So my Sako 85 Synthetic Black (new 2014 model) has finally arrived!!!!!
It didn’t come with a screw cut barrel, so I had it cut and end cap made. Had to have the whole thing re-blued as a result though. Also had to have it re-proofed after threading, but I finally got all the work finished and stated to zero the rifle and break in the barrel (two shot, clean, two shots clean etc etc).
Well it’s very very different to my Trusty Tikka T3 Varmint (both 308s). Its better made, the action is smoother, more bits are metal rather than plastic and its got a very high quality “soft grip” feature around the stock. Its so much lighter than my old Tikka. I found out that the Sako 85 Synthetic Black is based on the 85 Finnlight, rather than the standard weight 85 model, and it feels like a toy in comparison! The barrel is free floating and moves around noticeably more that my Tikka Varmint. We put a fair few rounds through it for zeroing purposes (after breaking in the barrel) and despite its very thin diameter barrel, it held a zero perfectly for 5 or 6 rapid fire shots. I had presumed such a thin barrel would go off zero after a couple of quick shots, but not so ! I have an Atec moderator on it, which helps reduce the barrel lift and the noise of course. It’s now zeroed perfectly (with my Zeiss Victory HT), but the Sako 85 fairly leaps in the air after a shot compared to the heavy Tikka T Varmint. Without the moderator, the Sako shoots 4” higher at 100m than with a moderator. By comparison, My heavy Tikka T3 varmint shot pretty much exactly the same with or without a moderator!
So, the gun looks pretty good. Am off out to see if I can get a red stag with it on Sunday….