I just purchased a New Sako in 416 Rem mag. I'm looking at scopes and mounts but haven't purchase any yet until I get some info from you guys. What I want to know is ,beings I know its a heavy kicker what about eye relief, short , medium or tall mounts what about the power of the scope? I was thinking maybe a Leapold Vera X with low mounts?

Sed1945

I recently bought and set up a Sako 75 Hunter chambered in .416 Rem Mag. The following are some suggestions.

- mount scope with medium or high scope mounts (ejected brass will hit underside of scope on low mounts and drop back into action causing jams)

- have action bedded before firing rifle (bought two identical rifles and both stocks split behind the action from recoil)

- used Zeiss 1.5x5 and Leupold 1.5x5 (swithched both rifles to Leupold 1.5x5 they are lighter and better eye relief)

- use Sako scope mounts (tried several others and they would not hold together or keep the scope in place - do not buy Warne QR mounts they will not stand the recoil)

...Peter

Peter,

You gave good advice (from experience is the best kind ), but I thought you rotated the scope ninety degrees so it didn't hit the turret and got it to eject fine with the low mounts. If that works I would find it preferable to a higher scope mount.

Don

Don

Your right, I did rotate the scope with the Warne rings, this cured the problem somewhat. But every third ejected brass or so would still have a dent in the shoulder and every now and then one would drop back in the action if the bolt wasn't worked with just the right umph. When the Warnes self destructed I picked up a set of Leupolds from my local dealer late on a Friday evening as I wanted to use the rifle for bear hunting that weekend. Those mounts were high mounts and I sighted the rifle back in and put 50 rounds through it since I havn't had a brass drop in the action or be dented since.

....Peter

Peter,

Did you try re-shaping the ejector plunger slightly? It seems like you could do that on a Sako. I have done it successfully on M1As. I think the setup is similar, but I have never fiddled with a Sako 75. (Where the heck is Mike375 anyway? )

If the ejector plunger is free to spin all you can do is move the contact to the middle. If it is held by a flat you can move the contact point all the way to the top to get a more sideways throw of the spent case.

Don

Don

I must admit that I have only my observations to reply with. The Sako 75 bolt is grooved at the bottom center, the ejector is mounted solidly at the back of the action, about 3/4 of travel. When the bolt is drawn back the ejector slides through the groove to the bolt face and forces spent brass upwards more than sideways. The way to adjust the ejector would be to remachine the groove to the left of center and reposition the ejector. Another reason the higher mounts work on the Sako is the integral dovetail, it does not require bases and a portion of the mount height, by my figuring, is used up as part of the rail clamp. So a high mount on the Sako is about the same height as a medium mount with bases on a Win, Rem ....

...Peter

Peter,

Thanks, I had the wrong mental picture of the Sako ejector. Brain fart, I guess. The one you describe sounds like a Mauser ejector turned 90 degrees. You should still be able to shape the ejector (and maybe extractor) to help the situation. If I have the right mental picture now, the extractor is in the next lug around to the outside, 120 degrees from the ejector?

Moving the first point of contact between the ejector and the case head towards the middle of the bolt face should make the round kick out more than up. It's hard to tell without seeing it.

It's one of those things you have to fiddle with!

I just hate having the scope any higher than I have to. I like it sitting .030 off the barrel on .338 and up.

Don

[This message has been edited by Don G (edited 06-18-2001).]

I would definately stay away from Warne on the Sako...I had major problems after only
two or three rounds and that was on the .308!
If you don't need quick dettachable mounts,
I would go with the Sako optilock mounts. They are expensive but well worth it. They come in two styles ie ringmounts and base mounts. If you keep with a scope with a 1"
tube you should be able to get the ring mounts which are a bit simpler and a bit more
bomb proof. The type of scope depends on your intended usage but something like a 1.5-6x42 S&B would be very versitle or maybe a
x4 Leupold??? I would try to mount it as low as possible. I've never heard of a Sako ejecting brass so that it hits the scope and i suspect that is a problem with the individual rifle to me.

Pete E
The only Sako's I've had trouble with the brass hitting the scope are the two .416's I'm currently working with. Smaller calibers don't have that particular difficulty.

Don

I'll post a picture of the bolt and ejector tomorrow.

...Peter

Peter,

Seems very strange to only effect the .416.

Have you compared the ejectors in your rifles
to the ones in other calibres in the Sako range?? I'm assuming here the ejectors would be similar, or are they a different design
once you get onto the big boomers??

Have you e-mailed Sako about this??? If they
can't offer any advice, I can see if the British importer has come across the problem.
I'm out of the office now until Monday, but
I can have a word then if you like...

Pete

I think maybe you guys gave me some bad advice? My local dealer told me if I glass bed the Sako It will void the warranty.

Pete E

I would sure appreciate any possible cures and reasons why the larger brass hits the scope.

Sed1945

I answered your post in the Big Game section.

....Peter

SED,

I'd contact Sako about your warranty. I don't see how they can justify a claim like that, so suspect your dealer may be misinformed. They may not warranty the stock if something should go wrong, but if the action is unmodified that is totally unrelated.

Pete E & Don G

Received e-mail from Sako "Unfortunately, the ejector cannot be repositioned, it is fixed in position."

...Peter