springbok787
Well-Known Member
I have had some time recently so I have been writing up a few recent stalks and I thought I would also bore people with a rifle review….
Having had an empty slot for .243 for a while now on impulse I decided to fill it with a new Sako S20 in Hunter setup. I had also looked at the Sako 85 finlight and carbon, but I fancied a thumb hole and as I usually end up adding a cheek riser to my rifles I went for the S20. Also it was £500+ less than the other two options.
My impressions of the rifle design etc are that the bolt is the usual slick setup that we expect from every Sako or Tikka these days. Smooth basically and I can’t think of anything more to say about this really. If you already own a Tikka or Sako the bolt will be similar in quality and feel.
The barrel is somewhere between a hunter and a varmit weight and size wise. The closest comparison I have is my Tikka CTR .308 which has a semi weight barrel. It’s hard to be exact but I think there isn’t much between the CTR and S20 apart from the S20 is fluted. They are certainly both screw cut 5/8x24, which has proved useful to me moderator wise. With A semi weight on the S20 is Sako trying to make a universal rifle which makes sense to me as well because the S20 is also marketed as a range tool (with the stock swap) so a semi heavy barrel would be sensible. The semi weight barrel though will be viewed by some as a compromise on a stalking rifle. What this does me though is the rifle is on the heavy side of things for a hunting rifle. It certainly isn’t as heavy as a varmit and is lighter than my CTR but I reckon it’s 500 odd grams more than something like a T3X lite or 85 finnlight. Personally I don’t mind this and I actually prefer a bit more weight to help keep muzzle flip etc in check. If I wanted to save my knees my time and money would be better spent loosing some weight because 500grams isn’t much when you are 6ft 3 and 16 stone plus.
Stock wise allot has already been written by people more eloquent than myself, but I have to say I like it. I have added a additional spacer behind the butt stock as I am a bit of a 6ft 3in ape. The cheek riser adjustment is a little bit cheap in my mind and is about the only thing on the rifle that doesn’t feel as solid as a Sako should. That said it is perfectly serviceable folds down completely flush and if like me you want good cheek weld and use a 56 objective scope then it is pretty handy. After market pads and kits are all well and good, but they don’t really look the best. GRS BIFROST is another stock that I have on my CTR and this is probably more solid stock wise and allot more adjustable, but the GRS BIGROST isn’t a 100% stalking aimed product and I reckon the weight of a BIFROST starts to make your stalking rifle a bit of a lump. The S20 is I think designed to be a jack of all trades so the adjustment is designed to reflect this. The QR studs on the sides of the stock are a nice touch and although I did experiment with using these I wasn’t 100% happy with how the rifle felt muzzle down so I have swapped back to the standard studs for now. I might have another play with the QR ones at a later date. Obviously you will already know the rifle is a take down and I will admit I didn’t buy the rifle for this feature and in fact I haven’t even tested it. I have a Blaser R8 pro success as well so as far as a take down goes I have that base already covered. I am grateful though that Sako haven’t forced people to spend £400 on a scope mount like Blaser do!
Trigger wise it’s a similar storey to the bolt really. To my somewhat amateur understanding it is the same as the standard units we expect in other Sako and Tikka rifles these days. Obviously it might be a different unit but it has the same feel etc. Nice, safe and dependable with a decent amount of adjustment. Triggers are a personal preference thing for many and I am not massively fussy with my triggers it has to be said. Where there is adjustment I tend to lighten the trigger up to a fairly light setting and leave it. With the S20 I have had an initial play and decided it was nice enough where I left it. I might spend more time on this at some point but it’s highly likely I won’t ever get around to it.
I think it’s worth mentioning that I like the built in Piccatinny rails. These for me save buying a rail or similar prior to scope mounting. I always like a Piccatinny rail and usually end up having to buy something for £70 that then needs to be secured in place and loctite’d up as well. Built in saves on this cost and might even save on a few mm of Scope height as well. I am guessing the two section rail might cause some people an issue with NV etc, but I can’t comment on this.
