I have owned and still own several Sako rifles. I am not terribly fond of the stocks on the 85s, and while I do like a synthetic stock, as well as a wood one. I find the synthetic stock on the 85 to look a little cheap, and not what I would expect on a Rifle, bearing the name of Sako. I propose that Sako should offer a New Model Klassic An 85 with a strait stock, round European cheek piece, similar to what Sauer puts on the Hatari stocks, and a nice oil finish. Make them only in classic calibers that have been around for at least 75 years. Offer them in about three or four calibers the first year, and add a different one every year. They could always, skip production on the slower sellers to every other year. They could also do a quality synthetic stock, to the same specs as the wood stock. It would be nice to be able to buy a nice rifle, in a 250-3000, 8X57, 257 Roberts, 300 H&H etc. etc, and look forward to what they were going to add the next year. I do get tired of the same old stuff, everyone churns out, with such boring regularity.

Oh and they do need to bring back the palm swell on their new stock design.

Sako is now in the control of Beretta, a company whose primary income is from military production. Increasingly, Beretta's marketing and products are reflecting the huge influence of their military side, thus their "sporting" products have an increasingly paramilitary flavor. Black plastic is cheap and sells well to the under-40 generation.

I own dozens of Sakos, all made many years before Beretta's involvement. I don't look to ever own any Sakos made since the early 1990s, nor many made since the early 1970s, for that matter.

It is always a shame, when a company alienates their customer base. You can not begrudge a company to make things that are profitable for them, but when they forget about the customers that gave them their good name, and put them in the position they are in, it is really sad.

Not sure there is a good solution, it is probably just the current trend of mediocrity, that a lot of companys go by these days.