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Sako 85 Classic Express Fullstock Carbine 6.5x55

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

waterwolf

Well-Known Member
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I'm a sucker for the full stock carbines. That is a beauty. Did it come with a rear sight?
 
Its a brand new Sako 85 Bavarian Carbine in 6.5x55 Swedish that I had modified: stock reshaped, recheckered, tang and safety modified, etc. by rifle maker Chris Griesbach (ACGG), Alberta. It came with a rear open sight but for iron sights I use an old model Sako receiver peep sight.
 
That's a very handy looking Sako Robin, and a great job with the modifications !
Can you please post some pics and tell us what you've had done to the tang and safety.
Cheers
 
I'll do close ups when I get it...those pictures are just from the rifle maker, telling me its ready...should have it in a week or so.
 
Wow, that is a beautiful rifle and one of my favorite cartridges! Congratulations. I'm interested in hearing about the modifications as well.
 
Rifle has arrived. Now that its smaller and lighter it handles much better than it did in its original form. Checkering is simple: four panels although LPI is much finer. The tang was contoured to follow the new line of the wrist, and the safety was repositioned to followed that. A Sako receiver peep sight is on it right now.
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That is a beauty. Please send those photos to beretta /sakoand ask if they can factory produce that for next year in .223! Very nice.
 
Stock modifications by Chris Griesbach (ACGG): [email protected]


One change...I've never really liked blued bolt handles. For decades I hunted with Husqvarnas and Tikkas, all with bright polished bolt handles...and I preferred them...they just look and feel better to me...so I removed the blue and polished it. Does a polished bolt handle "spook" game? Not in my hunting experience. The only time I've seen polish that could spook game was when I spotted a guy with a high polish blue on his rifle barrel. He never saw me but I could see him and the bright light flashing off that barrel at least 1/2 a mile away across a big clear-cut in B.C. I assume every deer and moose could see him too.
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i found a little more time to read today, and was wondering if you knew how much weight was shaved off? The shnabel?(i think thats right) mid forearm of the stock looks like beautifal.
 
I don't know exactly how much weight was lost. Sometime I'll get the rifle accurately weighed and I suppose it can then be compared to the factory listed weight. There are two problems with this. The first is that the weight of supposedly identical rifles can vary considerably depending on their specific stock wood density. The second is that I doubt the published weight of the Sako 85 Bavarian Carbine is even close to its real weight.

I do know that it now feels more or less the same as my 8mm Oberndorf Mauser Type S (that it was based on) but with just a little more weight shifted toward the muzzle. The main change is the way it balances, swinging onto target more easily. I suppose the stock was reshaped both for handling/weight and for looks, but actually I never disliked the looks of the Bavarian cheekpiece on the factory stock...there was just too much of it. I also didn't want the fat palm swell and the big long pistol grip. For me, the stock carbine was just too chunky for a hunting rifle, more like a target rifle.
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By the way, the stock work was done in your area. Ralf Martini (ACGG, http://www.martinigunmakers.com/history.htm) in Cranbrook, B.C. recommended Chris Griesbach (ACGG) who has just set up his new shop in the Three Hills, Alberta area. I told Chris what I wanted and he offered some suggestions as well. I wanted him to stay true to his established classic style. Everything went smooth. Turn around time was about three months. His contact email is [email protected]
 
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That's too bad since it was a very attractive gun. I'm guessing that it was muzzle-heavy, and with too much drop in the buttstock?

Unfortunately, almost every manufacturer makes its barrels (for hunting rifles) heavier than they need to be. Carbine length barrels don't need to be as heavy as full length barrels since "stiffness" is a function of not only diameter but length (the shorter the stiffer).
 
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