Also worth a mention is the mag. A couple of things that will bother some people are the plastic material and the fact that you can’t top load the mag. Construction wise the mag is well made and functions pretty well. I have the 5 round version and don’t have a need to buy a 10 but some might like the idea. The mag even though it’s plastic is pretty sturdy and well made. Some people might prefer a metal mag though. I have a 10 round metal mag on the CTR and if you fully load it I reckon it has enough bulk and weight to kill a deer just by dropping it out of a high seat onto its head! Very rarely (being pedantic now really) I would like the option of topping up the mag from the top through an open bolt. Having just written that last bit though I am now trying to think of a situation where I would like to top up a mag from the top and I can’t. You can do this with my Blaser R8 and I can’t remember ever doing it. It’s easy enough to drop the mag out and as for me this is a stalking rifle so topping up isn’t really a concern. If (by some miracle) I have just shot 5 deer back to back in one sitting I reckon I would be having worries about extracting the buggers and top loading an extra round wouldn’t be high on my list of worries. Leaving the comment in though as someone might find my ramblings useful.
As this is a new rifle for me I am still working on my setup, but at the moment it is using a Delta Titanium 2.5 - 15 x 56 scope that I had spare and a Hardy Gen 6 mod that I also use on my Tikka CTR.308. Word of warning here the thread on the S20 is 5/8 x 24, which you will find is fairly rare in the UK still. So if you are going to spontaneously buy an S20 you will either need to pre order your mod or you will going back to the shop a week later to pick up a mod. You will note from the below photo that the scope is sitting rather high at the moment. This isn’t horrendous, but I was forced to use some surplus Hawke high mounts as the mediums where literally 1mm to low. I have ordered some tier one mounts though that I am hoping will drop the scope 3-4mm closer to the barrel.
As with most my new rifles after bolting everything together and bore siting it at home I popped to the range with a box of Sako 100grain factory ammo (I don’t reload). 3 quick shots and I had a decent 1” high zero at 100, which is where I want to be for now. After it cooled right down I was consistently doing sub MOA and a few 0.5 moa groups until I had finished the box. Now I am sure that home loaders and better shots than me will easily manage some better than this, but I am a stalker who doesn’t home load and at best I am an average shot so I stopped at this point and went home. If I can get 0.5 -0.75 most of the time then any monkey can. If you are standing in the shop and want to buy a box of ammo to get things setup with then the Sako 100grain is a good starting point. For me I always tend to use Sako ammo to setup my rifles as it’s a good starting point. That said on this rifle I think I will be sticking with Sako for a while. If I try anything else and it works I will update this review on the performance of the factory ammo. Every rifle is different but a rough steer might save someone from buying 160 rounds of ammo that perform like buck shot.
Performance in the field? Well I have taken it out stalking twice now and with a decent sling I was happy enough to carry the rifle muzzle down for 3 hours. I have used the rifle in anger once and it performed. Please see this thread for the write up.
Write Up 14/07/20
At the moment the S20 is my go to rifle as I am on the Roe until the fallow and reds come up . so the .308 and .223 options I have in the cabinet haven’t moved since I got the S20. Part of this is new toy and part of this is because I had forgotten how I like to use .243 for small and medium deer. I therefore be using this rifle for the fallow bucks as well later in the year.
All in all I am very happy with my purchase the S20 isn’t perfect but then I don’t think the perfect rife actually exists. At £1675 the S20 isn’t cheap, but I think for what is close to entry level Sako money there is allot of features on this rifle that you not usually get without spending more or buying additional bits. I don’t think I will be buying the optional precision stock and 10 round mag but for someone who shoots targets and stalks the S20 becomes two rifles in one saving considerable costs on rifles, moderators and stocks. It certainly in my view is accurate enough to be a base level target machine.
Pro’s:-
Con’s:-
As previously mentioned I have had some time recently so I thought I would do a few write ups. I might do some more as I have a Ruger ranch with a 16” barrel ok .223 that is fairly rare in the UK.
