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Sako 75 AV Deluxe 416 - controlled feed or not?

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

campcook40

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
9
Location
Pacific Northwest
Is the Sako 75 Deluxe a controlled feed? I've read articles, including one by Chuck Hawks, that say the only true controlled round feed is the Mauser type action. My 416 is the typical 3 lug with Sako extractor. (Hopefully, the attached photo is attached!)

Thanks,

Campcook40
 

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Campcook,

A "controlled feed" action catches the cartridge rim under the extractor as the round is stripped from the magazine. A "push feed' action allows the extractor to snap over the cartridge rim after the round has been stripped from the magazine and not until the round is being "pushed" into the chambered.

You can short stroke the bolt (pop the round out of the magazine, but have not yet chambered it) on a push feed and have to remove the round from the action by hand. A controlled feed action will allow you to short stroke the action and still eject the round with the bolt.

Hope this helps
 
Thank you, for the clearest explanation, of push versus controlled feed, that I have read. My question originated from this article: https://www.chuckhawks.com/sako_85_rifles.htm.

I'm a Sako believer, but questioned if I should sell my Sako Deluxe in 416 (which is absolutely beautiful), buy a Mauser-type action (model 70 CRF, etc.), or investigate the new Sako 85's. Thanks, again.

,
 
There seems to be a huge controversy over which is the better action type, particularly in terms of hunting dangerous game. Most of the older military bolt actions were controlled feed, however all of the new automatic/semi-automatic military rifles and the vast majority of commercial bolt actions are now push feed. You mention the Model 70. Prior to 1964 it was controlled feed, however the newer models are push feed. Other than the Ruger Model 77 and commercial rifles built on the Mauser 98 design I do not know of a current commercial rifle that is true controlled feed (of course ignorance is bliss and I have been told I am a very blissful person).

To identify a controlled feed action first check to see if there is a bolt guide rib on the side of the bolt and then look at the bolt face. If the extractor is a claw integral to the bolt guide rib it is controlled feed. If the extractor is machined into the bolt lug or face, it is push feed.

While proponents of controlled feed extol its virtues I have found it to be a pain. Most of my shooting is either on the bench or while hunting non dangerous game and I find the requirement of having to strip the round out of the magazine to chamber it a pain. On a controlled feed rifle generally the extractor will not snap over the cartridge rim unless it has been fed from the magazine. Having fired thousands of rounds I have never experienced a failure to eject or double feed in a commercial bolt action push feed rifle.
 
Jburke's comments reflect my experience through the years.

While many armchair "big game" hunters have spread the myth of the necessity of "controlled round feeding" (CRF), in the real world there are actuall more ways that a CRF action can malfunction than a system like the Sako L61R or Sako M75.

As mentioned, many CRF actions will "Mauser" on you (hopelessly jam a cartridge in the chamber with no way for the stiff extractor to engage its rim) if not fed exactingly from the magazine. In other words, many CRF's prevent you from rapidly placing a cartridge in the open action and chambering it without first taking the time and effort to push it below the magazine rails and into the magazine where it can feed under the extractor. Many is the time that hand feeding a shell into a gun with an emptied magazine has saved my bacon (literally, allowed me to kill that escaping feral hog).

The notion that a CRF is somehow immune from "short stroking" is a total myth. If the CRF is bolt is not pulled fully to the rear, then the shell won't be ejected. Same with a Sako. Only actions with spring-loaded ejectors like a Rem 700 can throw the empty case out without moving far enough to the rear to pick up the next shell in the magazine.

Another supposed virtue of the CRF is that it can "feed from any attitude, even upside down". I suppose if you are anticipating shooting your elephant while hanging upside down from a tree by your toes that this might be a consideration. In reality, if you'll take your Sako 75, lay down on your couch and place the rifle over your head with the top of the action turned toward the floor, and operate the bolt with the same rapid motion you would if being charged by a cape buffalo, you'll find that it feeds each and every time. Not that you would ever shoot your buffalo from your couch (althoug that's where most of the CRF-only boys take the most of their imaginary game), but your Sako will feed from any imaginable attitude that a CRF will feed from. I will give you that if you insist on working the bolt in ultra slow-motion that the CRF might feed when the Sako might not. Good luck doing anything in slow motion if hunting anything more dangerous than prairie dogs.

The bottom line is that the fashionability among arm chair experts in insisting on only CRF actions got its start with some limited problems with the Remington 721/700 series. That action does have a rather weak extractor (there's a cottage industry that supplies parts kits to convert the Remington extractor to the dependable Sako-type extractor). There were some tales from its early days of dirty ammunition or extra hot ammunition failing to extract at just the wrong time (early lots of Remington .416 ammunition was famous for elevated pressures in hot weather). This started the myth that "only a Mauser or M70" should be used for dangerous game. This morphed into "CRF" vs. push-feed, with lots of jaw-boning by people who actually knew nothing of which they spoke. It also resulted in Ruger capitalizing on the myth by redesigning their (otherwise) flawed M77 into a CRF configuration. They now sell lots of these M77's precisely because they are touted as CRF and are cheaper than the limited number of other CRF's on the market.

Personally, I've used enough Mausers (took my first deer with one 47 years ago this fall) that I am much more comfortable with the less entailed system of the Sako. If someone likes a Mauser, or any other CRF action, that's fine and they probably won't come any closer to getting eaten by rhinocerous than anyone else.

Oh, wait. I'm totally mistaken about everything I said! Your death is certain if you take that Sako .416 hunting for anything larger than Coues deer. Send me your address and I'll send you an FFL and a token check which will help you buy one of those life-saving rifles with a true CRF action. I'll put that Sako .416 in the back of my safe where no one will get mauled while trying to use it.
 

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