It's hard not to like the old Sako actions. They are generally well made and nicely finished. They are not perfect, however, and can benefit from some alterations.
The first alteration is fairly important and consists of pinning the "rib", which is actually a gas block, behind the collars to prevent it moving forward and locking up the action. There is a little spring clip under the rib which is supposed to do this but it often fails in it's task.
Other than this, any other mods which may be made are just to improve the precision.
The bolt may be a fairly sloppy fit in the bore. To make matters worse, the geometry of the sear and cocking piece is such that considerable upward force is induced when the rifle is cocked. The upward forrce can be largely eliminated by changing the trigger to a Timney Mauser trigger and altering the cocking piece so the contact surface is vertical. The bolt can be tightened up in the receiver by the installation of inserts at the rear of the bolt so the bolt is tight and aligned when closed.
In a best case scenario, these mods will probably net a 1/4 moa improvment. Not a total waste of time but not a great deal of gain per dollar either. To put things in perspective, on one I did for myself, I did nothing to the action except for pinning the rib. The rifle, a light 270, was nice to carry and shot boringly well. I traded it for an old Model 70 for a project which may never get done. Regards, Bill
