are beautiful rifles. The oil finish walnut stock is unique. The set trigger is a neat feature as well. Not light but pretty well balanced.
I have one in 7 mag and haven't had ejection issues with it.
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Thanks for the reply Buckmastr, glad to hear your rifle has no ejection issues. I have read that the drop of the comb on the Bavarian is a bit low and more designed towards the use of open sights,.. so I'm thinking the lower I can get the scope mounted the better it will be for a good cheek weld. I was/am a little worried that the lower the scope is mounted the more chance of ejected rounds striking it. It seems the ejection issue is a hit or a miss, some have it, some don't,.. I don't think I'm going to let it scare me away from buying the rifle.
 
The 85 is an amazing action. I found the bravarian comb to be off enough for me to take a beating from both the 30-06 and the 300wm my pal had. I set up both rifles and helped him with load data etc so I had a considerable time with each. I find when I went to the Black Bear instead of the Bavarian, it was more accepting of my shooting style. The action is excellent and feeds/ejects with perfection. I am very happy with the Sako.
 
duncansuds said:
The 85 is an amazing action. I found the bravarian comb to be off enough for me to take a beating from both the 30-06 and the 300wm my pal had. I set up both rifles and helped him with load data etc so I had a considerable time with each. I find when I went to the Black Bear instead of the Bavarian, it was more accepting of my shooting style. The action is excellent and feeds/ejects with perfection. I am very happy with the Sako.
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Ok duncansuds, thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
 
I have a 85 finnlight. In 7mm rem mag, with optilock ring and bases I was at medium height, I found it was too high for a 40mm bell and I couldn’t get a good weld. I put in a couple snap caps to eject because I was worried from all the reviews. They ejected rate into my turret caps ona Burris full field . Took the caps off and it did not hit. Went and ejected spent cases no problems at all. in the end I put a leupold vx3i 3.5-10 40mm and with optilock lows rings and bases. No problems at all. The scope caps are a lot smaller and I could probly go to extra low if I needed to but don’t feel the need, but the mediums were too high for me. I love the rifle wouldn’t trade it for anything . Very happy with Sako.
 
Seriously just look at the design the ejector goes straight up into the scope not out the port .They opened the bottom of the bolt face to call it a controlled round feed but the ejector is positioned at 10:00 o'clock so it pushes the case out of the bolt face.Bound for failure at some point once the extractor spring weakens or wares .Why risk it?The a7 is there best action.
Just my observations .Take it for what its worth.
 
I have 2 LH 85's and have not experienced an ejection issue to date.
I had originally wanted to get the LH Bavarian in 9.3x62, but with the limited numbers of these sent to NA, after waiting 5 years and still unable to get one, went with the Hunter instead, and is matched to one in 6.5x55. Beautiful rifles, and both shoot 1/2" groups at 100 yards with factory ammo. Looking forward to fine tuning handloads for both rifles.

Yes, these are not inexpensive rifles, but compared to what I have paid for custom builds, I feel these are a good value for the money.

I have a Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 on the 6.5x55 in 1" low Optilock rings and bases, and a Kahles 1.5-6x42 in 30mm low Optilock rings and bases on the 9.3x62. Also had a RH 85 VLS, and had no issues there either, and had a Swarovski Z3 4-12x50 mounted in 1" low Optilock rings and bases on it.

I get good cheek weld with both set ups, but the drop in the comb is defintely more with the Bavarian model, and this is going to come down to each person's personal build/physique.
Not sure if I am not experiencing ejection issues as both scopes do not have side parallax knobs on the left side of these scopes, that could be an issue with scopes and windage knobs for right handed actions.
 
Ive got several Sako 85 rifles, including a Bavarian in 9,3x62, al work and function fine, the Bavarian is low cut at stock, and designed to be shot with irons, for running game, such as done in Europe, it works fine with a smaller compact scope, in low rings,

personally, I think the ejection issue, is over blown, if the bolt is worked aggressively, the brass will not touch the scope, the med action 270, 3006, 6.5x55 action, can hit the right side scope turret, if the bolt is slowly pulled back, as the brass movement is more upwards. large dial scope turrets mounted low, are likely more problematic, than a std low mounted duplex.
My finnlight 2506 could be made to touch, I've never had a touch with the 7-08, 308 7x64 or 9.3x62, .223.

I doubt you will be disappointed, with a Sako Bavarian, they are compact, 20" have back up irons, and are well balanced. reasonable to good wood, and deep rich bluing.
 
I have several Sako 85s, two of the Bavarians.

