I have a Sako AV with a 19" barrel....love the rifle and the way it points, but does anyone else have experience with loads that get decent velocity out of such a beast?

Thanks for any help or insight you can provide....

Dan

Thanks for your reply to my post but with a 19in barrel big velocity is not going to be there

I'm a slow learner, but I'm kind of figuring that out....

I had a Sako A5 with a factory 20-3/4 barrel that shot any 300 grain bullet and 78 grains of 760 for just over 2600 fps. max load but never had any problems and case life was fine.

Remember that slower powders that give best velocities with std lentgh barrels will still give best velocities with shorter barrels.

I have a 20" Sako carbine. I load it with top end (not max) loads of 4831 SC and 270 gr. It shot really well for 15 years before I got a chrony. I got the chrony and I found out I was only getting 2475 out of the load....I was disappointed with the load, but none of the animals I killed with the load ever complained. Lesson learned...if it works well use it.

Thanks--that does seem to be the case for me as well. Heavy bullets also seem to be less effected...still searching for the magic potion.

Dan

Dan H,

Try a fast burning powder like reloader 15. Going from memory, 68 grains behind a 300 grain bullet. But check the manuals to be sure I am not misquoting. A fast powder will be more fully burned by the time the bullet gets to the end of that short barrel. I have a 21 inch pre-64 M70 in .375 and I like it quite well.

But do not worry too much about velocity. The .375 works great at 2300 to 2400 fps.