LH Sako 85 Hunter 30-06

[filmjunkie4ever]

Yes DrMike, he does like them with good reason, a couple of fine rifles.

Right now I have some H 4350 and IMR 4451 to try with the 180's and some old Hercules RL 22 for the 220's. Going to see how those do first. Hodgdon shows some excellent data with IMR 4955 so when it comes available here I'll give it a try. With speeds of over 2800 fps with 180's it looks like it might be a top 30-06 powder soon.

Dale, it just didn't seem right to tear it apart especially since Sako makes a top notch barrel. I will definitely let you guys know first when it bags a blackie. Only 4 months to go till prime bear hunting.........

Scotty, they are nice rifles. I could especially see you behind a 6.5x55, 7x64 or 9.3x62. Actually a 222 would be very nice, they have never made a LH 222 otherwise I would have bought one long ago but some very nice older RH ones come up for sale quite often on different site's I check.

Gerry, I have always wanted to go after black bear with my Winchester Model 70 in .30 Govt...please take lots of pictures! Are you planning to use the 220 grain bullets or something a little lighter? I know that some of those black bears are rather large but the ones we have in the PNW rarely get bigger than 150-200 pounds. If I ever get to go after one, I will use my 165 grain Partition load. Good luck and again, that's a very nice rifle!

Dale

 

[gerry]

Thanks Dale, I'm certainly pleased with it. Your 165 gr Partition load would work well even for the largest blackie around so if you ever go for one it will work great. Spring bear is a favorite hunt of ours and if you have the chance I would bet you love it. Nothing better than getting out in the spring after a long winter and spending some time in the bush. The meat is excellent in the spring since they are eating grass unlike the fall here when they feed on rotten salmon.

Around here the younger bears would be 150-250 lbs or so in the spring but the bigger boars can be much heavier. Obviously the big ones are very smart and don't let themselves be seen very often but they are there. I shot one 6 foot bear on the farm years ago that was raiding our strawberries with my old 308 Norma Magnum and the 220 gr Partitions at 2700 fps, it hammered him real hard. I was planning on trying the 180 gr Hornady BTSP but who knows the 220 gr Partition may end up getting the nod just for fun. We will take another one in May and get more sausage done so anything that is 5 1/2-6 feet+ will be in trouble. If I draw a grizzly tag then the 220 gr PT will definitely be loaded up and any decent black bear will receive one of those. You can bet we will take lots of pictures and post it here.

 

[gerry]

Have finally been able to do a bit of shooting with the new gun the last couple of weeks. I have a couple of promising loads so far.

On the left - 220 gr Partition - 56 gr of IMR 7828 ssc - Nosler case - CCI 250 - 2424 fps
On the right - 220 gr Partition - 58 gr RL 22 - Nosler case - CCI 250 -2512 fps.



I went a bit over Nosler's max with RL 22 to see if the group would tighten up and it did. This is from some old Hercules branded powder, there appear to be no signs of excessive pressure.

H 4350 with the 180 gr Sierra Pro hunter, 180 gr Hornady BTSP and 180 gr AccuBond have been disappointing so far. I never thought H 4350 in a 30-06 would not shoot well but it just shows every gun is a bit different. Going to try IMR 4451 next, if those don't work then I will try some premium 165's and the 150 gr E Tip.

The 165 gr Speer Hot Cor is doing a bit better so far, I'm going to experiment a bit more with it to see if it will tighten up. Probably will try IMR 4451 and H 4350 with it too.

165 gr Hot Cor - 55.5 gr Big Game - Nosler cases CCI 250 - 2780 fps

 

[SJB358]

Looks like if you shorten those 220's a touch they will come right together Gerry. 2500 with those would be a knockout.

How far are the ABs jumping in your Sako? Either way, those 220's would be a lot of muscle in your area.

 

[gerry]

Looks like if you shorten those 220's a touch they will come right together Gerry. 2500 with those would be a knockout.

How far are the ABs jumping in your Sako? Either way, those 220's would be a lot of muscle in your area.

I think the 220's are very close if not already there. Going to load up a bunch more with RL 22 and see.

All the bullets are at mag length so I actually have no idea how far from the lands any of them are. Sako and Tikka rifles are known for being throated long. Good point with the AccuBond I should try some loads a bit deeper.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Gerry -

What is your OAL with those 180 grain Accubonds and the H4350? I have found that if I load the Accubonds (no matter the weight) a little shorter (3.250"-3.275" versus 3.300") they seem to shoot great in my model 70. Three shot groups are usually between .75 - 1.00 and five shot groups are about 1.5" average some better some worse.

Let us know if you end up trying the 150 E-Tips. Those have been on my mind a lot lately and I have been curious how they would do. I am leery of monolithic projectiles in standard calibers since years ago I tried some of the old style Barnes X-bullets in my .30-06 and they weren't opening like they should've. I ought to just quit experimenting but am still curious.

Thanks -

Dale

 

[gerry]

The 180 gr AccuBond load was at 3.360". I'll do a bit more loading with them a bit shorter and see what happens. If I do try the 150 gr E Tip's you can be sure I'll let you guys know how it works. Kind of want to try the 165 gr AccuBond and 165 gr Scirocco one day too. And yes lots of experimenting is fun unless you own a 264 Win Mag and wear out the throat :roll:

 

[SJB358]

I'd like to see you put that 165 into some jugs if you can Gerry. Sorta interested in that bullet myself.

