Sako 75 Varminter

THE RELIABILITY AND ACCURACY OF THIS SPECTACULAR NEW RIFLE ARE SO REMARKABLY CONSISTENT, THEY'RE ALMOST UNREMARKABLE.

Among all the foreign-made production rifles, the name Sako is most closely associated with the term "out-of-the-box accuracy." Even back when I was a kid, this Finnish gun maker already had a rep for building sturdy, accurate rifles on what was then the only action they made: the tiny little L-46 Vixen. In the .222 Rem. chambering especially, the company's reputation for accuracy was established. It carried over when they introduced their medium-length L-579 and magnum-length L-61 actions in 1960 and '61, respectively.

By 1964 Sako had re-designed the little Vixen action for the second time, resulting in the L-461, giving Sako three cosmetically identical actions in three distinct lengths -- an advantage they maintain today to an even greater degree.

Farewell To A Classic

When Stoeger became the exclusive U.S. importer of Sako in the late '70s, they changed the "L" designations to A-I through A-V, to indicate either length or bolt face configuration. Then they went to the S-491, M-591 and L-691 to indicate short, medium and long actions. It was a bit confusing, but regardless of what designation was used, the Sako line grew and prospered for 30 years with only minor, mostly cosmetic design changes.

Even good things eventually run their course. Over those three decades new and more efficient manufacturing methods were developed, methods which, if not adopted, would ultimately result in Sakos being too expensive to produce.

In the early '90s the company saw the writing on the wall. To stay competitive, they knew they had to come up with a successor to the existing action, one that would lend itself to the CNC machinery and robotic systems that were to be phased in at the factory in Riihimaki.

The next generation, dubbed the Sako 75, was introduced in 1997. Named to commemorate the company's 75th anniversary as a rifle manufacturer, the 75 is as internally different from its predecessor as it can be, yet from the outside still looks like its cosmetic twin. That's because the Sako folks were smart enough to know they shouldn't stray too far from the cosmetics and design features that made the old rifle so universally revered.

A Familiar Face

If you're intimately familiar with the old Sako, the first change you'll notice at a glance is that the bolt handle is slightly different. The bolt guide rib that rode sidesaddle on the old action is gone. Further, there is now a small button positioned immediately in front of the side-safety's thumbpiece.

With the above exception, all the other familiar looks and features of the old Sako are there: the shape of the stock; the conformation of the trigger guard and floorplate (if it's the optional hinged floorplate version); the receiver configuration with its flat-topped, tapered dovetails for scope mounting and an identical-looking bolt shroud.

The one substantive difference between the old and new Sako is in the locking lug geometry and bolt rotation. The old action had twin-opposed locking lugs, whereas the 75 has three that are symmetrically oriented on 120-degree centers. None of the three lugs are identical, however, with each having different bearing and sheer surface areas.

The two lugs that occupy the 4:30 and 7:30 positions when the action is unlocked have shallow grooves running lengthwise across their top surface which engage corresponding lobes projecting from the inner walls of the raceway.

The result is that this bolt has more lateral support than any other. That translates into an action that is smooth and difficult to bind in moments of stress.

The bolt face is recessed about .1" but is interrupted in two places for the ejector and the extractor. The latter looks to be identical to the old one, which has always been among the strongest and most reliable extractors next to that of the 98 Mauser.

As for ejection, it too is the same mechanical or inertia-type as found on the previous Sako. A static, spring-loaded arm contacts the head of the cartridge through a slot machined into the side of the bolt head. When the bolt reaches its rearward-most position, the inertia of the cartridge case contacting the ejector arm throws the empty free of the loading port.

The ejector itself occupies a 6 o'clock position in the floor of the receiver bridge; it is part of a U-shaped arm that straddles the trigger housing and is powered by not one, but two coil springs. It's interesting to note that the Sako 75 is the only three-lug action to not have plunger-type ejection.

A Matter Of Geometry

Because of its three-lug geometry, the bolt rotation and resultant handle movement required to lock and unlock the action is only 70 degrees, rather than the 90 degrees required of a twin lug design. When unlocked, the bolt handle is only 15 degrees or so above horizontal, so there's plenty of clearance for the hand relative to the scope's eyepiece.

With each Sako 75 a bolt disassembly tool is furnished that looks something like a jar lid with a keyhole in it. Made of tough polymer, the tool is slipped over the bolt shroud with the slot oriented to engage the cocking piece. Using the bolt handle for leverage, you simply rotate the tool clockwise about 30 degrees and the entire bolt comes apart.

I don't mean the striker assembly comes free of the bolt, as is the case with other actions, but that it is reduced to its individual components -- firing pin, mainspring, cocking piece, bolt body and shroud. It's beautifully simple in design.

The bolt is a one-piece affair with the handle being integral, not collared, soldered or welded onto the body. That's the best way. The handle itself has a nice rearward sweep to it and the pear-shaped grasping ball is also pleasing to the eye.

With the barreled action removed from the stock, we find the receiver to be flat-bottomed, but with a separate recoil lug seated in a shallow slot and locked there with a machine bolt. The trigger housing is a sturdy aluminum casting; it too is bolted to the receiver with a machine bolt that's had some serious torque applied to it! Ditto for the two-piece trigger guard and magazine frame -- they're keyed and slotted together to maintain alignment, and held together with a machine bolt. From the outside they look like one.

