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Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? #7181228 05/27/18 05:40 PM
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I was in Cabelas yesterday, sniffing new rifles. I wanted to look at the new Tikkas. Mine has the old style small ejection port. And yes, i did like the new version. Then the counter guy handed me a Sako. Gotta tell ya, they looked pretty much the same. Same barrel and action, but slightly different stock. There was a big price diff, so there must be some thing or things that make the Sako worth the extra cost. What would the diff be?

I have a Sako from the 80’s. A Lightweight Hunter in 270, and it has the CRF. I would never sell that rifle and replace it with today’s pushfeed. Love that gun and caliber. Of course, i have a T3 ‘old style’ in 260 and I’m real fond of it too, but the Sako is special. But...are new Sako rifles ‘special’ or more special than a Tikka? Really...?


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181239 05/27/18 05:49 PM
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that's a good ?


hold on Newt, we got a runaway
Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181240 05/27/18 05:51 PM
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Tikka, 2 lugs 70° bolt throw.

Sako, 3 lugs 60° bolt throw.

Sako is gonna be a prettier rifle, in metal finish, and wood.


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181242 05/27/18 05:58 PM
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Sako also has multiple action sizes that Tikka does not offer. You can get a XShort action for example in 223 that has a 5 round detachable magazine. As far as I know the only rifle that offers small action with flush magazine that holds six rounds


"Anyone taking up handloading necessarily plays with unknown factors and takes chances. But so does anyone who drives a car,goes to a cocktail party,eats in a restaurant,or gets married."

Jack O'Connor 1963
Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181248 05/27/18 06:15 PM
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I'd love to a Sako for the further refinement and action sizes, but I'm more than happy with my Tikkas

Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: DStroud] #7181249 05/27/18 06:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: DStroud
Sako also has multiple action sizes that Tikka does not offer. You can get a XShort action for example in 223 that has a 5 round detachable magazine. As far as I know the only rifle that offers small action with flush magazine that holds six rounds


Very cool. I bet that is a slick little rifle!


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181259 05/27/18 06:57 PM
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IIRC you can also work the bolt while on safety with the Sako's, at least the A7, whereas the Tikkas you cannot.

Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: Jgraider] #7181269 05/27/18 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted By: Jgraider
IIRC you can also work the bolt while on safety with the Sako's, at least the A7, whereas the Tikkas you cannot.


This is correct.


"Anyone taking up handloading necessarily plays with unknown factors and takes chances. But so does anyone who drives a car,goes to a cocktail party,eats in a restaurant,or gets married."

Jack O'Connor 1963
Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181275 05/27/18 07:26 PM
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I definitely have a soft spot for (old) Sakos
I have my dad's 22-250 from the early 60s, I had a 243 from the same era..

The last new Sako I bought was a Finnlight 75 in 270

I haven't had an 85 or an A7
I have also had (and still have 1) Tikka..

Great rifles


I checked out a carbon fiber 300 WinMag Sako at the NRA show that had my attention, except they use a goofy Euro threaded barrel spec.

Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181318 05/27/18 08:51 PM
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the ONLY thing I don't like about Sako's, 22-250 is the slow twist, get one in faster twist in the 22-250 would be the cat's meow


hold on Newt, we got a runaway
Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181330 05/27/18 09:13 PM
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Sako's will ALWAYS have a special place in my safe and in my heart. My Uncle purchased 3 at the Kaiserslautern Rod and Gun Club in West Germany in 1969, all of course "Pre-Garcia". Two Finnbears (.270 and 30-06) and a .243 Forrester. He traded the Forrester off base at Fort Polk sometime after coming back home as he had bought it for his wife and she didn't want to hunt. But he kept the '06 and he gave the .270 to my Dad. My father used that .270 for every deer he ever shot - most hunts I was there hunting with him. My love of hunting is due to my Dad and our hunts with him carrying that gun.

The '06 my Uncle did hunt with but after 2 tours in Vietnam he didn't really have it in him to kill anything again, never shot a deer with it. Dad gave me the .270 when he could no longer hunt. I also got the '06 after my Uncle passed. Both are still hunted with each year by me and my boys and will be God willing for generations to come.

I know there is a love and liking for the new Tikka's and the fiberglass and what not - but I'll always have the European walnut and Bofors steel Sako's with the original red scrunchy butt pads (only thing on the guns that doesn't hold up over the years). Well the optics were also replaced as optics are a bit better than what was found at your typical Rod and Gun club 50 years ago.

Earl

Last edited by Earl; 05/27/18 09:19 PM.

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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181339 05/27/18 09:45 PM
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There is a noticeable difference in quality, “feel” and balance in Sakos vs. Tikkas. To me it’s obvious. Actions are better, stocks are better.

Sako AV vs. Tikka T3 Hunter?
Sako Finnlight vs. Tikka T3 Ultralight or Superlight?

