Sako a7 roughtech pro

Got one in .243 and am happy with it so far. Seems to shoot pretty straight but haven't really had much chance to put many through it
 
I have a standard stainless non-roughtech version (in .308). Had major issues with accuracy - i suspect it was the mounts. The roughtech models appear to be supplied with the same system and bases. My advice would be to through them away and put on something more substantial. I used Talley LW ones and all seems ok so far.
 
Actually, yes. Bryn's advice is better - don't buy. If i knew then what i know now... i wouldn't have bought mine.

In fact, i'm currently looking for something else to replace it.
 
I had one in .270 , synthetic stainless and never had any problem with it, but first thing i've done after taking it out from the box, was to replace the aluminium bases with some steel quality ones, Leupold in my case.
 
I've personally decided against one of these as I don't like the look of the recoil lug system myself. Looks ideal apart from that though.
 
My .243 A7 has been back to the supplier since it would only zero about 4 clicks from the max elevation; tried different scopes, different rings, different mod, different ammo. After me spending a fortune (and several evenings) travelling back and forward between the gun shop and the range (both about 100 miles from my house, in different directions!) to try different options, the UK supplier have now replaced the mounts with Browning (A-Bolt?) ones. I've been told it now zeros about 24 clicks from the top, so that sounds better. Apparently it's happened before with a few A7s, and no-one seems to know why. I can live with 24 clicks, but I'm pretty p1ssed off with Sako to be honest; this is just not acceptable when spending over a grand on what's supposed to be a piece of precision engineering.
It groups really well and feels lovely, and it's a massive pain in the Yaris to swap it out, so I'll probably keep it. I'll certainly be contacting Sako directly to ask them what the feck is going on though!
My mate's (expensive) Sako Quad never ejects unfired rounds either, so my advice would be to steer clear of Sako!
 
The same rifle that shootgun is referring to was with me in france a couple of weeks ago, using the 130 gn homeloads that i use for my .270 we had it grouping just under two inches at 226 yards and with a different scope we probably could have done better, i was really impressed with the rifle and would definately recommend it, cheers Geoff
 
The same rifle that shootgun is referring to was with me in france a couple of weeks ago, using the 130 gn homeloads that i use for my .270 we had it grouping just under two inches at 226 yards and with a different scope we probably could have done better, i was really impressed with the rifle and would definately recommend it, cheers Geoff

Impressive grouping yes, but Shootgun had already upgraded the supplied mounts prior to you using it. I doubt you'd have been so impressed if Shootgun had got to France before he'd realised that Sako seem to be supplying their rifles (in the UK at least) fitted with mounts made from butter...

It's just NOT good enough, come on Sako!
 
This is a £1,000 pound rifle built as an economy Sako 85 and nothing wrong with that or owning one. If you have to chuck the free issue cheap mounts away, big deal, you get some decent ones and it shoots straight! Of course if you want high quality you have to pay for it and push your hands deeper in your pocket and still have to buy decent mounts.
Personally I'd be happy to pay £60 for new mounts rather than £600 for a higher end rifle - that'll probably shoot no better?
 
This is a £1,000 pound rifle built as an economy Sako 85 and nothing wrong with that or owning one. If you have to chuck the free issue cheap mounts away, big deal, you get some decent ones and it shoots straight! Of course if you want high quality you have to pay for it and push your hands deeper in your pocket and still have to buy decent mounts.
Personally I'd be happy to pay £60 for new mounts rather than £600 for a higher end rifle - that'll probably shoot no better?

If you were to buy a brand new mid range car and the fitted brake pads(Cheap) became u/s after a few applications, would you be happy to pay for new pads. Especially when the dealer say that you should have bought a more expensive model and you would not have the problem. (Big Deal).
The rifle which includes the mounts should live up to the sale pitch. This is not just a customer service issue which in its self is unacceptable, but a safety issue just as in dodgy brake pads.
Bryn
 
If you were to buy a brand new mid range car and the fitted brake pads(Cheap) became u/s after a few applications, would you be happy to pay for new pads. Especially when the dealer say that you should have bought a more expensive model and you would not have the problem. (Big Deal).
The rifle which includes the mounts should live up to the sale pitch. This is not just a customer service issue which in its self is unacceptable, but a safety issue just as in dodgy brake pads.
Bryn

There's a big difference between a £15,000 motor car with bad brakes and a good but budget end rifle of a £1,000 with mounts which will do although not the best!
And a safety issue, are you serious, the only safety issue is the nut behind the butt! You get what you pay for in life and if it's not good enough you pay more.

This reminds me of how people slag off the Remington 700. Yes we know it's a budget rifle and yes the trigger and stocks are crap but it'll do for many people. However the potential in the rifle is huge, change the trigger, change the stock, bed it and you'll have a rifle as accurate as any twice the price even after the upgrades.

The point is the budget rifle gets people on a budget out there shooting and I would say that many manufacturers need to be commended for that and for bringing shooting within the reach of many of us who otherwise could not afford it.

Then there's the reality of life and just sometimes in manufacturing the 'Friday build' get through. No manufacturer wants it, but it happens. It would seem from the posts that one way or another two rifles with faulty mounts were eventually resolved, appreciate not an ideal situation and can leave a bad taste. Shootgun had the right idea open to anybody and immediately upgraded the mounts, necessary or not we'll probably never know.

If we implemented a no buy policy on every rifle manufacturer that has had a fault there would be nothing for us to buy!
 
I wouldn't have said £1000 is a budget rifle, that's one thousand hard earned British Pounds.
For that amount of money I would won't something of quality!
There are lots of fine rifles available for a lot less money, you could buy a bergara b14 and still have enough change to buy quality mounts and a scope, for example.
Not that I have anything against sako in general, but if I wanted a budget sako, I'd buy a tikka!
 
Unfortunately they won't do. At all. That's the issue.

I wouldn't have a clue how many A7 rifles are out there but are we saying none of them will shoot because I find that hard to believe. That's not to say I disagree with anybody who has had a problem, they clearly have but I wouldn't just rubbish a rifle for a small part that can be upgraded. Seems Sako would be better off selling the A7 without mounts.

£1,000 not a budget rifle! Then tell me plastic bolt shrouds, plastic magazines, plastic trigger guards, inferior stocks (apart from maybe the Roughtech), no pillars, no bedding, aluminium mounts, shortened barrels for calibre, inferior triggers, metal finish, are all these things something you'll find on a Sako, Sauer, Mauser, Musgrave at double the money? Personally I have no problem with rifles like Remington, Tikka etc, some would but they got me shooting and still own them today.
 
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