Sako Rifles - Custom Barrel?

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Sniper260

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Minuteman
Feb 22, 2013
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#1
Anyone ever re-barreled a sako rifle with a custom barrel? I have a sako 85 varmint stainless in .243 that wont shoot worth a shit! The other 22-250 sako I have is freaking awesome I can do .20 inch at 300 yards 5 shot groups. I'm totally happy with the 22-250, but this .243 has been nothing but problems and just about has me pissed off... I am sending it back into Beretta, I actually went up to my gun store to get a box to send it back in and the beretta sales rep was there. I was able to talk to him about it, he said "oh man I've never heard anything bad about a single one of those rifles". I laughed because my buddy had a problem with one he had and had to send it back in. They gave him a new gun. SO I KNOW IT"S HAPPENED BEFORE!

Anyways I was wondering about putting a custom barrel on it if the occasion just so happens to be that they don't fix anything when it gets sent back.... How does the sako action compare to a rem 700 action? IMO the Sako action is a little higher quality than a rem 700 action... That leaves me wondering about getting a sako action still trued, or if they already are....? The price you pay for one they should be... it's a $2000 rifle after tax... Has anyone put a custom barrel on a sako action? Is it easy breezy for a gunsmith to do like a rem 700 is? Fill me in on your sako knowledge!
 
#3
ducks-and-bucks said:
Anyone ever re-barreled a sako rifle with a custom barrel? I have a sako 85 varmint stainless in .243 that wont shoot worth a shit! The other 22-250 sako I have is freaking awesome I can do .20 inch at 300 yards 5 shot groups.
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What kind of groups is the .243 shooting that you are unhappy with? The 22-250 seems pretty exceptional, so might not be a realistic standard to compare to.
 
#8
They are worth it, my sako 75 in 17 rem is super accurate, and love the factory det. mags. Also have an old L461 with a heavy .223 barrel, really good shooter. Probably not a good action for say a .223 AI I wouldnt think though, prob have issues with seating depth, the sako small actions are real short compared to a rem 700
 
#9
tylerw02 said:
.20" at 300? You'd better buy a couple dozen lottery tickets. You may have the most accurate rifle in the world!
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It's pretty much hole for hole, a tad bigger than the eraser on top of a pencil. Shot 3 little groups with it today like that, I put a new scope on it.

The .243 has never shot sub 1.5 inches.... I shot some berger bullets out of it today and it was all over within a foot and a half...
 
#11
ducks-and-bucks said:
Anyone ever re-barreled a sako rifle with a custom barrel? I have a sako 85 varmint stainless in .243 that wont shoot worth a shit! .... I was able to talk to him about it, he said "oh man I've never heard anything bad about a single one of those rifles". I laughed because my buddy had a problem with one he had and had to send it back in. They gave him a new gun. SO I KNOW IT"S HAPPENED !
Click to expand...

I suggest you to first clean barrer properly and/or change ammo. Inaccurate Sakos wont leave factory. I take "not worth shit" as "extremely inaccurate".
 
#12
tylerw02 said:
.20" at 300? You'd better buy a couple dozen lottery tickets. You may have the most accurate rifle in the world!
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Indeed it is, that rifle sounds like you and your gun are capable of winning most benchrest matches in the country! That bad boy is shooting less than .07inch (five shots) at 100 yards, believe me that will most matches, not all- but most! You aren't going to be happy with to many of the gunsmiths on this board-or any other board, for that matter, these guys are happy with less than .5MOA- your rig is already 700% better than that, and it's a factory gun- thanks for sharing.
 
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#13
.20 inch at 300 yards 5 shot groups -

Does it (or you) ever shoot groups any bigger than that?

That's quite a bit better than most of us here are used to.
I'm not sure we are in a position to offer you much help.
 
#14
pawprint2 said:
Indeed it is, that rifle sounds like you and your gun are capable of winning most benchrest matches in the country! That bad boy is shooting less than .07inch (five shots) at 100 yards, believe me that will most matches, not all- but most! You aren't going to be happy with to many of the gunsmiths on this board-or any other board, for that matter, these guys are happy with less than .5MOA- your rig is already 700% better than that, and it's a factory gun- thanks for sharing.
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It's not .07... All that was a measurement off a set of calipers I had... ok the group size it usually shoots is .620 minus .224 (bullet diameter) = .396 MOA @ 300 yards. Hopefully that helps. It's still tiny, a little bigger than a pencil eraser given the 22 cal size bullet...
 