The former in each case are simply better quality rifles.

Tikkas are good rifles no doubt though - probably the best value out there.

I have not owned an A7 so IDK much about them. My feeling from handling a few is that they are sort of a hybrid of both.


Originally Posted by Russ79
I learned long ago you can't reason someone out of something they don't reason themselves into.


Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181341 05/27/18 09:47 PM
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I didn’t know that there was a bolt lug difference. Still, the two rifles handed to me were stainless with synthetic stocks. I worked the action on both and they looked and felt identical except for the stock. The Sako had a much fancier, and likely more expensive, stock.

Maybe i could have looked a bit closer for differences.

The Tikka was a lightweight model, with a fluted barrel, and i was really amazed at how light it was.


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181348 05/27/18 09:55 PM
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A tikka is just a low end sako. Made in same factory. The #1 component of any rifle is the barrel and they both use sako barrels. beyond that everything is a little cheaper on the tikka. Stock is noticeably cheaper and I'm not sure about the trigger but I'm guessing the sako may be a tad better. The bolt itself on a sako or at least on my 85 is all metal where I noticed the last tikka I handled had some plastic on the bolt. It wasnt quite as silky smooth either when I worked that bolt on the tikka. Just a cheaper version of the sako but that is why the tikka is such a good rifle for the price. The quality is built in.


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181382 05/27/18 11:08 PM
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yep, they have a great barrel..
and while people bitch about the "cheap stocks" they still shoot very well, and I would feel more confident about getting a "good shooting Tikka" than anything else in it's price range.. and even above it.

You drop a Tikka in a nice stock.. yeah baby

Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181490 05/28/18 01:05 AM
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tikka is a poor mans Sako


SPACE FOR RENT


Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: ccoker] #7181544 05/28/18 02:31 AM
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Originally Posted By: ccoker
yep, they have a great barrel..
and while people bitch about the "cheap stocks" they still shoot very well, and I would feel more confident about getting a "good shooting Tikka" than anything else in it's price range.. and even above it.

You drop a Tikka in a nice stock.. yeah baby


That's right.


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181648 05/28/18 04:44 AM
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98% of my knowledge about SAKO's come from the '60's, '70's & 80's.
SAKO bolts are 1 Piece item, machined from a solid block, handle and all & Tikka T3's and I assume a "x" model is also a 2 piece item that can be disassembled without tools in the field. Both share the same extractor that has been used since the '60's.

The M85S SAKO I had had a by pass button to open the bolt while cocked that Tikka does not have on T3's...and Great wood, ask DT abut it.

Wood on the T3 Series is no where near as good as Sako's, with the Classic Grades are still using Circassian Walnut from around the Ural Mtn's in Russia and cost about 4+ times what I was selling them for in the '80's, and still my favorite SAKO Stock style of all time, and mostly French Walnut on their Std & Dlx Grades.

I hand picked a Classic Grade LA stock for a gift rifle I receved in '84 and spent 6 hours inspecting every finished LA Classic Grade stock in the warehouse in October '84...and came home with a killer piece of wood I've never seen the likes of since from SAKO on a 1 of 1 ever produced rifle in 25'06, when I could not get a 7x64 or Roberts barreled action in the 1st gen Series being built at that time. Sold that gun to a guy in New England for enough to pay for one of the kids 7 years worth of braces. There is no Walnut grown in Finland, and the T3's I've seen in Hunter Grades are exceedingly plain grained, but understand the Forest Series have some figure in their wood stocks, probably the same as a SAKO base model.

I understand the triggers are different too but have no hard knowledge to that.
Ron


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181660 05/28/18 05:50 AM
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OP, did you check out an A7 or an 85?

Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181731 05/28/18 01:39 PM
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Chital, let me restate that both rifles were stainless/synthetic, so wood quality on the stock isn’t part of the informal comparison. And, i didn’t ask what the Sako model number was. The Sako definitely had a fancier synthetic stock, but action and barrel on both the Sako and Tikka looked exactly the same and felt the same as i cycled the bolt. If I had been there to actually buy a rifle, the Tikka would have been the chosen buy. But then, we all know the Sako is the higher grade rifle. I just could not see why.

In comparison, my Sako (wood stock and polished blue metal) from the 80’s looks and feels like a very expensive rifle. I paid about $750 for that rifle in 1981 or 82. And i asked the gun store to bring out every Sako of that grade and caliber so that i could choose the best wood. And it has lovely wood.


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7181810 05/28/18 03:24 PM
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603, you are correct about the barrels being very very similar, as both lines use the same raw stock inventory, from the "cured for 7 years outside in the weather" billet, to the hammer forging process, chambering the raw semi finished barrel still in the spiral over sized thickness from the hammer stretching process of the 15-18" thick billet to about 26+ inches & firing it off of an electric trigger for groups at 100 meters in the underground firing range for accuracy before finishing the barrel into the desired contours. Then the finished rifle is test fired again by the Gvt's Export Inspectors for pressure Proofing standards @ an average in the old days of about a 12% overload, depending on caliber, used in the proof ammo fired in a heavy steel "file cabinet drawer" using a long steel rod thru the front wall of the cabinet to pull the trigger with, before the Finnish Lion proof marks are allowed to be stamped. Been There & Seen it done.

