Anyone have any experience with the Sako 85 Safari? Any idea on what price these go for?

No experience with them, but they're about $9K.

At DSC 2014:

Sako 85 Safari



.450 Rigby $10,500



.416 Rigby $10,500



.375 H&H $3,834

Thanx for the info and pictures.Thinking of getting one in 416rigby.

quote:

Originally posted by .500mbogo:
Thanx for the info and pictures.Thinking of getting one in 416rigby.

Welcome.
I was impressed to see them in .450 and .416 Rigby, holds 4 down in the box, + 1 in chamber.
1:14" twist .416 Rigby.
That .416 Rigby was the prettiest one there.



http://www.berettausa.com/products/sako-85-safari/

A less expensive version?

https://www.sako.fi/sako85models.php?brown_bear

SAKO 85 BROWN BEAR
New 2014: XL Action Size

To include a true everyman's safari rifle into the Sako 85 product family Sako is introducing the Brown Bear in action size XL. This widens the caliber selection of the Bear Series to include 416 Rigby, 450 Rigby and 500 Jeffery. The laminate stock has been redesigned to accommodate larger calibers and the barrel profile has been redefined for the new calibers.

Brown laminated hardwood,straight classic stock, black action and 540 mm semi heavy barrel (21,1/4"). Exellent balance for good pointability.

Bear Series

Black Bear, Brownbear and Kodiak, purpose built weapons for bear & bruise hunters. All 3 "Bears" feature: adjustable special fast target acquisition iron sights, detachable staggered 2-row steel magazine with TCL preventing unintentional loosening. Can be top-loaded. Controlled cartridge feed, adjustable single stage trigger, barrel band for front swivel. 3 locking lug, very fast cycling turn bolt action with controlled cartridge feed & mechanical case ejection. Integral Dovetail rails for secure scope mounting.

XL
416 Rigby
450 Rigby
500 Jeffery
* Fixed magazine (FM)

I struggle to see spending 8K+ on a factory Sako. Our local Cabelas has one that I looked at. The wood to metal fit was not great, however, the metal finish was superb.

It looked like a $2,500 gun. Just my opinion.

JDA

Way over priced. My guess would have been 2500-3000?

If you buy one and you're in the US, and have any issues, you'll have to deal with Beretta; good luck with that! Read into this what you want, but suffice it to say that I've been down that road. That in itself would steer me in another direction.

They're priced the same as the new Heym Safari rifles with stock design by Ralf Martini. Why someone would buy a PF Sako for the same money is beyond me.

But the 85 is a CRF, sort of, unlike the 75 PF.
But it is still not a "Controlled Round Extractor" like a Mauser.



http://www.sako.fi/sako85_features.php

I swore off the Sako long ago when they did away with the original, old-style Sako rings.
I detest the "Opti-lok" Rube Goldberg contraptions on the Sako dovetails.
Might as well drill and tap for 8x40 screws and JB Weld a QRW base onto any Sako, IMHO.

RIP, it's "sort of a CRF" but not really.

I had an 85 model in 270 Win that I traded to Biebs for a FA 83 in 454 Casull. What I found with the 85 is that just pushing the bolt forward causes the round to pop loose from the magazine in the same manner as a traditional push feed such as the M-700, but doesn't "grab" the round like a M-70 does. However, if you continue to push it forward forcing the cartridge firmly into the chamber, the bolt face then does grab the rim. The difference being that with a traditional push feed, the rim isn't grabbed and held by the bolt face until the bolt handle is cranked down. The 85 grabs the rim prior to cranking the handle down.

So it's kind of a half push feed / half control round feed. At least the rifle I had worked this way. Can anyone that has experience with the M-85 confirm this or was mine just not "tuned" properly?

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
RIP, it's "sort of a CRF" but not really.

I had an 85 model in 270 Win that I traded to Biebs for a FA 83 in 454 Casull. What I found with the 85 is that just pushing the bolt forward causes the round to pop loose from the magazine in the same manner as a traditional push feed such as the M-700, but doesn't "grab" the round like a M-70 does. However, if you continue to push it forward forcing the cartridge firmly into the chamber, the bolt face then does grab the rim. The difference being that with a traditional push feed, the rim isn't grabbed and held by the bolt face until the bolt handle is cranked down. The 85 grabs the rim prior to cranking the handle down.

