Sako S20 .308 What Ammo ??

[Irish Hunter]

Hi guys,

I’ve had my Sako S20 Hunter now for a full season and have put a nice amount of rounds through it. It has performed very well and I am happy overall with it with a lot of deer on the deck ranging from 50m to 350m. Im using Hornady 178g ELDX and although it does the job it’s just not zeroing that tight. I’m a pretty decent shot but with this ammo although it’s very stable in terms of ballistics and has a great affect on the target I just can’t seem to get a good zero. It’s struggling to get sub MOA which I know the gun is capable of!
Just wondering if anyone is running a Sako S20 in .308 what ammo are you putting through it and what’s working well. I’m looking to be able to cull fallow and sika at 300m.
Barrel length is 20inches, twist rate is 1:10 and weapon is suppressed

 

[SikaSeeker]

I’ve a tikka .308 20” barrel. I’ve been using Sako super hammerheads 150grs. Consistently good groups and a good solid bullet and will expand but not break up

 

[wytonpjs]

Home-loading Barnes 130gr TTSX in both my Sako S20 and Tikka T3X in .308, both loaded to the COAL and as close to the factory VOR-TX speed as I could get (20fps). Has taken loads of red and fallow comfortably at 200+ as that's my personal limit.

 

[Brighty3006]

The Barnes 130 grain ttsx is a fantastic homeload

 

[WalkedUp]

I’ve a tikka .308 20” barrel. I’ve been using Sako super hammerheads 150grs. Consistently good groups and a good solid bullet and will expand but not break up

I use the same in my Sako and Tikka.

 

[Irish Hunter]

Do you ever have strange ricochets inside the Animal with those rounds? I used Hornady whitetails before which are the same concept as the hammerheads in that they don’t break up on impact but I was getting richochets inside the animal when the rounds would hit bone that were then bursting stomachs etc and just making a mess at times. Thats why I moved to the ballistic tip. Also thinking of trying the Sako Game head pro in 150g

 

[Rural Management Services]

Sako rifle so Sako ammo would be a good go too. It would have been tested in the factory to sub MOA with Sako ammo prior to leaving so if you can’t get a sub 1” group with something like Sako 150gr 308 then potentially have a quick check of your mounts and stock screws etc.

 

[WalkedUp]

Do you ever have strange ricochets inside the Animal with those rounds? I used Hornady whitetails before which are the same concept as the hammerheads in that they don’t break up on impact but I was getting richochets inside the animal when the rounds would hit bone that were then bursting stomachs etc and just making a mess at times. Thats why I moved to the ballistic tip. Also thinking of trying the Sako Game head pro in 150g

Not found tahg with the Super Hammerhead, however they are hard and do punch through. The Sako Gamehead are a non bonded soft nose alternative worth trying if you want more expansion and less penetration, and the Gamehead Varmint is even more frangible.

 

[Jon69]

Same gun - mine likes Sako Gamehead 120gr or the copper 120gr a lot, but at current prices I’m also going to try reloading next. Also tried Super Hammerhead (pretty good) and Hornady SuperPerformance 165gr (good) and Black line c.165gr AMax (best grouping of the lot but not a true “deer bullet” works very well though.)

Will be reloading next, have Barnes 130gr TTSX. I believe Viht N135 is a good choice (anyone got a recipe and COAL they’d like to share??)

 

[wytonpjs]

Same gun - mine likes Sako Gamehead 120gr or the copper 120gr a lot, but at current prices I’m also going to try reloading next. Also tried Super Hammerhead (pretty good) and Hornady SuperPerformance 165gr (good) and Black line c.165gr AMax (best grouping of the lot but not a true “deer bullet” works very well though.)

Will be reloading next, have Barnes 130gr TTSX. I believe Viht N135 is a good choice (anyone got a recipe and COAL they’d like to share??)

DM inbound

 

[scarter]

not a sako but I shoot hornady SST’s 150gr through my tikka , thumbnails at 100 yards and kill well too

 

[Irish Hunter]

Thanks for the help men, I tried a couple of different boxes and eventually settled with Winchester Ballistic silver Tips in 165g. They clovered well at 100 and have knocked 3 animals since and I’ve been happy with the effect of the target

 

[lt3033]

My mate picked up an S20 yesterday in .308, We headed straight to the range with Sako 162gr blades as his syndicate is non-toxic. They grouped sub MOA at 100 and was very consistent. I’ve also had the same results from this bullet in .30-06 and I’ve also had very good ballistic performance in regards to dropping the animals too

 

[wully1234]

155gr amax or eld works well in mines , coin sized groups without much effort

 

[Midlandstalker2024]

Do you ever have strange ricochets inside the Animal with those rounds? I used Hornady whitetails before which are the same concept as the hammerheads in that they don’t break up on impact but I was getting richochets inside the animal when the rounds would hit bone that were then bursting stomachs etc and just making a mess at times. Thats why I moved to the ballistic tip. Also thinking of trying the Sako Game head pro in 150g

I’ve been using the 150gr hornady interlocks all season in my CZ which is 20” and 1:10 as well. Found them the best, great weight retention and knocking everything from calves to rutting reds down out to 250m very quickly

 

[weblyish]

130g sako powerblade pro work flawlessly in mine. Shame as they are flipping expensive