Sako III

[scpaul]

A good friend of mine just dropped off a brand new, never fired Sako III in .308. The catalog calls it a Sako 85 Varmint stainless laminated stock. He topped it with a Swarovski Z-3, 4-12x50. He asked me to break the bbl. in and start working up some deer loads for 200 yd. zero to shoot dead on to 300 yds. I noticed the catalog says the bbl. is 1-11 instead of 1-10. I don't anticipate him shooting anything above 180 gr.,probably not above 168 gr. so I don't think the rate/twist differance is going to affect much if anything. What is the latest/greatest bbl. break-in procedures or are the Sako bbls. so smooth that it isn't necessary? This is the first time I've had a chance to work with a BRAND NEW Sako. Any advice, suggestions or pitfall warnings will be appreciated. If anyone has a load that seems to work especially well in a 1-11 Sako bbl. that info will also be greatly appreciated. He's on a weekend vacation in Charleston,S.C. and I'm at home messing with his (our, he just don't know it yet) weapons.......Ain't life great!!! Thanks ya'll,Paul

 

[jonbearman]

First I would clean that barrel spotless. Once that is done shoot one and clean one 10 times.Keep track of how much copper you have to remove each time. It should get less and less. If it doesnt stop coppering after the 10 shots,shoot 3 and clean 5 times. This is what I do and usually if its a decent barrel it will be broken in short order. If it coppers like crazy then there is the proof the barrel may be rough. Again there is no science when breaking in a factory barrel. Some have to be shot 100 times to get them to stop creating a copper mine in your barrel.Your twist will handle the weights you wish to use easily,so you are good there.Reloader 15 is a great powder in .308 and so are alot of others including varget,h335,blc-2,imr4064 etc etc etc . Some are not as temp sensitive like hodgdons extreme powders. Dont use cheap bullets,use something half way decent if you expect any real accuracy.

 

[scpaul]

I have a pretty good assortment of powders that work with cases in this general area of performance. One of my pet rifles is a 7-08. I have for general purposes of working up loads, found the Nosler C/T series pretty consistant. I have found some more accurate but the C/T's seem to work good to start with and do my final fine tuning with others later. By the catalog It has a fairly short bbl. by my standards (20-22 in.?) . That being said once the bbl. is done I'm thinking of leaning toward the faster recommended powders. Usually I go the other way because I tend to shoot rifles with longer bbls. mostly 26 in. I have heard some people rave about Sako's, what should I expect high/low for accuracy if I do my part ? Thank you for the info,most of my loading and tweaking on rifles has been on American brands.. Is Sako known for good/average bbls. ? After the trigger smooths up some I'll probably lighten it up some. I didn't use a scale yet but it feels around 5 lbs+- and a little gritty, but I have seen alot worse and a few better from the factory. Thanks again, Paul

 

[Larryh128]

Most Sakos will shoot quite well. I have never seen one yet that couldn't do 1 MOA and most are much better. They tend to be fairly easy to clean, never seen a rough bore in one. The CT's should work fine, I'll 2nd RL-15 as a starting powder.

 

[scpaul]

I shot it earlier this week. It's capable of cutting 1 shot w/another. The new found set trigger actually got too light for me to use.The smoother it got, the lighter. I don't think the set trigger is adjustable, the regular trigger is(according to owners manual). If someone knows different please let me know. I was seeing some copper at the muzzle and didn't want to get too agressive at range so I'll do that here. Looks like this is going to be a work in progress for awhile. Any additional info will be appreciated, Thanks, Paul