#15
But we are getting confused here... The original post was about a sako .243 I have, not the 22-250... The .243 shoots like crap, the 22-250 is my tac driver. I think my best option is to start where it's free though and send the .243 back to the manufacturer to get checked out. There was a post about how sako's dont leave the factory unless they shoot amazing... That is false 100%. I had a room mate a while ago that had one, he had to send it back in and sako replaced his whole gun... So I have first hand experience seeing this kinda problem happen before...
 
#16
ducks-and-bucks said:
It's not .07... All that was a measurement off a set of calipers I had... ok the group size it usually shoots is .620 minus .224 (bullet diameter) = .396 MOA @ 300 yards. Hopefully that helps. It's still tiny, a little bigger than a pencil eraser given the 22 cal size bullet...
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Wow! That is still out of this world, for if it is 0.396 @ 300, it is not .396MOA it is 0.132MOA!!! This is still Benchrest winning capable, it is capable (with you doing the shooting) of winning many benchrest matches-again not all, but you'd be a force in any match you shot. Doing this with a factory Sako (as good as they are) would really give everyone something to talk about!! Again, you've forgotten to complete the math, and as a MOA is actually slightly larger than 3.0@300yards, you are shooting LESS THAN 0.132MOA!!! There are a lot of really good gunsmiths on this board, but I doubt if any of them can help you much, as good as they are, to put a new tube on a Sako, with the expectation of keeping up with less than 0.132MOA @300 yards may be more than they would want to do.
 
#17
I'm not wanting to re-barrel this rifle... This 22-250 is good to go... I don't think I can do much better. The problem is with my .243... its the same sako varmint rifle just .243.
 
#18
Seriously, you've been on here for less than a month and have 90 posts. You've responded to single posts two or three times. You're post padding. What do you have to sell that you're moving up to 100 so quickly?
 
#20
AEROMechanic said:
Speaking of re-barreling, is there a service that one of these companies offers that could make the TRG action, switch-barrel capable? Then all one would need is an action wrench and a different barrel.
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Call Moon. He and I have talked about that briefly. Depending on which direction you are going and if it's a TRG42 or M995 he may already have the bolt.

L
 
#21
tylerw02 said:
Seriously, you've been on here for less than a month and have 90 posts. You've responded to single posts two or three times. You're post padding. What do you have to sell that you're moving up to 100 so quickly?
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Who cares...? You have 1800 in about 2 years... Thats around 75 a month. Maybe you should cut down on the trolling....
 
#22
InkedIan said:
Who cares...? You have 1800 in about 2 years... Thats around 75 a month. Maybe you should cut down on the trolling....
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Was unaware that I'm trolling, but thanks for your valuable input. I could care less what the hell he does, but post-padding is against the rules and the mods will do more to the guy than a little razzing.
 
#23
Layton said:
Call Moon. He and I have talked about that briefly. Depending on which direction you are going and if it's a TRG42 or M995 he may already have the bolt.

L
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I will call.

Forgive my ignorance, but the "bolt"? You mean a special bolt designed?

Also what was the conclusion of your conversation with him if you don't mind me asking? =-)

Thanks
LarryA
 
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#24
There are 3 bolt face sizes available for the TRG42/M995s. I happen to have all 3 which is what prompted my conversation with Moon. (If it's a TRG22 I believe you are stuck with what you have as far as bolt face size.) Depending on what you have and what you want to change to you may need a different bolt face size i.e. bolt. It's just like any other switch barrel, you'll need an action wrench(KRG has em) and a good vise.

L
 
#25
Layton said:
There are 3 bolt face sizes available for the TRG42/M995s. I happen to have all 3 which is what prompted my conversation with Moon. (If it's a TRG22 I believe you are stuck with what you have as far as bolt face size.) Depending on what you have and what you want to change to you may need a different bolt face size i.e. bolt. It's just like any other switch barrel, you'll need an action wrench(KRG has em) and a good vise.

L
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I see. Yeah I was more interested in the whole being able to change out an old barrel for a new one in the same caliber or to just change barrel lengths without having to send the rifle out and having a bunch of down time.
 