The side safety has two positions: when engaged, the bolt is locked and the trigger and sear movement are blocked. By depressing the small button just ahead of the safety thumbpiece, the bolt lock is bypassed allowing a cartridge to be fed into the chamber or removed with the safety still engaged. It's another way of accomplishing what a three-position safety does.

Putting It To The Test

For our test gun we chose the newest addition to the Sako 75 line, an all-stainless, heavy-barreled varminter with a brown wood laminate stock. It is one of 11 distinct models spanning 27 different calibers and five action lengths.

Yes, you read right: there are now five distinct actions, each designed to accommodate a specific family of cartridges. There's the A-I for the .222 Rem. family; the A-II for the PPC cartridges and 7.62x39; the A-III for the .308 family; the A-IV for the .30-'06 clan; and the A-V for both the short and full-length belted magnums.

The A-I and A-II both have magazines of 61mm, but the receivers are of different length, and the bolt faces and feed rail spans are different. The A-III action has a magazine length of 75mm; the A-IV, 86mm; and the A-V, 95mm.

If that were not enough diversity to contend with, most of the 11 Sako 75 models can be had in a choice of traditional hinged floorplate, detachable magazine or single-shot with a solid-bottomed receiver and in both right-and left-hand versions.

The only American manufacturer that comes close to offering this sort of diversity is Ruger with three distinct action lengths in the Model 77 Mk II in which 14 models and 18 chamberings are offered. Remington has more models in its 700-series, but only two action lengths and fewer calibers. The same holds true for Browning, Savage, USRAC and Weatherby.

The test gun was chambered in .22250 and had the five-shot detachable magazine. I'm not particularly fond of detachable magazines, but I'm impressed with this one. It is typically Sako, meaning that it is of sound design, sturdy, reliable in its functioning and aesthetically pleasing.

The bottom of the magazine looks like a conventional hinged floorplate and fits dead flush with the belly of the stock. Only a depression at the front of the magazine frame and the latch located therein betray the fact that this gun has a detachable box. There are no other buttons, levers or latches visible from the side to ruin the lines of the gun. It works beautifully.

When in place, the box is locked at both the front and back, yet a gentle pull on the latch with the tip of the forefinger pops it into your waiting hand. The magazine is fabricated from sheet stock, but it's of a very heavy gauge and the sturdiest of any I've seen. This is one detachable magazine I could live with.

The gun weighs 10 1/4 lbs. The stout, 23 1/2" barrel measured .865" at the muzzle and is entirely free-floated, as are all Sakos regardless of model. The trigger pull was extremely crisp with no hint of creep, but at 3 lbs., a bit heavy for a varmint rifle. The trigger is adjustable for tension down to 2 lbs., but I left it as it was.

For shooting, I mounted a Weaver T-16 fixed-power, which is one of my favorite scopes for prairie rat hunting. With the Weaver aboard sitting in Sako's all-steel low mounts the range-ready rig weighed 11 3/4 lbs. And a good-looking rig it was, too!

Culling The Rat Pack

I wrung out the Sako using seven different factory loads: Winchester's Supreme 50 gr. Ballistic Silvertip, Supreme 52 gr. HPs, and regular-line 55 gr. PSPs in the 50-round "Varmint Pack"; Hornady's Custom in 53 gr. HP and 55 gr. SP Varmint Express; Norma's 55 gr. moly-coated HPs and Remington's 55 gr. PSP.

As is my usual procedure for a varmint rifle, I fired three five-shot groups from the bench at 100 yards (I use three-shot groups for sporter-weight hunting rifles), and cleaned the barrel after each series of 15 shots.

The Sako did not show any marked preference among the loads. Indeed, the worst three-group average was a virtual tie between the Remington 55 gr. and Winchester's 55 gr. at 1.4", while the best 15-shot average was .9" turned in by Winchester's Ballistic Silvertips. That's only 1/2" difference among seven different loads. Quite remarkable, really.

Hornady's V-Max and the Norma loads were not far behind at 1" and 1.1", respectively. In short, this gun will probably shoot just about anything you put through it.

It was a bit exasperating, however, because with most of the groups, three or four of the five shots would cluster into a tiny group between .4" and .6" and one flier would open it up. Such behavior is common with factory loads, no matter how good they may be. It's also a sign that this particular gun is capable of a higher degree of accuracy.

I'm sure that carefully developed handloads would minimize if not eliminate the fliers. Still, finding three out of seven factory loads to average 1" is not all that shabby!

As to the Sako's overall performance, I'd have to describe it as boring -- meaning that everything worked perfectly and as it was supposed to. The magazine snapped in and out with tactile certainty; feeding was smooth and flawless; extraction positive; trigger pull was excellent, as were the overall fit and finish of the gun. Like I said, boringly Sako!

Such quality and performance do not come cheaply, but at $1,275 the price isn't out of line, either. Other calibers offered in the Varmint model are .222, .223 and .17 Remington.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group