Through the encouragement of a friend, I bought my first Sauer 202 lightweight 270 win and picked it up yesterday. I set it up using Leupold permanent weaver ring and a Swarovski A series 3-9x36mm scope. The trigger is incredible (2.5-3# crisp no creep) and the bolt is smooth as melted butter. I love the safety and mag release. I sighted in this morning on my "home range" which is only 50 yards and without a stable rest, but with Win Supreme 140 gr Accubonds, I was able to put 5 shots in overlapping holes. Needless to say, I am very pleased with my new (to me) acquisition.

In my opinion, the 202 is the best production rifle currently available.

Very accurate, perfect trigger, extremely well engineered. Packs down into a 30" case for travelling.

Just the best.

quote:

Originally posted by Claret_Dabbler:
In my opinion, the 202 is the best production rifle currently available.

I have to agree with this statement. That was my opinion of my Blaser R-93 until I got my hands on my Sauer. WOW!

I fully agree. Here's mine with its bbls. in .30-06 & 7x64. Both shoot 5 in <.75 MOA.

I've gort one too, and I love it! 9.3x62 Stutzen, ported barrel. It's as near to perfect as a hunting rifle gets.



Scope is the Zeiss Victory Varipoint 1.1-4x24.

Belgians!!

Leading me into temptation....

Beautiful rifle Freidrich, how is accuracy in the Stutzen?

This is mine in 270win. it is capable of much better accuracy than I generally am.

Well, as far as I can conclude from shooting with 4x magnification, and considering 9.3x62 isn't really a BR-caliber ... I think it's great!

I load them up to 56.9 grains of Vihta Vuori N140 behind a Lapua Mega 286 grains and get consistent groups under MOA @ 100meters.

Sauer claims to build the most accurate Stutzen available, and I must say, it's a clever concept. IF the stock would tend to touch the barrel, there are still the rubber buffers to minimize the influence.

I really like the Stutzen because of it's looks, handiness and possibility to lean the rifle against any tree, high-seat or anything without risking to have the barrel touch anhything affecting the the point of impact.

i'm still looking for an excuse NOT to buy a second Sauer in 6.5x55 and declare my Remington Seven 7mm-08 obsolete!

/

What do you think about the polymer stock of the Outback, ALF? I'm in doubt wether I should buying one ...

Jeff, I am sure you will come to like your Sauer more and more with time. I think the way yyou set it up is just great.

Beware of Andre and Alf. Andre led me down the irreversible path of love of Sauer 202's. I now have 9 different rifles and 4 extra barrels (13 total). These damn rifles are addictive. I just got one back that Serengeti restocked for me, the airlines busted another one last fall which they are currently replacing the buttstock on. I will try and post a pic or two of the new one at least, but my oh my do they shoot, and handle well....My lightweight in 270 is one of my absolute favorite go to rifles, it always seems to make the cut on a road trip.

My only complaint about Sauers, is not being able to buy components (i.e. extra barrels, replacement buttstock etc) here in the states. But if I could, I'd have several more $ tied up in Sauer stuff--which I'd actually like......

I want one . Addicted to walnut .

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Liked my 300 wby 202 so much I picked up a 202 in 270 win to keep it company. Besides being super slick and very accurate I LOVE just pulling the butt stock and traveling with a much shorter case then normal that doesn't scream rifle.

Jeff,

Congratulations with your new toy, great and super accurate rifle.

My wife's Sauer 202 - 30-06


Roland

Claret_dabbler, is there a reason you have your scope mounted that way? It looks like it is rotated 90 degrees from the way I have mine!
Peter.

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One and all,

My Sauer. 202 takedown. 300 Win Mag abd 375 H & H barrels.

Dang, ya'll are making me jealous with all the "pretty" guns. For me though, the synthetic/matte is much more practical, but maybe I can own both some day.

I have heard recently that Sauers are going to be imported again. Does anyone know who is the importer and on what time frame they will start entering the country?

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I never get tired of looking at gun porn.

Jeff, you may want to bite the bullet and do it sooner rather than later. With the rise of the Euro against the dollar, the price increase on newly imported guns is going to be staggering.

Or you can find a Sauer 200, the first variant of this rifle. The barrels and magazines interchange with the 202 and they sell for 10% to 20% less in the marketplace.

Strike that 20%. There is a 30-06 Sauer 200 on gunsinternational.com right now with Leupold scope for $895.00. That's close to 1/3 the cost of a new wood-stocked 202. The principal difference in the two models is the trigger group and safety orientation. The 202 has a tang safety and the 200 has the safety release inside the trigger bow in front of the trigger like an M-1 Garand (in concept, not appearance).

