I have both, love them both, they both shoot well. A friend of mine is looking for a new medium caliber and has handled both. Other than slight difference in stock design, floorplate vs. dm, safety ... is there a strong opinion of one vs. the other.

Not really. I do not like rifles with DMs in the field as it is just one less thing to go wrong. Day in and day out they work just fine but it only takes that one time for something to go wrong. DMs were designed for military purpose, high round firing situations and ease of reloading. I own 4 different Mark Vs and love every one of them.

A Weatherby Ultra-Lightweight in 338-06 would be tough to beat. Light, accurate, quick handling, good looking and more than enough power for anything in North America and most game anywhere else.

I have Weatherby rifles in 224, 257, 30-378, 338-378 and 416. Every one has been extremely accurate, had great triggers and handled well. I've no experience with Sakos but I wouldnt pass up a Mark V Weatherby in any caliber.

Stay well,
Paul

I'm with Doc...I've never had a bad Weatherby. Some may be more touchy about what you feed them, but with the right load they can be scary-accurate.

The Weatherby Ultralights are pretty darn nice rifles. Very light and usually quite accurate.

I like the Sako's even better though. The Sako's are better made overall, have better triggers, feed smoother and have better barrels.

I think the Weatherby Ultralights have better constructed stocks but I like the stock Geometry of the Sako 85's much better - be aware that they may fit you differently.

If possible handle both and buy the one that fits you best. I prefer the Sako and think they are better but not by so much that if the Weatherby fits someone better it wouldn't be better for them.....................DJ

I like both rifles.
never owned a MK-5 but I have had a sako or two. The 85 finnlight would be a really good rifle to me.
But the ultra light weatherby would too.
338-06 or one of the sako 9.3s.
...tj3006

I dont care for the stock of a Weatherby myself-or the new Sako m85's...but thats.Purchased my first NEw rifle - Sako m75ss 300WM in 1997 and never looked back.

All my rifles are either Sako m75 ss and Greywolf models and a few Tikka T3 LS rifles.

LOVE THEM, especially my 338-06 Ackley I got made last year on a Sako m75 Greywolf.

I've got both, and the Sako is a much better rifle in my opinion. It is smoother by a big margin, the Sako's have been much more accurate much more easily than the Weatherby's and they foul a lot less, which may speak to DJ's point of better barrels. The fit and finish are better on the Sako's as well. The synthetic stock is fine on the Weatherby's and like DJ I prefer them over the factory synthetic stock on the Sako, but the wooden stocks are my preference anyway, and like Mighty Peace, I really like the Gray Wolf laminated stock. All but a couple of my 75's and 85's that have synthetics have been restocked with McMillans.


They are both good rifles, but I think the Sako is a better one, and it is cheaper (at least on the ultralight) than the Weatherby.

Good shooting!

quote:

Originally posted by Jon Beutler:
I have both, love them both, they both shoot well. A friend of mine is looking for a new medium caliber and has handled both. Other than slight difference in stock design, floorplate vs. dm, safety ... is there a strong opinion of one vs. the other.

I have two Sako 75's and one Weatherby MkV. Here are my thoughts.

I like the Sako safety better than the Wby safety. The Sakos have a bit longer length of pull which fits me better, so I am biased towards Sakos.

The dm in my Sako 75 in 375H&H has never come loose, so I imagine lesser calibers should hold the same. The only down point to Sako is that they are imported by Beretta, which means spare magazines and optilock rings take some time to come in.

The synthetic (fiberglass, not plastic) stock on the Weatherbys are some of the nicest I have handled. They balance well and are strong.

In the end, it is a blonde vs brunette question, you really couldn't go wrong with either.

John

I own and love both. Kind of simplistic, if I were going with a non-Wby cartridge I would go with the Sako. If you go with one of the fine Wby cartidges, go with the Mark V. Lou

Thanks everyone for their input. I think its down to either the finnlight or the Ultra Lightweight. I think its gonna come down to "gut-feel".

Luckily he has already picked the caliber. By far the best AND only caliber to use if your going to hunt big game in NA. And in fact, the most popular on AR as well, so we dont need to discuss that.

Sako has over produced model 85s in 338 Federal and they can be had very reasonably. EoroOptic sold me a Grey Wolf for $785 new in the box. I am really impressed with the gun and the cartridge. They have it in Hunter, Stainless Synthetic and Grey wolf for between $750 and $800. Unfortunately, that caliber is not made in the Finnlight.

SAKO's history of building accurate rifles is real. Go with the SAKO.