#27
tylerw02 said:
Seriously, you've been on here for less than a month and have 90 posts. You've responded to single posts two or three times. You're post padding. What do you have to sell that you're moving up to 100 so quickly?
Click to expand...

well that's an insult... I don't have anything to sell. What's so special about 100 post? Who cares how much I post if it isn't something completely stupid. Sorry I like to have some conversations with people that have a little of an idea about it all and are into the gun stuff too. My wife isn't knowledgeable, or cares to talk about gun stuff, I can't have a conversation with her about gun smithing, internal or external ballistics, scopes or anything.. Before you jump to conclusions buddy catch me fucking shit up. Then you will have a right to ride someone's ass.
 
#28
Layton said:
Crescent Customs(Moon) has done more than a few Sakos. When I called GAP shortly after he left to get them to do some work on a couple of Sakos for me they sent me to him. I found during my search that yes they re-barrel just like a 700 but not everyone will work on a Sako, go figure. Gap wasn't the first to turn me away when they learned I had Sakos. The did tell me at the time that Moon was the one that did their Sako work when they got it and he had literally just left so they gave me his number. The rifle in my sig is a re-barreled Sako TRG M995 by Moon. I know for a fact he's working on several right now.

Also, if it's a Sako shooting like crap I'd check what you are doing and your expectations first before doing any work. From your post it doesn't sound like a problem with the rifle. But if you are serious here's his contact info.


Crescent Customs
405 East 13th Avenue
North Kansas City , MO 64116
[email protected]
crescentcustoms.com
816 841-9322

L
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10-4 I appreciate it. I'm going ahead and sending this sako I have problems with back to get checked out by the manufacturer first. Thats free to do. I figure I should start where its free. Then go from there. good to have the info here though if it comes back where I'm still not happy. This sako that the post was started about doesnt shoot under an inch and a half at 100 yards...
 
#30
Excuse me? You aren't exactly coherent. What do you mean by "Before you jump to conclusions buddy catch me fucking shit up"? But if you read the rules, post padding is not allowed. You responded to the same post multiple times and come in claiming your factory Sako is the most accurate rifle in the world. The 100 post count is when you can start selling here. Take note, rather than make two consecutive replies, you can edit posts.
 
#32
What is post padding??? I posted several times because I guess it wasn't clear I have two sako rifles... one that shoots amazing, and another that shoots horribly.. I tried to clear some stuff up because the original post was for the sako that shot horribly.. I was just comparing it to another one identical to it that I have.

Sako #1 - 22-250 - shoots amazing almost hole for hole out to 300 yards...

Sako #2 - .243 - shoots 1.5 inch groups to 1.5 foot groups at 100 yards...
 
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#35
ducks-and-bucks said:
What is post padding??? I posted several times because I guess it wasn't clear I have two sako rifles... one that shoots amazing, and another that shoots horribly.. I tried to clear some stuff up because the original post was for the sako that shot horribly.. I was just comparing it to another one identical to it that I have.

Sako #1 - 22-250 - shoots amazing almost hole for hole out to 300 yards...

Sako #2 - .243 - shoots 1.5 inch groups to 1.5 foot groups at 100 yards...
Click to expand...

----As you posted earlier the Sako 22-250 shoots less than 0.132MOA that sir is a fine rifle(or as some would say on this boards, sweet stick etc.) and may I add,some damn fine shooting, regardless of what a lot of the fancy custom rifle builders say, very few of their guns shoot that well, and this is a five shot group, not a three! I still think even a new barrel, with the best smith doing the install, I wouldn't expect that kind of results from the 243, as least not a guarantee from the builder, thanks again for sharing!
 
#36
pawprint2 said:
----As you posted earlier the Sako 22-250 shoots less than 0.132MOA that sir is a fine rifle(or as some would say on this boards, sweet stick etc.) and may I add,some damn fine shooting, regardless of what a lot of the fancy custom rifle builders say, very few of their guns shoot that well, and this is a five shot group, not a three! I still think even a new barrel, with the best smith doing the install, I wouldn't expect that kind of results from the 243, as least not a guarantee from the builder, thanks again for sharing!
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you. I wont ever have all of my guns shooting almost perfect. But I think consistency of half an inch groups or less at 100 yards isnt asking that much with a good rifle or custom build. Sako guarantees this rifle to shoot 5 shot groups under and inch from factory. It wont shoot that. So it is what it is. I find most factory rifles that guarantee sub 1 inch or sub half an inch with factory ammo do very very fine with custom loads tailored to the rifle. This rifle just wont...
 
