Not many rifles are guaranteed to shoot 1-inch groups or better out of the box. The Sako 85 is.

By Dave Henderson

My introduction to the new Sako 85 rifle wasn't really fair, neither to the gun, nor me.
 
I was jetlagged, handed a rifle and scope I'd never seen before and had to pass a rigorous shooting test in front of a bemused audience to get a hunting license. To hunt in Finland, a candidate must group three offhand rifle shots within a 30-inch circle target at 85 yards. No problem, even for the travel-addled.
 
Then the candidate gets 20 seconds to place three shots in the center of a moose target traveling about 10 mph. Only four seconds are allowed per shot as the target traverses between two earthen berms, and the resulting score is flashed on a digital sign for all to see.
 
Doesn't sound difficult for a lifelong shooter. But refer back to the described handicaps in the opening scenario.
 
Finnish regulations require you to hit the mark three times in five tries. But the club members I would be hunting with wanted to see it done in three straight shots. In that sense, I failed, taking four shots to hit three qualifiers.
 
It wasn't the rifle's fault. In fact, the Sako 85 I was holding was an engineering sample - the gun hadn't yet reached the prototype stage - but it was one of the smoothest-feeding and most accurate rifles I've ever handled.
 
In fact, after the initial humiliation, I picked out a handful of 125-grain .30-06 Sako cartridges (yes, the company makes ammunition, too, for European markets only) and proceeded to squeeze off 10 scoring shots in 11 tries at the moving target. That included five of six rapid-fire hits in two passes of the target while coolly operating the totally unfamiliar yet butter-smooth bolt. That's three shots in four seconds each time. No way I could've done better with any bolt gun I've owned.
 
The following December, I used another Model 85 prototype chambered in .338 Federal to take a record-class 10-point whitetail on a ranch in north-central Texas. That rifle featured a synthetic stock that incorporates the remarkable FinSoft recoil-absorption system and a to-die-for crisp, 2-pound trigger.
 

The safety and cocking indicator are both clearly marked with red dots.

A hurried range session at dusk, necessitated by a delayed flight and breakneck rental-car drive from the Abilene airport to the ranch, resulted in that early Model 85 putting the first three 185-grain Barnes Triple Shock bullets inside Sako's requisite inch grouping. Two days later, the 143-inch buck fell to an offhand 115-yard chest shot that took him stem to stern. An unsuspecting doe fell to a similar hit at 278 yards (this one from a rest) the next morning.
 
The two sessions, with two different stages of the evolving design - plus the test rifle shipped to me this spring - gave me unique insight into Sako's newest innovation.
 
In Finland, I toted the Model 85 for two days of moose hunting in the Loppi region. Sako had invited a group of gun writers to their homeland to hunt moose and to participate in the unveiling of the new rifle.
 
While shipbuilding and Nokia cellular equipment are the major industries in that country, the Finns are outdoors-oriented people who take their shooting and hunting seriously. Sako, Vihtavuori and Lapua are therefore regarded as national treasures.
 
While the loaner 85 I used on that trip was never unleashed on a moose, our efficient 33-hunter party did take five young bulls and cows in six long drives. It was pure party hunting, with everyone allowed to shoot a bull or cow. The Finns are not into trophy hunting, as young bulls, calves and solo cows are prized for their meat.
 
We were guests of Sako President Henry Paasikivi and Research/Development Chief Kari Kuparinen, members of the hosting hunt club. Prior to the hunt, we toured the Sako plant in Riihimaki, a historic venue that has existed since 1927.
 
Beretta has spent millions to update and upgrade the facility since purchasing Sako in 2000, and the result is a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant that increased production from 21,000 rifles a year in the pre-Beretta span to more than 75,000 annually today.
 
Despite the computerization and a quantum leap forward in efficiency and production, each Sako barrel (Tikkas use the same barrels) is still visually aligned and straightened. Each rifle is test-fired by hand and guaranteed to shoot minute-of-angle groups or better.
 
Granted, it's not all that unusual today to find a Browning, Savage, Winchester, Remington, Ruger or Steyr rifle that'll shoot 1-inch groups right out of the box. But none of those manufacturers guarantee MOA accuracy.
 

From top to bottom: Sako 85 Hunter, Sako 85 Stainless Synthetic and Sako 85 Grey Wolf.

While at the Sako factory, Kuparinen and marketing director Pentti Louhisola sought our impressions of, and any suggestions for, the fledgling 85 design.
 
