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Sako Vixen .223 bedding (sporter barrel)

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Drags

Member
I am having trouble getting this gun to group 26 gr. H335 52 gr. SMK are grouping about 1 1/2 to 2 inches at 100 yards. Would pillar bedding and free floating the barrel be of any help.
Joe
 
It's impossible to say where your problem might be without examining a number of different possibilities. As a general rule, I would mess with the bedding on a Sako only after ruling out every other possible source of the problem.
 
You have asked a question that is impossible to answer, as we don't know if anything is amiss with your bedding. So, if the bedding of the action needs corrective work, then yes it will help. If there is nothing wrong with your bedding then, no it won't help. All the Sakos I've been around were bedded very well & came from the factory with a pressure point at the end of the forearm & they all shot very accurately. Before I started messing with bedding & free floating I would check to make sure the action screws were properly tightened, check the crown for damage, properly clean any built up fouling from the bore & experiment with different charge weights, different powders, different bullet weights & brands. Maybe your rifle just doesn't like the load you are feeding it. Also, make sure your scope is securely mounted. In all the Sakos I have dealt with over the years bedding was the least likely cause of poor accuracy. #1 cause is a filthy & improperly cleaned bore or damaged crown. #2 is loose action or scope mount screws or cheap mounts/bases. #3 cheap scope. #4 poor shooting techniques & bench equipment. Lots of things to consider & try before altering your stock, as I just saw Stonecreek has pointed out.
 
Sadly, I decided to bed my first Sako. It didn't shoot what I was loading for it very well and being new to reloading I figured if the load worked well in someone else's gun it should work equally well in mine. Bottom line is the gun wouldn't shoot anything well when I got done with it.

The very first thing I would try is to buy a product like Wipe Out or Gunslick foam and remove every bit of copper fouling from the barrel. Also a good investment is a Fat Wrench for tightening screws and bolts to the proper torque. Some people just take a screw driver and tighten bolts as hard as they can. If the bolt that holds the stock on is too tight it will affect the accuracy of the rifle.
 
Keep after it, Drags. Sakos shooting two inch groups at 100 yards is not the norm. I always check mechanical first - that the barrel is clean, good throat, good muzzle, crisp rifling in the middle. Check fit next- all screws tight, proper bedding. Finally find the load it likes - I use the Newberry OCW method myself. I have many Sakos and they all shoot crazy good as that is what the Sakos do. Good luck to you.
 
I went out yesterday to try some loads with VV135 and 52gr. smk and 54gr. jd bullets ( the 54 gr bullets are custom bullets that I make), the 52 gr. smk didn't shoot to well about 1 3/4 inches but the 54 gr shot about 3/8 of an inch for three shoots at 100 yards. This gun may not like boatail bullets but the 54 gr's. are flat base and they shot very well also I cleaned the gun very well before shooting. I am going to check again to see if everything is tight and shoot the same load again to see if I can repeat the accuracy,
Joe
 
My two cents worth. Just saying that you cleaned the rifle well isn't providing enough info. You have to use a really good solvent that will remove the fouling. No. 9 won't do the job. Something like Montana X-Treme comes to mind. But that stuff is very powerful so if you use it be very mindful of the vapors. Now, don't use J-B. That stuff will polish the throat right out of the rifle. Don't use a snake either. Get a good one piece rod and use the proper brushes, jags and patches. Clean until the patch comes out without any crudd on it. Next, load rounds but first make up a test round (now powder or primer). Seat the bullet pretty far out (far enough so you know that the bolt won't close easily) and put the round in the chamber. Gently (and I mean gently) try to close the bolt. If it won't close all the way, remove the round and put it back into the press. Turn the bullet seating rod into the die about a half turn and gently run the case into the die to seat the bullet with the new setting. Don't forget to gently snug up the lock nut one the seating rod after adjusting the seating rod. Repeat the chambering process, bolt close process and reseating process that I just described until the bolt closes without you needing to apply a lot of force to get the thing to close properly. Once the bolt closes, put the test round back into the press and turn the bullet seating rod into the die no more that a quarter to a half turn. Run the test case into the seating die to seat he bullet one last time. Now the round should go into the rifle and the bolt should close without any resistance. This process produces a master round that you can use to reset the seating die back to the length it needs to be at for that specific bullet. The bullet should now be just a hairs breath away from the lands. This should help with accuracy as the bullets don't have to make a huge jump to contact the lands in the throat. This really helps bullets to spin up very well as they get into the rifling and accuracy in any rifle is improved significantly if this seating operation is followed properly. Also weighing your bullets and grouping them into lots of the same grain weight will help as well.

rick
 
Great news. You don't mention what you are cleaning with, but the new breed of solvents let the old standbys in the dust. While there are many to choose from, I use Boretech Eliminator. If you try it, buy some chrome plated jags at the same time as you will get false readings with brass ones. Boretech also makes special purpose copper and carbon killers as well, useful for when you buy a rifle that is very badly fouled.
 
Hello Stoneybroke,

I thought that " Wipe Out " was by the " Safaries. " A fantastic 1960's record!

BJ
 
That would be the "Surfaris" who were pioneers in the California "Surf" music genre. Came out in 45 rpm single. Side "B" was a song called "Pipeline". The Ventures covered it on an album that same year (1963), which is the one most people know. Ohh the memories!!!! Believe it or not I still have the vinyl & it still plays!!
 
If you will google "pipeline" you will see that the Chantay's were given credit for releasing "Pipeline" in 1962. And I believe they first called it "Liberty's Whip" After 62, a lot of other bands picked it up. It was their only big song. I think I still have the album with the Chantay's original release. And in my opinion, they did perform it better than those that followed.
 
Hey Paul,

I too have the original 45 rpm single that plays. The Sarfaris Wipeout was all in the drums. Who was that great drummer? I was a drummer in a band in the early 1960's called The Footprints and we played Wipeout! Great days!

B J
 
Hello Paul,

Thanks for the info on Ron Wilson. Back to Sako's. Do you know how many L46 .22 Hornets were made against L46 .222 Rem.'s.
I think that It might be 25 - 75 as there are so many .222 Rem. L46's out there for sale. Over here in the UK there are many L461 Vixens in .222 Rem. for sale but almost no L46 .22 Hornets. Did Sako make a .22 Hornet in the L461 model?

B J
 
Mike: From 1946-1948 virtually all of the 4500 or so L46's produced were in 7x33. The first Hornets, Bees, and 25-20's I can find were in early 1948, and then only a handful. The first .222, a single rifle, was shipped to F. I. in May of 1950, but it was not until October of 1950 that the next five .222's were shipped to F. I. It was January of 1951 that the new and instantly popular .222 took over the lion's share of production and shipping. It would require manually counting all of the rifles in the records to get an exact figure, but post-1950 I'd guess that 90% of the L46 production was in .222.
 
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