Sako 85 Finnlight

Anyone have any feedback about the Sako 85 Finnlight?

After dithering for almost 2 years, I’ve gone back and forth between various Sako 85s and Sauer 101s, and finally, I think I’ve decided to go with the Sako 85 in the Finnlight version.

I’m looking for a do-it-all rifle. I’m going to use it for midwest deer, but also there is a trip to Africa in the works and my idea is the Finnlight will make a great all-around travel rifle that can take the sometimes hard use and gritty conditions of some real travel hunting use.

I like the “light but not silly light” middle ground of the Finnlight. I don’t need an ultra-light “mountain” rifle, or I’d go Carbonlight. Obviously it’s an 85 so not much more needs to be said about how venerable that platform is as regards accuracy and durability, and I like the box mag the way Sako does it with the “flush-flush” release. After long, long thought, I can’t find any reason NOT to buy the Finnlight.

Does anyone have any feedback about the Finnlight? I’ve handled several, shot one of them but only a couple of times, and the ONLY bad thing thus far that I can think of to say is the cost of spare mags is just silly-stupid high. That’s it.

It’s a long shot, but there has to be Sako 85 owners out there so chime in even if you don’t own the Finnlight version. If anyone has a “gotcha”, I’d love to hear it.

Grouse

I own both a Sako Bavarian in 6.5 Swede and a Tikka in the same caliber. Both shoot fantastic, but I like the extraction on the Tikka especially with a scope mounted better. My Bavarian is staying with its iron sights.

I have a relative that has a finnlight (in 270 iirc) I shot it and it is an awesome gun – far and away his favorite. Sub-MOA and a pleasure to carry/shoot. An expensive extra mag is a one time pain….

castle-rock-clown wrote:

I own both a Sako Bavarian in 6.5 Swede and a Tikka in the same caliber. Both shoot fantastic, but I like the extraction on the Tikka especially with a scope mounted better. My Bavarian is staying with its iron sights.

When my Tikka T3 Stainless 270 eventually gets a partner in the stable, it will be either another Tikka or a Sako in 6.5 Swede. Love that caliber!

What caliber are you thinking, Grouse?

waldo9190 wrote:

What caliber are you thinking, Grouse?

As much as I’d like to go with something exotic, for this rifle I’ve chosen .30-06.

I needed the versatility. A fast .30 magnum would have been fun, but for me that’s a one-trick (or one trip) pony right now. I have a trip to Africa in the planning stage and while a .300 WM would be nice, I can handload the boring old .06 to within spitting distance of 300 mag performance. And after the trip, I STILL have a really good deer rifle that can be used forever. I simply would not want to shoot whitetails with a fast magnum, too much damage, noise, recoil, etc.

Since I handload, I have endless choices of .30 bullets and then I can push those bullets as hard as I want. I just don’t NEED magnum performance enough.

Of course, the 6.5 Swede is a classic and it was doing what 6.5s do LONG before the current craze. In Europe, that chambering has been the classic deer rifle for decades because of its performance on the wide variety of deer species found there, most of which are actually smaller than a whitetail anyway. While it is not as popular in the US, it is so common in Europe that ammo and components will be available for the next century or more.

Grouse

Before I bought my Tikka in 6.5 Swede, I had/still have a stainless Tikka in 7mm Rem Mag. That rifle is very accurate and powerful for situations found out west. For deer hunting in WI it is overkill, but they do offer managed recoil ammunition that brings a 140 grain bullet down to 2700 FPS at the muzzle, and takes the sting out of pulling the trigger along with less meat damage.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>waldo9190 wrote:</div>
What caliber are you thinking, Grouse?

As much as I’d like to go with something exotic, for this rifle I’ve chosen .30-06.

There is no denying the versatility of the 30-06 as a hunting cartridge, especially in terms of a non-magnum round. Plenty of mustard and still being shootable is incredibly important in a hunting rifle, and why I won’t buy into “magnumitis” unless a specific hunt dictates that I do.

Shootability > Power ALMOST every time.