You can always use the OptiLock bases and rings, but IMHO bolting a separate base onto a receiver grooved for direct attachment of rings just seemed wrong...inelegant.
My last Sako was an AV-actioned .338WM; sold it only because I finally found the perfect .338WM Win70 Super Grade that I had always wanted. I've gotta say that the Win is, to my eye, far more attractive in appearance, but in terms of mechanical function, trigger, accuracy, etc. I still think the Sako was a slightly superior rifle.
Honestly, that's not even a fair comparison for me to make. After owning a half-dozen or more Sako A-series guns over the years...got my first around the mid-70's, just sold my last a couple months back...I am heavily biased towards them. My current Win70 is actually my very first CRF model 70...or, as I tend to think of it, my first "real" Win70.I'm in the same place re: Win 70s. Really like the slimness of a Classic, they feel pretty handy. The open triggers are, as everyone will always point out, a great feature... if the Sako is actually in your opinion slightly better...
Honestly, that's not even a fair comparison for me to make. After owning a half-dozen or more Sako A-series guns over the years...got my first around the mid-70's, just sold my last a couple months back...I am heavily biased towards them. My current Win70 is actually my very first CRF model 70...or, as I tend to think of it, my first "real" Win70.I just finished adjusting the trigger on it; I swear the previous owner set it up himself for the heaviest pull possible. I haven't even shot it since the adjustment, so a few dozen shots through a single gun with about a 6-pound trigger can't be realistically compared to many hundreds of rounds over a period of a half-century through a bunch of Sakos with lovingly tuned triggers. Just dry-firing it at Animal Planet last night with its new trigger pull, I think I am in love...
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jjohnwm said:I do think the fugly Sako stock is a bit more comfortable in terms of handling recoil delivered to the shoulder. I don't like looking at a Monte Carlo, and the Sakos are among the ugliest of the ugly, but I do like shooting them. The classic-styled stock on the Win is much more to my eye's taste, but my shoulder isn't as fond of it...but that might just be me getting old and frail...![]()