What would you do?

[Skinnydipper]

Scenario:

I bought a new Sako Finnlight .300WSM topped it with a Leupold 4.5-14X50 lighted reticle to upgrade the weapons I currently own.
I was thrilled at the probability of achieving sub MOA groups with this combo and tweaked handloads.
Here's where things get sketchy........I tried about 5 different bullets, 4 different powders, different primers, seating depths, etc.
The very best groups were from about 1 1/2-3" at 100 yds. Consistently.....inconsistent
I was exasperated by this time, so I discussed the situation with the owner of the store where I purchased it from and we agreed that we would try to get through the hunting season with it then send it back (as there were no others in Canada to be had).
In a few spare moments waiting for a large Mule deer buck along a fence line prior to prime time..........it all started to become crystal clear. I was fiddling with the gun, admiring how very beautiful it was, when I grabbed the barrel and found a small clunk-clunk noise and movement. Hum.....so I continued to follow the movement up the barrel to find it's origin. Turns out that the barrel is loose inside the receiver. I could screw it out until it fell on the ground.
To top it all off: I brought it to a local gunsmith to have it tightened, upon tightening it we found that the fluting would no longer line up with the stock and the reduction in headspacing made it almost impossible to close the bolt with a round that I'd reloaded with the original setup. Tough situation in the middle of hunting season to say the least.

What do you think Sako should do to rectify this situation and the amount of time and money that I've spent screwing around with their lack of Quality Control????

 

[James Jones]

Bring it back to your deal and have them call and raise hell with Sako's customer service about the potentialy dangerous situation that their weapon put his customer in !! Had that barrel unscrewed half way and sombody not cought on to it and fired the gun it could have been fatal or life altering at least with that amount of excessive head space.
I would not fire the gun anymore and report it ASAP , see if your dealer has another rifle from Sako he'll let you borrow and Sako will likely replace both guns for him , I have seen this same situation with a CZ rifle and that the way it was handled , Sako should do at least that!!

If you contact them your more likely to get the run around and told to ship it to one of their service center smiths to have it fixed. Its realy not that big of a deal to fix , just set the barrel back till it index the flutes corretly when its tightened then rechamber it but it will probably take alot longer to have it fixed that to have Sako send your dealer a new gun and besides they screwed it up they should have the hassel of replacing and fixing it.

 

[Wild_Bill]

Send it back ASAP

Hi you could have it fixed but that will void all warrantie. I woulg get your dealer to send it back after having the gunsmith en tighten the barrel so it is as you received it from the dealer.

If you have the barrel set back you will have to set it back just under a full turn so the stamping and fluting is in the factory position. Then the clearences to the back of the barrel and boltface will require machining as at this stage the bolt will be hitting the back off the barrel. then your gunsmith will have to take the chamber in further this is where the trouble could occour. if you set a barrel back you should take at least the full neck length off the back off the barrel as if the gunsmith has a match chamber it will likley have a tighter neck than a factory chamber so if you don't set it back the neck length you will end up with a step in the chamber along the neck. The same go's for the body off the case if the chamber is oversize compared to the gunsmiths reamer you will end up with a step at the side off the case in the chamber.

Get Sako to either send a brand new barrel and warrant your gunsmith fitting it or have it replaced.

You can also streach threads in the action if shooting with a loose barrel.

See if the gunshop still has one off your old rifles if you traded them in or if he has a seccond hand 308 that he owns and ask him to loan it to you until the rifle is replaced it will likley be after the hunting season before you have it replaced.

The other option it have the rifle replaced with a diferent brand rifle like a Rem 700 or another brand rifle you like.
Good Luck

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[Skinnydipper]

Thanks guys for the responses. I will try to get the gun replaced completely.
I have a back up gun to use now that my wife has filled her tag. I just really like my new Sako.

 

[Wild_Bill]

????????????

How can you realy like a rifle that does not shoot and was dangerous and the barrel was about to head down range?

I can understand that you likevthe look and feel but not thatbyou like that particular rifle.

As a general rule Sako barels are generally mungrels to take out as they are usually overtighteneb to allow for the oposite to you're problem. They keep tightening the barrel until it lines up it does not seem to matter about the correct tension as long as they look like the barrel is up the correct way.

Mabe they should look at their assemblie process and tolerance.

Hope the next one is good.

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[Skinnydipper]

Update:

Sako has agreed to replace the rifle with a new unit but seemed relatively unconcerned with the original problem (which we have found out was not the first loose barrel on the WSM calibers......beware fellow Sako WSM users).
As I already knew, there is no replacement rifle in Canada so the waiting game begins

 

[Dead Beat]

thanks for the head's up on there QC

JIM

 

[Matt_G]

Unfortunately, I'm not really surprised you had this problem Skinnydipper.
Does anyone remember the recall in the fall of 2004? The lack of QC that caused it, and the way it was handled, was inexcusable IMHO. I can't help but think, that when it comes right down to it, Sako just doesn't give a **** about their customers.

For reference, here are a couple of links detailing the situation in 2004.
Sako Blow-up
The Gun Zone -- Rifle kB!s