I'm updating two Sako Forrester rifles that were my fathers, an L579 originally in 243 Winchester Magnum which he changed to a 243 Ackley Improved with a 24" Shilen barrel with a 1 in 10 twist rate. The other is a Sako Forrester L46 in 222 Remington Magnum.
The guns have sat in my safe for decades and I found 50 handloads with H4350 shooting 75 grain Sierra hollow points. After cleaning the rifle I took it to the range and shooting off a rest I was presently surprised to see the gun was shooting groups in the .4 MOA range at 100 yards. Not knowing the condition of the barrel and not wanting to fire form cases with the 243 AI which already has a short barrel life, I've sent the rifle to Blue Mountain Precision, a top ranked gunsmith active in PRS competition to be fitted with a 26" Hawk Hill match barrel with a 1 in 7.5 twist rate chambered for 6mm Creedmoor that shoots high BC bullets and quality brass from Lapua and others. The rifle is glassed bedded with Devcon and is fitted with an older Canjar set trigger which is adjusted down to 2 ounces when set. I will be working up handloads starting with Berger bullets with full case preparation not limited to neck turning and brass annealing.
The other Sako, an L46 is more challenging as I was originally thinking of chambering it is the new Hornady 6mm ARC but determined the cartridges would not fit in the magazine and have decided to simply look around for 222 Remington Magnum brass and simply load for it.
While I'm looking forward to seeing what the L579 will do after the new barrel I am managing my expectations that it will not shoot as well as my decided PRS gun, a 6mm GT in a MPA Matrix chassis, Bartlein 26" match barrel with a 1 in 7.5 twist rate, Impact 737r action, APA Gen 3 Fat Bastard muzzle brake, Trigger Tech Diamond trigger, Spuhr mount and Nightforce ATACR 7-35 x 56 F1 optic and Horus Tremor 3 MIL reticle. This gun shoots in the .05 MOA range at 100 yards off a rest. Still, I'm hoping I can get the rebarrelled L579 with handloads to group in the .2 MOA or better range.
The guns have sat in my safe for decades and I found 50 handloads with H4350 shooting 75 grain Sierra hollow points. After cleaning the rifle I took it to the range and shooting off a rest I was presently surprised to see the gun was shooting groups in the .4 MOA range at 100 yards. Not knowing the condition of the barrel and not wanting to fire form cases with the 243 AI which already has a short barrel life, I've sent the rifle to Blue Mountain Precision, a top ranked gunsmith active in PRS competition to be fitted with a 26" Hawk Hill match barrel with a 1 in 7.5 twist rate chambered for 6mm Creedmoor that shoots high BC bullets and quality brass from Lapua and others. The rifle is glassed bedded with Devcon and is fitted with an older Canjar set trigger which is adjusted down to 2 ounces when set. I will be working up handloads starting with Berger bullets with full case preparation not limited to neck turning and brass annealing.
The other Sako, an L46 is more challenging as I was originally thinking of chambering it is the new Hornady 6mm ARC but determined the cartridges would not fit in the magazine and have decided to simply look around for 222 Remington Magnum brass and simply load for it.
While I'm looking forward to seeing what the L579 will do after the new barrel I am managing my expectations that it will not shoot as well as my decided PRS gun, a 6mm GT in a MPA Matrix chassis, Bartlein 26" match barrel with a 1 in 7.5 twist rate, Impact 737r action, APA Gen 3 Fat Bastard muzzle brake, Trigger Tech Diamond trigger, Spuhr mount and Nightforce ATACR 7-35 x 56 F1 optic and Horus Tremor 3 MIL reticle. This gun shoots in the .05 MOA range at 100 yards off a rest. Still, I'm hoping I can get the rebarrelled L579 with handloads to group in the .2 MOA or better range.