Having had an empty slot for .243 for a while now on impulse I decided to fill it with a new Sako S20 in Hunter setup. I had also looked at the Sako 85 finlight and carbon, but I fancied a thumb hole and as I usually end up adding a cheek riser to my rifles I went for the S20. Also it was £500+ less than the other two options.
My impressions of the rifle design etc are that the bolt is the usual slick setup that we expect from every Sako or Tikka these days. Smooth basically and I can’t think of anything more to say about this really. If you already own a Tikka or Sako the bolt will be similar in quality and feel.
The barrel is somewhere between a hunter and a varmit weight and size wise. The closest comparison I have is my Tikka CTR .308 which has a semi weight barrel. It’s hard to be exact but I think there isn’t much between the CTR and S20 apart from the S20 is fluted. They are certainly both screw cut 5/8x24, which has proved useful to me moderator wise. With A semi weight on the S20 is Sako trying to make a universal rifle which makes sense to me as well because the S20 is also marketed as a range tool (with the stock swap) so a semi heavy barrel would be sensible. The semi weight barrel though will be viewed by some as a compromise on a stalking rifle. What this does me though is the rifle is on the heavy side of things for a hunting rifle. It certainly isn’t as heavy as a varmit and is lighter than my CTR but I reckon it’s 500 odd grams more than something like a T3X lite or 85 finnlight. Personally I don’t mind this and I actually prefer a bit more weight to help keep muzzle flip etc in check. If I wanted to save my knees my time and money would be better spent loosing some weight because 500grams isn’t much when you are 6ft 3 and 16 stone plus.
Stock wise allot has already been written by people more eloquent than myself, but I have to say I like it. I have added a additional spacer behind the butt stock as I am a bit of a 6ft 3in ape. The cheek riser adjustment is a little bit cheap in my mind and is about the only thing on the rifle that doesn’t feel as solid as a Sako should. That said it is perfectly serviceable folds down completely flush and if like me you want good cheek weld and use a 56 objective scope then it is pretty handy. After market pads and kits are all well and good, but they don’t really look the best. GRS BIFROST is another stock that I have on my CTR and this is probably more solid stock wise and allot more adjustable, but the GRS BIGROST isn’t a 100% stalking aimed product and I reckon the weight of a BIFROST starts to make your stalking rifle a bit of a lump. The S20 is I think designed to be a jack of all trades so the adjustment is designed to reflect this. The QR studs on the sides of the stock are a nice touch and although I did experiment with using these I wasn’t 100% happy with how the rifle felt muzzle down so I have swapped back to the standard studs for now. I might have another play with the QR ones at a later date. Obviously you will already know the rifle is a take down and I will admit I didn’t buy the rifle for this feature and in fact I haven’t even tested it. I have a Blaser R8 pro success as well so as far as a take down goes I have that base already covered. I am grateful though that Sako haven’t forced people to spend £400 on a scope mount like Blaser do!
Trigger wise it’s a similar storey to the bolt really. To my somewhat amateur understanding it is the same as the standard units we expect in other Sako and Tikka rifles these days. Obviously it might be a different unit but it has the same feel etc. Nice, safe and dependable with a decent amount of adjustment. Triggers are a personal preference thing for many and I am not massively fussy with my triggers it has to be said. Where there is adjustment I tend to lighten the trigger up to a fairly light setting and leave it. With the S20 I have had an initial play and decided it was nice enough where I left it. I might spend more time on this at some point but it’s highly likely I won’t ever get around to it.
I think it’s worth mentioning that I like the built in Piccatinny rails. These for me save buying a rail or similar prior to scope mounting. I always like a Piccatinny rail and usually end up having to buy something for £70 that then needs to be secured in place and loctite’d up as well. Built in saves on this cost and might even save on a few mm of Scope height as well. I am guessing the two section rail might cause some people an issue with NV etc, but I can’t comment on this.
