New rifle

jimbo123p

Well-Known Member
View attachment 13604I have just bought anew Sako75. As yet it has not been fired. It is a varment barrelled .223 with a 1-8 twist. I do not reload. Factory ammo needed. Anyone using a similar rifle with factory ammo. Suggestions please? main duties will be roe and foxes. Weight best suited to 1-8 manufacturer. price expected to pay. I can buy up to 500 per go. Jim
 
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It's a shame you haven't had any responses to your request so far as I am in the same position as yourself at the moment.
I did find some very useful info on running in a barrel on the HPS website.
I was intending buying a box of whatever is in stock and trying them all out to see what suited my rifle the best.
 
It is. It is a new calibre to me with a quality barrel. The list is endless in weight and manufacture. Where to start is with what is on the shelf but how many different boxes do yo buy? The costs esculates faster than the metre on the petrol pump. Do I come down to 55 up to 67? someone out there is shooting a varment barrel at 1in8 twist. Surely they will have a start point in narrowing the field. Jim
 
Don't have a sako varmint, but a T3 1/8 sporter 223. Best ammo was Fiocchi 55gr sp, second best was Sako 55gr sp. The sako seems to work in many 223's.
Otherwise my T3 is very finicky.
edi
 
it would make sense to buy a few different brands and weights and try them out in your rifle.
ones that work in someone elses Sako may not work in yours.

1:8 should allow you a heavier game/SP bullet for deer but still allow a BT/"Varmint" bullet for fox.

I was todl that Sako bullets were very good but one of my rifles hated them, similarly Privi.
 
I used to have one of these rifles & fired 60gr Nosler Partitions... you can buy these as factory ammo using the Federal Premium range.

Very accurate little round with the fast twist rate, i was achieving 1/2 inch groups @ 150yrds. Thats not to say your rifle will necessarily like them though!
 
John Robson of Yorkshire Deer stalking has a Sako 75 and he says it will fire just about anything, fortunately Prvi Partizan go particularly well though his is a 6.5x55 calibre.
 
Getting some Prvi from bushwear when I collect the rifle. Might pick up a box of Sako as well. As yo say, trial and error but trying to iron out options. At £19 a box for the better brands I dont want too many trials if I can help it. Thanks, Jim
 
Hello Jim, i tried Federal & norma 55 grain soft points through my .223 Blaser when zeroing. Norma grouped under 1/2inch @ 100m and has proved to be a excellent Round for Roe & foxes. On the down side they are not cheap, £29 a box but very pleased with them. I had a .243 75 a few years ago and RWS Ammo produced the best groups. Pays to try a few different brands IMO.
 
I am VERY jealous of that rifle mate - the 75 chambered in .223 must be just about the ultimate setup you can ask for for vermin, fox, highseat roe work.
 
Jimbo, the 1:8 twist gives you a lot of flexibility in what you use in regard to projectile wt, from 40 to 80 grain target projectiles to get to out to 900 m if you want to try that. In my 1:8 tikka, 55 gn loads with a nosler balistic tip shoot very well for me and are excellent for vermin and paper. For a deer projectile you want to use one that is a bit stiffer in the jacket than the BT. A 52 or 55 gn barmes tsx will shoot closer to the BT and mean less scope adjustment, or try a 55 or 60 gn Hornady SP, 60 grain Nosler partition, 65 grain sierra projectile. Appreciate some ofthese will likely be a handloading proposition only, but that is a good past time also. If you going to use a .222 / .223 for deer, goats, pigs you must shoot them behind the shoulder in the heart lungs, head / neck or it can go all pear shaped. Resist the tempation to break shoulders.
 
Hello i just happen to have a Sako 75 .223 hunter in which i use Hornady TAP 55g for crows fox and generally having fun to which it will group 1/2 at a 100m quite easy . But as others have said just because mine likes them it doesnt mean yours will it trial and error im afraid but good luck and enjoy thats the main thing i say
 
I have a Sako 75 1:8. I reload though, my preference is for 63gr Semipoints and 65gr Gamekings.
69gr for target. It shoots very well so I've not bothered working up more loads and I don't like light bullets, otherwise I'd have gotten a .222 or something like it.

What I want to know is where on earth you found a brand spanking new 75???:)
 
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