So it's kind of a half push feed / half control round feed. At least the rifle I had worked this way. Can anyone that has experience with the M-85 confirm this or was mine just not "tuned" properly?

The spring tension on the Sako 85 extractor prevents immediate control of the round on feeding, eh?
Yep, half-assed CR-Feeding and no CR-Extraction at all.


And while "sumbuddy who know" is at it, opinions on "Opti-lok" rings AND BASES that have to be added to the integral dovetails?
An attachable base with a little hole in it to fit the little round stud on the bottom of the ring.
This kind of defeats the "integral base" concept of such a pretty dovetail on the Sako.
At least they are using a round peg in a round hole.

I have posted previously about Sako's quick release Optilock rings and bases. The set cost me over $300 and I had them on a Sako .375 Kodiak. The scope at the time was a Schmidt Bender 1.5x6x42 Zenith. Two big problems...1) no matter what I did the rings would not hold the scope in one place under recoil, 2) the dovetail bases would jam so tightly into the dovetail ways under recoil that you could not remove the scope without hitting the bases with a hammer or some other hard object. Not something that you want with a DGR when you need to remove the scope in the field in order to use the open sights. Lastly, the rear base has a small pin that slides into a recessed grove presumably to hold the whole set-up in place, however that little pin bent during firing of the rifle and was completely useless. For the price, these rings are completely worthless. I no longer own this rifle, however, on other Sako's I own, I have had good success with Conetrol and Talley rings and bases.

The 85 Classic in .375 H&H is a very nice rifle. I added a Talley barrel band swivel, NECG front/rear sights and a Leupold scope in Leupold rings. I did not like the look(or price) of the Sako Optilock system. If you use the Leupold Sako rings - you have to use rings taller than what you plan for. The integral Sako bases are low profile. Spent brass will ricochet off the turret housing of the Leupold FXII-4X and bounce back into the loading gate if low height rings are used. This is not an issue with the High rings which still work for correct cheek weld. The 85 Classic runs under $1800 new compared to the 85 Safari. Wood, trigger, bedding, recoil pad, bolt throw/ease of cycling are very nice.

Do not beat me up too badly (aw, go ahead), but I like the new rings/bases set up more than the "old" style. I have some of each and would not sell any of them. My .416 Rem Mag held a 1-4 Swarovski scope in place for over 400 full power rounds (yes, I have a wide and deep masochistic streak).

Yes, I surely do miss dealing directly with Sako for customer service issues (I am not masochistic enough to enjoy tangling with Beretta customer service).

I seem to remember about 5-6 years ago I saw and considered a Sako "Safari" with what appeared to be, at least on the pictures, a full CRF action. Seller wanted somewhere around $2000 for it. Was there such a beast available for a very short time, maybe a year or two? or was I just imagining things.

I recall reading that Sako made some modifications to their action to create a safari-rifle action which they referred to as being CRF...except it apparently wasn't. The concensus among the gunwriters who reviewed it (and who, being gunwriters, are obviously to be trusted implicitly...) was that this faux-CRF action worked well and was reliable...but was definitely not a true CRF, the cartridges not being captured by the bolthead until the bolt was almost completely closed.

This was going back quite a few years. I actually thought it was back in the day of the model 75 rather than the 85, but I could be totally wrong about that.

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
I recall reading that Sako made some modifications to their action to create a safari-rifle action which they referred to as being CRF...except it apparently wasn't. The concensus among the gunwriters who reviewed it (and who, being gunwriters, are obviously to be trusted implicitly...) was that this faux-CRF action worked well and was reliable...but was definitely not a true CRF, the cartridges not being captured by the bolthead until the bolt was almost completely closed.

This was going back quite a few years. I actually thought it was back in the day of the model 75 rather than the 85, but I could be totally wrong about that.

Yes it was the model 75 "safari" 80th aniversary edition.