Also worth a mention is the mag. A couple of things that will bother some people are the plastic material and the fact that you can’t top load the mag. Construction wise the mag is well made and functions pretty well. I have the 5 round version and don’t have a need to buy a 10 but some might like the idea. The mag even though it’s plastic is pretty sturdy and well made. Some people might prefer a metal mag though. I have a 10 round metal mag on the CTR and if you fully load it I reckon it has enough bulk and weight to kill a deer just by dropping it out of a high seat onto its head! Very rarely (being pedantic now really) I would like the option of topping up the mag from the top through an open bolt. Having just written that last bit though I am now trying to think of a situation where I would like to top up a mag from the top and I can’t. You can do this with my Blaser R8 and I can’t remember ever doing it. It’s easy enough to drop the mag out and as for me this is a stalking rifle so topping up isn’t really a concern. If (by some miracle) I have just shot 5 deer back to back in one sitting I reckon I would be having worries about extracting the buggers and top loading an extra round wouldn’t be high on my list of worries. Leaving the comment in though as someone might find my ramblings useful.
As this is a new rifle for me I am still working on my setup, but at the moment it is using a Delta Titanium 2.5 - 15 x 56 scope that I had spare and a Hardy Gen 6 mod that I also use on my Tikka CTR.308. Word of warning here the thread on the S20 is 5/8 x 24, which you will find is fairly rare in the UK still. So if you are going to spontaneously buy an S20 you will either need to pre order your mod or you will going back to the shop a week later to pick up a mod. You will note from the below photo that the scope is sitting rather high at the moment. This isn’t horrendous, but I was forced to use some surplus Hawke high mounts as the mediums where literally 1mm to low. I have ordered some tier one mounts though that I am hoping will drop the scope 3-4mm closer to the barrel.
As with most my new rifles after bolting everything together and bore siting it at home I popped to the range with a box of Sako 100grain factory ammo (I don’t reload). 3 quick shots and I had a decent 1” high zero at 100, which is where I want to be for now. After it cooled right down I was consistently doing sub MOA and a few 0.5 moa groups until I had finished the box. Now I am sure that home loaders and better shots than me will easily manage some better than this, but I am a stalker who doesn’t home load and at best I am an average shot so I stopped at this point and went home. If I can get 0.5 -0.75 most of the time then any monkey can. If you are standing in the shop and want to buy a box of ammo to get things setup with then the Sako 100grain is a good starting point. For me I always tend to use Sako ammo to setup my rifles as it’s a good starting point. That said on this rifle I think I will be sticking with Sako for a while. If I try anything else and it works I will update this review on the performance of the factory ammo. Every rifle is different but a rough steer might save someone from buying 160 rounds of ammo that perform like buck shot.
Performance in the field? Well I have taken it out stalking twice now and with a decent sling I was happy enough to carry the rifle muzzle down for 3 hours. I have used the rifle in anger once and it performed. Please see this thread for the write up.
Write Up 14/07/20
At the moment the S20 is my go to rifle as I am on the Roe until the fallow and reds come up . so the .308 and .223 options I have in the cabinet haven’t moved since I got the S20. Part of this is new toy and part of this is because I had forgotten how I like to use .243 for small and medium deer. I therefore be using this rifle for the fallow bucks as well later in the year.
All in all I am very happy with my purchase the S20 isn’t perfect but then I don’t think the perfect rife actually exists. At £1675 the S20 isn’t cheap, but I think for what is close to entry level Sako money there is allot of features on this rifle that you not usually get without spending more or buying additional bits. I don’t think I will be buying the optional precision stock and 10 round mag but for someone who shoots targets and stalks the S20 becomes two rifles in one saving considerable costs on rifles, moderators and stocks. It certainly in my view is accurate enough to be a base level target machine.
Pro’s:-
- Build quality
- Rifle stock
- Accuracy
- Thumbhole stock
Con’s:-
- Weight as a stalking rifle
- Costs it’s a Sako so you can’t call it cheap.
- I don’t think there will be options for buying aftermarket stocks or other bits anytime soon and Sako’s option list seems to me that they are going to try and corner the market with their own brand stuff.
As previously mentioned I have had some time recently so I thought I would do a few write ups. I might do some more as I have a Ruger ranch with a 16” barrel ok .223 that is fairly rare in the UK.
