View Single Post
Old October 18, 2008, 08:44 AM   #1
sikasambared
Member
 
Join Date: June 7, 2008
Posts: 42
Sako 75: comments after owning

HI All,

I've seen a few reviews in magazines and comments on the net about these rifles over the years.

I've owned my Sako 75 stainless hunter now for about 4 years, so I thought I'd put up some comments of my own and see how they line up with other sako 75 owners comments.

Briefly, I think the rifle is a good shooter, well made from good materials.

Mine
is a size IV action: 270 win. This action sizing thing is a good -- you don't end up carrying extra action metal -- which you do for some brands that do not tailor their actions to the cartridge size.

The rifle is quite heavy. Not really one I would recommend as a mountain rifle -- though that is what I have principally used it for. The extra mass of this rifle (which has a fairly heavy barrel for a sporter) makes it stable to shoot for a sporter.

The whole thing is very durable. In the 50 + days I have hunted in the mountains in the last two years, I have hunted for four days straight in the rain, fallen over in rivers and streams (taking the rifle under the water with me). The rifle has become a sort of heavy walking stick on many occasions.
I've given myself RSI in my left bicep (did I say it was fairly heavy?).

Having pulled the thing apart after these trips I find there is only one thing that seems to corrode -- a tiny little pin in the trigger group.
Leaf litter and dirt does find it's way beneath the free floated barrel. This needs to be cleaned after a trip too. With a wood stock I was expecting warping problems -- but I find the barrel is still centered in the free floated channel and have never had any problems.

The trigger is lovely, and adjustable. Mine is set just under 3 pounds. No discernable creep. The stock is the right shape for me, the pistol grip the right size for a relaxed grip. The stock forend is not overly flexible, and broad enough to sit on a rest reasonably well.

about 1200 rounds into it's life, it has proven very reliable, and accurate. It is certainly a 1 MOA rifle, and in better hands than mine would produce better results. Different loads do produce different results in it. 100gr hornadies are great, 140 gr accubonds are too.
The barrel is a bit of a marvel. After the first 20 rounds at break-in, I've seen almost no copper fouling (I clean with sweets 7.62 and butch's bore shine).

While the rifle performs well, I believe that the throat is unnecessarily long. I've measured this recently with my precision mic -- and find I have no hope of reaching the lands with load that will fit in the magazine. I guess the lands may be eroding a bit at 1200 rounds, but from previous determinations with lamp-blacked bullets etc when I first bought the rifle, I believe that the rifle has always had a long throat. With a shorter throat and the ability to seat bullets close to (but not touching) the lands -- who knows if there would have been a substantial improvement. A lot of experts say this is the way to go.

It is not practical to hunt with the rifle at half cock. Climbing up a bank or over a log in the river, it is likely to slide open and drop your cartridge in the drink. The safety is relatively quite, and when appropriate and safe you could hunt with the rifle on safe. However, when the going is tough, I find I have to unload the rifle completely. Half cock is just not the go with these actions.
If they could lock in that position I would be happier (question for other brand owners...don't remingtons do that? Or at least have a very positive half cock position with the safety engaged). This is a noisy operation. Every sika for 200 m will know about it.

The action is extremely smooth however, and feeds flawlessly in this chambering.

The neck is relatively tight. Some lapua 30-06 cases I recently formed to 270 shoot fine in the rifle. They are at max neck diameter when loaded. When the extracted case is measured at the neck diameter has increase on 0.002 inches. I am told this is quite tight tolerances, similar to target rifles. Maybe this makes up for the long throat to some extent, explaining the decent accuracy. I don't know.

Now I have heard substantial criticism of the sako 75's detachable mag. Apparently it falls out. Now as you can probably tell from some of the punnishment I have dished out to this rifle, I have not babied it. Up hill, down dale, falling off logs, falling off rocks, getting trapped in vines, thorn bushes. Using it as a walking stick, or dropping it from heights. That magazine has never fallen out. Never.

The rifle is just great. Too heavy for my liking -- but maybe if it was lighter I would not be shooting as well as I do (which is a good thing, I need all the help I can get). My solution is to buy a safari sling. Hopefully no more repetitive strain injury thing in my bicep from carrying it 11 hours a day.

I'm looking forward to burning the barrel out and fitting a madco or shillen barrel chambered in 280 something or other. Maybe a wildcat. Z-hat does not sell reamers, so I don't think I will be getting a hawk chamber from here in Australia. Which is a shame, because they look great.

Well if you were thinking of buying one of these rifle's second hand -- you won't be getting mine -- but then hopefully I have given you an honest appraisal.

Kind regards,

Matt
sikasambared is offline  
 
Page generated in 0.03183 seconds with 8 queries