Sako 85 Carbonlight?

[Langford]

Anybody have one of these? How does it shoot? Any issues or complaints about it?

I know nothing about Sako rifles, but I recently stumbled upon the carbonlight after doing some reading into ultralight hunting rifles. I've had the itch to buy or build something very lightweight for a hunting rig, and I've wanted another .243 for quite a while...these seem like a very good option at 5lbs; and the sale I found makes one even more tempting.


So any feedback from the hide?

thanks in advance!

 

[Graywolf.260]

I bought one of the .243's on sale from Eurooptic for about the same price as a Finnlight. It shoots great and the stock is really comfortable. Also, with a scope and suppressor it weighs 7.5 lb so if you are after a light deer/antelope rifle this is definitely a contender.

 

[diverdon]

I have one in 22-250. Its been waiting for a scope about a year, just sitting unfired NIB. I understand that the twist is a little slow for the heavies but I have not verified that.

 

[Langford]

The Eurooptic sale is really what's making me consider ordering one.

How does the 1 in 10 twist do for 243? I'd like to be able to use some of the heavier rounds for Whitetail hunting.

 

[diverdon]

If you look at the .243 Berger hunting bullets http://www.bergerbullets.com/products/hunting-bullets/ a faster twist is recommended. I'm not sure what the Horanady's require but you could send a PM to Rob01 to find out.

 

[SupressYourself]

How does the 1 in 10 twist do for 243? I'd like to be able to use some of the heavier rounds for Whitetail hunting.

My DPMS 243 is a 1-10. It shoots the 95 grain SST and factory Federal 'blue box' 100gr soft point very well.
I'd guess ~100 grains is probably the max for a standard type bullet, maybe a bit less for long range / low drag type.

I haven't shot them myself, but with the 20 in barrel, you should be able to launch the 85grn Barnes TSX or 80grn TTSX over 3000 fps, which is plenty of kill for any deer.

Reference: I shoot the 87grn V-max at just over 3100fps out of my 20" DPMS. 44.0 grn H4350. -- It's a bit on the "hot" side though.

 

[Graywolf.260]

Yeah the 10 twist of the Sako/Tikka .243 barrels is a limitation. But I agree about the 80 gr TTSX, I've taken a lot of mulies with it without issues. Light fast monolithic bullets are the way to go with that barrel imo. I tried the cutting edge MTH 77 gr bullet this season because it has a quite a bit higher BC than the Barnes and it shot .5 MOA at 3400 fps with the 20" carbonlight barrel. Mule doe taken a few weeks ago was drt with excellent terminal performance.