Receivers ? dunno the intracacies but I doubt the Tikka T Series will be the same as a SAKO's, like I mentioned on the T3 & SAKO M85's are, with the cocked bypass button beside the safety on the M85. Non wood stock raw material will probably be similar in the raw material poured, but constructed differently. The McMillan prototype sample I had for a couple months in a 7Rmg "Fiberclass", and took pictures of at Gov Dolph Brisco's ranch, was the 1st composite stock offered in SAKO. SAKO used the same stock again in a ltd run of lightweight +/- 6 1/2-7lb 375H&H carbines ordered as a special offering by an Alaskan Guide Assc, and would rock your world off the bench...only rifle to ever knock me off a shooting bench's stool, and landed on my back with the rifle pointing at the roof on the concrete sidewalk at the old Winchester Range in Dallas...but was a pussycat's hard shove standing off hand with proper feet placement and really very accurate at 100 yrds in RP 300gr'ers....and a similar rifle was released later under catchy descriptive name.

FWIW prior to 1984 Tikka was still owned and built in a Finnish Military machine gun plant, with the Tikka LSA series imported & distributed by Ithaca...and noted for it's accuracy and fine finish out. Nokia accepted ownership of Tikka under some political pressure, and the Rihimakki plant's stone tower's huge SAKO Logo was changed, along with the plant entry gates etc to our complete surprise when we arrived for the plant tour in October of '84 as the 1st step in the merger. Stoeger did not get the Tikka line until couple years before the Beretta buyout when Nokia wanted to divest it self and seperate from Llama in the joint venture in Stoeger, where I had worked for 6 years, from Fall '82 to Fall '88.

The Tikka M658 I think was their 1st sporting rifle produced by SAKO. I owned a Tikka 695 Hunter Grade and it reeked of it's SAKO heritage with the attention to detail, and a friends 695 Deluxe is even more Dlx SAKO'ish in the checkering and finish out. Both of those guns shot/shoot like SAKO L61 LA's or better too, but I never got to shoot a 595 and saw very very few of them at retail.
Ron


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7182096 05/28/18 11:05 PM
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Wiley has covered a lot of what I saw on a tour in 2000. Barrels are made from the same steel on the same hammer-forging machine. Next step was having each barrel 'trued'(?) on a wagon-wheel looking device by two brothers and one son. Actions were made from the same steel to different finished levels. Wood for the Tikka's actually came from the US - Black Walnut for the most part. Good, solid wood, just nothing fancy. Test firing is different for the two. For Sako's, they fire 7 rounds down range with lasers showing 'point of impact' (there's no targets, just a point of aim). Of the 7 shots, 5 must be within an inch. For Tikka, they fire 5 rounds down range of which 3 must be within an inch. This is for the final test.
When I was there, we were told the proof loads were 150% of 'normal' loads.

Couple of trivia items we learned:

-The origination of the Sako plant was to re-barrel Moisen-Nagants picked up from the battlefield in the fight against the 'Red' Finns in their war for independence. The caliber of the first 'Sako' rifles was 6.5x55 Swede. (The Swedes didn't want a 'Russian state' next door and offered the Finns all the ammo they could use. Then, in 1919, they started an actual factory. Again, using picked up Moisen-Nagants from their battles with the Russians.
- Tikka is an abbreviation of the factory's original name - Tikkakoski Oy
- The word Tikka is the Finnish word for 'Woodpecker'. When I was there, they were running ads in Finland and Sweden talking about the rifle was like a woodpecker - always hit the same hole.
- Sako is an abbreviation of the factory's original name - Suomen Kaapelitehdas Oy
- Tikka was once owned by Nokia
- The original Sako plant was in a cave in Riihimaki, Finland - the still used it when I was there to make ammunition for the Finnish Guard.


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: Bbear] #7182123 05/28/18 11:41 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bbear

- Tikka is an abbreviation of the factory's original name - Tikkakoski Oy
- The word Tikka is the Finnish word for 'Woodpecker'. When I was there, they were running ads in Finland and Sweden talking about the rifle was like a woodpecker - always hit the same hole.


Fascinating. Thanks for sharing that.


Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7182185 05/29/18 12:42 AM
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Bbear, up


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Re: Tikka/Sako what’s the diff? [Re: 603Country] #7182346 05/29/18 03:29 AM
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Well, now i know what the diff is. The Sako is built to a higher standard, which of course we all assumed was the case. It just wasn’t readily apparent when i handled the two rifles.


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