I've been traveling to hunt more and more the last few years and I finally decided I wanted to pick up a stainless/synthetic rifle for some of these trips. I really love my wood/blued Tikka, and it kills deer and elk just fine, but it does have some "composite" components. I worry about that on out-of-state trips where if I break my trigger guard the trip would effectively be over. I also cringe a bit when I have it out all day in really wet conditions, especially if I can't do a proper cleaning at the end of the day. So.... these are the things I came up with to convince myself to buy a new rifle! I also calculated that it wouldn't be too long before the wife and I decide to make some babies and I figured I better buy myself a nice rifle before I couldn't anymore.
I'm pretty particular about these types of purchases and I did a lot of research. I had always heard that Sako made an excellent rifle and I know they make an excellent barrel, as the Tikka barrels come out of the same factory. I looked at Browning X-bolts, and the Christensen Arms Mesa and Ridgeline, as well as the Fierce Fury and others. I read more threads and reviews than I can recall. I kept coming back to the Sako and I knew John at Fine Firearms was a fan so I went and talked to him. John spent more time than he needed to answering my questions and confirming my research. The only negative thing I had found about the Sako 85 action was a few people that had issues with cases ejecting straight up into the bottom of the scope and potentially falling back into the open action, which would cause a failure to feed. My impression was that this was a very rare issue, but the accounts I read and videos I saw were enough to cast a shadow of a doubt in my mind. This is the kind of thing that I never would have been aware of before the internet. I really wanted this rifle but I couldn't spend that kind of money without assurances. I told John how I felt and asked if it would be possible to do a mockup with the scope I intended to buy so I could cycle some brass through it. If it didn't have any issue I would buy it. John went above and beyond, he was so confident in the Sako 85, he ordered the rifle without any deposit from me as he didn't have a 7mm RM in the shop. When the rifle got there he mocked it up with the scope and I did my experiment and of course it ejected spent brass and snap caps just fine. True to my word I bought the rifle that day (he never asked for any assurances). Regarding caliber, my Tikka is a .270. I didn't want another one and I preferred to have something with a little more energy. Mostly I’m a deer hunter and I get a cow elk tag whenever I can. But I’ll get a bull elk tag eventually too and I’d like to go to Alaska to hunt. I chose 7mm RM because it is very popular and you can buy ammo for it anywhere, it has a wide range of available bullet weights, from down in the 120's up to 175, and it is a fast and flat shooting cartridge with a similar trajectory to my .270 out to 400 yards, and better beyond that. The primary purpose of this rifle is hunting but I also wanted to be able to play around and shoot some steel out to 6-800 yards.
While I endured the waiting period I did my final research on scopes. I was really quite sure I was going to get the Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44. But I looked at the Zeiss V4 4-16x44, some other leupolds, some of the newer Sig-Sauer scopes and some of the lower end Swarovski scopes. I have always liked Leupold for rifle scopes and I really think they hit a home run with the features/price ratio of the VX-5. I am not part of the "more magnification is better" crowd and I actually would have preferred something with a max power of maybe 12. But I also really wanted the zero-lock and I couldn't get that with a max power of 12 without going to the VX-6HD 2-12, which was some 6 or 7 hundred dollars more. Zeiss makes a 3-12 but you have to get the big 56 mm objective lens and you don’t get the exposed turret/zero stop. So I chose the VX-5 with the 3-15 power and a wind-plex reticle.
John was great about giving me a good price on the scope and because I bought the full setup from him he mounted for free. That is something I would typically do myself but he allowed me to come in and check eye relief so I took advantage of his offer. The whole setup is right at 8 lbs 4oz which I’m happy with. If I put my VX3 2.5-8 on it I’d be under 8 lbs.
I’ve had the rifle for a month or so now and it’s got 100 rounds through it. I’m still learning to shoot the magnum well. It’s certainly got more recoil than the .270 but not as much as some people made it seem. It's not uncomfortable to shoot but it can be hard to stay on target. Shooting groups with the .270 seems really easy in comparison now. But I’ve gotten used to it and have been able to shoot pretty well with it. Saturday I went to the range, the forecast was for no wind in the morning and I wanted to take advantage of that as my last two sessions there had a decent wind and I wanted to check my zero in more stable conditions. First group was dead on at 100, which is low by about 1.75". I shot a group at 200 to confirm before I made a change and it was about 4 inches low. So I came up 2 MOA and took a break. I ended up taking 25 minutes off as they called a cease fire while I waited for my barrel to cool off a bit. Then I shot this group at 200.
The first shot is next to the center ring followed by the others. Not sure I can technically say it was a “cold bore shot” but the rifle had been sitting 25 min. Anyway, it gives me an idea of what the rifle can do when I do my part. Those Finnish guys sure do make a nice rifle.
