Sako 85 varmint stainless or Tikka t3 tactical in .223

looking on sportsman gun centre only the tikka comes threaded. has a picatiny rail also!

Yes mine was factory threaded with rail you can get a new tikka for £695, the tikka can't be beaten for the price IMO you have to ask yourself is the sako worth nearly double the price of the tikka I didn't think so and put the rest of the money on good glass and glad I did my mate has two sako 85's and it isn't any more accurate than my tikka I love it I've also got a howa 1500 which is another cracking gun for the money also.....
 
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Sako bases and rings will cost u another £180 (optilocks) so maybe get the tikka if budget is tight - still a superb rifle!
 
Bought a T3 varmint stainless in .223 very nice, however for my needs ( a walkabout fox gun) i realised id made a mistake, bought it cheap so no loss when i sold it on, now the proud owner of a Sako 85 hunter , in my eyes much nicer rifle and i can see where the extra £s went. Buy once , buy the Sako you wont be disappointed IMHO
cheers
craig
 
sako all the way opti lock rings and bases £115 portsmouth gun centre (steve crabtree) cracking bloke to deal with and yes they are the new ones with the torx screws
 
hey scoie why is the sako 85 better?

doesnt a heavy barrel give you more accuracy? Im not bothered about weight yet. Im only 25 ;)
 
your better off going to have a good looking. and get a feel of the different rifles.

if it was me i would look at the secondhand market. there are lots of rifles out there with extra's. could save you a pretty penny. and the extra you have left over. could go to a scope or some ammo
 
Hi Nick h

for me its the quality of finish on the Sako, the magazine is much better quality and it fits flush to the stock, the action is smaller for a .223 all much neater in my eyes, the action and bolt was super smooth on the T3 but one size fits all calibres. the bolt shroud on the t3 was cheap plastic( every one seems to fit metal replacements for the t3 bolt handles and shrouds-this is an extra expense , dont feel the need to on the sako)

i use my .223 for foxing so a heavy varmint barrel is wasted , excessive weight and no more accurate for my needs , sub 200yards under the lamp and for the amount of lead i sling down it is perfect with a thinner profile barrel, all horses for courses but suits mine fine

For me personally the sako wins hands down and is worth the extra few sheckles which i can afford by a little more saving and not buying the first gun i see, i would rather wait and get what i want when i can and keep the gun, i speak from experience as did this with all my rifles .22, hmr and .223 , i bought the first guns i saw and only after a couple of years do i know have the rifles i will keep , two Anschutz and two Sakos
 
What twist rate are you after?
As far as I know the T3 only comes with the 20" barrel which is a tad short if you want to get the most out of a fast twist/heavy bullet combo.
I've got a 1:8 twist 23.75" sako 75 and it's not something you can easily handle in the field as it's nose heavy with a mod on. Accurate as an accurate thing though!
In reality the heavy barrel really only comes into it's own on the range with 10shot strings.

Sako is better made, had both, prefer Sako.
 
Nick H

what will you be using the rifle for? target or vermin or both
As milligan mentions twist rate could be an issue, my t3 had a 24" 1 in 8 barrel ( these barrel lengths are available as standard) , these are ideal for the heavier bullet for extending your range however as mentioned not what i wanted and with the mod on veary nose heavy as Miligan has said.
i bought a 1 in 12 on the 85 and will shoot 40-53g ( the new 53g super varmint are superb in it), another other issue is that 1 in 8 rifles are not as common fron new so you may have a wait( true as of lasy year , not sure if dealers have a bigger stock know)
 
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