Sako 85

drtony

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
Messages
482
Location
MN
Hello All,

This is my first post on the forum here. I recently purchased my very first rifle, a weatherby accumark in 300 wby mag for an elk hunt this fall with my dad and uncle. Long story short, there appears to be a problem with the rifle and I had to send it in to weatherby to diagnose said problem. The issue is, it is sounding unlikely that I will have the rifle back in time for my hunt. As you could imagine I am not too thrilled about having purchased a rifle (very expensive one at that) for this specific hunt (which will not be happening again for a long time if ever) and not having it. I live in MN so such a big boomer is not really necessary here for white tails (where I am from we can't even rifle hunt. I need to go further north to use a rifle).

Anyway, I feel bummed and disappointed, but also obligated to purchase a new rifle (before the last minute) in case my weatherby won't get back in time. It is important to me to get comfortable shooting the gun I take on the hunt. To get comfortable, I need to shoot it.

I have narrowed down the caliber to 7mm mag. I was looking at 6.5 CM as well, but I want a little extra juice for out west. besides, I can always go light grain and have it be quite effective for white tails. I have narrowed it down to the Sako 85 grey wolf in 7mm mag. or the browning xbolt LR pro in 7mm mag.

I lean towards the Sako and would have already bought it except I have heard a lot of internet chatter about ejection issues when paired with larger scopes (I have a vortex pst gen II 5-25x50). The spent casing ejecting to high and hitting the underside of the scope/turrets sending the case back in the action. I am wondering if these ejection issues have been fixed or if they are still occurring.

I know some may say its not an "issue" because the casing is ejecting. Or its as much the guns fault as it is the scopes, but the reality is there seems to be an "issue" or at least "design flaw". Would prefer not to get into this issue-- just whether or not it is still happening? Buying another scope is not an option. What I have is the set-up i need to use. I would hate to spend a bunch more money just to run into more issues.
 
Not exactly sure, the gentleman I talked said if it's an easy fix I should have it back. If it's a more complex fix or they don't have the required parts on hand, it would be unlikely Ill have it in time.

Here is what Happened:

I was running out of left adjustment in my scope (burris veracity 4-20x50 with one piece talley mounts) so I could not zero. So I took the rifle to a gunsmith to see if he could determine the problem. His initial idea was to just put adjustable rings/mounts on the rifle to adjust for lack of left adjustment. I was not keen on the idea of fixing the problem with a "band-aid". I told him this is an expensive rifle and scope and it should be mechanically sound (that's my OCD kicking in).

The gentleman was very nice and tried numerous ways to diagnose the problem. He tried to bore sight the same rifle and scope with different mounts... same problem.

He tried to bore sight the rifle with a different scope of the exact same make and model (with my original talley mounts)... same problem.

He put two different scope models on the gun with same mounts... no issue whatsoever. He said the other 2 scopes would bore sight no problem AND have plenty of MOA to adjust in both directions.

So, I called Weatherby to see if the problem COULD be the rifle. The gentleman I talked with said it was very unlikely the action would be off center or the screw holes for mounting. He mentioned they check for that specifically in their quality control. He told me I could double check the action screws were tight. Basically, He told me it would be very unlikely it was the rifle, but if I wanted to send it in they would be happy to inspect it.

Thinking it was the scope, I called SportOptics where I bought the scope (Their return policy states scopes cant be returned once they have been mounted). They sent me a prepaid return label for a full refund on the scope and placed a new order for me over the phone (Vortex gen 2 PST) and shipped the new scope that same day.

Vortex scope had the same problem. I got it zeroed at 100 yards, but only had 1-2 clicks of left adjustment leftover. 6-8 inches right at 200 yards. Weatherby recommended sending the rifle in. I was not the only one shooting the gun either.
 
It may be worth sending a note to Weatherby explaining the time frame you are dealing with and how much you would like to use their rifle for your hunt. Let them know how much their great reputation played into you deciding to purchase one of their fine rifles for your up Coming once in a lifetime hunt. Ask them kindly if there is anyway they can help you out.

Steve
 
To answer, both of your 7mm choices are good ones. The Browning will allow longer bullets which makes a difference if you are a handload and like heavier bullets.
I have contemplated buying a Grey Wolf in 7-mag for years and keep getting other things. FWIW, I have two X-Bolts and both are extremely easy to achieve very good accuracy with my handloads. Never tried factory ammo in either though. I had one of the first .300wsm X-bolts which I sold to fund another purchase and have regretted it. It was a wood stocked rifle and beautiful... something I didn't need to worry about while hunting as I hunt pretty hard when out in the field. It was also a fine shooter.
 
It may be worth sending a note to Weatherby explaining the time frame you are dealing with and how much you would like to use their rifle for your hunt. Let them know how much their great reputation played into you deciding to purchase one of their fine rifles for your up Coming once in a lifetime hunt. Ask them kindly if there is anyway they can help you out.

Steve

I respectfully talked to him about my hunt and the importance of it all. He told me they need to figure out what is wrong first and then figure out how long it will take to fix. He said it should take 3-4 weeks before they will know what is going on.

I asked about sending me a new rifle and keeping the one I sent in. He said they don't do that. He said to call back in 3-4 weeks for an update. That is the best he can do for the time being.
 
To answer, both of your 7mm choices are good ones. The Browning will allow longer bullets which makes a difference if you are a handload and like heavier bullets.
I have contemplated buying a Grey Wolf in 7-mag for years and keep getting other things. FWIW, I have two X-Bolts and both are extremely easy to achieve very good accuracy with my handloads. Never tried factory ammo in either though. I had one of the first .300wsm X-bolts which I sold to fund another purchase and have regretted it. It was a wood stocked rifle and beautiful... something I didn't need to worry about while hunting as I hunt pretty hard when out in the field. It was also a fine shooter.

What other stuff did you end up getting? Why did you always decide against the grey wolf?
 
Never really decided AGAINST a grey wolf... just never got around to buying one. If they chambered one in .280 I would have one in my safe! :)
 
morning, I had the same problem with several rem. 721 actions.
had to install the old style redfield mounts. this solved the problem.
in ur situation I would have taken the actions u described. u
should not have this problem with the rifle. the grey wolf
is a very good choice for backup rifle. sako is a very good
rifle brand. the replacement parts r very hard to get.
justme gbot tum
 
just country: do you know what style action the current grey wolf is modeled on? Would I need to buy specific mounts, or could I just go into cabelas and have them put on some nice ones they have at the store?
 
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top