One is a 375H&H with iron sights. The stock was beautiful but absolutely painful to shoot. In typical Sako fashion, the recoil pad is minimal. As pretty as the stock was, I swapped it out for a laminate with a grind to fit recoil pad. Topped it with a Swaro Habicht 3-10X40 and German #4 reticle. Much easier to shoot and amazingly accurate, even the heavy loads cloverleaf at 200 metres. The american style stock is more practical for using optics than the original hogsback comb.

The next is a full length stock carbine in 30-06. Also amazingly accurate. I topped it with a compact Swaro 3-9. Great rifle but these stocks make the recoil unpleasant. I knew the stock is also not conducive to optics but I wanted the scope on this one in its original stock and just have to make due with a chin weld.

The Sako 85 is a great rifle and the ejection issue is more of a word of mouth problem that increases exponentially as the story is told. It's like the feral hog epidemic in northern alberta. Nobody that you talk to has actually seen one, but they heard of one. I own several 85s in various cartridges and have assembled a pile more for friends. I experienced on with an ejection problem but it was due to a giant windage turret.

I love the Bavarians, but they are not for everyone. I love the single-set trigger. If most of your shooting is with optics but you like the look of the Bavarian, check out the Hunter model, blued and walnut. But, if you like shooting irons and can handle the recoil, go for it.
 
I have three M85 rifles. One is a 7x64 Bavarian, another is a M85 Varmint SS laminated .308 and the other a M85 Kodiak, .375H&H. The Varmint .308 worked perfectly from the start. No issues. It is a decent target rifle and accurate off the bench or prone. The Bavarian 7x64 did have problems with ejected cases hitting the scope turret, and those empties falling back into the action. It only required a stronger extractor spring that I purchased from Bighorn Sales in Houston BC. After spending ten bucks and a 2 minute home installation job it now works perfectly. The .375 required a custom extractor built by a fellow CGN member, a few more dollars and a bit of fitting, and now works perfectly. I am now completely satisfied with all three rifles. Extra short and short action Sako M85's seldom have any issues with ejection. But Sako 85's are not always OK from the factory when equipped with medium or long actions. The angle of ejection may be too high, and that is a real problem that may be easily fixed, or not. You can choose to shoot with iron sights, or put a really high mounted scope on them and they all work OK. It has to do with the grip of the extractor on the rim of the case, and the angle of ejection in relation to the momentum of the ejector hitting the base of the case. Sako should have done better in their design. I like my medium and long action Sako M85 rifles a lot. But they did require tweaking.
About stock design and recoil. Sako makes the "Bavarian" style rifles for real hunters. They are not designed for shooting off the bench. If you want a rifle that will not beat you up with recoil off the bench, choose a very straight stock. But it will not be so great for hunting. There is a BIG difference between shooting from field positions and shooting from the bench. Sako M85 Bavarians are built for hunters. From hunting positions, the Bavarian stock fits most hunters naturally, allows a more upright head position, does not require one to "crawl the stock" and lets you roll with the recoil without your cheek being hit or contorting your body to fit the rifle. Horses for courses. If you spend most or nearly all of your time with your hunting rifle at a formal shooting range instead of the field, the Bavarian stock is not for you. If you prefer a more athletic style and quick instinctive shooting, it is worth a try. One of the reasons so many styles of rifles exist.
 
My dad had one in a 300WSM it was an accurate rifle @ the range and never had any issues....except for one!!!...it was cursed! He couldn’t kill anything with that rifle...figured it was jinxed so for that reason alone sold it...lol
 
Longwalker said:
About stock design and recoil. Sako makes the "Bavarian" style rifles for real hunters. They are not designed for shooting off the bench. If you want a rifle that will not beat you up with recoil off the bench, choose a very straight stock. But it will not be so great for hunting. There is a BIG difference between shooting from field positions and shooting from the bench. Sako M85 Bavarians are built for hunters. From hunting positions, the Bavarian stock fits most hunters naturally, allows a more upright head position, does not require one to "crawl the stock" and lets you roll with the recoil without your cheek being hit or contorting your body to fit the rifle. Horses for courses. If you spend most or nearly all of your time with your hunting rifle at a formal shooting range instead of the field, the Bavarian stock is not for you. If you prefer a more athletic style and quick instinctive shooting, it is worth a try. One of the reasons so many styles of rifles exist.
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The Bavarian will be strictly a hunting rifle,.. only time it will see the bench is during sight in, and yearly zero check. I personally don't care for a rifle that is too straight while shooting from hunting positions. my BLR PG has quite a drop of comb and I find it suits/fits me well.
 
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