Just wondered if anyone has one yet. I have ordered one in 300 WSM and was wondering if anyone has one and has done any load development. Any other observations would be most welcome as well.

Many thanks

Jon2, I've got one but it's a .270 Win. I do however have 3 M-75's in 300 WSM. It is my opinion that the 300 WSM is best suited to the lighter weight pills for caliber, 180 is the heaviest I've got one set up for. I have found right at book max with H-4831 SC and IMR-4350 work well. I see a little better velocity with the IMR-4350.

One thing I have noticed with all my WSM's is that they like a good bit of jump to the lands, which is good, as I haven't been able to get to the lands and still have the rounds fit in my magazine on any of my 85's and only a few of my 75's.

Good shooting--Don.

Don

Yes I too have a couple of 75's one in 308 the other is a 22-250. They are the most consistently accurate rifles i have owned. Consistently producing clover leaf groups in both sometimes even better.

I too cannot get on the lands with either and like yourself purely by default found that they both shoot off the lands.

Have you shot your 85 yet? The reason i went for the 85 is that they are lighter than the 75 which suits me perfectly.

With regards to the lighter bullets in 300WSM I am hoping to get a 165 and a 180 load. The 165 would be perfectly adequate as i need it for the boar. I did consider getting a 30-06 but i am so impressed with my 270 WSM more energy less percieved recoil than a standard 270 that I am hoping the same is true of the 300wsm compared to a 300 Win Mag (which i recently sold).

Would be interested to hear how you get on with your 85.

Many thanks

Jon

Jon, I have shot this 85, and it is like the other 3 I have, which is damn impressive. I have 2 that are the hunter model, one in a .270, and one that I had converted to a 6.5x284. The 4th one is a 270 WSM grey wolf. I have found they all shoot as good or better than any of my 75's out of the box.

The stainless synthetic has about 30 rounds through it, and the first load I am running is consistently sub moa, throwing out a couple of 'jerkers' by me, it is shooting an honest .75" at 100 yards--this with the first load I am running! I happen to agree with you on the perceived recoil thing, maybe I've just been drinking the poison kool-aid too, but when I get velocities the same, my 300 WSM kicks less than my 300 Win Mag, and they are the same rifle, e.g. both M-75's with the same stock, barrel length and such, just the slightly heavier & longer action on the Win Mag--but still the WSM seems to recoil less.

My 270 WSM shoots lights out, but I worked up a load for it specifically, based on some loads that shoot in my M-75's in the same cal. I am running the 140 gr Accubonds over 62.5 gr of H-4831sc, WLRM primers in Norma brass. This same load with the SGK 140 gr hollow point, with a slightly different OAL also shoots really great.

My 300 WSM M-75 that I shoot 180 grainers in, happend to shoot the Win factory 180 Accubonds great, so I haven't developed a custom load for it. It shoots these into less than 2" at 200, which is what I zeroed for with this rifle, and that satisfied me, so I have left it alone, other than to shoot it every other trip to the range, and push a patch through it after and put it up. It shoots great every time I take it out. I have the other 2 set up to shoot 168 Barnes XXX's, and 150 gr NBT's. Both of these loads are near book max--and I use the Norma brass for the XXX load, and the Win factory Nickle plated brass reloaded for the 150 NBT's. (if Lawndart reads this, yes I actually have kept and reloaded these nickle cases for this one rifle ) You shouldn't have a lot of trouble getting a good shooting load for your rifle, seating depth has been key on getting the best accuracy for me, and has always required a little deeper seating depth (more jump to the lands) to get best accuracy--which is a good thing, since, as we touched on, you can't get to the lands anyway.......

My 270 Stainless Syn in the '85 is probably my favorite bone stock rifle I have from SAKO. I slapped some Talley rings on there and a Swaro AV 4x12x50 and it has just shot great from round 1.

The 6.5x284 I had built on the 85 hunter is just incredibly accurate, by far the most accurate hunting rig I have--it is pillar bedded, and glassed, free floated and 25" custom Lothar barrel, really serious break in procedure from Accuflite, and it just plain drills. I actually can't believe how good it shoots a variety of ammo, I mention the details on it to point out that the 85 made a great platform for a custom.

Sorry to ramble on, but on top of being a big SAKO fan anyway, I really do like the new 85, (although I prefer the magazine release on the 75), and don't really care about the 'pseudo' CRF, but perhaps it contributes to the accuracy I have seen out of the 85's--my 4, and several others my buddies have. I think you'll love your rifle--I would suggest Talley or Warne rings-- I don't care for the optilocks, though a guy who posts here as DJPaintless, and is a damn knowledgeable rifleman, loves the optilocks....

Let us know how your rig develops---Don

Don

That all sounds very interesting. I will let you know how I get on but the order lead time in the UK is 4/5 months and I ordered it a week ago.

Thankyou for the information