Again, those 220's would be crushers. If you have a chance, grab some RL26 for your 30-06 Gerry. Brian's been working with his and getting incredibly good results with accuracy and around 2700 FPS. He's still working them, but so far accuracy looked great.

 

[gerry]

If I can get some jugs I'll do that, we might have a few kicking around.

Reloader powders are pretty tough to get here but I'll keep an eye out for some. Is Brian loading the 180 gr AccuBond with RL 26?

 

[SJB358]

If I can get some jugs I'll do that, we might have a few kicking around.

Reloader powders are pretty tough to get here but I'll keep an eye out for some. Is Brian loading the 180 gr AccuBond with RL 26?

He tried the 180's but was having much better results with the 200 ABs. I'll see if I can get him to chime in on it but he was able to get plenty of 26 in the case for the 210 ABLRs and 200 ABs but I think he ran out of room with the 180's in order to get better speeds.

 

[gerry]

It would be interesting to hear from him. So he is getting those speeds with the 200's and 210's? I may have to give IMR 7977 a go as well, we can get IMR powders pretty easily here. Need to try IMR 4955 as soon as I find some.

 

[Woodycreek]

Rl-26 and the 200 ABs 3.45" are looking good for speeds and hoping the accuracy holds up. 58gr was a 3 shot one hole going around 2500fps. Working around 63-63.5 right now. 63.0gr is running 2740fps. Gonna get them on paper tomorrow. The 180 ABs 3.45" need about 66gr of RL-26 to get in the 2900s but, that's a FULL case. The 210 ABLRs 3.52" ran 2699 with 63gr but started to get cratered primers.

 

[35 Whelen]

Gerry,
I had the same problem with 4350 years ago , but have had fantastic luck with just 52 grs of 4064 with the 165gr bullets, seams to run from 2900/2950 out of most of the rifles I have tested it in ???? Less preasure and more velocity than most powders from our testing. These new RL powders are something else so probably something better out there nowadays , but that loading always worked good for us, for the last 30 years .................
Your Sako reminds me of my old 375 H&H , but I never had a scope on it just the Sako receiver sight, looks identical to me, they carry nice and fit me with their checkpiece like a glove, that gun saved my life on more than one occasion, sorry I ever sold it .................................
Brians loads sound fantastic! So interesting to see what you come up with?
Good Luck
E

 

[gerry]

Thanks Brian, those are some serious loads. Hope you keep us updated. With the 1 in11 twist on this gun I probably can't use the more sleek bullets but the 200 gr and 220 gr Partitions will work. Might be able to use the 190 gr ABLR or 200 gr AccuBond still.

 

[gerry]

Gerry,
I had the same problem with 4350 years ago , but have had fantastic luck with just 52 grs of 4064 with the 165gr bullets, seams to run from 2900/2950 out of most of the rifles I have tested it in ???? Less preasure and more velocity than most powders from our testing. These new RL powders are something else so probably something better out there nowadays , but that always worked good to last 30 years .................
Your Sako reminds me of my old 375 H&H , but I never had a scope on it just the Sako receiver sight, looks identical to me, they carry nice and fit me with their checkpiece like a glove, that gun saved my life on more than one occasion, sorry I ever sold it .................................

Earle, I can get IMR 4064 here so may try it if what I have doesn't work. The gun is a beauty and the stock fit is excellent like you say. They make a nice gun.

 

[Guy Miner]

Thanks Brian, those are some serious loads. Hope you keep us updated. With the 1 in11 twist on this gun I probably can't use the more sleek bullets but the 200 gr and 220 gr Partitions will work. Might be able to use the 190 gr ABLR or 200 gr AccuBond still.

Gerry - I've had surprisingly good results with a 1:12 twist .308 Win, using HPBT match bullets in 175 grains, they're pretty long.

Also ran some 190 gr Sierra HPBT Matchkings through it with really good results at 600 yards.

Even my old 1:13 twist match barrel did well with 175's, when people told me it wouldn't.

I don't know how long a bullet your 1:11 will work with, but it's worth a try!

Guy

 

[truck driver]

I have read where slow twist and long bullets can work if you get the right velocity. They tend to work at max charges. Can't remember which gun rag I read that in years ago before everyone got crazy and would sue at the drop of a hat.

 

[gerry]

Thanks Brian, those are some serious loads. Hope you keep us updated. With the 1 in11 twist on this gun I probably can't use the more sleek bullets but the 200 gr and 220 gr Partitions will work. Might be able to use the 190 gr ABLR or 200 gr AccuBond still.

Gerry - I've had surprisingly good results with a 1:12 twist .308 Win, using HPBT match bullets in 175 grains, they're pretty long.

Also ran some 190 gr Sierra HPBT Matchkings through it with really good results at 600 yards.

Even my old 1:13 twist match barrel did well with 175's, when people told me it wouldn't.

I don't know how long a bullet your 1:11 will work with, but it's worth a try!

Guy

According to Berger's calculator at 200 feet above sea level a bullet 1.410" long or shorter will be fully stable from a 1 in 11 twist. I have lots to learn on this subject of course but would think I wouldn't want to push things too far where a bullet might not stabilize properly. Interesting you did so well with bullets that supposedly wouldn't work.