Sako 85 cycling problems

Can any members help me cure a problem with my Sako 85 in 6.5x55 . Great rifle but I have an on going problem with picking up the second round from the mag. Last night I missed a second roe doe because it failed to pick the round up The beast stood there looking at me whilst I struggled to reload and finally wandered back into the wood edge and I swear it was laughing. This has happened before. The problem seems to be that the blunt end of the round does not pop up after the first one is ejected. The bolt goes in but misses the rim. I have tried WD 40 and silicon spray on the magazine but still the problem exists. Sending it back to GMK is my last option but before I do so has any one any thoughts.

I had occasional feed problems with a 75 in the same calibre.

In my case, I found that the problem seemed to be that the next round did not have its head against the back of the magazine. For some reason when the bolt pushed it forward, it did not pop up in the right way and so did not get fed into the chamber but rather buggered the whole operation up. Embarassing.

Why did the next round down not have its head against the back of the magazine?
1. putting one up from the magazine by working the bolt very slowly and quietly just before the shot on the hill, causing the round below to move forward in sympathy 'cos of friction between the cases.
2. inserting the full mag with the bolt open, then closing the bolt on the empty chamber, but holding down the top round only long enough for the bolt to clear the head; causing the friction between bolt and case to drag the round forward.
3. Hand-feeding a single round over the top of the loaded mag, but holding the top round in the mag down only until the bolt clears its head, as in 2.

Could any of those things be happening to you?

No, having read you post properly, probably not

As PKL said, back to RFD!

this is a very simple one my friend - back to the factory or RFD for a new one, if you bought second hand, put it back on guntrader, if you bought it new, bring it back..

a sako is an impecably machined piece of equipment, designed to perform flawlessly again and again and again...even Mike Yardly uses the 85 in 458 Lott in Africa....if these babies don't work absolutely sweet, they need to be scrapped and replaced, sako's are not there to be 'worked on'. end of.

Chiron,

I had this problem once in an identical rifle to yours. I went through a few possibilities in a safe environment (Calton Moor Range) to see if I could work it out.

The problem I had came from having the mag in my pocket with rounds in it before fitting in into the rifle. The rounds got pressed down near the head, which meant the weren't parallel in the mag. The first one would load ok, but the second one came up out of the mag slightly "nose up" which meant the head was too low for the bolt to catch it and push it forward.

I've cured the problem by pressing and releasing all the rounds in the mag before fitting it into the rifle. This ensures they're all parallel with the feed lips. Also, I found it doesn't do any harm to leave the bullets off the back of the mag by a mil or two.

Try the above in a safe environment. If it doesn't work, send it back to GMK. As PKL says, Sako's are a quality bit of kit, for which you pay a premium.

Cheers,

Bob

Thanks for all your replies I will see how I get on but think that I will be sending it back to GMK as suggested.

Just out of interest, do you empty the magazine after every trip or store a full magazine with the rest of your ammunition? If you leave it loaded you may have a weak spring that's not pushing the next round up enough for the bolt to pick it up....

Usual cause is mag not being loaded correctly all the rounds need to be right back in the mag the easiest way to ensure this is to slap the mag into the palm of your hand to ensure rounds are correctly seated against the bag of the mag before inserting the mag into the rifle.

+ 1 for fatbloke I have the habit of doing just that on everyone of my rifles to square everything away, I have a Sako 85 in 6.5 x 55 never had a problem with the mag, I would give the mag a good clear out and try loading, (if needs be get a spare new mag, it will always come in useful, if that resolves the problem , take the other one back for a refund )a full bag of ammo in and manually unload the mag and see if any variation first, could be very easy fix, wouldn't send it back just yet, they are a good bit of kit, well made and thoroughly checked before leaving the factory

Would the rounds not being up against the back of the mag cause the bolt to ride over the top one without pushing it forward? I've certainly had feed-difficulties cause by this problem, but never that particular difficulty.