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
I fully agree. Here's mine with its bbls. in .30-06 & 7x64. Both shoot 5 in <.75 MOA.

Sir,
With the scope that high up and that far to the rear, It would be very interesting to see a pick of the owner shooting the rig. Please?

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:

This is the same rifle, same scope. As we see, the placing of the scope on the rifle differ close to 1", while the lop seems to be about equal.


Thanks,

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Claret_dabbler, is there a reason you have your scope mounted that way? It looks like it is rotated 90 degrees from the way I have mine!
Peter.

Peter, with apologies to ALF who I am sure knows more about almost every aspect of rifles than I ever will; the "turret" you query on the port side of my S&B is actually the rheostat for controlling the level of brightness of the illuminated reticule on this scope. The windage and elevation controls are exactly where you would expect them to be.

As ALF states, these are simply great scopes. This one allowed me to drop a spike Sika stag last night at the very edge of darkness. The Ill reticule set low allowed me to know precisely where I was aiming. Without it the shot would have been impossible.

Here is the same rifle from the other side:

Indeed, Sauer does have a new U.S. importer. I have spoken with him and would post the details, but the information is at the office and I'm at home right now. It is now posted on the Sauer website, however.

I have a .300 Win./.375 H&H set.

I would certainly be interested in hearing more details about the Serengeti restock.

Regards,

Michael

/

KM5LA, Serengeti has done quite a few stocks for me. A couple of Sauer 202's so far, and a replacement buttstock for one of my 202 Takedowns being finished up now. They have also done several Sako's for me.....

Rod from Serengeti told me it was a PITA to get things setup the first time around for the 2 piece 202, and that they learned a lot doing my first one!

One neat thing we both learned over time, is that if dropped on the toe of the stock, the buttstock can crack through the wrist quite easily. We actually speculate that is what happened to my Takedown that the airline broke.

The case had clearly been opened, and the rifle was actually in it's fully assembled state, I think someone dropped the rifle with the stock striking on the toe, and voila, cracked through the wrist.

On the stocks Serengeti has built for my Sauers, they have put a piece of hollow steel tubing through the channel whereby you access the bolt for removing the buttstock, and this has eliminated the cracking when dropped on the toe issue. They actually built a couple of stocks and dropped them on the toe, to determine that is what happened to my Takedown, and test the tubing 'cure'. In fact, they glued the wrist back together on my Takedown buttstock, and it was very durable when banged around, except if it was dropped directly onto the toe, at which time it split again, interestingly, not exactly along the line of the original break which had been glued back together. Their tubing cure seems to work excellently.

If you have any other questions let me know, the wood to metal fit is impeccable, and I really like the finish they put on my stocks. As you may know, the stocks are vertically laminated, and extremely durable, stable, and IMO, BEAUTIFUL.

Regards--Don

GREAT LOOKING RIGS

I'm a R93 owner myself, & luv-it. But I do declare I have always liked the 202 concept as well. And can see a 202 purchase not that far into the future

I have a quick question. Can these be top-loaded in the pinch? They have a slightly staggered mag don't they?

I take it all you 202 owners would recommend one then.

Bent Fossdal,
Obviously, you crawl the rifle stock more than I do (actually I shoot with the head erect, being accustomed to shooting offhand during drive hunting). You'll probably would make the same remark about all my rifles. For example, here are my .300 Win R 93 and my FN 9,3x74R O/U :[

quote:

Originally posted by 340Wby:
I'm a R93 owner myself, & luv-it. But I do declare I have always liked the 202 concept as well. And can see a 202 purchase not that far into the future

I have a quick question. Can these be top-loaded in the pinch? They have a slightly staggered mag don't they?

I take it all you 202 owners would recommend one then.

Like I said, I am new to Sauer 202's, but I am a Blaser R-93 owner too. Don't get me wrong, I really like my Blaser, but the Sauer 202 really suits my taste better.

I bought my Sauer sight unseen and having never actually put my hands on one through the encouragement of a friend who owns several, but if you had the opportunity to handle a Sauer, I really believe the gun will sell itself.

BTW I haven't tried to load the mag from the top, but I really don't think it is possible due to the mag design.

340Wby,
Due to its narrow ejection port (which makes for a very rigid receiver, BTW) and its thin single pile magazine, the 202 cannot be top loaded. For a refill, one has to take out the magazine and push the cartridges under the lips, pistol fashion.

