Sako A1 Scope mounting

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Sako A1 Scope mounting

Post by Am88 » 13 Dec 2019, 10:36 am

Have just purchased a beautiful A1 in .222 for a walkaround gun head shooting chital, hopefully will turn up before chrissy. Comes with Hillver bridge style mounts and wanted peoples idea's or opinions for scope mounting. To go with it I bought a Docter Classis 6x42 with 26mm tube, option 1 is machine the hillver mounts out to 26mm, option 2 would be change to optilocs, option 3 is 30mm rings, possibly Leupold (simple) and get some inserts to go from 30 to 26mm. I have no experiance with either setup, I have the leupolds on other rifles and like the 2 screw top clamp setup, and truth be told, I dont know if I like the look of the bridge mounts. I see the optilocs are apparantly heavy and I don't really like 2 piece setups. Anyone seen or done anything similar? Cheers
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Re: Sako A1 Scope mounting

Post by GQshayne » 13 Dec 2019, 9:29 pm

Hmmmm………

I have now removed two bridge mounts in 25mm, and replaced them with 30mm Optilocks. The Optilock two piece units are quality, but so is a bridge mount. Bridge mount does take up a bit of room over the bolt though, so single loading into the chamber is slightly harder - only a little. I looked for 30mm rings for the bridge mount, but they are hard to come by.

One thing to consider in your choice is eye relief with your chosen scope. The Optilock has the front ring set slightly forward of the mount, which allows a bit more room to move the scope around without it fouling the turret. This is on my Tikka's, and the difference is enough to be important. One rifle has ringmounts and the two piece units on the other give more clearance, which is needed.
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Re: Sako A1 Scope mounting

Post by straightshooter » 14 Dec 2019, 6:45 am

If the Hillver mount is of the stud type then machining out to 26mm is the way to go.
If it is a pre 90's copy of the so called turn in style Redfield, Leupold etc mounts then I would suggest looking elsewhere.
Sako has an excellent tapered dovetail system built in, why not exploit it with the proper steel rings?
A classic style German 6x42 scope, especially if it has the tapered post reticle, is an ideal 'set and forget' choice for a general purpose hunting rifle.
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Re: Sako A1 Scope mounting

Post by Am88 » 16 Dec 2019, 8:53 am

When you say turn in mate, do you mean like the Leupold dovetail setup? and stud type also not sure what you mean, rifle should be here this week hopefully. I did get the chance to personally play with optilocks and find them to look very nice and solidly built, there is a set at the gun shop in low and extra low so hopefully they are still there if I happen to go that way.

GQshayne the eye relief is pretty standard for these days it seems, 3.5 inches I believe it is. I do know exactly what your talking about but, I just went through a massive drama with my long action remington 700, tried a Swaro, S&B, even a fixed 4 power kahles and none had enough eye relief, ended up getting a Loopy FX3 6x42 with nearly 5.5 inches of eye relief, now she's great. Not sure If i'd like to go to a 30mm ring now, I found a few photo's of 30mm rings with spacers and I find it looks a little dicky.
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Re: Sako A1 Scope mounting

Post by GQshayne » 16 Dec 2019, 5:10 pm

I have 30mm as that suits the scope I wanted, but I think you will find the eye relief advantage will be the same with the 25mm Optilocks, as it is the base that provides the advantage - the mount for the ring is further forward than a ringmount. Something to remember anyway.
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Re: Sako A1 Scope mounting

Post by Hunter257 » 19 Dec 2019, 9:54 am

I recently bought an A1 in .222 too. It came with 25mm optilocks and a Tasco scope. I swapped the scope for a Bushnell Engage but left the rings. I find the optilocks are great, easy clearance of the bolt for single loads, can cram the internal mag full without fouling ad have enough eye relief. Go with 25mm optilocks mate
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Re: Sako A1 Scope mounting

Post by Am88 » 19 Dec 2019, 12:45 pm

Hunter257 wrote:I recently bought an A1 in .222 too. It came with 25mm optilocks and a Tasco scope. I swapped the scope for a Bushnell Engage but left the rings. I find the optilocks are great, easy clearance of the bolt for single loads, can cram the internal mag full without fouling ad have enough eye relief. Go with 25mm optilocks mate


Good stuff mate, I think I will now as I think now after seeing some Hillver mounts that the mounts on the rifle are not them judging from photos, will confirm when it tuns up however, Australia post are playing pass the parcel with it at the moment but it's slowly getting here.
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