I am considering putting a side baffle brake on this gun. I can sometimes keep the target in view with the shot, but not like with my .270. I hunt alone a lot and it is really a big benefit for me to be able to call my shots. The negatives of a brake for me are the noise and changing the aesthetic of the gun. I'd prefer to not have to carry full-on muffs with me when I am hunting. Reduction in muzzle rise is my primary goal with the brake and recoil reduction is secondary. I'm wondering what those of you that use or have used braked rifles think. Do you like a brake on a hunting rifle? Any pros or cons other than the obvious? Anybody have pics of a rifle with a small profile barrel like this one with a brake?
I'm pretty particular about these types of purchases and I did a lot of research. I had always heard that Sako made an excellent rifle and I know they make an excellent barrel, as the Tikka barrels come out of the same factory. I looked at Browning X-bolts, and the Christensen Arms Mesa and Ridgeline, as well as the Fierce Fury and others. I read more threads and reviews than I can recall. I kept coming back to the Sako and I knew John at Fine Firearms was a fan so I went and talked to him. John spent more time than he needed to answering my questions and confirming my research. The only negative thing I had found about the Sako 85 action was a few people that had issues with cases ejecting straight up into the bottom of the scope and potentially falling back into the open action, which would cause a failure to feed. My impression was that this was a very rare issue, but the accounts I read and videos I saw were enough to cast a shadow of a doubt in my mind. This is the kind of thing that I never would have been aware of before the internet. I really wanted this rifle but I couldn't spend that kind of money without assurances. I told John how I felt and asked if it would be possible to do a mockup with the scope I intended to buy so I could cycle some brass through it. If it didn't have any issue I would buy it. John went above and beyond, he was so confident in the Sako 85, he ordered the rifle without any deposit from me as he didn't have a 7mm RM in the shop. When the rifle got there he mocked it up with the scope and I did my experiment and of course it ejected spent brass and snap caps just fine. True to my word I bought the rifle that day (he never asked for any assurances). Regarding caliber, my Tikka is a .270. I didn't want another one and I preferred to have something with a little more energy. Mostly I’m a deer hunter and I get a cow elk tag whenever I can. But I’ll get a bull elk tag eventually too and I’d like to go to Alaska to hunt. I chose 7mm RM because it is very popular and you can buy ammo for it anywhere, it has a wide range of available bullet weights, from down in the 120's up to 175, and it is a fast and flat shooting cartridge with a similar trajectory to my .270 out to 400 yards, and better beyond that. The primary purpose of this rifle is hunting but I also wanted to be able to play around and shoot some steel out to 6-800 yards.
While I endured the waiting period I did my final research on scopes. I was really quite sure I was going to get the Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44. But I looked at the Zeiss V4 4-16x44, some other leupolds, some of the newer Sig-Sauer scopes and some of the lower end Swarovski scopes. I have always liked Leupold for rifle scopes and I really think they hit a home run with the features/price ratio of the VX-5. I am not part of the "more magnification is better" crowd and I actually would have preferred something with a max power of maybe 12. But I also really wanted the zero-lock and I couldn't get that with a max power of 12 without going to the VX-6HD 2-12, which was some 6 or 7 hundred dollars more. Zeiss makes a 3-12 but you have to get the big 56 mm objective lens and you don’t get the exposed turret/zero stop. So I chose the VX-5 with the 3-15 power and a wind-plex reticle.
John was great about giving me a good price on the scope and because I bought the full setup from him he mounted for free. That is something I would typically do myself but he allowed me to come in and check eye relief so I took advantage of his offer. The whole setup is right at 8 lbs 4oz which I’m happy with. If I put my VX3 2.5-8 on it I’d be under 8 lbs.
I’ve had the rifle for a month or so now and it’s got 100 rounds through it. I’m still learning to shoot the magnum well. It’s certainly got more recoil than the .270 but not as much as some people made it seem. It's not uncomfortable to shoot but it can be hard to stay on target. Shooting groups with the .270 seems really easy in comparison now. But I’ve gotten used to it and have been able to shoot pretty well with it. Saturday I went to the range, the forecast was for no wind in the morning and I wanted to take advantage of that as my last two sessions there had a decent wind and I wanted to check my zero in more stable conditions. First group was dead on at 100, which is low by about 1.75". I shot a group at 200 to confirm before I made a change and it was about 4 inches low. So I came up 2 MOA and took a break. I ended up taking 25 minutes off as they called a cease fire while I waited for my barrel to cool off a bit. Then I shot this group at 200.
The first shot is next to the center ring followed by the others. Not sure I can technically say it was a “cold bore shot” but the rifle had been sitting 25 min. Anyway, it gives me an idea of what the rifle can do when I do my part. Those Finnish guys sure do make a nice rifle.
I am considering putting a side baffle brake on this gun. I can sometimes keep the target in view with the shot, but not like with my .270. I hunt alone a lot and it is really a big benefit for me to be able to call my shots. The negatives of a brake for me are the noise and changing the aesthetic of the gun. I'd prefer to not have to carry full-on muffs with me when I am hunting. Reduction in muzzle rise is my primary goal with the brake and recoil reduction is secondary. I'm wondering what those of you that use or have used braked rifles think. Do you like a brake on a hunting rifle? Any pros or cons other than the obvious? Anybody have pics of a rifle with a small profile barrel like this one with a brake?