Here are my two toys for the Sauer rifle:


http://www.titanium-gunworks.de/titanium-gunworks/led-l...rn-daynightfire.html
a LED illuminated front sight - incredible good working under the worst light conditions

and


(Sauer 202 Outback .30-06)
a scope mount completly made from Titanium, plasma coated... Beautiful and strong!

Thanks
Klaus

Brian, what grade timber is that bud? Sweet deal my friend!

Another quick question. Do the timber stocks come with a palm swell?

340wby, that rifle is an "Elegance" grade. This gets you the butterknife bolt handle, jewelled bolt, monte carlo cheek piece and a great palm swell. As far as I know, the lower grades don't have all these extra's. The timber on this rifle is actually rather better than these photo's suggest.

If you check out the Sauer website you will see they have timber from grade 1 - 10 (10 being the best). Mine rifle is I think grade 3 timber.

http://www.sauer-waffen.de/index.php?id=78&lang=en

If you want to see spectacular wood, look at some of the Avantguard grade guns.

quote:

Originally posted by Bent Fossdal:

With the scope that high up and that far to the rear, It would be very interesting to see a pick of the owner shooting the rig. Please?

It also seems to work for me ... altough I've been wondering why the gunsmith did put it that far back ...

How do you Sauer 202 owners find the timber forend & barrel channel gap in the wet moist areas? Does it stay even, or does it have a tendency to warp?
The reason I'm asking this. I did here of one 202 with this problem, didn't handle the wet conditions that well.
Just want as many general opinions as possibly.

Where I hunt, it rains a fare bit, which makes it quiet moist & damp at the best of times.

How would you rate these Sauer timber stocks for wet-moist conditions?
I don't mind scratching up the timber or getting it dirty. But I can't stand uneven forend/barrel channels on a rifle.

I'm also looking at the Classic Synthetic, as this is another good option I think.

We see a fair deal of moisture during our hunting season, and I can't complain about my Sauer's stockwood ... but I took the time to take the wood off and give it an extra oil finish inside ...

quote:

Originally posted by Friedrich:
We see a fair deal of moisture during our hunting season, and I can't complain about my Sauer's stockwood ... but I took the time to take the wood off and give it an extra oil finish inside ...

Yeah that would make sense, as I do the same on my timber rifles. Lanolin seems to seal out the moisture pretty good.
I figured these Sauer stocks would take a fare bit of wet weather punishment.

I have another question for the Sauer experts.

How do the lightweight/alloy receivers stand-up(are they quality/tough enough for the job?) on the Outback model?.
And I see one can get a light-weight receiver as an option for the standard models as well = "Receiver can be made of coated steel or special alloy. Weight of alloy version is reduced by 0,5 kg".
http://www.sauer-waffen.de/index.php?id=231&lang=en
Do the alloy receivers clamp onto the Krupp barrels as well as it does with the standard steel receivers?(would it be as durable/tough enough for years of hard use?).
This is one issue I'm not sure about with lightweight receivers. I know Sauer use high-tech space age alloys, as quoted below.
Just want to be sure before shelling out the $$$$ .

"Nothing less than the highest quality Krupp steel is used in barrel production. Steel receivers are standard. High-grade aluminum alloys developed for aerospace technology are used in all lightweight models".
http://www.sauer-waffen.de/index.php?id=59&lang=en

Thanks for the feedback, as it helps me greatly!

The alloy reveiver has been in use since the beginning of the 200 series rifles. I think they started in the 80's and I have yet to hear a single comment regarding any lack of durability. Unfortunately I don't have one so I can't say first hand. But I have had and still have several other guns with major aluminum components and they have held up except the anodizing doesnt wear as well as bluing. And they scratch easier.

The only thing I would be extra-careful about is scope mounting. Do it once and be happy; aluminum threads are scary.

I have a 202 classic in 7mm mag,26" barrel it shoots very good, I was just wondering about the Krupp steel hammer forged barrel, how long do they last compared to other types of barrels, button,or cut rifled?
Elmer

Being a traditionalist, I'll take steel over alu anytime when given the choice. However, the question of receiver strength is irrelevant in this case. Same as the Blaser R93, the 202 bolt locks up directly in the barrel, so that the receiver is not stressed at all, be it made of steel or alu. One could conclude that the main role of the receiver is to keep all other components together. And this it does splendidly and with much stiffness, considering the general accuracy level displayed by the several 202 I've shot over the years.

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