Thread: Sako 85 in 6.5x55 - should I?

Originally Posted by Kudu

So what happened to the 6.5x55? Has a mate still got it for sale??

I was thinking same thing

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Dale has a 260

Originally Posted by buzzman

I was thinking same thing

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No good for you.....its not 7mm.....

Originally Posted by Kudu

No good for you.....its not 7mm.....

lol I'm 6.5 now

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Originally Posted by Gibo

Dale has a 260

me to lol

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Originally Posted by buzzman

me to lol

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But what will it be next week?

Originally Posted by gadgetman

But what will it be next week?

a sako

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I posted this elsewhere but thought it might be helpful

I know this is now an old thread, however, I can share how I resolved the Sako ejection issue that seems to plauge a number of 75 and 85 model Sako rifles and hope others may find this useful.

I believe this is a fundamental design issue, however, not all Sako rifles have this problem. For those that do, the ejection issue is not restricted to the Sako 85's but also affects some of the 75's.

In my experience, long actions (30-06, 270, etc) seem more commonly affected whereas short actions (.308, .243) appear to be unaffected.

My Sako 75 .30-06 used to eject the case vertically upwards into the base of the scope and occasionally it would come to rest in the magazine on top of the next round which was really frustrating. I searched the internet for a solution without success. So I decided to do something about it myself.

I tried .30-06 cases in my Sako 75 .308 rifle and still had the same ejection issues.
I tried 9.3x62 cases in my Sako 75 .30-06 rifle and only occasionally had ejection issues.
I tried .308 cases in my Sako 75 .30-06 rifle and had no ejection issues, so I knew it must be something to do with the cartridge and not the rifle.

The rim thickness of a .308 case is 1.37mm
The rim thickness of a 9.3x62 case is 1.30mm
The rim thickness of a .30-06 case is 1.2mm

There seems to be a relationship between the rim thickness and ejection issues i.e. thinner rims lead to ejection issues. If you seat a case in the bolt face you will see there is more slop for cases with a thinner rim. Seems Sako has gone for the 'one extractor size fits all' approach regardless of the cartridge case rim thickness - presumably to save costs.

So..... I needed to reduce the amount of slop that the extractor held the .30-06 case so the extractor would have a tighter grip on the case (at least as tight as it holds a .308 case).

I removed the extractor from the bolt face of my .30-06 and with all the skill of a high-precision swiss watch maker.....I beat it with a hammer! Actually, I used a hammer to very carefully slightly compress the extractor so when fitted back into the bolt, the extractor had a tight grip on the cartridge case.

If you do this make sure to closely monitor the amount you compress the extractor with a good set of calipers as if you overdo it.....you will need to buy a new extractor - not cheap.

My .30-06 now extracts and ejects cases perfectly. Cases eject horizontally rather than vertically and never seem to hit the scope anymore.

Essential tools for this task are: a hammer, a vice or anvil with a sharp right angle edge, a set of calipers, and a bandaid for when you hit your thumb.
Good luck.

PS - the rim thickness of a 6,5x55 is listed in Wikipedia as 1.5mm so should be OK