I recently purchased a used SAKO A1 Varmint rifle in .222 Rem. This rifle is in excellent condition and I believe it to be of mid 1980's vintage.

The factory bedding system does not appear to me to have been well thought out, specifically : the barreled action contacts the stock at three points, the bottom face of the tang, the bottom face of the recoil lug, and the bottom of barrel approximately two inches back from the forend tip with a raised pad, a la Remington. The rear vertical face of the recoil lug does NOT contact the stock. The rear vertical face of the tang does not contact the stock either. I am unsure what restrains the barreled action from migrating rearwards with recoil, perhaps the Receiver Screws?

Has anyone experience with a similarly bedded SAKO of like vintage? How did it shoot?

rollinghills

Congrats you have found a little jewel!

OK there is something definitely wrong if the recoil lug rear is not contacting the stock.
You will have to glass-bed the action front and rear for it to get the best accuracy.
The fact that the front guard screw goes into the bottom of the recoil lug is a bit of an anomaly, what you must do is bed in the lug and action flat behind it, leave clearance at the sides, front and bottom of the recoil lug, and bed about 2" of the barrel in front. The tang at the rear must also be bedded at the sides, rear and below.
A normal pillar will work here. These actions do benefit from full bedding front to rear, in my experience.

Leave the barrel support for the time being and see how she shoots. If acceptable, leave alone, if not, remove.

Cheers

pete M
The Sako Varmint stocks are pretty hefty up front. Just make sure the stock does not bind the barrel anywhere you did not intend.

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I hunt, not to kill, but in order not to have played golf.

Pete Millan : Thanks for your advice. I will glass bed it as you have recommended after range testing to establish baseline accuracy with the factory bedding. The clearance between the recoil lug and the stock bedding face is large enough (around 3/32nds of an inch) that it appears to have been intentional. I wonder what perceived benefit accrued with this bedding? regards. rollinghills

rollinghills

Ina word - none.

It flies in the face of opinions held by gunsmiths world wide. Must have been a factory fault.

Pete

I took the above mentioned Sako AI Varmint rifle out to the range to fireform some brass and establish that there were no gross problems with before investing my time in a glassbedding project. I wasn't expecting much in the way of accuracy. It was a fireform load, seated long. The weather was cold and breezy, and I was not being particularly careful on the bench. The first 5 shot group went into 0.99 inches at 100 yards, including a 5th shot flyer which ruined the forming 0.45 inch group. After viewing the target, I removed the rear sling swivel post so it wouldn't interfere with the rear bag and tried again. The second 5 shot group went into 0.58 inches with some vertical stringing. For me that is a good group, and if this gun will average that I will be happy.

So now I have a dilema; do I live with the current bedding, reasonable accuracy and preserve the collectibility of the firearm, OR do I glassbed and see what the true potential of this gun is? Decisions, decisions! rollinghills