The 85 is an evolutionary step up from the Model 75, the 10-year-old bolt-action design which is inarguably the most accurate mass-produced rifle in the world. A longtime devotee of the Winchester Model 70 action, I was nevertheless won over the first time I worked a Sako 75 action and pointed the gun at a target.
 
In fact, one major personal regret was the sale three years ago of a Model 75 in 7mm Rem Mag that had previously come to my possession at a remarkable price. It was a reluctant parting, but momentary fiscal shortcomings and an eager buyer with a fistful of cash combined to wrest it from my vaults.
 
I was virtually convinced that another Model 75 was destined for my possession last spring after shooting the bull-barreled Varminter model in .223 and its remarkable set trigger on a previous Wyoming prairie dog shoot with Paaikivi and Kuparinen.
 
But the subsequent introduction of the Model 85 redirected all my enthusiasm for a Sako rifle.
 
The Model 85 actually represents an Americanization of the 75, with a couple of other changes apparently designed to appease critics. The 85's comb is straight (American style) with a stylish shadowline cheekpiece, while the 75 bears the European-influenced Monte Carlo hump. The Sako designers apparently heeded our suggestions to leave out the white line spacer between the buttstock and recoil pad, and the 2006 advertising doesn't include the gaudy palm and fore-end inserts in the synthetic stock that were on the gun I used in Texas.
 
The 85 comes in a Grey Wolf version with a laminated stock and a stainless action/barrel. There's also a Stainless Synthetic version with the previously mentioned Giugiaro stock, and the blued-and-walnut Hunter version. All range from $1,495 to $1,595 in suggested retail and are listed at 7 3/4 pounds, compared to the 75's 6 1/2-pound FinnLite and 8 5/8-pound Varminter versions.
 
The soul of the Model 85 is the match-grade, hammer-forged, free-floating, target-crowned barrels. They are 227/16 to 243/8 inches long, depending on caliber (.22-250, .243 Win, .25-06 Rem, .260 Rem, .270 Win, .270 WSM, .30-06 Springfield, .300 WSM, .338 Federal, 6.5x55, 7mmWSM and 7mm-08).
 
The 85's trigger mechanism is more easily user-adjustable (a crisp 2 to 4 pounds) than the 75's, and the magazine latch was totally redesigned to alleviate the accidental bump clip ejections that Sako admits plagued the 75. Here, I would question the new design, which is the ordnance equivalent of childproof caps on medicine bottles.
 
The rifle's detachable box magazine must be pressured firmly into the well before the magazine latch can be pressed rearward to release the magazine. Maybe it's me, but I have yet to figure out how to do this with one hand and must admit that in hunting situations, the magazine was left in place and the gun loaded through the Model 85's thankfully generous loading/ejection port.
 
The 85's new controlled-round feeding system is exceedingly smooth and reliable, as is extraction and ejection, but it isn't "controlled" as we know the full-length extractor like Mauser and pre-'64 Winchester bolts. Rather, it mirrors Winchester's new "controlled-push feed action." The 85's bolt head-mounted extractor is much smaller than the full-length versions and takes a smaller bite of the cartridge rim. In fact, it is not until the last half inch of bolt travel that the 85's extractor securely grips the rim, making it pretty much a push-feed action until that point.
  
The Model 85's receiver is grooved to accept Sako combination bases and rings, which are excellent. But you'd best choose your scope-mounting system ahead of time, since Sako components aren't stocked at every small gun shop or even mass-merchandising outlets.
 
The 85 Hunter that I now have is a .30-06, the .338 Federal versions being in short supply and high demand as this was being written. Its oiled American walnut stock is a sleek, restrained design with a comfortable and well-checkered pistol grip that will likely fit most shooters better than the 75's Monte Carlo.
 
The bolt features three front-locking lugs and an efficient 70-degree bolt lift that cocks upon opening. I defy anyone to detect the difference between cycling the Model 85 bolt on a loaded magazine or an empty one; it's that smooth.
 
The Model 85 Hunter cycled 100 rounds without hesitation or fault in a session at my home range. The rifle grouped three different manufacturers' five different types and weights of .30-06 bullets very accurately, albeit to slightly different points of aim.
 
The lone surprise was that one of the five loadings grouped at nearly a quarter-inch wider than the Sako MOA guarantee, but the other four were well within specifications.
 
It would be another severe case of separation anxiety if this rifle has to go back to the factory. I think it's found a home, if I can raid the mortgage account one more time.         

Dave Henderson
GunHunter Magazine - November 2006
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