#38
I have sako av had a barrel installed on it my smith treated it like any other. The threads and head space are not the same as rem. From what I have heard sako actions are some of the most true right from the factory. If your 22 shoots in the 3s at 300yrds.......... well it shoots good you are fortunate.
 
#39
ducks-and-bucks said:
I totally agree with you. I wont ever have all of my guns shooting almost perfect. But I think consistency of half an inch groups or less at 100 yards isnt asking that much with a good rifle or custom build. Sako guarantees this rifle to shoot 5 shot groups under and inch from factory. It wont shoot that. So it is what it is. I find most factory rifles that guarantee sub 1 inch or sub half an inch with factory ammo do very very fine with custom loads tailored to the rifle. This rifle just wont...
Click to expand...

Do you have two brothers one 3'9" and the other 9'3"?

Just kidding. What I really wonder is if you bought the .243 new from a reputable Sako dealer, if not I wonder if some how the crown got wrecked, or the barrel was improperly cleaned.
 
#42
Rifle has been sent back to Beretta to be looked at. Just in the case that something is wrong it can be fixed so I can get that factor out of the equation.
 
#43
Had a brand new R700 in 243 once that gave me a real fit. Couldn't get anything to shoot accurately thru it. It finally turned out to be a very small, almost imperceptible, flaw in the crown. Once that was touched up it was a real good shooter.
 
#44
Here are a few pictures of a old Browning Sako Safari that I'm redoing for my wife. This rifle was originally built in the late '60's or early '70's and was a .243win. I picked it up for a decent price but the bore was junk. Pitted etc....so I pulled the old barrel off and we duplicated the contour but I made the muzzle diameter .600" instead of the original .550". It's finished at 22" and now in .260 Remington, 5R, 1-8.5 twist, c.m. steel. Reinstalled the original rear sight and installed a brand new NECG front sight ramp. Glass bedded the stock and had the barreled action reblued. Gun shoots like a million bucks. With out the scope the gun weights 7.5#. With the scope it's 9#.

The only thing you have to watch with the Sako's is that some of the actions are standard threads some are metric but other than that just like working on anything else.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

P1040596_zps6fdf36bd.jpg


P1040598_zpsad79dd31.jpg


P1040599_zpsf46edc7b.jpg
 
#46
Layton said:
Nice rifle Frank! I'm looking to do something similar with a 30-06 and put it in a Russo wood stock. Did ya'll blue the metal or send it out?

L
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L, Thanks on the compliment on the rifle. We don't do any finishing here. For the blueing we send the stuff to Glenrock Blue. I believe they are out of Wy or MT or somewhere in that area.They do a pretty quick turnaround, do great work and prices are decent to boot. They offer factory type refinishing and different levels of polishing as well. Here is a link to they're website.

Glenrock Blue

I still have to strip the stock and refinish it. The scope rings and bases are by Talley. Talley was the only one I could find that made scope bases for the Browning/Sako receiver. The Sako made Browning receivers are round on the top and not flat like the other Sako type actions.

The scope is a NF 2.5-10x with the lite reticule and bullet drop compensator.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
 
#47
Bedding Check

I have a Sako Hunter in .25-06 bought back in the the late 1980's. When new, about 1.5 inch group at 100 yds. was the best it would do. I glass bedded the action and free floated the barrel. That brought the groups down to 3/4 inch. It's still working well. I have shot deer out to 400 yds. with it.

Check the bedding.

Lock and Load! :D
 
#48
Hi sounds like you know your stuff on sakos. I bought a L461 barreled action that someone twisted on a barrel with a shitty med heavy barrel and would like to get it to a stock profiled barrel as I do have a stock for it now. I found your blog from ebay where I was going to put a bid on a vixen barrel but it appears it may have had that relief cut you talked about. It's real cheap and I guess that's why. Any Ideas on rebarreling does anyone make a short chambered threaded ss barrel I could do myself? I'm in Austin and no one does any barreling let alone real gunsmithing here. Need to do it as cheaply as poss.
 
#50
I have sako 75 223 and its 1:12 twist shoits great but i wanna push it to 500yard or farther thos 52-55gr pellets dont think can make it that..if i were to rebarrel it, do i need to trued action or just threat it like a custom action.screw on barrel and chamber!
 
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