.243 Rifle choice

Sako 85 is a great rifle. Great basis for a rebarrel if yiou decide to change calibres. I had a 85 as a donor, as the previous owner couldnt get it to group! dont know what he was doing as most of my test loads were more than acceptable. great rifles with great standard triggers.
 
I've owned a number of 243's over the years and strangely enough they all shot well !

Had a couple of the Pre Garcia Foresters that had sporter weight barrels that shot nicely . Later I had a Sako Hunter I bought new that shot really well (that was about 1992) . Had a pair of Winchester Pre 64 Model 70's one a Varmint and the other a Featherweight , the Varmint was easily 1/2 MOA while the FWT was about 1" for 3 shots at 100 yards . Had I think 5 Remington 700's of which 3 were plain Jane BDL's and the other two were BDL Varmint rifles , all were made before 1980 and all shot really well . Also had a couple Ruger 77's in 243 that did nicely and at the present I have a Ruger #1B that'll keep three in about 3/4" at 100 yards plenty good enough for deer atleast .


In the HB guns I was always partial to the Nosler 70 grain BT , in the more deer suitable ones I was always partial to the Nosler 95 BT and the Hornady 95 SST .
 
My first high powered rifle as we called them around here back then was a brand new in the box Remington 700BDL in 243 WIN that I paid the princely sum of $174 , bought a Bushnell Scopechief IV 2.5-8x at the same time for I think $40 and a set of Weaver bases and rings for an additional $20 . Got a couple boxes of Remington 100 grain CoreLokts . That was in 1973 I was all of 12 years old ! Worked all summer to pay for that badboy ! My original intention was to buy a new Honda 125 Trials bike and as I got about 2/3's of the way to the price of the bike my pop took me to the then best local gunshop we had and said you need a high powered rifle and you got the money to pay for it !

Ended up buying the stuff above and a Ruger 10-22 carbine with the walnut stock and the pot metal buttplate for $59.99 .

Killed my first deer that coming season with that rifle . Shot her in the head from about 40 yards . Course I killed about 100 groundhogs that summer before I ever got a try at a deer !

Been fond of the 243 WIN cartridge ever since . Only one I have ever found that I truely like more is the 260 REM and most of you well know it ain't a whole lotta difference between them !
 
I've got two Tikka's a .243 and as of yesterday a .308. They are fantastic to shoot and reliable. I have access to a Sako 30-06 but I struggled to get on with it. I would suggest that you handle both guns before you buy and see what's comfortable for you.
 
picked up the Sako 85 S/S on Wednesday and went to the range on Thursday. Love it!!!

It will only get better once the confidence is there... 85 s/s is a cracking tool no doubt about it, love my one too!!!:love: Enjoy!
 
Back
Top